The reasons for partaking in human sacrifice are varied but common reasons include to help tribes in battle, when crops fail or when natural disasters hit. Another common reason to take a human life in offering to the gods was to bring good fortune to a building or structure. There’s a rumour in China that the Great Wall of China has a butt load of bodies stacked up inside it. Personally I think that might just be Chinese whispers. Sorry.
The Japanese subscribed to this view too, they call it hitobashira – “human pillar” – where maidens were buried alive at the base of buildings to protect them from attacks.
In 1487 the great pyramid of Tenochtitlan (on the site of modern-day Mexico city) was re-consecrated (made sacred). To mark this auspicious occasion and build up some good vibes around the place they sacrificed as many as 80,400 prisoners over four days. Some archaeologists say the figure was only 10,000 but that’s still pretty nuts. At the lower estimate that’s still 100 murders every hour around the clock for four days and nights. The air would have been thick with screams and blood.
Other ancient peoples, including the Mongols, Scythians, early Egyptians and some South American tribes took part in what was called retainer sacrifices. This meant that when a well-to-do person died, their slaves and servants would be sacrificed along with them. People were just thinking ahead really, they thought that their employees would be useful in the after life, so why not take them along for the ride.
As there is at least some history of human sacrifice in most countries of the world I won’t try to cover it all, but here’s a few snap shots from various cultures to give you an idea of how widespread it used to be.
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