May for me prosper, through the sacrifice
May for me prosper, through the sacrifice, milk, sap, ghee, honey, eating and drinking at the common table, ploughing, rains, conquest, victory, wealth, riches.
Yajurveda, ca 800 BC
There I am writing about the sacrifice in the history of food and I run across this account of the 5-year sacrifice of 250,000 animals in Nepal from today’s Guardian.
I’m transported back to all the ancient societies of the world, to the Yellow River or the Tigris and the Euphrates or to the valley where the Greeks held the Olympics, to the entwining of sacrifice, blood, meat to eat, and bargains with the gods.
More priests evident in the past, I think, and fewer pricey animals but otherwise I suspect the photos give a pretty good idea.
Animal sacrifice was common in ancient India also. The pastoral economy of the early Aryans was relevant in their religious practices that included animal sacrifice. Although they venerated the cow, they were also commonly used for sacrifice. If used for sacrifice, they could then be eaten under the supervision of a priest.
To what extent do you think that whole sacrifice thing was just nice little sideline for keeping the priests well fed? And, by extension, their flock, once the priests had had their fill.