Editing Animal sacrifice (section)

==Scythians==
According to the unique account by the Greek author [[Herodotus]] ({{Circa|484|425 BCE}}), the [[Scythians]] sacrificed various kinds of livestock, though the most prestigious offering was considered to be the horse. The pig, on the other hand, was never offered in sacrifice, and apparently the Scythians were loath to keep swine within their lands.<ref name="Macaulay 1904:315">Macaulay (1904:315).{{full citation needed|date=August 2021}}</ref> Herodotus describes the Scythian manner of sacrifice as follows:

{{blockquote|The victim stands with its fore-feet tied, and the sacrificing priest stands behind the victim, and by pulling the end of the cord he throws the beast down; and as the victim falls, he calls upon the god to whom he is sacrificing, and then at once throws a noose round its neck, and putting a small stick into it he turns it round and so strangles the animal, without either lighting a fire or making any first offering from the victim or pouring any libation over it: and when he has strangled it and flayed off the skin, he proceeds to boil it. [...] Then when the flesh is boiled, the sacrificer takes a first offering of the flesh and of the vital organs and casts it in front of him.<ref name="Macaulay 1904:314">Macaulay (1904:314).</ref>}}

Herodotus goes on to describe the human sacrifice of prisoners, conducted in a different manner.