Topic: 2. Sacrifice and religion: Comparisons, Antiquarians, Anthropology (16th-18th Century)

Religious sacrifices across various cultures and contexts sparked widespread interest in Early Modern Europe. As Christianity expanded into regions inhabited by "infidels" and "pagans", Europeans encountered a diverse array of sacrificial customs, ranging from the Sati rituals in India to the Aztec sacrifices in the Americas. This cross-cultural exposure captivated a wide audience, including theologians, philosophers, political thinkers, antiquarians, orientalists, missionaries, poets, artists, and even the general public. These encounters broadened the European understanding of sacrifice and led to a critical reassessment of classical and biblical sacrificial rites. This section includes:

  • Sources: A selection of early modern printed materials, which include descriptions of the Americas, Asia, and Africa, alongside antiquarian and philological studies on religious sacrifice in classical antiquity and beyond. It also presents early modern works of ethnological observations and the first attempts to compare different sacrificial practices in various traditions and contexts, laying the groundwork for disciplines like the history of religions and anthropology.
  • Iconographic Representations: A rich collection of images from the 16th to 18th centuries, illustrating a range of sacrificial rituals and practices as seen in different cultural and geographical contexts.
  • Related Bibliography: An extensive bibliography spanning scholarly works from the 19th to 21st centuries, providing contemporary analyses and interpretations of these early studies and observations.

Displaying results from 441 to 460 of 1985


Bowersock, G. W.

Martyrdom and Rome

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010.

Boyce, M.; Boyce, M. - Gershevitch, I. (Eds.)

Haoma, Priest of the Sacrifice

in: W.B. Henning Memorial Volume

London: Lund Humpries, 1970.

Boyvin, René

The Sacrifice of King Oetes (16th Century)

from: Gohory, Jacques. Livre de la Conqueste de la Toison d'or, par le Prince Jason de Tessalie : faict par figures avec exposition d'icelles, [Paris], n.p., 1563, no page

Bibliothèque Nationale De France, Paris

Bradley, O.; Lebrun, R. (Ed.)

Maistre's Theory of Sacrifice

in: Joseph de Maistre's Life, Thought, and Influence: Selected Studies, pp. 65-83

Montreal & Kinsgton - London - Ithaca: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2001.

Bramon, Dolors

El rito de las fadas, pervivencia de la ceremonia preislámica de la ʿaqīqa

in: Las prácticas musulmanas de los moriscos andaluces (1492-1609). Actas del III Simposio Internacional de Estudios Moriscos, pp.

Zaghouan: Ceromdi, 1989.

Branham, J.; Wescoat, B. - Ousterhout, R. (Eds.)

Mapping Sacrifice on Bodies and Spaces in Late-Antique Judaism and Early Christianity

in: Architecture of the Sacred: Space, Ritual, and Experience from Classical Greece to Byzantium, pp. 201-230

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012.

Brara, R.; Choukroune, L. - Bhandari, P. (Eds.)

Ritual at the cutting edge: everyday animal slaughter as practice and symbol

in: Exploring Indian modernities: ideas and practices, pp. 189-208

Singapore : Springer, 2018.

Bremer, J.

Scapegoat Rituals in Ancient Greece

in: Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, v. 87 (1983), issue : pp.299-320.

Bremmer, J. N.

Scapegoat Rituals in Ancient Greece

in: Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, v. 87 (1983), issue : pp.299-320.


Displaying results from 441 to 460 of 1985