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Animal sacrifice is the ritual killing of an animal as part of a religion. It is practised by many religions as a means of appeasing a god or gods or changing the course of nature. Animal sacrifice has turned up in almost all cultures, from the Hebrews to the Greeks and Romans and from the Aztecs to the Yoruba.

Walter Burkert in Homo necans argues that animal sacrifices reenact paleolithic hunting rituals, and that they are fundamentally identical in motivation to human sacrifices.

Contents 1 Ancient Near East 2 Judaism 3 Indo-European cultures 4 Contemporary 5 See also

Animal sacrifices were common throughout the Ancient Near East.

In Judaism, animal sacrifice was practiced up to the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD. Consequently, there are also references in the gospels, such as the parents of Jesus sacrificing two doves (Luke 2:24).

The Torah distinguishes five kinds of sacrifice or korban, of which four involve animal sacrifice, viz. Olah (עלה) "holocaust", and Shlamim (זבח שלמים), where the fat and kidneys are burnt while the rest is eaten, the Chattat (חטאת) and Asham (אשם), where human guilt or sin is transferred to an animal (compare scapegoat).

Further information: Proto-Indo-European religion and Horse sacrifice

• historical Vedic religion: Ashvamedha
• Ancient Roman religion: Equus October, Tauromachy
• Ancient Greek religion: Holocaust (sacrifice), Hecatomb
• Celtic paganism
• Germanic paganism: Blót

Animal sacrifice is still practised today by the followers of Santería and other "lineages of Orisa", as a means of curing the sick and giving thanks to the Orisa (Gods). However in Santeria, such animal offerings constitute an extremely small portion of what are termed "ebos" – ritual activities that include offerings, prayer and deeds. Some villages in Greece also sacrifice animals to Orthodox saints in a practise known as kourbània. The practise, while publicly condemned, is often tolerated for the benefits it provides to the church and the sense of community it engenders.

Remnants of ancient rituals of animal sacrifice are apparent in many cultures, for example the Spanish bullfights, or the korban and kapparah in Judaism, or ritual prescriptions for slaughtering procedures like shechita or ḏabīḥah

• Bans on ritual slaughter
• Animal worship
• Totemism
• Paganism
• Folk religion

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