SACRIFICE. It is pointed out by Robertson Smith (R.S., p. 213 f.) that in ancient times the oblation at an altar had so central a place among certain prescribed rites and ceremonies of worship that " among the Greeks and Romans the words and saeriftciuni, which in their primary application denote any action within the sphere of things sacred to the gods, and so cover the whole field of ritual, were habitually used, like our Eng lish word sacrifice, of those oblations at the altar round which all other parts of ritual turned. In English idiom there is a further tendency to narrow the word sacrifice to such oblations as involve the slaughter of a victim." It is convenient to include both kinds of oblation under the term sacrifice. What the sacrificial act really means, and why In the antique religions it should be the typical form of all complete acts of worship, is, as Robertson Smith says, a difficult problem, and one which does not belong to any one religion. In the Semitic field the only system of sacrifice of which we have a full account is that of the second temple at Jerusalem. This, of course, is not primitive, but it contains primitive elements. The Levitical law of the Hebrews recognises three main types of sacrifice : the whole burnt-offering; the sacrifice fol lowed .by a meal consisting for the most part of the flesh of the victim; and the sin-offering. The whole burnt offering and the sacrifice followed by a meal are often mentioned in the older literature. So also is the use of sacrifice as an atonement for sin (especially the burnt offering); but before the time of Ezekiel there is little trace of a special kind of sacrifice devoted to this pur pose. The pre-exilic literature makes certain distinc tions. It distinguishes between animal and vegetable oblations; between offerings which were consumed by fire and such as were simply set forth on the sacred table; between sacrifices in which the gift was wholly made over to the god and such as were partaken of by the god together with his worshippers. " To the latter class belong the zebaijim, or ordinary animal sacrifices, in which a victim is slain, its blood poured out at the altar, and the fat of the intestines with certain other pieces burned, while the greater part of the flesh is left to the offerer to form the material of a sacrificial banquet " (R.S., p. 217). Among the offerings from the vegetable kingdom made by the Hebrews, the chief were meal, wine, and oil. Wine was used also even in Arabia, where it was scarce. Milk was offered by the Arabs and the Carthaginians, but not apparently by the Hebrews. Fruit in its natural state was used by the Carthaginians, and probably by the ancient Hebrews. The Babylonians offered dates, figs, cucumbers, butter, and oil (Jastrow, Civ., p. 277). The Egyptians filled the trunks of animal victims with honey, raisins, figs, incense, myrrh, etc. The most important oblations among the Semites and other peoples, however, are animal sacrifices. According to Robertson Smith, the leading idea in the animal sacrifices of the 'Semites " was not that of a gift made over to the god, but of an act of communion, in which the god and his worshippers unite by partaking together of the flesh and blood of a sacred victim " (p. 227). He therefore draws a sharp line of
distinction between the cereal oblation, " in which the dominant idea is that of a tribute paid to the god." and animal sacrifices, "which are essentially acts of, com munion between the god and his worshippers." In animal sacrifices the victim is a sacred animal. The Harranians sacrificed swine and, according to Maimonides, field mice (cp. Isa. lxvi. 17). At Rhodes, " where religion is throughout of a Semitic type, four horses were cast into the sea as a sacrifice at the annual feast of the sun " (R.S., p. 293). The Babylonians, according to lists embodied in Gudea's inscriptions, offered oxen, sheep and goats, doves and various other domesticated birds. chickens, ducks and geese (?), and various kinds of fish (Jastrow, Cir., p. 277). The ancient Egyptians sacrificed gazelles, antelopes, and wild goats; but, according to Herodotus, the sacrifice to one of the principal goddesses consisted of bullocks. The importance of the bullock in Hebrew sacrifice is well known. Among the Hindus the victims included horses; among the Chinese sheep and pigs. But if the practice of sacrificing animals is wide spread, hardly less prevalent is that of offering a human victim. Indeed. "in the later ages of antiquity there was a very general belief," says Robertson Smith (p. 361), "that in strictness the oldest rituals demanded a human victim, and that animal sacrifices were substitutes for the life of a man." D. G. Brinton (R.P.P., p. I89) states that " traces of human sacrifice are discovered in the early history of even the noblest religions, and the rite extended so widely that scarce a cult can be named in which it did not exist." Porphyry gives examples of human sacrifices, of which many subsisted within the Roman Empire down to the time of Hadrian (R.S., p. 366). Among the Saracens the favourite victims were young and beautiful captives. Among the Carthaginians, too, choice captives were sacrificed. In an Old Testa ment narrative (I. Sam. xv. 33), the captive king Agag seems to be treated as a human victim. Prisoners of war were sacrificed to the Norse god Odhin. Virgins and young children were sacrificed to the Mexican god Tlaloc. Human victims were offered to the Aztec god ripe; to god F (q.v.) of the Mayan Indians; to the Frisian god Forseti; to the Teutonic god Tiwaz. They seem also to have been offered to Danu, the Mother of the gods among the Irish Celts. " The ancient Germans laid it down that in time of famine beasts should first be slain and offered to the gods. Did these bring no relief, then men must be slaughtered; and if still there was no aid from on high, then the chieftain himself must mount the altar; for the nobler and dearer the victim, the more pleased were the gods! " (Brinton, R.P.P., p. MS). One is tempted to think that human sacrifice must have been more primitive than animal sacrifice. It would be a natural development for animals to be sub stituted in course of time for human beings. Cp. the article BLOOD.