Show Notes
Human sacrifice gets a bad rap in the history books, and we're here to spill the tea. This week we're digging into who was really practicing ritual sacrifice across history. From Mesopotamia's royal tombs to Aztec blood debts, Celtic wicker men to Japanese seppuku and why the "savage civilization" narrative doesn't hold up.
Sources: General / Context: Caldararo, Niccolo. "Human Sacrifice, Capital Punishment, Prisons & Justice." Historical Social Research 41, no. 4 (2016): 322–46. Løvschal et al. "Human Sacrifice and Value." Antiquity 93, no. 370 (2019). Schwartz, Glenn M. "The Archaeological Study of Sacrifice." Annual Review of Anthropology 46 (2017): 223–240. Mesopotamia / Ur: Recht, Laerke. "Human Sacrifice in the Ancient Near East and Egypt." The Ancient Near East Today 8, no. 2 (2020). Egypt: Campbell, Roselyn Anne. Kill Thy Neighbor: Violence, Power, and Human Sacrifice in Ancient Egypt. PhD diss., UCLA, 2019. Nielsen, Nicky. "In Ancient Egypt, Human Sacrifice and Shabti Figures Ensured an Afterlife of Servitude." Atlas Obscura, October 17, 2023. Celtic / Druid / Greco-Roman: Caesar, Julius. The Conquest of Gaul. Translated by F. P. Long, 2005. Allen, Stephen. Celtic Warrior — 300 BC–AD 100. Osprey Publishing, 2001. Davies, John. The Celts: Prehistory to Present Day. Sterling Publishing, 2005. "Human Sacrifice." Digital Medievalist, Opinionated Celtic FAQs. digitalmedievalist.com Aztec: Pennock, Caroline Dodds. "Mass Murder or Religious Homicide?" Historical Social Research 37, no. 3 (2012): 276–302. Neiburger, E. J. "The American Ball Game Court." Central States Archaeological Journal 62, no. 2 (2015): 74–77. Japan: Roberts, Michael, and Arthur Saniotis. "Introduction: Empowering the Body and 'Noble Death.'" Social Analysis 50, no. 1 (2006): 7–24. India: BBC News. "India Outrage after Man Acquitted over Wife's Sati Death." September 10, 2024. Chakravorty, Ranes C. "British Abolish Suttee in India." EBSCO Research Starters, 2023. Dhungel, Suraj. "Sati System in Hinduism." Academic Voices 8 (2018): 95–99. The New York Times. "Suttee in India Still Occurs Despite British Prohibition." January 1, 1928.
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