Editing Human sacrifice (section)

==Evolution and context==
{{Further|Origin of religion|Magical thinking|Anthropology of religion|Life-death-rebirth deity|Fertility rite}}
{{More citations needed section|date=January 2022}}
[[File:Le Tour du monde-07-p101.jpg|thumb|Human sacrifice in the kingdom of [[Dahomey]]]]
Human sacrifice has been practiced on a number of different occasions and in many different cultures. The various rationalisations behind human sacrifice are the same that motivate religious sacrifice in general. Human sacrifice is typically intended to bring good fortune and to pacify the gods, for example in the context of the dedication of a completed building like a temple or bridge. [[Fertility]] was another common theme in ancient religious sacrifices, such as sacrifices to the Aztec god of agriculture [[Xipe Totec]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Enríquez |first1=Angélica María Medrano |title=Child Sacrifice in Tula: A Bioarcheological Study |date=2021 |journal=Ancient Mesoamerica |volume=31 |issue=1 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/ancient-mesoamerica/article/abs/child-sacrifice-in-tula-a-bioarchaeological-study/DD773D4781249E7D8D85D621B22927AD}}</ref>

[[File:Figurina di bambino nudo accovacciato, da tomba di bambino a Macri langoni T66 (123), 425-400 ac ca..JPG|thumb|In Octavius, [[Minucius Felix]] asserts that various ancient cultures engaged in human sacrifices, stating,  'It was a rite among the Taurians of Pontus and the Egyptian Busiris to sacrifice guests, and for the Galli to slay human or inhuman victims to Mercury; the Romans buried alive a Greek man and woman, a Gallic man and woman as a sacrifice; and to this day, Jupiter Latiaris is worshipped with murder, and as befits the son of Saturn, he is gorged with the blood of an evil and criminal man.'" <ref>'Tauris etiam Ponticis et Aegyptio Busiridi ritus fuit hospites immolare, et Mercurio Gallis humanas vel inhumanas victimas caedere, Romani Graecum et Graecam, Gallum et Gallam sacrificii viventes obruere, hodieque ab ipsis Latiaris Iuppiter homicidio colitur, et quod Saturni filio dignum est, mali et noxii hominis sanguine saginatur,'</ref><ref>Minucius Felix, *Octavius*, Book 30. Available at: [http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/octavius.html Early Christian Writings]</ref>
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In ancient Japan, legends talk about ''[[hitobashira]]'' ("human pillar"), in which maidens were [[premature burial|buried alive]] at the base of or near some constructions to protect the buildings against disasters or enemy attacks,<ref>{{cite web |title=History of Japanese Castles |website=Japanfile.com |url=http://www.japanfile.com/modules/wiwimod/index.php?page=HistoryofJapaneseCastles&back=CastleSection |access-date=25 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100727160336/http://www.japanfile.com/modules/wiwimod/index.php?page=HistoryofJapaneseCastles&back=CastleSection |archive-date=27 July 2010}}</ref> and almost identical accounts appear in the [[Balkans]] ([[The Building of Skadar]] and [[Bridge of Arta]]).{{cn|date=July 2024}}

For the re-consecration of the [[Templo Mayor|Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan]] in 1487, the [[Aztecs]] reported that they killed about 80,400 prisoners over the course of four days. According to [[Ross Hassig]], author of ''Aztec Warfare'', "between 10,000 and 80,400 persons" were sacrificed in the ceremony.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Hassig |first=Ross |year=2003 |title=El sacrificio y las guerras floridas |journal=[[Arqueología Mexicana]] |pages=46–51 |number=63 |issn=0188-8218}}</ref>

Human sacrifice can also have the intention of winning the gods' favor in warfare. In [[Homer]]ic legend, [[Iphigeneia]] was to be sacrificed by her father [[Agamemnon]] to appease [[Artemis]] so she would allow the Greeks to wage the [[Trojan War]].{{cn|date=July 2024}}

In some notions of an [[afterlife]], the deceased will benefit from victims killed at his funeral. [[Mongols]], [[Scythians]], early [[Egypt]]ians and various [[Mesoamerica]]n chiefs could take most of their household, including servants and [[concubine]]s, with them to the next world. This is sometimes called a "retainer sacrifice", as the leader's retainers would be sacrificed along with their master, so that they could continue to serve him in the afterlife.{{cn|date=July 2024}}

[[File:Arago – 'Supplice Sandwich'.jpg|thumb|[[Hawaii]]an sacrifice, from [[Jacques Arago]]'s account of [[Louis de Freycinet|Freycinet]]'s travels around the world from 1817 to 1820]]
Another purpose is [[divination]] from the body parts of the victim. According to [[Strabo]], [[Celt]]s stabbed a victim with a sword and divined the future from his death spasms.<ref>{{cite book |author=[[Strabo]] |title=Geography |title-link=Geographica |chapter=Book&nbsp;IV, chapter&nbsp;4:5 |series=Loeb Classical Library |volume=II |year=1923 |via=penelope.uchicago.edu |publisher=[[University of Chicago]] |chapter-url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/4D*.html |access-date=3 February 2014}}</ref>{{npsn|date=July 2024}}

[[Headhunting]] is the practice of taking the head of a killed adversary, for ceremonial or magical purposes, or for reasons of prestige. It was found in many pre-modern [[tribal societies]].{{cn|date=July 2024}}

Human sacrifice may be a ritual practiced in a stable society, and may even be conducive to enhancing societal unity (see: [[Sociology of religion]]), both by creating a [[human bonding|bond]] unifying the sacrificing community, and by combining human sacrifice and [[capital punishment]], by removing individuals that have an adverse effect on societal stability (criminals, religious heretics, foreign slaves or prisoners of war). However, outside of [[civil religion]], human sacrifice may also result in outbursts of blood frenzy and [[mass murder|mass killings]] that destabilize society.{{cn|date=July 2024}}

Many cultures show traces of prehistoric human sacrifice in their mythologies and religious texts, but ceased the practice before the onset of historical records. Some see the story of [[Binding of Isaac|Abraham and Isaac]] ([[Book of Genesis|Genesis]] 22) as an example of an [[etiological]] myth, explaining the abolition of human sacrifice. The Vedic ''[[Purushamedha]]'' (literally "human sacrifice") is already a purely symbolic act in its earliest attestation. According to [[Pliny the Elder]], human sacrifice in [[ancient Rome]] was abolished by a senatorial decree in 97&nbsp;BCE, although by this time the practice had already become so rare that the decree was mostly a symbolic act. Human sacrifice once abolished is typically replaced by either animal sacrifice, or by the mock-sacrifice of [[effigy|effigies]], such as the [[Argei]] in ancient Rome.{{cn|date=July 2024}}