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.
Matrimonio e sacrificio nelle Trachinie di Sofocle
in: L'amore in Grecia, pp. 171-192
Roma - Bari: Laterza, 1992.
De jure naturali & gentium juxta disciplinam Ebraeorum
London: Richard Bishop , 1640.
Uxor Ebraicaseu, De nuptiis & divortiis ex jure civili, id est divino & Talmudico veterum Ebraeorum, libri tres : stupenda & Christianis quasi inaudita Karaeorum seu Judaeorum scripturariorum de incestu dogmata interseruntur : accedunt non pauca de contrahendis solvendisque matrimoniis Paganorum, Mahumedanorum atque Christianorum, idque ex jure tam Caesareo aliarumque Gentium complurium, tam Pontificio tam Orientis quàm Occidentis, quà sive ex Ebraeorum moribus defluxerint, sive eis cognata videantur.
London: Richard Bishop , 1646.
Towards a Gendered Typology of Sacrifice: Women & Feasting, Men & Death in an Okinawan Village
in: Sacrifice in Religious Experience, pp. 13–38
Leiden: Brill, 2002.
Memorial stones: a study of their origin significance and variety
--: Dharwad : Institute of Indian Art History, Karnataka University; New Delhi : South Asia Institute, University of Heidelberg, 1982.
Critica del sacrificio cruento e antropologia in Grecia: da Pitagora a Porfirio. I. La tradizione pitagorica, Empedocle e l'orfismo
in: Sangue e antropologia: riti e culto : atti della 5. Settimana, Roma, 26 novembre-1 dicembre 1984, pp. 107-155
Roma: Pia unione Preziosissimo Sangue, 1987.
Sacrifice before the Secular
in: Representations, v. 105 (2009), issue 1: pp.12-36.
Sacred and Profane: Idolatry, Antiquarianism, and the Polemics of Distinction
in: Past & Present, v. 192 (2006), issue : pp.35-66.
0. General bibliography (19th-21th Century) 2. Sacrifice and religion: Comparisons, Antiquarians, Anthropology (16th-18th Century)
In the Christian Archives: Sacrifice, the Higher Criticism, and the History of Religion
in: Modern Intellectual History, v. 19 (2022), issue 4: pp.1208-1226.
Comparison and Christianity: Sacrifice in the Age of the Encyclopedia
in: Regimes of Comparatism Frameworks of Comparison in History, Religion and Anthropology, pp. 177-209
Leiden: Brill, 2018.
The Qiang and the Question of Human Sacrifice in the Late Shang Period
in: Asian Perspectives, v. 35 (1996), issue 1: pp.1-26.
To Die for God: Martyrs’ Heaven in Hebrew and Latin Crusade Narratives
in: Speculum, v. 77 (2002), issue 2: pp.311–341.
2. Sacrifice and religion: Comparisons, Antiquarians, Anthropology (16th-18th Century) 5. Sacrifices of self: Martyrology and crusades including Reconquista (12th-20th Century)
Binding-Unbinding: Divided Responses of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam to the ‘Sacrifice’ of Abraham’s Beloved Son
in: Journal of the American Academy of Religion, v. 72 (2004), issue 4: pp.821-861.