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.
An Aztec Noble’s Sacrifice for his Country [1585]
from: Codex Ramírez or Tovar - Relación del origen de los indios que hábitan esta Nueva España según sus Historias
John Carter Brown Library
Human Sacrifice in front of the King [1585]
from: Codex Ramírez or Tovar - Relación del origen de los indios que hábitan esta Nueva España según sus Historias
John Carter Brown Library
Skulls at the Temple [1585]
from: Codex Ramírez or Tovar - Relación del origen de los indios que hábitan esta Nueva España según sus Historias
John Carter Brown Library
Bonds of Flesh and Blood : Porphyry, Animal Sacrifice, and Empire
in: Ancient Mediterranean Sacrifice, pp. 214-231
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011.
A Gagauz folk adaption of the Karamanlidika poem Abraham’s sacrifice: a comparative linguistic approach
in: Cultural encounters in the Turkish-speaking communities of the late Ottoman Empir, pp. 257-277
Istanbul: Isis, 2014.
Nature et fonction du sacrifice chez les BèRi du Tchad et du Soudan
in: Systèmes de Pensée en Afrique Noire, v. 4 (1979), issue : pp.139-166.
Sins of Our Fathers: A Short History of Religious Child Sacrifice
in: Zeitschrift Für Religions- Und Geistesgeschichte, v. 51 (1999), issue 1: pp.30-47.
Lightning, Sacrifice, and Possession in the Traditional Religions of the Caucasus.
in: Anthropos, v. 99 (2004), issue 1: pp.143-159.
The Killing that is not Killing: Men, Cattle, and the Origins of Non-violence (ahiṃsā) in the Vedic Sacrifice
in: Indo-Iranian Journal, v. (1996), issue 39: pp.223-244.
Le sacrifice mithriaque: innovations de sens et de modalités
in: Le sacrifice dans l'Antiquité (Entretiens sur l'Antiquité classique de la fondation Hardt XXVII), pp. 343-358
Vandouvres - Genève: Fondation Hardt, 1981.
E-pi-gra-fi-e : sacrificio e memoria
Cittadella: Biblos, 2016.
Metus Gallicus: The Celts and Roman Human Sacrifice
in: The Ancient History Bulletin, v. 11 (1997), issue 1: pp.1-11.
The Christian Rejection of Animal Sacrifice
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011.
0. General bibliography (19th-21th Century) 2. Sacrifice and religion: Comparisons, Antiquarians, Anthropology (16th-18th Century)
Sacrifice in the Ancient Mediterranean. Recent and Current Research
in: Currents in Biblical Research, v. 13 (2015), issue 3: pp.388-439.
Contesting the Meaning of Animal Sacrifice
in: Ancient Mediterranean Sacrifice, pp. 57-74
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011.
The Sacrifice of Isaac (17th-18th)
from: Project on engraved sources of Spanish colonial art
Private Collection, Lima, Perú
The Sacrifice of Isaac (s.d.)
from: Project on engraved sources of Spanish colonial art
Iglesia de San Sebastián, Cusco, Peru