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 1901 to 1920 of 1984


Zaghetto, L.; Mariotti, V. - Neri, D. - Pancaldi, P. (Eds.)

I cavalli del sole : il sacrificio del cavallo nel contesto indoeuopeo : nuove evidenze archeologiche e iconografiche dall'areale altoadriatico

in: Uomini e dei : forme di religiosità tra archeologia, antropologia, storia e folklore, pp. 71-129

San Giovanni in Persiceto: Phoenix Company, 2017.

Zainer, Johann

Neoptolemus Sacrificing Polyxena at Achilles's Tomb (1473)

from: Boccaccio, G. De mulieribus claris, translator Heinrich Steinhöwel, Ulm, Johannes Zainer, [1474], n. p.

Penn Library, Wolverhampton

Zeitlin, F. I.

The Motif of the Corrupted Sacrifice in Aeschylus' Oresteia

in: Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, v. 96 (1965), issue : pp.463-508.

Zeitlin, F. I.

The Motif of the Corrupted Sacrifice in Aeschylus' Oresteia

in: Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, v. 96 (1965), issue : pp.463-508.

Zellentin, H.M.; Del Río Sánchez, F. (Ed.)

Judaeo-Christian legal culture and the Qurʾān: the case of ritual slaughter and the consumption of animal blood

in: Jewish-Christianity and the origins of Islam: papers presented at the Colloquium held in Washington DC, October 29-31, 2015 (8th ASMEA Conference)

Turnhout: Brepols, 2018.

Zempléni, A.; Cartry,M. (Ed.)

Des êtres sacrificiels

in: Sous le masque de l’animal, Essais sur le sacrifice en Afrique Noire, pp. 267-317

Paris: PUF, 1987.

Zorn, Peter

Ritual Sacrifice of a Calf (1712)

from: Theophili Amilii... Erörterung der dunckelsten und schwersten Schrifft-Stellen im N. Testament, Franckfurt, Samuel Heyl, 1712

Wikimedia & google books


Displaying results from 1901 to 1920 of 1984