Child Sacrifice in the Ancient Near East

STORIES  are  often  told  about  the strange  practices  of  human  sacrifice  in various  ancient  and  not-so-ancient  religions.  These  extend to Biblical stories, as well,  and they are often told by modern interpreters in contradictory terms. Just  how  were  these  ceremonies  per formed? What did the ancient Israelites think of them? Did they indeed practice human sacrifice themselves? Can archeology  help  clear  up  any  of  these  problems?

To  answer  these  questions  it  is  first necessary  to  study  the  practice  among the  Phoenicians,  who  descended  from the  Canaanites,  especially  in  their colonies  such  as  Carthage,  the  great rival  of  Rome.  Though  separated  from the  homeland  by  a  long  sea  voyage, these  colonists  remained  Phoenician in language,  religion,  and  culture  long after  even the  homeland  had taken on totally  new  ways  under  their  Greek conquerers.

In Carthage's maritime activities her ships  and  colonies  often  came  in  con tact  with  rival  colonial  powers  such  as the  Greeks,  and  later, the Romans,  resulting  in  frequent rivalries  and wars. In writing about these wars many of the Greek or Roman authors commented on the  culture  of  the  Carthaginians.  It  is from these classical authors that we obtain most  of  our information about the practice  of  child  sacrifice  in  the  Punic world. ¹

One  of these,  Diodorus  of Sicily, who lived in the  first century B.C.,  wrote the following  passage  in  a  history  of  the wars  between  Carthage  and  Syracuse when the latter had managed to mount an invasion  of the Carthaginian home land in 310 B.C."

They  also  alleged  that  Kronos  had turned  against  them,  inasmuch  as  in former times they had been accustomed to  sacrifice  to  this  god  the  noblest  of their sons.  .  .  .  [Here follows a wordy discussion on how they had cheated Kronos in  this  regard  by  purchasing  infants from  the  poor  and  substituting  them for the upper-class  children.] ...  There was  in  their  city  a  bronze  image  of Kronos,  extending  its  hands,  palms  up and  sloping toward the ground,  so  that each of the children when placed there upon  rolled down  and fell into a  sort of gaping pit filled with fire." ²

Here the customary nature of the rite is  emphasized,  as well  as the gruesome details  of  the  idol  and  its  method  of receiving its pathetic victims.

The  great  biographer  Plutarch  (first century  A.D.)  writes  in  his  De  superstitione (Concerning Superstition):

"With  full  knowledge  and  under standing  they  [the  Carthaginians] offered up their own children, and those who  had  no  children  would  buy  little ones  from  poor  people  and  cut  their throats  as  if  they were  so  many lambs or  young  birds;  meanwhile  the  mother stood  by  without  a  tear  or  moan;  but should she utter a single moan or let fall a  single  tear,  she  had  to  forfeit  the money, and her child was sacrificed nevertheless; and the whole area before the statue  was  filled  with  a  loud  noise  of flutes  and  drums  so  that  the  cries  of wailing should  not reach the ears of the people."

It  would  thus  seem,  according  to Plutarch  (and  some  other  ancient sources), that the child was killed before being cast into the god's arms. Note also the use  of music in the  ceremony.  Just how  far  we  can  believe  the  details  of Plutarch's  heart-rending  description of  the mother is open to  question,  since he is known to embellish Ms stories with such  items  quite  freely,  moreover,  he was  writing  about  200  years  after the practice  was  officially  banned  by  the Romans, though the  rite seems to have been  performed  covertly  until  about A.D.  200, well after Plutarch's time.

Philo of Byblos, though writing in the first  century  A.D.,  and  thoroughly  Hellenized,  was  a  native  Phoenician.  He records the  following in  his Phoenician History:

"In  crises  of  great  danger,  it  was  a custom  of  the  ancients  that the  rulers of  a city or nation, to avert the destruction  of  all,  should  give  freely  the  best loved  of  their  children in  sacrifice  as  a ransom to  the  avenging  demons.  Those given  up  were  slaughtered  in  mystic rites."

Note  here  the  occurrence  of  the  rite in times of  civil  danger.

Summarizing  these  and  other  classical  writers  (not  included  here  for  lack of  space),  we  find three particular occasions  for a child sacrifice:  (1)  In crises of great  danger, such  as  the  siege  of  a city; (2) when individuals make requests to Kronos  for  "great favors," like salvation for the rest of the family during an epidemic;  (3)  at annual ceremonies per formed  for  the  welfare  of  the  entire city.  Whether  it  was  done  more  often than  these  three  occasions  we  do  not know.

It is unanimously agreed that the victims  were  very  young  and  were  sup posed  to  be  from  the  upper  classes,  though  lower-class  infants  could  be purchased  by  childless  nobility;  substitution  of  a  lower-class  child  for  a  child of  noble  class  was,  however,  forbidden. Probably both male and female children could  be  offered  since  the  writers  are usually  careful  to  use  the  group  term "children," while the use  of  "sons" else where  could  be  taken to  refer to  "children."  Only  in  extreme  conditions  was more  than one  child offered  and, mercifully,  their  throats  seem  to  have  been cut prior to their burning.

The  humanistic  Greek  and  Roman writers  expressed  horror  at  the  grue some  nature of the practice, while some spared  no  words  and called the Carthaginians  barbarians  and  savages,  in spite  of  the  fact  that  it  was  their  ancestors who invented the alphabet, most likely  circumnavigated  Africa  for  the first  and  last  time  until  the  fifteenth century  A.D.,  and  in  general  seem  to have  been the carriers of  civilization to the West, including Rome  itself.

No  doubt  much  of  this  was  simple name-calling  inspired  by  ill-feelings toward political enemies, but it was also an  expression  of  their  genuine  horror at  an  atrocity  their  culture  would  not think  of  committing.  Because  of  this strong  bias  against  child  sacrifice  and the  people  doing  it,  many  have  questioned  the  validity  of  their  description even  to  the  point  of  denying the  existence of  such a practice at all.

This  dispute  has  now  been  resolved through  excavations  carried  out  at many  of  the  Phoenician colony  sites  in the  western Mediterranean region. Unfortunately,  the  Phoenician  homeland sites either lie beneath large and extensive  modern towns and Roman ruins or they  have  been  swept  away  by  the Roman  builders.  Thus  no  information has come  as yet from Phoenicia itself.

At  Punic  sites  in  Tunisia  (Carthage, Hadrumatum),  Sicily  (Motya),  and Sardinia  (Nora,  Sulcis,  Tharros,  Monte Sirai), unroofed precincts, called  tophets after the  Biblical  Hebrew term  for the areas, have been found, including altars covered  and  surrounded  by  ashes,  as well as  hundreds of  ceramic jars buried in  the  ground  that  contain  the  telltale remains  of  calcinated  (burned)  infant bones.  The  city's  tophet could  be  either inside  the  town,  such  as  the  one  at Carthage,  or  outside  the  walls  like those  on  Sardinia.  Except  for  Monte Sirai, where  an  oven or  fire-pit that included  calcinated  infant  bones  was found inside  a temple within the tophet, no  temples  have  yet  been  found  in the precincts,  indicating the  special  nature of the practice,  set apart from the usual temple services.

A recent study emphasizing the help less  age  of  the  victims  has  been  made on  the  bone  content  of  some  of  these jars. Six per cent of the bones appear to have been pre-term  fetuses,  74 per cent were  newly  born,  and  20  per  cent were aged  from  one  month to  4  years.  How ever, in later years lamb bones are often found in the jars, indicating that a substitution  was  being  made  for  the  life of the  child.  In some jars the mixing of human and lamb bones, both calcinated by  fire,  supports the  fiery  pit  described by  the  classical  authors,  for  the  bones must  be  seen  as  gathered  indiscriminately from one  fiery source where both fell.

Burial Markers

Hundreds  of  burial  markers  called stele  have  been  found  in  these  areas, many  of  them  having  inscriptions  describing  the  burial  in  monotonous  repetition.  A  typical  one  could  read  some thing like this, presumably in the words of the parent: "The stele of a noble-mulk whose  name was Naham;  (dedicated) to Baal  Hamon,  the  lord,  who  hears  the sound of my petition."

I  have  left the word  "mulk" untranslated,  since  its  exact  meaning  is  hard to  define  in  a  few  English  words.  Not only was  there  a  "noble-mulk" but also a "commoner-mulk"and a "lamb-mulk." In  any  case,  it  is  a  technical  term  referring to a  specific sacrificial ceremony that usually involved  child  sacrifice  or, in  some  cases,  the  substitution  of  a lamb.

The  accounts  of the  classical  authors are  thus  illustrated  in  a  remarkable fashion  by  the  witness  of  archeology. Even  so,  the  story  is  not  yet  complete and  we  would  wish  for  similar  archeological  finds  in  the  Phoenician  home land;  but  until  then  we  may  probably trust  the  statements  from  classical writers that the rite was brought to the West  from Phoenicia.

In  a  subsequent  article  we  will  com pare what we  have  discovered  concerning  these  rites  with  child  sacrifice  as described in the Bible.