Forum: history.stackexchange.com
Tags: <cultural-history><religion><tradition><human-sacrifice>
Title: What cultures did, or do, perform human sacrifice on a regular basis?
Question: Looking at the Area 51 commitment page, I realized that some of the questions that were originally suggested there never got asked here, so I thought I'd add some of them. Something else I would like to see addressed as part of this question would be the reasons behind the sacrifices. Were they tied to religious or superstitious beliefs, such as appeasing gods, or were they done as a form of punishment or revenge?

Answers:
sents: text: The Maya did: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_religion , in most cases this seemed to be more extaordinary and in a way of trying to get the attention of the gods in extreme circumstances, such as famine, flood or alternately kings ascending the throne.
text: As did the Aztec: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aztec#Human_sacrifice , although I have never seem much in the way of explanation other than some considered it an honor to be sacrificed.
text: Depending on how you view the sacrifice witch burning could be another, this was religious and a punishment but again it depends on how you define it.
answer_details: author: history.stackexchange.com/users/114/MichaelF
score: 17
sents: text: Followers of Kali in India.
text: It was never a mass thing, but supposedly at some point a certain Kali temple sacrificed a human every day.
text: It still happens today, but a lot less frequently.
text: One non-scolarly source: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,322673,00.html
text: Also, Wiki ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_sacrifice#History_by_region ) has a pretty extensive list, including such unusual and unexpected examples as ancient Russia
text: (Rus apparently sacrificed slaves/prisoners of war to Perun);
text: pre-Buddhist Tibet; and Ancient Hawaii.
answer_details: author: history.stackexchange.com/users/332/DVK
score: 11
sents: text: Carthage might have practised mass infant sacrifice to their gods in particular Baʿal.
text: The practices increased as Rome was defeating Carthage culminating just before the destruction of the city.
text: Theses source do support the assertion: NY Times and The Punic Wars by A. Goldsworthy.
text: However, this is not clear cut: What actual proof is there for Carthaginian child sacrifice? asks for evidence.
text: The accepted answer points to several sources disproving it.
text: As with many things to do with Carthage, the true might never be known.
text: I am leaving this answer here (despite the down votes) as I feel that it is more balance now and offerers both sides of the argument.
answer_details: author: history.stackexchange.com/users/103/Sardathrion - against SE abuse
score: 8
sents: text: One example of human sacrifice was a practice called Sati in India.
text: It was a Hindu tradition, mostly restricted to some northern regions of India.
text: Under Sati, a widowed woman would sit on her husband's pyre and burn along with him.
text: What differentiates Sati from other examples above, was that this practice was voluntary and the decision rested with the widow (in theory, if not in practice).
text: There's some debate as to how this practice started, but it seems to be more social than religion in origin.
text: It was discouraged/banned by several rulers, leaders etc.
text: It was also one of the very few Hindu customs outlawed unconditionally by the British (in 1829).
text: Nowadays, sati is very very rarely followed.
answer_details: author: history.stackexchange.com/users/112/apoorv020
score: 6
sents: text: One form of human sacrifice that I hadn't considered was the act of retainer sacrifice that was exercised in ancient Egypt as well as Mesopotamia.
text: Whenever a king or ruler died, his entire household could be executed to serve him in the after-life.
text: There even seems to be indications that this happened in ancient China as well.
text: This form of sacrifice
text: I suppose could have been considered an honor, but I'm not sure those who were sacrificed necessarily agreed.
text: In my reseacrh for a book that will be set in West Africa, I found information that some tribes there used human sacrifice to appease their gods by sacrificing prisoners that were captured in battle.
text: There was a reference that the Kingdom of Dahomey may have been the most prominent in this, but I couldn't find anything substantial to confirm that.
answer_details: author: history.stackexchange.com/users/85/Steven Drennon
score: 5
sents: text: Romans: I know they're not the first ones to come to mind, but their gladitorial games started as a tribute to the spirit of the deceased
text: (i could be wording this very bad).also
text: they twice buried alive a couple of greeks and celts, once during the second punic war, after cannae, on an interpretation of the sibillyne books.
answer_details: author: history.stackexchange.com/users/3008/Jeroen K
score: 4
sents: text: Adding up an example, if you read the old testament, you see numerous examples, most famously when Abraham was willing to sacrifice Isaac, of course we know it didn't happen.
text: And since Abraham didn't doubt this is God's will, I think this was in a way accepted, even if it wasn't the daily practice among Jewish people that time. consider the followings: 1 Kings 13:1-2 Wisdom
text: 14:21-23 Judges 11:29-40
text: I am pretty convinced in ancient Jewish culture
text: this thing was more common, since the Bible don't register all the sacrifices.
text: These sacrifices weren't as regular as in Mayan or Aztec culture, but existed.
answer_details: author: history.stackexchange.com/users/1895/CsBalazsHungary
score: 1
sents: text: With spaced regularity, here's another: Vikings sacrificed every 9 years people in honor of Odin.
text: Saxo Grammaticus in his books about the history of Denmark reported it.
text: Check this question for a more complete set of answers.
text: While for the Aztecs or Mayans, talking only about the Mesoamerican ball game , I think there are discrepancies on how the sacrifices where made.
text: If I remember correctly, folklore tells that Mayans sacrifice the winners of a "ball match" (because there was some kind of reaching the right to be along side to the gods), while the Aztecs sacrifice the losers of such matches.
text: But in general, all Mesoamerican cultures held human sacrifices in religious grounds (Olmecs, Toltecs, etc.)
answer_details: author: history.stackexchange.com/users/8655/user2820579
score: 1

Summary of the answers:
Cultures practicing human sacrifice include the Mayans, the followers of Kali in India, Carthage, Vikings and tha Sati also in India.
Various cultures across human history have practised human sacrifice, ranging from Mayans in the Americas, to Vikings, Romans, ancient Indian civilisations and Tibetans.