Sacrifice

== Human sacrifice ==
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[[File:Codex Magliabechiano (141 cropped).jpg|thumb|[[Aztec]] [[human sacrifice]], from [[Codex Mendoza]], 16th century ([[Bodleian Library]], [[Oxford University|Oxford]]).]]

[[Human sacrifice]] was practiced by many ancient cultures. People would be ritually killed in a manner that was supposed to please or appease a [[god]] or spirit.

Some occasions for human sacrifice found in multiple cultures on multiple continents include:{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}
* Human sacrifice to accompany the dedication of a new temple or bridge.
* Sacrifice of people upon the [[death]] of a king, high priest or great leader; the sacrificed were supposed to serve or accompany the deceased leader in the next life.
* Human sacrifice in times of natural disaster. Droughts, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, etc. were seen as a sign of anger or displeasure by deities, and sacrifices were supposed to lessen the divine ire.

There is evidence to suggest Pre-Hellenic [[Minoan civilization|Minoan]] cultures practiced human sacrifice. Corpses were found at a number of sites in the [[citadel]] of [[Knossos]] in [[Crete]]. The north house at Knossos contained the bones of children who appeared to have been butchered. The myth of [[Theseus]] and the [[Minotaur]] (set in the [[labyrinth]] at Knossos) suggests human sacrifice. In the myth, [[Athens]] sent [[sacrificial victims of Minotaur|seven young men and seven young women]] to Crete as human sacrifices to the Minotaur. This ties up with the archaeological evidence that most sacrifices were of young adults or [[child sacrifice|children]].

The [[Punic religion|Phoenicians of Carthage]] were reputed to practise child sacrifice, and though the scale of sacrifices may have been exaggerated by ancient authors for political or religious reasons, there is archaeological evidence of large numbers of children's skeletons buried in association with sacrificial animals. [[Plutarch]] (ca. 46–120 AD) mentions the practice, as do [[Tertullian]], [[Paulus Orosius|Orosius]], [[Diodorus Siculus]] and [[Philo]]. They describe children being roasted to death while still conscious on a heated bronze idol.<ref name=control>{{cite journal|last1 = Stager|first1 = Lawrence|last2=Wolff|first2=Samuel R. |title = Child sacrifice in Carthage: religious rite or population control?|journal = Journal of Biblical Archeological Review|volume = January|pages = 31–46|year = 1984}}</ref>

Human sacrifice was practiced by various [[Pre-Columbian era|Pre-Columbian]] civilizations of [[Mesoamerica]]. The [[Aztec]] in particular are known for the practice of human sacrifice.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wade |first=Lizzie |date=2018-06-21 |title=Feeding the gods: Hundreds of skulls reveal massive scale of human sacrifice in Aztec capital |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |doi=10.1126/science.aau5404}}</ref> Current estimates of Aztec sacrifice are between a couple thousand and twenty thousand per year.<ref>{{cite journal|date=2012|title=Mass Murder or Religious Homicide? Rethinking Human Sacrifice and Interpersonal Violence in Aztec Society|last=Dodds Pennock|first=Caroline|journal=Historical Social Research|volume=37|number=3|pages=276–302|jstor=41636609|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41636609|access-date=24 August 2022|archive-date=24 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220824152712/https://www.jstor.org/stable/41636609|url-status=live}}</ref> Some of these sacrifices were to help the sun rise, some to help the rains come, and some to dedicate the expansions of the great ''[[Templo Mayor]]'', located in the heart of [[Tenochtitlán]] (the capital of the [[Aztec Empire]]). There are also accounts of captured [[conquistador]]es being sacrificed during the wars of the [[Spain|Spanish]] invasion of [[Mexico]].

In [[Scandinavia]], the old [[Scandinavian religion]] contained human sacrifice, as both the [[Norse saga]]s and German historians relate. See, e.g. [[Temple at Uppsala]] and [[Blót]].

In the ''[[Aeneid]]'' by [[Virgil]], the character [[Sinon]] claims (falsely) that he was going to be a human sacrifice to [[Poseidon]] to calm the seas.

Human sacrifice is no longer officially condoned in any country,{{citation needed|date=September 2021}} and any cases which may take place are regarded as [[murder]].