Editing Animal sacrifice (section)

==Prehistory==
[[Ancient Egypt]] was at the forefront of domestication, and some of the earliest archeological evidence suggesting animal sacrifice comes from Egypt. However, animal sacrifice was not a central practice of Egyptian religion, but was rather a peripherical occurrence that happened away from worshippers.<ref>{{Cite web |title = Egyptian Religion and the Problem of the Category "Sacrifice" |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/8690/chapter-abstract/154704166?redirectedFrom=fulltext |access-date=2022-12-06 |website=academic.oup.com| date=2011 | doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199738960.003.0003 | last1=Frankfurter | first1=David | pages=75–87 | isbn=978-0-19-973896-0 }}</ref> The oldest Egyptian burial sites containing animal remains originate from the [[Badari culture]] of [[Upper Egypt]], which flourished between 4400 and 4000 BCE.<ref name="flores">{{cite book |author=Flores, Diane Victoria |title=Funerary Sacrifice of Animals in the Egyptian Predynastic Period |date=2003 |url=https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807/12533/1/NQ45758.pdf}}</ref> Sheep and goats were found buried in their own graves at one site, while at another site [[gazelle]]s were found at the feet of several human burials.<ref name="flores"/> At a cemetery uncovered at [[Hierakonpolis]] and dated to {{BCE|3000}}, the remains of a much wider variety of animals were found, including non-domestic species such as [[baboons]] and [[hippopotami]], which may have been sacrificed in honor of powerful former citizens or buried near their former owners.<ref>{{cite news|title=In Ancient Egypt, Life Wasn't Easy for Elite Pets |work=National Geographic|year=2015|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/05/150525-ancient-egypt-zoo-pets-hierakonpolis-baboons-archaeology/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150529005653/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/05/150525-ancient-egypt-zoo-pets-hierakonpolis-baboons-archaeology/|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 29, 2015}}</ref> According to [[Herodotus]], later [[List of ancient Egyptian dynasties|Dynastic]] Egyptian animal sacrifice became restricted to livestock – sheep, cattle, swine and geese – with sets of [[ritual]]s and rules to describe each type of sacrifice.<ref>{{Herodotus|en|2|38|ref}}, {{Herodotus|en|2|39}},{{Herodotus|en|2|40}},{{Herodotus|en|2|41}},{{Herodotus|en|2|42}}</ref>

By the end of the [[chalcolithic|Copper Age]] in {{BCE|3000}}, animal sacrifice had become a common practice across many cultures, and appeared to have become more generally restricted to domestic livestock. At [[Gath (city)|Gath]], archeological evidence indicates that the [[Canaanites]] imported sacrificial sheep and goats from Egypt rather than selecting from their own livestock.<ref>{{cite news|title=Ancient Canaanites Imported Animals from Egypt |author=Archaeological Institute of America|year=2016|url=http://www.archaeology.org/news/4599-160624-israel-imported-animals|author-link=Archaeological Institute of America}}</ref> At the [[Monte d'Accoddi]] in [[Sardinia]], one of the earliest known sacred centers in Europe, evidence of the sacrifice of sheep, cattle and swine has been uncovered by excavations, and it is indicated that ritual sacrifice may have been common across Italy around {{BCE|3000}} and afterwards.<ref name="jones">{{cite book |last1=Jones O'Day |first1=Sharyn |last2=Van Neer |first2=Wim |last3=Ervynck |first3=Anton |year=2004 |title=Behaviour Behind Bones: The Zooarchaeology of Ritual, Religion, Status and Identity |publisher=Oxbow Books |isbn=1-84217-113-5 |pages=35–41 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ei9ADgAAQBAJ&pg=PA76 }}</ref> At the [[Minoan civilization|Minoan]] settlement of [[Phaistos]] in ancient [[Crete]], excavations have revealed basins for animal sacrifice dating to the period 2000 to 1700 BCE.<ref>[http://themodernantiquarian.com/site/10857/phaistos.html#fieldnotes C.Michael Hogan, ''Knossos Fieldnotes'', The Modern Antiquarian (2007)] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160416164450/http://themodernantiquarian.com/site/10857/phaistos.html#fieldnotes |date=April 16, 2016 }}</ref> However, remains of a young goat were found in Cueva de la Dehesilla ([[:es:Cueva de la Dehesilla|es]]), a cave in [[Spain]], related to a funerary ritual from the Middle [[Neolithic]] period, dated to between 4800 and 4000 BCE.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-09/uos-nfa092520.php |title=New funerary and ritual behaviors of the Neolithic Iberian populations discovered |website=EurekAlert! |date=25 September 2020 }}</ref>