human sacrifice
Sacred ceremonial death
Human sacrifice is the ritual killing of a person as an offering to a deity or supernatural force.
The practice appears across ancient cultures—Aztec temples, Celtic rites, biblical stories of near-sacrifice.
The term now often appears figuratively for anyone destroyed to serve institutional or ideological ends: The whistleblower became a human sacrifice to corporate interests.
Sacred ritual table
- victimOne harmed by another
- offeringSomething presented or given
- bloodlettingTherapeutic withdrawal of fluid
- immolationSacrificial killing, often burning
propitiation · expiation · oblation · consecration · rite · priest · pyre · incantation
Worshipped supernatural being
- propitiationAct of placating deity
- templeSacred worship structure
- sanctityQuality of being inviolable
- devotionDeep, loyal commitment
veneration · worship · theology · divine favor · oracle · divination · augury · omen
Ancient Mexican civilization
- MayaAncient Mesoamerican people
- IncaAncient Peruvian civilization member
- CarthagePhoenician colony that challenged Rome
- PhoenicianAncient Lebanese seafarer
druid · bog body · Chichen Itza · Tenochtitlan · cenote · pyramid · hecatomb · Baal
Cultural or social prohibition
- forbiddenNot allowed
- barbaricSavagely cruel, uncivilized
- atrocityUnforgivable mass cruelty
- abolitionFormal discontinuation of practice
condemnation · abhorrent · heinous · monstrous · outlawed · criminalized · ethical · uncivilized
altar
Sacred ritual table
- victimOne harmed by another
- offeringSomething presented or given
- bloodlettingTherapeutic withdrawal of fluid
immolation · propitiation · expiation · oblation · consecration · rite · priest · pyre · incantation · libation
deity
Worshipped supernatural being
- propitiationAct of placating deity
- templeSacred worship structure
- sanctityQuality of being inviolable
devotion · veneration · worship · theology · divine favor · oracle · divination · augury · omen · afterlife
Aztec
Ancient Mexican civilization
- MayaAncient Mesoamerican people
- IncaAncient Peruvian civilization member
- CarthagePhoenician colony that challenged Rome
Phoenician · druid · bog body · Chichen Itza · Tenochtitlan · cenote · pyramid · hecatomb · Baal · obsidian knife
taboo
Cultural or social prohibition
abolition · condemnation · abhorrent · heinous · monstrous · outlawed · criminalized · ethical · uncivilized · repugnant
- Aztec WorldTenochtitlan, Aztecs, Aztec, Aztec Empire, Nahuatl
- Inca cultureMachu Picchu, Cusco, quipu, sun worship, terrace farming
- MayaTikal, Chichen Itza, glyphs, glyph, hieroglyphs
- MesoamericaMaya, Aztec, Aztecs, Aztec Empire, Olmec
- Mesoamerican civilizationAztec Empire, jaguar warriors, priesthood, temple complexes, pyramids
- ancient practicesalchemy, astrology, bloodletting, mummification, sun worship
human sacrificepreservation of life
Maintaining continued existence
lifesaving · rescue · sanctity of life · healing · humanitarian aid
human sacrificebaptism
Ritual water purification ceremony
consecration · fertility rite · harvest thanksgiving · libation · prayer offering
human sacrificeanimal sacrifice
Ritual killing for deities
libation · incense offering · burnt offering · votive offering · effigy burning
human, sacrifice, humane, humanity, inhuman, humankind, superhuman, inhumane, humanism