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 1101 to 1120 of 1985


Kircher, Athanasius

Ammon Herm (1652)

from: Athanasius Kircher, Oedipus Aegyptiacus, V. Mascardi, Roma,1652-1654

Kirk, G. S.; Rudhart, J. - Reverdin, O. (Eds.)

Some Methodological Pitfalls in the Study of Greek Sacrifice (in Particular)

in: Le sacrifice dans l'Antiquité (Entretiens sur l'Antiquité classique de la fondation Hardt XXVII), pp. 41-80

Vandouvres - Genève: Fondation Hardt, 1981.

Kitts, M.

Sacrifice: Themes, Theories, and Controversies

in: Sacrifice: Themes, Theories, and Controversies, pp.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022 .

Kitts, Margo

The Sacrifice of Lykaon

in: Anthropologie des mondes grecs anciens, v. 7 (1992), issue 1-2: pp.161-176.

Klein, C.; Pohl, J. M. D - Lyons, C. L. (Eds.)

Death in the Hands of Strangers: Aztec Human Sacrifice in the Western Imagination.

in: Altera Roma: Art and Empire from Mérida to Mexico, pp. 257-311

Los Angeles : The Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA, 2016.

Klostergaard Petersen, Anders

From sacrificing humans to self-sacrificing humans. A Longue-durée bio-cultural evolutionary perspective on human sacrifice

in: Human Sacrifice and Value. Revisiting the Limits of Sacred Violence from an Anthropological and Archaeological Perspective, pp. Chap. 16

London: Routledge, 2023.

Knipe, D. M.; Reynolds, E. - Waugh, E. H. (Eds.)

Sapiṇḍikaraṇa: The Hindu Rite of Entry into Heaven

in: Religious Encounters with Death: Insights from the History and Anthropology of Religion, pp. 112-124

London: State University Press, 1997.


Displaying results from 1101 to 1120 of 1985