human sacrifice. Sacrifices in Judaism

3. Sacrifices and Offerings The spiritual needs of the Israelites were met primarily through the ministry of sacrifice, which allowed them to express their devotion and love for God, their deepest feelings and needs. Each victim had a specific

3. Tithes and Offerings Along with the Sabbath, tithes and offerings also remind us that only God is the absolute owner. This first couple was reminded by a tree whose fruit they were not to eat (Gen. 2:17). After the fall and exile from

OFFERINGS Rabbi Zusya asked: “It is said: “Tell the children of Israel to make offerings to Me.”* Why is it not said: “... that they make offerings to Me”?” ​​Rabbi Zusya answered: “For one who gives to the needy, it is not enough to do it only in the spirit of holiness. For and

§112. Sacred Offerings It remains to mention one more ecclesiastical adornment, already adopted by this time among the pagans and Jews, the sacred offerings. For example, the Delphic Temple kept the richest collection of gifts, such as weapons, silver and gold

Sacrifice of the grain offering Gifts and sacrifices in the biblical

Tithes and Offerings 6 “I am the Lord, and I am the same forever; therefore you sons of Jacob have not perished. 7 Since the time of your fathers, you have turned away from my ordinances and have not kept them. Return to Me and I will return to you, says the Lord of Hosts! - You ask: “How can we return?”8 Maybe

Additional Rules for the Grain Offering 14 “These are the rules for the grain offering: the sons of Harun must offer it before the Lord, at the altar. 15 The priest must take a handful of the best flour and oil, along with the spices that are on the grain offering, and

Votive Offerings 1 The Lord said to Musa: 2 - Speak to the Israelites and say to them: “If anyone makes a special vow to consecrate a man to the service of the Eternal, paying for him as much as he is worth, 3 then value a man between the ages of twenty and sixty years

Sabbath Offerings 9 On the Sabbath, offer two year-old lambs without blemish, with sacrificial libations by their side, and a grain offering of three kilograms of the best flour mixed with butter. 10 This is the burnt offering for every Sabbath, apart from the continual burnt offering with

Grain Offering 1 “If anyone brings a grain offering to the Lord, it must be of the finest meal. Let the sacrificer pour oil into the flour, put incense on top 2 and bring it to the priests, the sons of Aaron. The priest will take a handful of the best flour

Additional Rules for the Meal Offering 14 “These are the rules for the grain offering: Aaron's sons must offer it before the Lord, at the altar. 15 The priest must take a handful of the best flour and oil, along with the spices that are on the grain offering, and burn

Vow Offerings 1 The Lord said to Moses: 2 - Speak to the Israelites and tell them: “If anyone makes a special vow to consecrate a man to the Lord, paying for him as much as he is worth, 3 then value a man between twenty and sixty years of age years in

Daily Offerings (Ex. 29:38-42)1 The Lord said to Moses:2 - Give the Israelites a command, tell them: "See that you bring Me at the proper time food for My fire sacrifices, a fragrance that pleases Me." 3 Say to them, “This is the fire sacrifice you must offer to the Lord: two

Monthly Offerings 11 “On the first day of each month, offer the Lord a burnt offering of two young bulls, one ram, and seven year-old lambs without defect. 12 The grain offering for each bull shall be of three-tenths of an ephah d of the finest flour mixed with butter; with a ram

Offerings of the Leaders (ch. 7) This chapter refers to events that took place earlier, when the tabernacle was just assembled and consecrated. In preparation for the passage from Sinai to the Promised Land, the leaders of the tribes offered the Lord a gift of six covered wagons and twelve oxen. Yes it will

SACRIFICE (קָרְבָּן , korban, pl. קָרְבָּנוֹת , korbanot ), a form of religious worship that existed in religions ancient world; pursues the goal of establishing or strengthening the connection of an individual or community with a deity by bringing him a gift of objects that have real or symbolic value for the donor.

The widespread use of sacrifice in antiquity indicates that it met the deep psychological needs of the people of ancient civilizations. Until the destruction of the Second Temple, sacrifice was the main form of Jewish worship.

The custom of sacrifice dates back to ancient times. Remains of anthropomorphic ideas are found in the Bible in the form of such expressions as "a fragrance pleasing to the Lord" (Lev. 1:17; 2:9, etc.). The forms of sacrifice among the ancient Israelites were close to the forms of the Canaanite (see Canaan) cult, but the Bible strongly rejects and severely condemns the savage and orgiastic elements of this cult, primarily human sacrifice (Lev. 18:21; 20:2; Deut. 12:30–31, etc.). In polytheistic religions, sacrifice often came down to attempts to propitiate the gods by offering gifts to them, feeding them, etc. However, in Judaism of the biblical period, as well as in some other advanced ancient civilizations, the custom of sacrifice takes on an increasingly elevated meaning. IN Jewish religion it becomes an expression of obedience and gratitude to God, but mainly - the main means of atonement for sins and cleansing from filth (see Ritual Purity). The ritual slaughter of an animal as the main form of sacrifice should apparently be seen as a symbolic substitute for sacrificing one's own life. Laying his hands on the head of the animal, the donor symbolically transferred his sins to him. Sacrifice served as a ritual expression of ideas about the inseparable connection between life and death.

Voluntary sacrifices were made either by virtue of a vow (neder), or as a sign of special zeal in serving God (nedava). Cleansing sacrifices pursued the goal of restoring ritual purity that had been violated for some reason. They were performed after recovery from certain illnesses, by a woman after childbirth, and also by a Nazirite who violated the vow of asceticism. The Paschal (see Pesach) lamb (or kid) sacrificed by each family was a special kind of sacrifice that was both public and private.

The history of sacrifice is characterized by a constant tendency towards the centralization of this cult. After the arrival of the Jews in Eretz-Israel, the sacrifices, which were originally performed in various places, gradually became centralized. David established a new cult center in Jerusalem, where, after the consecration Solomon Temple sacrifice was mainly concentrated (I Chr. 8:5, 62–65; II Chr. 5:6; 7:4–9); however, sacrifices continued in other places until the reform of King Josiah X y (II Chr. 22-23; II Chr. 34-35).

In the era of the Second Temple, Jerusalem again became the only place for sacrifices in the Land of Israel, although outside of it, sacrifices were also made in the Jewish colony of Elephantine and in the Onias Temple in Egypt. The sacrificial ritual, resumed with the construction of the Second Temple, basically corresponded to that established in the Pentateuch, with minor additions (for example, a libation of water on the altar was introduced on Sukkot).

On the days of Pesach and pilgrimage holidays, people from all over Eretz Israel flocked to Jerusalem to participate in the festive sacrifices. The Talmud tells how, at the request of King Agrippa, the high priest removed a kidney from each Paschal lamb, and there were 600,000 pairs of them (Psakh. 64b). Based on the number of lambs sacrificed in Jerusalem at Passover 65 CE. e., Flavius ​​Josephus concluded that more than three million people participated in this celebration.

The centralization of sacrifices in the Jerusalem Temple paved the way for the complete extinction of this form of worship and its replacement by other forms when the performance of sacrifices became impossible. The academic disputes of the Talmud teachers about the details of the ritual, the actual administration of which had long ceased, contributed to the aggravation of the historical memory of the Jewish people - the basis of the continuity of its centuries-old existence.

The cessation of sacrifice led to the replacement of this central element of the ancient cult with prayer. This process began in the era of the First Temple, when, along with sacrifices, prayer became one of the forms of worship, and acquired special significance during the period of the Babylonian captivity, when the Jerusalem Temple did not exist. Morning and evening prayers (see Shacharit, Mincha) began to be seen as a replacement for the morning and evening sacrifices (tamid). Additional sacrifices corresponded to additional prayers that bore the same name - musaf. Nevertheless, the Jews continued to hope for the restoration of the Temple and the resumption of sacrifices and considered them as integral signs of the coming of the Messiah.

For centuries, Jewish religious and philosophical thought has sought to elucidate the spiritual meaning of sacrifice. Peculiar ancient ritual sacrificial imprint of primitive anthropomorphism was in sharp contradiction with the ethical monotheism of the prophets of the era of the First Temple. They repeatedly denounced the tendency to give excessive importance to sacrifice and condemned the formal observance of ritual prescriptions, not supported by moral behavior ( X osh. 6:6; Micah 6:6–8; Is. 1:11–17; Jer. 7:21-22). The call of the prophet X ohshea strive for mercy, and not for sacrifice, for the knowledge of God, and not for burnt offerings ( X osh. 6:6) should be understood not as a complete denial of ritual, but as an affirmation of the primacy of the ethical over the ritual. Similar ideas are found in some psalms (Ps. 40:7; 50:8–15) and in the book of Proverbs of Solomon (15:8; 21:3, 27). The primacy of moral values ​​over the cult of sacrifice proclaimed by the prophets is an unprecedented phenomenon in the ancient civilizations of the Middle East, which played an important role in world history.

Sacrifice to foreign gods and the infiltration of foreign pagan elements into temple ritual were severely condemned by the prophets (Jer. 7:17-18; 8:6-17; X osh. 2:15; 4:11-13).

Jewish philosophy gave the sacrifice a different - a symbolic or rational explanation. Philo of Alexandria, Ie X good luck X a-Levi, Avra X am Ibn Ezra and Nachmanides tended towards a symbolic understanding of sacrifice, while Maimonides believed that God only tolerated the custom borrowed by the Jews from idolaters. The centralization of sacrifice was to prepare the Jews for the abandonment of this custom and the transition to other, more elevated forms of worship (Jest. 3:32).

Kabbalah gives the sacrifice a mystical and symbolic meaning. In the earliest text of the Kabbalah, Sefer X aba X ir" the word korban is considered to be derived from the root קרב - `to bring`, `to unite`: the sacrifice connects the one making it with the Divine world. The most detailed exposition of the symbolic understanding of sacrifice is contained in Zo X ar, where it is said that the sacrifice unites the higher and lower worlds, the believer and God, as well as the male and female principles in God himself. The sacrifice of animals is interpreted symbolically as atonement for the sins of the flesh. According to some Kabbalists, the meat of the sacrificial animal goes to the forces of evil; God needs only kawvana (see Prayer) - the good intention of the one who makes the sacrifice.

The monotheistic basis of Judaism and the centralization of its cult, unprecedented in the history of religions, made sacrifice impossible after the destruction of the Second Temple. Therefore, in Judaism, the only one of the ancient religions, the main ritual of the temple service was replaced by other forms of service to God: prayer, study of the Torah and strict adherence to its ritual and ethical prescriptions. Christianity, unlike Judaism, has turned sacrifice into a central element not only of the cult, but also of dogma: the voluntary self-sacrifice of Jesus acts as expiatory sacrifice for the sins of the world. In the transformed form of the Eucharist (eating the flesh and blood of Christ), the sacrifice remains the main sacrament christian church, the basis of the whole church cult.

The reformist trend in Judaism (see Reformism in Judaism) excluded from their prayer books any mention of the ritual of sacrifice. Some conservative communities (see Conservative Judaism) mention sacrifice in their prayers only in relation to the past. Orthodox Judaism continues to adhere to the traditional idea of ​​the resumption of sacrifices in the rebuilt Temple.

Almost every one of us “shudders” at the thought that a person can be sacrificed to please the gods. Modern society associates the phrase "human sacrifice" with cruel, demonic, or satanic rituals. However, among peoples who in ancient times were considered civilized, rich, and educated, human sacrifice was considered quite normal. Rituals took different forms from humane - a sip of poison, to cruel, burning or burying alive. Below is a list of 10 ancient cultures that practiced human sacrifice for ritual purposes.

The Carthaginian civilization is paradoxical in that it was one of the richest and most powerful representatives of the ancient world, but despite this, the Carthaginians sacrificed babies. Many historians believe that, in this way, the society tried to gain the favor of the gods, and also controlled the growth of the population. There is also an opinion that wealthy Carthaginian parents sacrificed babies specifically to preserve their wealth.

It is estimated that in the period from 800 BC. e. before 146 BC e. approximately 20,000 children were sacrificed.

Many scholars strongly believe that the ancient Israelites performed "burnt offerings of children" in the name of an ancient Canaanite God named Moloch. But not all ancient Israelites practiced this terrible ritual - experts believe that it was used by one Israelite cult who devoted their lives to the worship of Moloch.

The Etruscan civilization inhabited what is now better known as modern Tuscany. They were mainly engaged in farming and trade with Greece and Carthage.

For years, scholars were unwilling to accept that the Etruscans did not use human sacrifice. But when archaeologists from the University of Milan discovered important evidence in Tarquinia, Italy, it was conclusively proven that the Etruscans did, indeed, sacrifice people. Archaeologists have found several human remains of adults and children sacrificed from low social status. In addition to human remains, the archaeologists also discovered a sacred building and a stone altar.

The practice of human sacrifice was very common in ancient China, especially during the Shang Dynasty, the first written Chinese dynasty. The purpose of the sacrifices was twofold: political control and religious views.

Experts believe that there were three types of human sacrifice used in the Shang state.

The Celts also used human sacrifice. There are written works of Roman and Greek historians, Irish texts written during the Middle Ages, and the latest archaeological finds that prove the existence of a terrible ritual. Strabo, a Greek geographer and philosopher, described the Celtic sacrificial ritual in his book Geography.

The ancient Hawaiians believed that by sacrificing people, they could get the inclination of the god Ku - the god of war and defense, and achieve victories in their warriors. Sacrifices were held in temples called Heyo. For their rituals, the Hawaiians used captives, especially the leaders of other tribes. The bodies of the sacrificed people they cooked or ate raw.

In Mesopotamia, human sacrifice was practiced as part of the funeral rituals of royal and "elite" families. Palace servants, warriors, etc. were sacrificed so that after the death of the owners, they continued to serve them in the afterlife.

For years, experts believed that the victims were killed with poison. However, new research has shown that their deaths were far more brutal.

The Aztecs made human sacrifices to keep the sun from dying. The Aztecs strongly believed that human blood was "sacred" and that Huitzilopochtli, the sun god, fed on it.

Aztec sacrifices were cruel and terrible. As victims, they used people from other tribes who were captured during the war, or volunteers.

Many Egyptologists believe that the ancient Egyptians used human sacrifice for purposes similar to those of the Mesopotamians. The servants of the pharaohs or other key figures were mostly buried alive along with their tools so that they would continue to serve the pharaoh in afterlife.

However, human sacrifice was eventually phased out and replaced with symbolic human figures.

The Incas resorted to human sacrifice to the gods, in particular by offering their children, as a way to prevent natural disasters. The Inca Empire was plagued by many natural disasters, including volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and floods. The Incas believed that natural disasters were controlled by the gods, and in order to earn their favor, sacrifices must be made to them.

Although most of the victims were captives or prisoners, there were children who were raised solely for ritual purposes - to be sacrificed to the gods. The Incas firmly believed that in the afterlife, these children would live better and happier lives. In addition, future victims received excellent food, holidays were held in their honor, and even meetings with the emperor.

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With the passage of time, however, the significance of the temple ritual decreased somewhat, while the synagogue became the place of departure of part of the ritual commandments, and the study of the Torah acquired great importance. Nevertheless, it was thanks to the Temple that new forms of worship became part of the religious life of the Jewish people, since they were based mainly on elements of the temple service.

• the synagogue (close in its functions to the modern one) was located in the courtyard of the Temple, and prayers and reading of the Torah were part of the temple service.

• temple rituals, such as birkat-koanim, waving on Sukkot, trumpeting and others, came into the synagogue liturgy from the temple ritual and became widespread in Israel and the Diaspora even during the existence of the Temple.

• Over time, Torah reading in the Temple was added to homiletic and Torah study, which during the Second Temple era were associated with the Temple service. On Saturday and on holidays he gathered in the Temple as a bet-midrash; in the temple courtyard, the teachers of the law taught the people the laws of the Torah. The ancient copies of the Holy Scriptures and works of national historical literature kept in the Temple were the standard of the canonical text, and at the request of the communities of the Diaspora, temple scribes (Sofrim) made copies of these books for them. Despite the development of new forms of worship, in the popular mind the Temple continued to be the seat of the Divinity and the only place of sacrifice to God. Through the temple sacrifice and the accompanying cleansing, the sins of both individuals and the whole people were atoned for, which contributed to the spiritual purification and moral perfection of Israel. The temple cult was seen as a source of blessing not only for the Jews, but for all the peoples of the world.

After the destruction of the Temple

The monotheistic basis and the centralization of his cult, unprecedented in the history of religions, made sacrifice impossible after the destruction of the Second Temple. Therefore, in Judaism, the only ancient religion, the main ritual of temple service before the restoration of the Third Temple was replaced by other forms of service to God: prayer, study of the Torah and strict adherence to its ritual and ethical prescriptions.

New Time

The reformist trend in Judaism excluded from their prayer books any mention of the ritual of sacrifice. Some conservative communities mention sacrifice in prayers only in relation to the past.

Continues to adhere to the traditional idea of ​​the resumption of sacrifices in the restored Temple.

temple service

• Sin Offering (Hatat)(or sacrifice), the main sacrifice in Jewish worship (Lev 4:1 - 5:13; Numbers 28:15-23; Jer 42:13), which was offered in expiation for unintentional transgressions (Lev 4:2).

There are four types of such victims:

1. high priest's sin offering (vv. 3-12),
2. the sin offering of the entire congregation of Israel (vv. 13-21),
3. sin offering of one of the heads of the people (vv. 22-26)
4. the sin offering of a common Jew (vv. 27-35).

The high priest sacrificed a calf - the most expensive of the sacrificial animals; the calf was to be offered for the sin of the entire congregation of Israel. The chief sacrificed a goat, and a simple Israelite - a goat or a sheep, but if he was too poor, he could sacrifice two turtledoves or two young doves (Lev. 5: 7-10). This last rule indicates that the magnitude of sin before God corresponded both to the position of the sinner in society and to the degree of his responsibility to him.
The sin of the High Priest corresponded in severity to the sin of the entire society of Israel, which he represented before the Lord. The same applied to the case when the sacrifice was brought by a simple Jew (Lev. 4:27-31).
The rite of sacrifice for sin in all cases consisted of four parts, namely:

1. presentation of the sacrifice (verse 27ff.). According to Lev 1:3, the sacrificial animal was to be brought to the door of the tabernacle. This expressed faith in God and the need to receive forgiveness from Him;
2. laying on of hands. The sacrificer laid his hand on the head of the animal, thereby transferring his guilt to him (Lev. 4:29; cf. 16:21);
3. slaughter (Lev 4:29). The offender himself had to slaughter the animal. Blood was given special importance in the ritual: it had to drain from the carcass of the animal, after which it was collected in special vessels. Death inevitably follows sin (see Ezek. 18:4; Rom. 6:23), therefore - according to the merciful ordinance of God - it was allowed for the victim to die instead of the sinner, paying with his life for his sin;
4. anointing with blood. After the sacrifice was slain, the priest took over his duties. He dipped his finger in the blood of the sacrifice and smeared with this blood the protruding part of the altar - the horns of the altar of burnt offering, if the sin offering was offered by a simple Jew (Lev. ) or the whole society (Article 18). If the blood, which symbolizes life (Lev. 17:11), was applied to the horns of the altar, this was evidence that life had been sacrificed, and therefore the guilt paid;
5. after sacrificing blood, they burned the fat (fat) of the animal; his skin, flesh, and entrails were to be carried out to a clean place outside the camp, and burned there;

• When bringing burnt offering (Ola)(Lev 1) the idea of ​​reconciliation receded into the background; in this case only the outer sides of the altar were sprinkled with blood (v. 5).

The essence of the burnt offering was that the presentation of the sacrificial animal, the laying on of the hand, the slaughter and the sprinkling of blood was followed by the complete burning of the sacrifice. The priest cut the carcass of the animal into pieces, and, laying it on the altar, burned it. Thus, the sacrifice in smoke and flame was wholly lifted up to God, and all its parts were burned (vv. 9, 13). The donor kept nothing for himself, everything belonged to God (cf. Gen. 22:2). This sacrifice symbolized the complete devotion to the Lord of the person offering the sacrifice. Burnt offerings were, for example, the daily sacrifices of the Jewish people - two one-year-old rams, which were offered as morning and evening sacrifices (Ex 29:38-42; Numbers 28:3-8; Ezr 9:4,5; Dan 9:21) ;

• Grain offering (Mincha)(Lev. 2) consisted of the fruits of the earth; it, together with the drink offering, completed the burnt offering (Numbers 28:4-6). (At the libation offering, a certain amount of wine was poured out on the altar, corresponding to the size of the grain offering). Since there was no idea of ​​reconciliation (transferring one's own guilt to the victim) in this rite, the laying on of hands was not prescribed in this case. The grain offering consisted of flour of the highest quality (Lev. 2:1), White color which symbolizes purity. Incense was added to this sacrifice (vv. 1, 2), symbolizing prayer (cf. Ps 141:2; Luke 1:10; Rev. 5:8); prayer and an expression of gratitude were to accompany the sacrifice. The offering was not to contain leavened dough (Lev. 2:11), which symbolizes sinfulness (cf. 1 Cor. 5:6-8). The sacrifice should have been made salty (Lev. 2:13): salt protects the product from spoilage, which symbolically means the ability to resist all depravity. The grain offering also included olive oil (oils) (Ex 29:40). The remains of the sacrifice, which were not burned, were for the priests (Lev. 2:3);

• Peace offering (Shlamim)(Lev. 3:3) was brought from cattle - bulls (oxen) or cows (vv. 1-5), or from small animals - sheep (vv. 6-11) or goats (vv. 12-16). The ritual was similar to the ritual of offering a burnt offering, with the only difference that not the whole animal was burned, but only its fat, that is, the best from the sacrifice (see Isa. 25:6; 55:2). After the best was given to the Lord, the meal began, during which the donor and his relatives ate the meat of the sacrificial animal (Lev. 7:15). This joint meal was at the same time a joyful celebration of reconciliation (cf. Ps. 22:5; Luke 15:23) in the House of God (Deut. 12:5-7,17,18), a symbol of restored communion with God. Among the peace offerings, a distinction was made between the gratitude offering (Lev. 7:12,15; 22:29), the votive offering, and the diligence offering (Lev. 7:16; 22:21; Numbers 15:3); 5) The purpose of the guilt offering (Lev. 5:14 - 6:7; 7:1-10) was to make amends for damage done by mistake or knowingly. In order for the reparation to be complete, the offender had to compensate, in addition to a certain amount, another fifth of the estimated damage (Lev. 5:16; 6:5). The rite of offering a guilt offering was almost no different from the rite of sacrifice for sin (Lev. 7:7), only the blood of the sacrifice was applied not to the horns of the altar, but to all its sides.

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Helpful information

Sacrifice
Hebrew קָרְבָּן‎, Korban,
pl. number of Hebrew קָרְבָּנוֹת‎, Korbanot
derived from the Hebrew root. קרב‎ - “to bring closer”, “to connect”)

Types of sacrifices

God told Israel about the significance of sacrifices after their liberation from Egyptian slavery, when at Mount Sinai the people received from the Lord a Law that established the number and type of sacrifices pleasing to God, as well as the order in which they were offered.

The most important types of sacrifices are: (ola) (Lev 1), grain offering (mincha) (Lev 2), gratitude or peace offering (shlamim) (Lev 3), as well as a sin offering (hatat) (Lev 4:1 - 5:13) and a guilt offering (asham) (Lev 5:14 - 6:7).

Among these five types of sacrifice, only one was bloodless: the grain offering, which was seen as an addition to the burnt offering (Lev. 9:16,17). The various reasons for which the sacrifices were offered are partly visible already from their names (for example, the sin offering, the gratitude offering).

Opinions on the meaning of sacrifice in Judaism

Today it is impossible to establish exactly the purpose of sacrifices in antiquity. Their main meaning, apparently, was to express gratitude to God, devotion to the Creator.

Jewish philosophy gave different explanations for the sacrifice - a symbolic or rational explanation.

• Philo of Alexandria, Yehuda ha-Levi, Abraham Ibn Ezra and Nachmanides (RaMBan) tended towards a symbolic understanding of sacrifice, which, in their opinion, is an initially necessary component of the universe.

• At the same time, Maimonides (RaMBam) and many other medieval Jewish rationalist philosophers (and after them philosophers of later centuries, up to our time) believed that the centralization of sacrifice should have prepared the Jews for the rejection of animal sacrifice and the transition to other, more elevated forms of worship.

• Kabbalah gives the sacrifice a mystical and symbolic meaning. In the earliest text of the Kabbalah, "Sefer Ha-Bahir", the word korban is considered to be derived from the root קרב ('to bring', 'to connect'): the sacrifice connects the one making it with the Divine world. The most detailed exposition of the symbolic understanding of sacrifice is contained in the Zohar, which says that sacrifice unites the higher and lower worlds, the believer and God, as well as the masculine and feminine principles in God himself. The sacrifice of animals is interpreted symbolically as atonement for the sins of the flesh. According to some Kabbalists, the meat of the sacrificial animal goes to the forces of evil; God needs only qavvana - the good intention of the sacrificer.

The word "sacrifice" refers to different ancient Greek rites performed in different circumstances and for different purposes. This is an offering to the gods of fruits, grains and cakes, and the burning of incense, and the killing of animals, followed by eating the remaining meat, and the burning of whole animals, and the ritual libation of wine, milk, honey, water or oil, and the shedding of sacrificial blood to seal the oath. .

The most common type of sacrifice among the ancient Greeks - the slaughter of livestock - was called thysia ("thisia"). The meat was partially burned: the gods got the smoke, the participants in the ceremony - the meat.

The philosopher Theophrastus identified three goals of sacrifice: to honor the gods, to thank them, and to ask them for something. But this is only one of the possible interpretations of the rite. Already in the 20th century, the Hellenist and specialist in ancient Greek religion Walter Burkert put forward a new version: the meaning of sacrifice is in the feeling of guilt that you experience after the murder. The ritual neutralizes the outburst of aggression associated with the killing of an animal. However, this theory was refuted as contradicting ancient evidence. Some historians believe that the purpose of the sacrifice is to establish a social hierarchy between the participants in the ritual, including the gods, through the distribution of the best and worst pieces of meat during a joint meal. So the sacrifice-offering, as it were, consolidates and justifies the socio-economic and political reality. From an anthropological point of view, sacrifice is analogous to a gift: people present a sacred gift to the gods, counting on reciprocal gifts. Such gifts form the basis of relationships both between people and with otherworldly forces.

The Greeks did not have a separate class of priests, so anyone could perform the sacrifice. A butcher was often called to cut the meat. The sacrifice was made not inside the temple, but next to it, at the altar in the open air. Chamber home sacrifices were often arranged in the family circle. If lunch or dinner was planned after the ritual, the ritual feast was held in special rooms at the sanctuary or at home. Sometimes sacrificial meat was sold, but most of the bones of domestic animals are found in sanctuaries. It turns out that the Greeks almost always ate meat after the ritual slaughter of an animal - that is, quite often, judging by the surviving calendars with instructions on when and to which gods to make sacrifices. A large number of cattle were slaughtered on the occasion of the annual city holidays. During private ceremonies, as a rule, one small animal was dispensed with.

Stele with a calendar of holidays and sacrifices from the city of Torikos. 430-420 BC e. Remi Mathis / CC BY-SA 3.0

Fragment of a stele with a calendar of holidays and sacrifices from the city of Torikos. 430-420 BC e.Dave & Margie Hill / CC BY-SA 2.0

The rules of the ceremony were not consolidated into a rigid system: in different policies, the sequence of actions varied. We know about different types, methods and procedures of sacrifice from special ritual texts that had the status of laws and were carved in stone for public viewing. Among other sources - ancient literature, vase painting, reliefs, and more recently zooarchaeology (analysis of the remains of animals sacrificed). This evidence allows us to understand some patterns thysia and reconstruct the features of the rite.

1. Choose a victim

First you need to determine the budget of the sacrifice. The most expensive animal is a cow. If a big holiday is coming (for example, goddesses - patrons of the city), it makes sense to spend money on, for example, 50 cows. But piglets are a cheap option that is used in the ritual of purification: the blood of the animal is sprayed on the participants in the ceremony, but the meat itself is not eaten. The most common sacrificial animal is a sheep: an ideal ratio of price and quality. The choice of animal also depends on who the victim is intended for. Everything is important here - the age of the animal, gender and color. The gods are males, and the yum gods are females. Black animals are sacrificed to the underground Chthonic gods. Before starting the ritual, check with special calendars and other ritual texts: for example, on the 12th of the month of an-festerion (falls in our February-March), Dionysus, the god of wine, needs to sacrifice dark - a red or black kid with teeth that have not erupted, and to the goddess of fertility Demeter in the month of Munichion (April - May) - a pregnant sheep. The goddess of night witchcraft, Hekate, will have to sacrifice a dog, but this is a different type of sacrifice: the Greeks did not eat dog.

Important Tip: Do not sacrifice people, even if you read about it in ancient Greek myths and literature. Human sacrifices in Greece are not attested.

2. Find a professional musician

Each stage of the ritual must be accompanied by music. A good performance pleases the gods and disposes them to the rite. Special ritual hymns are called prosody and paeans. The first should be sung while the animal is being led to the altar (music sets the rhythm of the procession), the second - already at the altar itself. Singing takes place to the accompaniment of a pipe - Avla. While the avlet is playing, the procession waits for auspicious omens to begin the ceremony. The logic of the gods, however, is not always clear. So, Plutarch tells a story about the musician Ismenia, who played the flute for a long time, but there were still no signs. Then the impatient customer of the sacrifice took away the flute from the professional and clumsily played himself, and only then the sacrifice took place. To which Ismenius replied that the gods liked his music, so they were in no hurry with the decision, but, having heard the amateur's music and deciding to get rid of it as soon as possible, they nevertheless accepted the sacrifice.

Important Tip: Auletes will have to pay, but this can be done by sharing the sacrificial meat with him.

3. Wash and dress up

The holiday spirit is important. Go to the baths, put on smart white clothes and decorate your head with a wreath. At the altar, you can take off your shoes to emphasize the sacred nature of what is happening. It is important not only to dress up yourself, but also to dress up the victim, because participation in the ceremony is a great honor for an animal. Gild the cow's horns, as Elder Nestor did in the Odyssey, to please the goddess Athena (this service can be ordered in advance from the blacksmith). If finances don't allow, just tie bows and wrap wreaths around the victim's head and belly.

Important Tip: The Athenian laws say that the sacrifice to Athena should be as beautiful as possible, so if you dedicate a festive ceremony to her, feel free to demand more money from the city budget for celebrations and decorations.

4. Organize a procession

Everything is almost ready, and here one of the most important stages begins - the solemn procession. Participants of the ceremony lead the animal to the altar to the music and singing. It is important to properly organize the procession and distribute roles: who follows whom, who has what in their hands and who does what. Don't forget to bring the tools for the ceremony to the altar - especially the knife. Put the knife in the basket, sprinkle it with barley groats (we will explain why this is necessary a bit later) and decorate with bows. Let a girl of aristocratic origin carry a basket on her head, she should also lead the procession - after all, youth and innocence guarantee the success of the enterprise. If the girl could not be found, a simple slave will do. Someone must be sure to hold a jug of water for the ritual sprinkling of the participants and the altar. Instruct someone to carry cakes and pies - they will also be useful for ritual purposes. At the beginning of the procession, announce loudly that the sacrament is about to take place. This can be done with the exclamation “Euphemia! Euphemia! - which literally translates as "reverent speech", but in this case it means rather "Attention! Attention!".

Important Tip: If you do not know where to recruit the participants in the procession, call the household, children and slaves. A wife, daughters-in-law and daughters will be needed to perform the ritual female cry ololygmos during the sacrifice. It is not completely clear why the cry was needed - either to drown out the roar of the animal, or to emphasize the importance of what is happening.

5. Don't Forget the Details

At the altar, you will need to say a prayer: think in advance what you want to ask the gods. Before killing an animal, sprinkle all participants with barley groats Most likely, the use of barley in rituals is associated with its psychedelic properties. and sprinkle with water. Now take out the ritual knife, cut off a piece of wool and throw it into the fire. If the animal is large, it is more reasonable to stun it with an ax, and only then cut its throat with a knife. It is now that women should emit a ritual cry. It is important that the animal's blood be shed on the altar and not on the ground. Getting sacrificial blood on the ground is a bad sign and can lead to revenge and another bloodshed. In some cases, it makes sense to collect spilled blood in a special vase.

During cutting, the most important thing is to correctly separate those parts of the meat that rely on the gods. Usually these are the femurs. They need to be cleaned of meat, wrapped in fat and covered with other small pieces on top. You can keep the best pieces of meat for yourself: as the experience of Prometheus shows, the gods will not notice anything anyway. Add a tail with a sacrum, a gallbladder and any other internal organs to the altar. Burn it. It is important that the smoke goes to the sky, to the gods. Pour some wine on the altar so that the gods have something to drink the meat with. To cut and cook the remaining meat, it is better to call the butcher. Now on to the festive dinner. Do not forget to give the best pieces to the most honored guests.

Important Tip: Watch closely for signs. For example, how the tail of an animal behaves in fire or what happens to the internal organs. The correct interpretation will make it possible to understand whether the gods liked the ceremony. good signs when the tail is twisted in the fire, and the liver is healthy, with equal shares. If the rite is performed before the battle, a strong fire speaks of victory, destroying the entire victim entirely. Bad omens are a meager flame, as well as splashes from the burning of the gallbladder and other internal fluids.

Sources

• Aristophanes. World.
• Aristophanes. Birds.
• Hesiod. Theogony.
• Homer. Odyssey.
• Naiden F.S. Smoke Signals for the Gods: Ancient Greek Sacrifice from the Archaic through Roman Periods.

  Oxford University Press, 2013.

• Ullucci D. Contesting the meaning of animal sacrifice.

  Ancient Mediterranean Sacrifice. Oxford University Press, 2011.

• Van Straten F.T. Hierà kalá: Images of Animal Sacrifice in Archaic and Classical Greece.