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.
Die Offne Thür zu dem verborgenen Heydenthum. Frühe Titelkupfer zu Indien
in: Librarium , v. 49 (2006), issue 1: pp.58-68.
Through the Eyes of Idolatry: Pignoria’s 1615 Argument on the Conformità of Idols from the West and East Indies with Egyptian Gods
in: Through Your Eyes: Religious Alterity and the Early Modern Western Imagination, pp. 103–144
Leiden: Brill, 2021.
Human Sacrifice and the Rituals of War in Early China
in: Sacrifices humains: Perspectives croisées et représentations, pp. 153-173
Liege: University Press of Liege, 2013.
Human Sacrifice and the Rituals of War in Early China
in: Sacrifices humains: Perspectives croisées et représentations, pp. Onlinehttp://books.openedition.org/pulg/8173
Liège : Presses universitaires de Liège, 2013.
Human Sacrifice and the Rituals of War in Early China
in: Sacrifices humains: Perspectives croisées et représentations, pp. 153–173
Liege : University Press of Liege, 2013.
Imagining Sacrifice in Ancient India: A Genealogy of Heesterman’s ‘Broken World’
in: Presence and Space South Asian Rituals in Archaeological Context
Abingdon: Routledge, 2021.
Sacrifice in Greek and Roman Religions and Early Judaism
London: Adam and Charles Black, 1953.
Sacrifice in Greek and Roman Religions and Early Judaism
New York: Scribner , 1952.
From Sacrifice to the Slaughterhouse
in: Method & Theory in the Study of Religion, v. 26 (2014), issue 2: pp.111-158.
Héra d'Héliopolis et le sacrifice humain : annuaire resumes des Conferences et Travaux
in: Annuaire école pratique des hautes études, v. 89 ([1988?]), issue : pp.31-102.
Sanctity and Self-Inflicted Violence in Chinese Religions, 1500-1700
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.
in: Two Nations in Your Womb: Perceptions of Jews and Christians in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, pp.
Berkeley: University of California Press, 2006.
They Tell Lies: You ate the Man’: Jewish Reactions to Ritual Murder Accusations
in: Religious Violence Between Christians and Jews, pp. 86-100
Hampshire: Palgrave, 2002.
Divisione della carne a Nuzi
in: Sacrificio e società nel mondo antico, pp. 87-95
Roma - Bari: Laterza , 1988.