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.
Saturn and the Jews
in: Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, v. 42 (1979), issue : pp.16-27.
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.
The Origin of the Biblical Scapegoat Ritual: The Evidence of Two Eblaite Text
in: Vetus Testamentum, v. 48 (1998), issue 2: pp.254-263.
The Origin of the Biblical Scapegoat Ritual: The Evidence of Two Eblaite Text
in: Vetus Testamentum, v. 48 (1998), issue 2: pp.254-263.
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.
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.
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.
Des êtres sacrificiels
in: Sous le masque de l’animal, Essais sur le sacrifice en Afrique Noire, pp. 267-317
Paris: PUF, 1987.
Meanings of Animal Sacrifice during Eid-ul-Adha: Relationships with Religious Orientations and Muslim Experiential Religiousness in Pakistan
in: Archive for the Psychology of Religion, v. 37 (2015), issue 1: pp.37-53.
Of Body & Brush : Grand Sacrifice as Text-Performance in Eighteenth-Century China
Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1997.
Antiquissima Christianità: Indian Religion or Idolatry?
in: Journal of early modern history, v. 24 (2020), issue : pp.471-498.
Disputed Mission. Jesuit Experiments and Brahmanical Knowledge in Seventeenth-Century India
Delhi-New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
Atonement by blood sacrifice in Islam
in: Moslem World , v. 36 (1946), issue : pp..
The ‘akika sacrifice
in: Moslem World, v. 6 (1916), issue : pp..
Zur Frühgeschichte des Brandopfers in Israel
in: Biblische Welten. Festschrift für Martin Metzger zu seinem 65. Geburtstag, pp. 231-248
Freiburg: Universitätsverlag, 1993.
Topographie et Histoire générale d’Alger. Par Haedo, traduite de l’espagnol [...]. Partie II
in: Revue Africaine, v. XV (1871), issue : pp.41 - 458.