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.
Ways in which Martyrs were Drowned, 2 (1591)
from: A. Gallonio, Trattato degli instrumenti di martirio e delle varie maniere di martoriare usate da' gentilicontro christiani, trattato de gli instrumenti di martirio, e delle varie maniere di martoriare usate da' gentili contro christiani, descritte et intagliate in rame, Roma, Donangeli 1591, n. 153
The Sacrifice of Isaac (ivory group) (1679)
from: South Germany
V&A Museum, London
The economy of sacrifice: Christ, coins and the Eucharist in the Middle Ages
in: Human Sacrifice and Value. Revisiting the Limits of Sacred Violence from an Anthropological and Archaeological Perspective, pp. 79-108
London: Routledge, 2023.
The Sacrifice of Isaac in Medieval Jewish Art
in: Artibus et historiae, v. 16 (1987), issue --: pp.67-89.
Revisiting the 'Binding of Isaac' Mosaic in the Beth-Alpha Synagogue
in: Bulletin of the Asia Institute, v. 6 (1992), issue 83: pp.6.
The Sacrifice of Abraham in Timurid Art
in: The Journal of the Walters Art Museum, v. 59 (2001), issue -: pp.131-135.
De deis gentium varia & multiplex Historia, Libris sive Syntagmatibus xvii comprehensa
Basel: Johann Oporinus, 1584.
The Death of Mūsā al-Kāzim (d.183-799). Knowledge and Suicide in Early Twelver Shī'ism
in: Martyrdom, Self-Sacrifice, and Self-Immolation: Religious Perspectives on Suicide, pp. 106-125
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018.
The Sacrifice of Isaac. A Christian citizen in Aleppo commissioned the painted panels of the walls of the entrance room in his house. Wood, multi-layered painting (1601-1603)
from: Aleppo
Museum of Islamic Art at the Pergamon Museum Source: [https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;de;Mus01;39;en&pageD=N&cp]
On Sacrifice
Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2012.
The Sacrifice of Isaac (1716)
from: Germany
The National Library of Israel, Jerusalem, Israel Ms. Heb. 8° 2380 (Book of Evronot, fol. 80v)
The Origins of the Sacrificial Cult: New Evidence from Mesopotamia and Israel
in: Ancient Israelite religion : essays in honor of Frank Moore Cross, pp. 3-13
Philadelphia: Fortress press, 1987.
Le Sacrifice animal au regard des textes islamiques canoniques
in: Archives de sciences sociales des religions, v. 101 (1998), issue : pp.5-25.
Les Veuves de Malabar: Sati, Colonialism, and the Enlightment
in: French Theatre, Orientalism, and the Representation of India, 1770-1865, pp. 19-71
Abingdon - New York: Routledge, 2021.
Sacrifice et représentation du divin
in: Dédale, v. 1 (1995), issue 2: pp.181-194.
The Victim and its Masks: An Essay on Sacrifice and Masquerade in the Maghreb
Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Pres, 1993.
The Ecological Basis for Aztec Sacrifice
in: American Ethnologist, v. 4 (1977), issue 1: pp.117-135.