document_title: The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

question_text: where does the prince of bel air take place

text: The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

text: Development[edit]

text: In December 1989, NBC approached Will Smith, a popular rapper during the late 1980s.[3] The pilot episode began taping on May 1, 1990.[4] Season 1 first aired in September 1990, and ended in May 1991. The series finale was taped on Thursday, March 21, 1996.[5][6]

text: The theme song "Yo Home to Bel Air" was written and performed by Smith under his stage name, The Fresh Prince. The music was composed by Quincy Jones, who is credited with Smith at the end of each episode. The music often used to bridge scenes together during the show is based on a similar chord structure.

text: Plot[edit]

text: The theme song and opening sequence set the premise of the show. Will Smith is a street smart teenager, born and raised in West Philadelphia. While playing basketball, Will misses a shot and the ball hits a group of people, causing a confrontation that frightens his mother, who sends him to live with his aunt and uncle in the opulent neighborhood of Bel Air, Los Angeles.

text: Will's working-class background ends up clashing in various humorous ways with the upper class world of the Banks family – Will's uncle Phil and aunt Vivian and their children, Will's cousins: Hilary, Carlton, and Ashley.

text: Cast and characters[edit]

text: Main[edit]

text:
Actor/actress
Character
Seasons

1
2
3
4
5
6

Will Smith
Will Smith
Main

James Avery
Philip Banks
Main

Janet Hubert-Whitten
Vivian Banks
Main

Daphne Maxwell Reid

Main

Alfonso Ribeiro
Carlton Banks
Main

Karyn Parsons
Hilary Banks
Main

Tatyana M. Ali
Ashley Banks
Main

Joseph Marcell
Geoffrey Butler
Main

Ross Bagley
Nicholas "Nicky" Banks

Main

text: Recurring[edit]

text:
Actor/actress
Character
Seasons

1
2
3
4
5
6

DJ Jazzy Jeff
Jazz
Recurring

Vernee Watson-Johnson
Viola "Vy" Smith
Recurring

Michael Weiner
Kellogg Lieberbaum
Recurring

Lisa Fuller
Toni
Recurring

Jenifer Lewis
Helen Smith

Recurring

Charlayne Woodard
Janice Smith

Recurring

Perry Moore
Tyriq "Ty" Johnson

Recurring

Brian Stokes Mitchell
Trevor Collins-Newsworthy

Recurring

Tyra Banks
Jacqueline "Jackie" Ames

Recurring

Nia Long
Beullah "Lisa" Wilkes

Recurring

text: Episodes[edit]

text:
Season
Episodes
Originally aired
Nielsen ratings[7]

First aired
Last aired
Rank
Rating

1
25
September 10, 1990 (1990-09-10)
May 6, 1991 (1991-05-06)
N/A
N/A

2
24
September 9, 1991 (1991-09-09)
May 4, 1992 (1992-05-04)
22
14.3[A]

3
24
September 14, 1992 (1992-09-14)
May 10, 1993 (1993-05-10)
16
14.6[B]

4
26
September 20, 1993 (1993-09-20)
May 23, 1994 (1994-05-23)
21
13.7[C]

5
25
September 19, 1994 (1994-09-19)
May 15, 1995 (1995-05-15)
N/A
N/A

6
24
September 18, 1995 (1995-09-18)
May 20, 1996 (1996-05-20)
N/A
N/A

text: Crossovers and other appearances[edit]

text: During the fall 1991–1992 season, NBC gained two hit television shows to anchor their Monday night lineup (Blossom aired immediately after The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air). To gain popularity between the two shows, Will Smith appeared in the Blossom episode "I'm with the Band" as himself under his rap stage name, The Fresh Prince. That same season, Karyn Parsons appeared in the Blossom episode "Wake Up Little Suzy" as Hilary Banks. Parsons also appeared in the Patti LaBelle sitcom Out All Night as Hilary.

text: In the House and Fresh Prince were both executive produced by Winifred Hervey, David Salzman and Quincy Jones. During the second season's first episode, Alfonso Ribeiro and Tatyana Ali appeared as their Fresh Prince characters (Carlton and Ashley Banks) in the crossover episode "Dog Catchers". Later that season, James Avery (Phillip Banks) appeared as a mediator in the episode "Love on a One-Way Street".

text: In the Season 4 episode "My Pest Friend's Wedding", James Avery and Daphne Maxwell Reid (Vivian Banks) guest starred as Dr. Maxwell Stanton's parents (Stanton was played by Ribeiro). Both Avery and Reid portrayed the parents of Ribeiro's Fresh Prince character. Joseph Marcell, who played the wisecracking Geoffrey Butler on Fresh Prince, appeared as an officiating minister in the same episode.

text: Syndication[edit]

text: The series was produced by NBC Productions in association with the Stuffed Dog Company and Quincy Jones Entertainment (later Quincy Jones-David Salzman Entertainment in 1993). After the show was released to syndication in 1994, the series was distributed by Warner Bros. Television, which continues to distribute the show worldwide (although NBCUniversal does own the series' copyright). WGN America was the first cable channel to acquire the series in 1997, and TBS acquired the series a year later in 1998; both channels carried the series until the fall of 2003, though TBS reacquired the series in 2007.

text: The theme song was shown in the original TBS run, but after TBS re-acquired Fresh Prince in 2007, the opening credits were truncated and the theme song was removed and replaced with the instrumental version used as the show's closing theme. These versions also re-added portions of scenes cut from the original syndicated prints for some episodes, particularly those from Seasons 3 to 6. TBS continues to air the series today, early in the morning. Reruns also aired on WPIX-TV back to back weeknights at 6 pm and6:30 pm EST from 1994 until 2000, on weekdays 5 pm from 2000 to 2005, and sometimes on weekends, until 2007. The series was still rerunning on The WB's affiliation WPIX-TV until 2006. While moving from The WB to Nick at Nite, it was airing to 2006-2009 and moved to Disney XD.

text: In July 2009, Disney XD acquired the rights to the series, though it was quickly moved from prime time to late night, and only episodes from Seasons 1 to 3 are aired, mainly because those episodes are more appropriate for young viewers as they do not contain as many mature themes, sexual content and strong language as later episodes. In August 2010, Disney XD stopped airing the show. ABC Family (now called Freeform) acquired the series in September 2008, though airing all 148 episodes; originally airing exclusively on Saturday nights, the series was added to ABC Family's weekday line up in late 2009. On September 29, 2014, Disney/ABC's rights to the show expired. Viacom Media Networks got the series back.

text: In October 2014, Viacom Media Networks also gave the series to BET, and it would also air on Centric. It was previously aired on MTV's retro block. The series is also re-aired on VH1. On November 2, 2015, the series started airing on the Family Channel in Canada. On January 1, 2017, the series was added to Netflix in the United Kingdom and Ireland. In 2014, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air started airing again in Nickelodeon's block night channel, Nick at Nite, but was removed again in 2018.

text: In 2017, the series began from the beginning on the 5* channel in the UK. MeTV will start airing the show in September 2018.

text: DVD releases[edit]

text: Warner Home Video has released the complete series, seasons 1 to 6, on DVD in Region 1.[8] Seasons 1 to 4 have been released in Regions 2 and 4. Seasons 5 to 6 have been released in Region 2 in Germany, and in the complete series boxset in the United Kingdom. The episodes and DVD menus are in English; only the DVD packaging is in German.

text:
DVD name
Ep #
Release dates

Region 1
Region 2
Region 4

The Complete First Season
25
February 8, 2005[9]
February 21, 2005[10]
April 13, 2005[11]

The Complete Second Season
24
October 11, 2005[12]
November 21, 2005[13]
March 1, 2006[14]

The Complete Third Season
24
February 14, 2006[15]
June 26, 2006[16]
August 9, 2006[17]

The Complete Fourth Season
26
August 8, 2006[18]
January 22, 2007[19]
December 6, 2006[20]

The Complete Fifth Season
25
May 11, 2010[21]
June 18, 2010
N/A

The Complete Sixth Season
24
April 19, 2011
May 6, 2011
N/A

text: Awards and nominations[edit]

text:
Awards
Outcome
Recipient(s)
Year

ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards:

Top TV Series
Won
Quincy Jones
Will Smith
DJ Jazzy Jeff
1994

Emmy Awards:

Outstanding Individual Achievement in Lighting Direction for a Comedy Series
Nominated
Art Busch
1996

Golden Globe Awards:

Best Performance by an Actor in a TV-Series – Comedy/Musical
Nominated
Will Smith
1994

Best Performance by an Actor in a TV-Series – Comedy/Musical
Nominated[22]
Will Smith
1993

Image Award:

Outstanding Comedy Series
Nominated

1997

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Won
Alfonso Ribeiro
1996

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Nominated
Will Smith
1997

Outstanding Youth Actor/Actress
Won
Tatyana M. Ali
1997

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Nominated
Janet Hubert-Whitten
1991

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Nominated
Nia Long
1996

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Nominated
Daphne Maxwell Reid
1996

Kids' Choice Awards:

Favorite Television Actor
Nominated
Will Smith
1996

Favorite Television Show
Nominated

1996

Favorite TV Actress
Won
Tatyana M. Ali
1996

NCLR Bravo Awards:

Outstanding Television Series Actor in a Crossover Role
Nominated
Alfonso Ribeiro
1996

TP de Oro:

Best Foreign Series (Mejor Serie Extranjera)
Nominated

1996

Best Foreign Series (Mejor Serie Extranjera)
Won

1994

TV Land Awards:

Best Broadcast Butler
Nominated
Joseph Marcell
2004

Favorite "Fish Out of Water"
Nominated
Will Smith
2004

Young Artist Awards:

Best Performance by an Actor Under Ten – Television
Won
Ross Bagley
1996

Best Performance by an Actor Under Ten in a TV Series
Won
Ross Bagley
1995

Best Youth Comedienne
Nominated
Tatyana M. Ali
1994

Best Young Actor Guest Starring in a Television Series
Nominated
Larenz Tate
1993

Best Young Actor Guest Starring or Recurring Role in a TV Series
Nominated
Tevin Campbell
1992

Best New Family Television Comedy Series
Won

1991

YoungStar Award:

Best Performance by a Young Actress in a Comedy TV Series
Won
Tatyana M. Ali
1997

text: Possible reboot[edit]

text: On August 13, 2015, it was reported that a reboot of the show was in development by Overbrook Entertainment, with Will Smith serving as a producer.[23][24] In August 2016, during a promotional interview with the E! television network, for his then upcoming film Suicide Squad, Smith denied that a reboot was in development, saying that it would happen "...pretty close to when Hell freezes over."[25]

text: Notes[edit]

text:
Jump up ^ Tied with Empty Nest
Jump up ^ Tied with Hangin' with Mr. Cooper and The Jackie Thomas Show
Jump up ^ Tied with Dave's World

tag: ol


document_title: List of conflicts in the United States

question_text: when was the last time a war was fought on american soil

root

text: List of conflicts in the United States

text: 18th century[edit]

text:
1775–1783 American Revolutionary War
1775
Battles of Lexington and Concord
Siege of Boston
Battle of Ticonderoga
Battle of Bunker Hill
1776
Battle of Long Island
Battle of Harlem Heights
Battle of White Plains
Battle of Trenton
1777
Battle of Princeton
Battle of Oriskany
Battle of Bennington
Battle of Brandywine Creek
Battle of Saratoga
Capture of Philadelphia
Battle of Germantown
1778
Battle of Monmouth
Capture of Savannah
1779
Battle of Baton Rouge
Battle of Vincennes
1780
Siege of Charleston
Battle of Camden
Battle of King's Mountain
1781 Surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown
Battle of Cowpens
Battle of Guilford Court House
Siege of Ninety Six
Siege of Yorktown
1777–1794 Cherokee–American wars
1783–1788 Second Pennamite War between settlers from Connecticut and Pennsylvania in Wyoming Valley of Pennsylvania
1785–1795 Northwest Indian War
1786–1787 Shays' Rebellion
1791–1794 Whiskey Rebellion
1798–1800 Quasi-War, an undeclared naval war with France

tag: ul

text: 19th century[edit]

text:
1804 Battle of Sitka Russian forces defeat the Tlingit in the last major armed conflict between Europeans and Alaska Natives.
1811 Tecumseh's War
1812–1815 War of 1812
1812
Siege of Fort of Mackinac
First Battle of Sackett's Harbor
Battle of Brownstown
Battle of Maguaga
Battle of Fort Dearborn
Siege of Detroit
Siege of Fort Harrison
Siege of Fort Wayne
Battle of the Mississinewa
1813
Battle of Frenchtown
Raid on Elizabethtown
Battle of Ogdensburg
Siege of Fort Meigs
Battle of Sackett's Harbor
Battle of Craney Island
Battle of Fort Stephenson
Battle of St. Michaels
Battle of Lake Erie The Battle of Lake Erie
Capture of Fort Niagara
1814
Raid on Fort Oswego
Siege of Prairie du Chien
Battle of Big Sandy Creek
Battle of Mackinac Island
Battle of Bladensburg
Burning of Washington
Raid on Alexandria
Battle of Caulk's Field
Battle of North Point
Battle of Lake Champlain
Battle of Baltimore
Battle of Pensacola (1812)
1815
Battle of New Orleans
Battle of Fort Bowyer
1813–1814 Creek War
1817–1818 First Seminole War
1827 Winnebago War
1831 Nat Turner's Rebellion
1832 Black Hawk War
1835–1842 Second Seminole War
1835–1836 Toledo War (bloodless)
1838 Missouri Mormon War
1838–1839 Aroostook War
1839 Honey War (bloodless)
1841–1842 Dorr War
1845 Milwaukee Bridge War
1846–1848 Mexican–American War
1846 Battle of Palo Alto
1846 Battle of Resaca de la Palma
1846 Occupation of Santa Fe
1846 Battle of Monterey
1846 Siege of Los Angeles
1846 Battle of San Pasqual
1846 Battle of Rio San Gabriel
1848–1855 Cayuse War
1854–1858 Bleeding Kansas
1855–1858 Third Seminole War
1857–1858 Utah War
1859 Pig War
1860 Pyramid Lake War
1861–1865 American Civil War
1861
Battle of Fort Sumter
Battle of Philippi
Battle of Big Bethel
First Battle of Bull Run
Battle of Balls Bluff
1862
Battle of Roanoke Island
Battle of Fort Donelson
Battle of Pea Ridge
Battle of Hampton Roads
Battle of Shiloh
Battle of Island Number 10
Battle of Fair Oaks
Battle of Memphis
Battle of Cross Keys
Battle of Port Republic
Seven Days' Battles
Battle of Baton Rouge
Battle of Cedar Mountain
Second Battle of Bull Run
Battle of Antietam
Battle of Fredericksburg
Battle of Stones River
1863 The Battle of Gettysburg
Battle of Chancellorsville
Siege of Vicksburg
Battle of Gettysburg
Battle of Chickamauga
Battle of Chattanooga
Battle of Knoxville
1864
Battle of Olustee
Battle of the Wilderness
Battle of Spotsylvania
Battle of North Anna
Battle of Cold Harbor
Siege of Petersburg
Battle of the Crater
Battle of Mobile Bay
Siege of Atlanta
Battle of Franklin II
Battle of Nashville
1865
Battle of Natural Bridge
Battle of Bentonville
Battle of Five Forks
Third Battle of Petersburg
Battle of Appomattox Court House
1862 Dakota War of 1862
1863–1865 Colorado War
1864 Sand Creek Massacre
1866–1868 Red Cloud's War
1867–1875 Comanche War
1872–1873 Modoc War
1876–1877 Black Hills War
1877 Nez Percé War
1878 Lincoln County War
1878–1900 Colorado Range War
1882 Pleasant Valley War
1890–1891 Ghost Dance War
1889–1893 Johnson County War
1891-1892 Coal Creek War
1891–1893 Garza Revolution
1898 Spanish–American War
1898 Battle of Manila Bay
1898 Battle of Yauco
1898 Battle of Guayama
1898 Battle of Coamo
1899–1902 Philippine–American War
1899–1913 Moro Rebellion

text: 20th century[edit]

text:
1913-1914 Colorado Coalfield War
1914–1918 World War I
1914 A Japanese fleet captures the Mariana Islands from Germany without any loss of life.  This is notable as the only land action fought during World War I that took place on what is now U.S. soil (Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands).
1917 The U.S. enters the war.
1918 German submarine SM U-156 attacks the port of Orleans, Massachusetts on July 21, sinking several small vessels, in an action which became known as the Bombardment of Orleans.
1915 Bandit War
1916 Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa leads a night raid on the New Mexico border town of Columbus.
1921 Battle of Blair Mountain
1941–1945 World War II
1941 Japanese surprise attack on American naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
1942 Bombardment of Fort Stevens, Oregon by Japanese submarine I-25
1942 The Lookout Air Raids by a floatplane from Japanese submarine I-25; incendiary bombs were dropped but did not start a forest fire in Oregon
1941–1945 Mostly during a period known as the "Second Happy Time", numerous American warships and merchant vessels sunk in American territorial waters by German U-boats.
1942–1943 World War II Battle of the Aleutian Islands in Alaska.
1944–1945 Fire balloon bombing of the US by Japanese balloon bombs: six civilians killed, minor damage inflicted.


document_title: Water intoxication

question_text: who has died from drinking too much water

text: Water intoxication

text: Risk factors[edit]

text: Low body mass (infants)[edit]

text: It can be very easy for children under one year old to absorb too much water, especially if the child is under nine months old. Because of their small body mass, it is easy for them to take in a large amount of water relative to body mass and total body sodium stores.[4]

tag: p

text: Endurance sports[edit]

text: Marathon runners are susceptible to water intoxication if they drink too much while running. This is caused when sodium levels drop below 135 μmol/L when athletes consume large amounts of fluid. This has been noted to be the result of the encouragement of excessive fluid replacement by various guidelines. This has largely been identified in marathon runners as a dilutional hyponatremia.[5] A study conducted on participants of the 2002 Boston marathon found that thirteen percent finished the race with hyponatremia. The study concluded that the strongest predictor of hyponatremia was weight gain while racing (over-hydration), and hyponatremia was just as likely to occur in runners who chose sports drinks as those who chose water.[5] Medical personnel at marathon events are trained to suspect water intoxication immediately when runners collapse or show signs of confusion.

text: Overexertion and heat stress[edit]

text: Any activity or situation that promotes heavy sweating can lead to water intoxication when water is consumed to replace lost fluids. Persons working in extreme heat and/or humidity for long periods must take care to drink and eat in ways that help to maintain electrolyte balance. People using drugs such as MDMA (often referred to colloquially as "Ecstasy") may overexert themselves, perspire heavily, feel increased thirst, and then drink large amounts of water to rehydrate, leading to electrolyte imbalance and water intoxication – this is compounded by MDMA use increasing the levels of antidiuretic hormone (ADH), decreasing the amount of water lost through urination.[6] Even people who are resting quietly in extreme heat or humidity may run the risk of water intoxication if they drink large amounts of water over short periods for rehydration.

text: Psychiatric conditions[edit]

text: Psychogenic polydipsia is the psychiatric condition in which patients feel compelled to drink large quantities of water, thus putting them at risk of water intoxication. This condition can be especially dangerous if the patient also exhibits other psychiatric indications (as is often the case), as the care-takers might misinterpret the hyponatremic symptoms.[7]

text: Iatrogenic[edit]

text: When an unconscious person is being fed intravenously (for example, total parenteral nutrition) or via a nasogastric tube, the fluids given must be carefully balanced in composition to match fluids and electrolytes lost. These fluids are typically hypertonic, and so water is often co-administered. If the electrolytes are not monitored (even in an ambulatory patient), either hypernatremia or hyponatremia may result.[8]

text: Some neurological/psychiatric medications (Oxcarbazepine, among others) have been found to cause hyponatremia in some patients.[9] Patients with diabetes insipidus are particularly vulnerable due to rapid fluid processing.[10]

text: Pathophysiology[edit]

text: At the onset of this condition, fluid outside the cells has an excessively low amount of solutes, such as sodium and other electrolytes, in comparison to fluid inside the cells, causing the fluid to move into the cells to balance its concentration. This causes the cells to swell. In the brain, this swelling increases intracranial pressure (ICP), which leads to the first observable symptoms of water intoxication: headache, personality changes, changes in behavior, confusion, irritability, and drowsiness. These are sometimes followed by difficulty breathing during exertion, muscle weakness & pain, twitching, or cramping, nausea, vomiting, thirst, and a dulled ability to perceive and interpret sensory information. As the condition persists, papillary and vital signs may result including bradycardia and widened pulse pressure. The cells in the brain may swell to the point where blood flow is interrupted resulting in cerebral edema. Swollen brain cells may also apply pressure to the brain stem causing central nervous system dysfunction. Both cerebral edema and interference with the central nervous system are dangerous and could result in seizures, brain damage, coma or death.[11]

text: Prevention[edit]

text: Water intoxication can be prevented if a person's intake of water does not grossly exceed their losses. Healthy kidneys are able to excrete approximately 800 millilitres to 1 litre of fluid water (0.84 - 1.04 quarts) per hour.[12] However, stress (from prolonged physical exertion), as well as disease states, can greatly reduce this amount.[12]

text: Treatment[edit]

text: Mild intoxication may remain asymptomatic and require only fluid restriction. In more severe cases, treatment consists of:

text:
Diuretics to increase urination, which are most effective for excess blood volume.
Vasopressin receptor antagonists

text: Notable cases[edit]

text:
1991, Andy Warhol: Five years after his death, Warhol's family publicly accused the hospital where he had his gallbladder removed of causing his death by water intoxication administered post-operatively. A claimed autopsy weight of 150 lbs, with his weight being 128 lbs when admitted, was cited as evidence that too much fluid has been given.[13]
October 24, 1995: Anna Wood, a 15-year-old Australian schoolgirl, died from the effects of water intoxication secondary to use of MDMA (commonly known as Ecstasy).
November 16, 1995: Leah Betts, an English schoolgirl, died as the result of drinking too much water, though in the media her death was mistakenly attributed to taking an ecstasy tablet at her 18th birthday party.[14]
2003: British actor Anthony Andrews survived a case of water intoxication. He was performing as Henry Higgins in a revival of the musical My Fair Lady at the time, and consumed up to eight litres of water a day. He was unconscious and in intensive care for three days.[15][16]
January 12, 2007: Jennifer Strange died after drinking what is believed to be 2 gallons (7.5 liters) of water in an attempt to win a Nintendo Wii. The KDND radio station's morning show, the Morning Rave, held an on-air contest entitled "Hold Your Wee for a Wii," in which contestants were asked to drink as much water as they could without urinating. KDND was subsequently ordered to pay US$16,577,118 in damages to Jennifer's family.


document_title: List of first overall National Football League draft picks

question_text: who went number 1 in the nfl draft

question_tokens: who went number 1 in the nfl draft

text: Key[edit]

text:
B
Back[A 1]
K
Kicker
NT
Nose tackle

C
Center
LB
Linebacker
FB
Fullback

DB
Defensive back
P
Punter
HB
Halfback

DE
Defensive end
QB
Quarterback
WR
Wide receiver

DT
Defensive tackle
RB
Running back
G
Guard

E
End
T
Offensive tackle
TE
Tight end

tag: table

text:
*
Selected to a Pro Bowl

‡
Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame
(all were also selected to a Pro Bowl)

text: List of first overall picks[edit]

text:
First overall draft picks

Year
Name
Position
College
Team
Notes

1936
Berwanger, JayJay Berwanger[A 2]
HB
Chicago
Philadelphia Eagles
7000100000000000000♠Heisman Trophy (1935)

1937
Francis, SamSam Francis
FB
Nebraska
Philadelphia Eagles
5000000000000000000♠—

1938
Davis, CorbettCorbett Davis
FB
Indiana
Cleveland Rams
5000000000000000000♠—

1939
Aldrich, KiKi Aldrich*
C
TCU
Chicago Cardinals
7000100000000000000♠NFL All-Star Game (1939, 1942)[7]

1940
Cafego, GeorgeGeorge Cafego
HB
Tennessee
Chicago Cardinals
5000000000000000000♠—

1941
Harmon, TomTom Harmon
HB
Michigan
Chicago Bears
7000100000000000000♠Heisman Trophy (1940)

1942
Dudley, BillBill Dudley‡
HB
Virginia
Pittsburgh Steelers
7000300000000000000♠NFL All-Star Game (1950, 1951)[8]
Pro Football Hall of Fame (1966)[8]
NFL MVP (1946)[8]

1943
Sinkwich, FrankFrank Sinkwich
HB
Georgia
Detroit Lions
7000100000000000000♠Heisman Trophy (1942)

1944
Bertelli, AngeloAngelo Bertelli
QB
Notre Dame
Boston Yanks
7000100000000000000♠Heisman Trophy (1943)

1945
Trippi, CharleyCharley Trippi‡
HB
Georgia
Chicago Cardinals
7000300000000000000♠Pro Bowl (1952, 1953)[9]
Pro Football Hall of Fame (1968)[9]
NFL Champion (1947)[10]

1946
Dancewicz, FrankFrank Dancewicz
QB
Notre Dame
Boston Yanks
5000000000000000000♠—

1947
Fenimore, BobBob Fenimore
HB
Oklahoma A&M
Chicago Bears
5000000000000000000♠—

1948
Gilmer, HarryHarry Gilmer*
QB
Alabama
Washington Redskins
7000100000000000000♠Pro Bowl (1950, 1952)[11]

1949
Bednarik, ChuckChuck Bednarik‡
C, LB
Penn
Philadelphia Eagles
7000300000000000000♠Pro Bowl (1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1960)[12]
Pro Football Hall of Fame (1967)[12]
NFL Champion (1949, 1960)[13][14]

1950
Hart, LeonLeon Hart*
E
Notre Dame
Detroit Lions
7000200000000000000♠Heisman Trophy (1949)
Pro Bowl (1951)[15]

1951
Rote, KyleKyle Rote*
HB
SMU
New York Giants
7000100000000000000♠Pro Bowl (1953, 1954, 1955, 1956)[16]

1952
Wade, BillBill Wade*
QB
Vanderbilt
Los Angeles Rams
7000100000000000000♠Pro Bowl (1958, 1963)[17]

1953
Babcock, HarryHarry Babcock
E
Georgia
San Francisco 49ers
5000000000000000000♠—

1954
Garrett, BobbyBobby Garrett
QB
Stanford
Cleveland Browns
5000000000000000000♠—

1955
Shaw, GeorgeGeorge Shaw
QB
Oregon
Baltimore Colts
7000100000000000000♠NFL Champion (1958)[18]

1956
Glick, GaryGary Glick
DB
Colorado A&M
Pittsburgh Steelers
5000000000000000000♠—

1957
Hornung, PaulPaul Hornung‡
HB
Notre Dame
Green Bay Packers
7000600000000000000♠Heisman Trophy (1956)
Pro Bowl (1959, 1960)[19]
Pro Football Hall of Fame (1986)[19]
NFL Champion (1961, 1962, 1965)[20][21][22]
Super Bowl champion (I)[23]
NFL MVP (1961)[19]

1958
Hill, KingKing Hill
QB
Rice
Chicago Cardinals
5000000000000000000♠—

1959
Duncan, RandyRandy Duncan
QB
Iowa
Green Bay Packers
5000000000000000000♠—

1960
Cannon, BillyBilly Cannon[A 3]
RB
LSU
Los Angeles Rams
7000100000000000000♠Heisman Trophy (1959)

1961
Mason, TommyTommy Mason*
RB
Tulane
Minnesota Vikings
7000100000000000000♠Pro Bowl (1962, 1963, 1964)[24]

1962
Davis, ErnieErnie Davis[A 4]
RB
Syracuse
Washington Redskins
7000100000000000000♠Heisman Trophy (1961)

1963
Baker, TerryTerry Baker
QB
Oregon State
Los Angeles Rams
7000100000000000000♠Heisman Trophy (1962)

1964
Parks, DaveDave Parks*
WR
Texas Tech
San Francisco 49ers
7000100000000000000♠Pro Bowl (1964, 1965, 1966)[25]

1965
Frederickson, TuckerTucker Frederickson*
RB
Auburn
New York Giants
7000100000000000000♠Pro Bowl (1965)[26]

1966
Nobis, TommyTommy Nobis*
LB
Texas
Atlanta Falcons
7000100000000000000♠Pro Bowl (1966, 1967, 1968, 1970, 1972)[27]

1967[A 5]
Smith, BubbaBubba Smith*
DE
Michigan State
Baltimore Colts
7000200000000000000♠Pro Bowl (1970, 1971)[28]
Super Bowl champion (V)[29]

1968[A 5]
Yary, RonRon Yary‡
T
USC
Minnesota Vikings
7000200000000000000♠Pro Bowl (1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977)[30]
Pro Football Hall of Fame (2001)[30]

1969[A 5]
Simpson, O. J.O. J. Simpson‡
RB
USC
Buffalo Bills[A 6]
7000400000000000000♠Heisman Trophy (1968)
Pro Bowl (1969, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976)[31]
Pro Football Hall of Fame (1985)[31]
NFL MVP (1973)[31]

1970
Bradshaw, TerryTerry Bradshaw‡
QB
Louisiana Tech
Pittsburgh Steelers
7000500000000000000♠Pro Bowl (1975, 1978, 1979)[32]
Pro Football Hall of Fame (1989)[32]
Super Bowl champion (IX, X, XIII, XIV)[33][34][35][36]
Super Bowl MVP (XIII, XIV)[32]
NFL MVP (1978)[32]

1971
Plunkett, JimJim Plunkett
QB
Stanford
New England Patriots
7000300000000000000♠Heisman Trophy (1970)
Super Bowl champion (XV, XVIII)[37][38]
Super Bowl MVP (XV)[39]

1972
Patulski, WaltWalt Patulski
DE
Notre Dame
Buffalo Bills
5000000000000000000♠—

1973
Matuszak, JohnJohn Matuszak
DE
Tampa
Houston Oilers
7000100000000000000♠Super Bowl champion (XI, XV)[37][40]

1974
Jones, EdEd Jones*
DE
Tennessee State
Dallas Cowboys
7000200000000000000♠Pro Bowl (1981, 1982, 1983)[41]
Super Bowl champion (XII)[42]

1975
Bartkowski, SteveSteve Bartkowski*
QB
California
Atlanta Falcons
7000100000000000000♠Pro Bowl (1980, 1981)[43]

1976
Selmon, Lee RoyLee Roy Selmon‡
DE
Oklahoma
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
7000200000000000000♠Pro Bowl (1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984)[44]
Pro Football Hall of Fame (1995)[44]

1977
Bell, RickyRicky Bell
RB
USC
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
5000000000000000000♠—

1978
Campbell, EarlEarl Campbell‡
RB
Texas
Houston Oilers
7000400000000000000♠Heisman Trophy (1977)
Pro Bowl (1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1983)[45]
Pro Football Hall of Fame (1991)[45]
NFL MVP (1979)[45]
Rookie of the Year (1978)

1979
Cousineau, TomTom Cousineau[A 7]
LB
Ohio State
Buffalo Bills
5000000000000000000♠—

1980
Sims, BillyBilly Sims*
RB
Oklahoma
Detroit Lions
7000200000000000000♠Heisman Trophy (1978)
Pro Bowl (1980, 1981, 1982)[46]
Rookie of the Year (1980)

1981
Rogers, GeorgeGeorge Rogers*
RB
South Carolina
New Orleans Saints
7000300000000000000♠Heisman Trophy (1980)
Pro Bowl (1981, 1982)[47]
Super Bowl champion (XXII)[48]
Rookie of the Year (1981)

1982
Sims, KennethKenneth Sims
DE
Texas
New England Patriots
5000000000000000000♠—

1983
Elway, JohnJohn Elway‡[A 8]
QB
Stanford
Baltimore Colts
7000500000000000000♠Pro Bowl (1986, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998)[49]
Pro Football Hall of Fame (2004)[49]
Super Bowl champion (XXXII, XXXIII)[50][51]
Super Bowl MVP (XXXIII)[49]
NFL MVP (1987)[49]

1984[A 9]
Fryar, IrvingIrving Fryar*
WR
Nebraska
New England Patriots
7000200000000000000♠Pro Bowl (1985, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997)[52]

1985
Smith, BruceBruce Smith‡
DE
Virginia Tech
Buffalo Bills
7000200000000000000♠Pro Bowl (1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998)[53]
Pro Football Hall of Fame (2009)[53]

1986
Jackson, BoBo Jackson*[A 10]
RB
Auburn
Tampa Bay Buccaneers[A 11]
7000200000000000000♠Heisman Trophy (1985)
Pro Bowl (1990)[54]

1987
Testaverde, VinnyVinny Testaverde*
QB
Miami (FL)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
7000200000000000000♠Heisman Trophy (1986)
Pro Bowl (1996, 1998)[55]

1988
Bruce, AundrayAundray Bruce
LB
Auburn
Atlanta Falcons
5000000000000000000♠—

1989
Aikman, TroyTroy Aikman‡
QB
UCLA
Dallas Cowboys
7000400000000000000♠Pro Bowl (1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996)[56]
Pro Football Hall of Fame (2006)[56]
Super Bowl champion (XXVII, XXVIII, XXX)[57][58][59]
Super Bowl MVP (XXVII)[56]

1990
George, JeffJeff George
QB
Illinois
Indianapolis Colts[A 12]
5000000000000000000♠—

1991
Maryland, RussellRussell Maryland*
DT
Miami (FL)
Dallas Cowboys
7000200000000000000♠Pro Bowl (1993)[60]
Super Bowl champion (XXVII, XXVIII, XXX)[57][58][59]

1992
Emtman, SteveSteve Emtman
DE
Washington
Indianapolis Colts
5000000000000000000♠—

1993
Bledsoe, DrewDrew Bledsoe*
QB
Washington State
New England Patriots
7000200000000000000♠Pro Bowl (1994, 1996, 1997, 2002)[61]
Super Bowl champion (XXXVI)[62]

1994
Wilkinson, DanDan Wilkinson
DT
Ohio State
Cincinnati Bengals
5000000000000000000♠—

1995
Carter, Ki-JanaKi-Jana Carter
RB
Penn State
Cincinnati Bengals
5000000000000000000♠—

1996
Johnson, KeyshawnKeyshawn Johnson*
WR
USC
New York Jets
7000200000000000000♠Pro Bowl (1998, 1999, 2001)[63]
Super Bowl champion (XXXVII)[64]

1997
Pace, OrlandoOrlando Pace‡
T
Ohio State
St. Louis Rams
7000200000000000000♠Pro Bowl (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005)[65]
Pro Football Hall of Fame (2016)[65]
Super Bowl champion (XXXIV)[66]

1998
Manning, PeytonPeyton Manning*
QB
Tennessee
Indianapolis Colts
7000400000000000000♠Pro Bowl (1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014)[67]
Super Bowl champion (XLI, 50)[68]
Super Bowl MVP (XLI)[67]
NFL MVP (2003, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2013)[67]

1999
Couch, TimTim Couch
QB
Kentucky
Cleveland Browns
5000000000000000000♠—

2000
Brown, CourtneyCourtney Brown
DE
Penn State
Cleveland Browns
5000000000000000000♠—

2001
Vick, MichaelMichael Vick*
QB
Virginia Tech
Atlanta Falcons
7000100000000000000♠Pro Bowl (2002, 2004, 2005, 2010)[69]

2002
Carr, DavidDavid Carr
QB
Fresno State
Houston Texans
7000100000000000000♠Super Bowl champion (XLVI)

2003
Palmer, CarsonCarson Palmer*
QB
USC
Cincinnati Bengals
7000200000000000000♠Heisman Trophy (2002)
Pro Bowl (2005, 2006, 2015)[70]

2004
Manning, EliEli Manning*[A 13]
QB
Ole Miss
San Diego Chargers
7000200000000000000♠Pro Bowl (2008, 2011, 2012, 2015)[71]
Super Bowl champion (XLII, XLVI)[72][73]
Super Bowl MVP (XLII, XLVI)[71]

2005
Smith, AlexAlex Smith*
QB
Utah
San Francisco 49ers
7000100000000000000♠ Pro Bowl (2013, 2016, 2017)

2006
Williams, MarioMario Williams*
DE
North Carolina State
Houston Texans
7000100000000000000♠Pro Bowl (2008, 2009, 2013,2014)[74]

2007
Russell, JaMarcusJaMarcus Russell
QB
LSU
Oakland Raiders
5000000000000000000♠—

2008
Long, JakeJake Long*
T
Michigan
Miami Dolphins
7000100000000000000♠Pro Bowl (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)[75]

2009
Stafford, MatthewMatthew Stafford*
QB
Georgia
Detroit Lions
7000100000000000000♠Pro Bowl (2014)

2010
Bradford, SamSam Bradford
QB
Oklahoma
St. Louis Rams
7000100000000000000♠Heisman Trophy (2008)
Rookie of the Year (2010)

2011
Newton, CamCam Newton*
QB
Auburn
Carolina Panthers
7000200000000000000♠Heisman Trophy (2010)
Pro Bowl (2011, 2013, 2015)[76]
Rookie of the Year (2011)
NFL MVP (2015)

2012
Luck, AndrewAndrew Luck*
QB
Stanford
Indianapolis Colts
7000100000000000000♠Pro Bowl (2012, 2013, 2014)[77]

2013
Fisher, EricEric Fisher
T
Central Michigan
Kansas City Chiefs
5000000000000000000♠—

2014
Clowney, JadeveonJadeveon Clowney*
DE
South Carolina
Houston Texans
7000100000000000000♠Pro Bowl (2016, 2017)

2015
Winston, JameisJameis Winston*
QB
Florida State
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
7000100000000000000♠Heisman Trophy (2013)
7000100000000000000♠Pro Bowl (2015)

2016
Goff, JaredJared Goff*
QB
California
Los Angeles Rams
7000100000000000000♠Pro Bowl (2017)

2017
Garrett, MylesMyles Garrett
DE
Texas A&M
Cleveland Browns
5000000000000000000♠—

2018
Mayfield, BakerBaker Mayfield
QB
Oklahoma
Cleveland Browns
7000100000000000000♠Heisman Trophy (2017)

text: Statistics[edit]

text:
The following teams have never had the first overall pick

Denver Broncos
Jacksonville Jaguars
Baltimore Ravens
Seattle Seahawks

Eight teams have made the playoffs in the same season in which they made the first overall selection in the draft. They were the 1968 Minnesota Vikings, 1978 Houston Oilers, 1982 New England Patriots, 1991 Dallas Cowboys, 2004 San Diego Chargers, 2008 Miami Dolphins, 2012 Indianapolis Colts, and 2013 Kansas City Chiefs.
No team has ever gone from the first overall pick to a Super Bowl win in the same season. The Minnesota Vikings lost Super Bowl IV the year after they had the first overall pick.

text: First overall draft picks per team[edit]

text: The Indianapolis Colts and the Los Angeles Rams have each held the first overall pick a total of seven times, the most of any NFL team. This includes the Colts' time in Baltimore and the Rams' time in Cleveland and St. Louis. Only four teams in the league have never held the first overall pick in the NFL draft: the Denver Broncos, the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Seattle Seahawks and the Baltimore Ravens. The Boston Yanks are the only defunct franchise to have held a first overall pick.[78]

text:
Team
Total
number
Year(s)
Notes
Ref

Indianapolis Colts
7
1955, 1967, 1983, 1990
1992, 1998, 2012

3 as the Baltimore Colts
4 as the Indianapolis Colts

[79]

Los Angeles Rams
7
1938, 1952, 1960
1963, 1997, 2010, 2016

1 as the Cleveland Rams
2 as the St. Louis Rams
4 as the Los Angeles Rams

[80]

Tampa Bay Buccaneers
5
1976, 1977, 1986, 1987, 2015

Also had first selection in the 1984 NFL supplemental draft of USFL and CFL players.

[81]

Cleveland Browns
5
1954, 1999, 2000, 2017, 2018

[82]

Arizona Cardinals
4
1939, 1940, 1945, 1958

4 as the Chicago Cardinals

[83]

Detroit Lions
4
1943, 1950, 1980, 2009

[84]

Atlanta Falcons
4
1966, 1975, 1988, 2001

[85]

Buffalo Bills
4
1969, 1972, 1979, 1985

Also had first selection in the 1961 AFL Draft

[86]

New England Patriots
4
1971, 1982, 1984, 1993

Also had first selection in the 1964 AFL Draft
(as the Boston Patriots)

[87]

Philadelphia Eagles
3
1936, 1937, 1949

[88]

Pittsburgh Steelers
3
1942, 1956, 1970

[89]

San Francisco 49ers
3
1953, 1964, 2005

[90]

Dallas Cowboys
3
1974, 1989, 1991

[91]

Cincinnati Bengals
3
1994, 1995, 2003

[92]

Houston Texans
3
2002, 2006, 2014

[93]

Chicago Bears
2
1941, 1947

[94]

Boston Yanks
2
1944, 1946

[78]

Washington Redskins
2
1948, 1962

[95]

New York Giants
2
1951, 1965

[96]

Green Bay Packers
2
1957, 1959

[97]

Minnesota Vikings
2
1961, 1968

[98]

Tennessee Titans
2
1973, 1978

2 as the Houston Oilers

[99]

New Orleans Saints
1
1981

[100]

New York Jets
1
1996

Also had first selection in the 1965 AFL Draft

[101]

San Diego Chargers
1
2004

[102]

Oakland Raiders
1
2007

Also had first selection in the 1962 AFL Draft

[103]

Miami Dolphins
1
2008

Also had first selection in the 1966 AFL Draft

[104]

Carolina Panthers
1
2011

[105]

Kansas City Chiefs
1
2013

Also had first selection in the 1963 AFL Draft

[106]

text: First overall draft picks by school[edit]

text:
School
Total
number
Year(s)

Notre Dame
5
1944, 1946, 1950, 1957, 1972

USC
5
1968, 1969, 1977, 1996, 2003

Oklahoma
4
1976, 1980, 2010, 2018

Georgia
4
1943, 1945, 1953, 2009

Auburn
4
1965, 1986, 1988, 2011

Stanford
4
1954, 1971, 1983, 2012

Texas
3
1966, 1978, 1982

Ohio State
3
1979, 1994, 1997

Nebraska
2
1937, 1984

Miami (FL)
2
1987, 1991

Tennessee
2
1940, 1998

Penn State
2
1995, 2000

Virginia Tech
2
1985, 2001

LSU
2
1960, 2007

Michigan
2
1941, 2008

South Carolina
2
1981, 2014

California
2
1975, 2016

Chicago
1
1936

Indiana
1
1938

TCU
1
1939

Virginia
1
1942

Oklahoma State
1
1947

Alabama
1
1948

Penn
1
1949

SMU
1
1951

Vanderbilt
1
1952

Oregon
1
1955

Colorado State
1
1956

Rice
1
1958

Iowa
1
1959

Tulane
1
1961

Syracuse
1
1962

Oregon State
1
1963

Texas Tech
1
1964

Michigan State
1
1967

Louisiana Tech
1
1970

Tampa
1
1973

Tennessee State
1
1974

UCLA
1
1989

Illinois
1
1990

Washington
1
1992

Washington State
1
1993

Kentucky
1
1999

Fresno State
1
2002

Ole Miss
1
2004

Utah
1
2005

North Carolina State
1
2006

Central Michigan
1
2013

Florida State
1
2015

Texas A&M
1
2017

text: First overall draft picks by position[edit]

text:
First overall selections by position played[2]:525

Position
Number of selections
Last year selected

Quarterbacks

31

2018

Running backs

23

1995

Defensive linemen

15

2017

Offensive linemen

7

2013

Wide receivers

3

1996

Linebackers

3

1988

Defensive backs

1

1956

text: Notes[edit]

text:
Jump up ^ In American and Canadian football, a back is a player who is lined up behind the linemen, the players who line up closest to the line of scrimmage.
Jump up ^ Jay Berwanger did not sign with the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles traded his rights to the Chicago Bears; he did not sign with them either.
Jump up ^ Billy Cannon signed with the AFL team Houston Oilers rather than the Los Angeles Rams.
Jump up ^ Ernie Davis was subsequently traded to the Cleveland Browns after being drafted by the Washington Redskins.
^ Jump up to: a b c Because of the NFL–AFL merger agreement, the history of the AFL is officially recognized by the NFL and therefore this list includes the Common Draft for the years 1967, 1968, and 1969.
Jump up ^ The Buffalo Bills were a part of the AFL when they selected Simpson with the first overall pick in the 1969 draft. The Bills joined the NFL the next year, in 1970.
Jump up ^ Tom Cousineau chose to sign with the CFL team Montreal Alouettes over the Buffalo Bills.
Jump up ^ John Elway was subsequently traded to the Denver Broncos after being drafted by the Baltimore Colts.
Jump up ^ College seniors who had already signed with the USFL or CFL were not eligible for the regular draft. Instead the NFL held a three round special draft on June 5, 1984. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected Steve Young first overall in that draft.
Jump up ^ Bo Jackson did not sign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and chose to enter the 1987 NFL draft the following year.
Jump up ^ The Cleveland Browns – via the Buffalo Bills originally – possessed the number one overall pick but because they selected Bernie Kosar in the 1985 Supplemental Draft, the pick was subsequently given to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Jump up ^ The Dallas Cowboys originally possessed the number one overall pick but because they selected Steve Walsh in the 1989 Supplemental Draft, the pick was given to the Indianapolis Colts who originally held the second overall pick.
Jump up ^ Eli Manning was subsequently traded to the New York Giants after being drafted by the San Diego Chargers.


document_title: Human sacrifice

question_text: the vestal virgins were associated with the prosperity of which civilization

question_tokens: the vestal virgins were associated with the prosperity of which civilization

text: Human sacrifice

text: Evolution and context[edit]

text: This article  possibly contains original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. (September 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: The idea of human sacrifice has its roots in deep prehistory,[4] in the evolution of human behaviour. From its historical occurrences it seems mostly associated with neolithic or nomadic cultures, on the emergent edge of civilization.

text: Human sacrifice has been practiced on a number of different occasions and in many different cultures. The various rationales behind human sacrifice are the same that motivate religious sacrifice in general. Human sacrifice is intended to bring good fortune and to pacify the gods, for example in the context of the dedication of a completed building like a temple or bridge.

text: In ancient Japan, legends talk about hitobashira ("human pillar"), in which maidens were buried alive at the base or near some constructions to protect the buildings against disasters or enemy attacks,[5] and an almost identical myth appears in the Albanian epos where a sacrifice of a young mother still nursing her child will keep the city of Skadar (today Shkodër in the northern tip of Albania) walls from evil. See Bridge of Arta.

text: For the re-consecration of the Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan in 1487, the Aztecs reported that they killed about 80,400 prisoners over the course of four days. According to Ross Hassig, author of Aztec Warfare, "between 10,000 and 80,400 persons" were sacrificed in the ceremony.[6]

text: Human sacrifice can also have the intention of winning the gods' favour in warfare. In Homeric legend, Iphigeneia was to be sacrificed by her father Agamemnon to appease Artemis so she would allow the Greeks to wage the Trojan War. According to the Bible, Jephthah vowed to devote to God the first creature to come out of his house to meet him if he won the battle against the Ammonites. Judges 11:30-31; "And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands, Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord's, and I will Him a burnt offering." His daughter was the first to come out and meet him. Judges 11:34; "And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter." Although there is some uncertainty as to whether this was human sacrifice or consecration,[7] academia discusses this in the context of human sacrifice, drawing parallels to Abraham's near-sacrifice of Isaac.[8]

text: In some notions of an afterlife, the deceased will benefit from victims killed at his funeral. Mongols, Scythians, early Egyptians and various Mesoamerican chiefs could take most of their household, including servants and concubines, with them to the next world. This is sometimes called a "retainer sacrifice", as the leader's retainers would be sacrificed along with their master, so that they could continue to serve him in the afterlife.

text: Another purpose is divination from the body parts of the victim. According to Strabo, Celts stabbed a victim with a sword and divined the future from his death spasms.[9]

text: Headhunting is the practice of taking the head of a killed adversary, for ceremonial or magical purposes, or for reasons of prestige. It was found in many pre-modern tribal societies.

text: Human sacrifice may be a ritual practiced in a stable society, and may even be conductive to enhance societal bonds (see: Sociology of religion), both by creating a bond unifying the sacrificing community, and in combining human sacrifice and capital punishment, by removing individuals that have a negative effect on societal stability (criminals, religious heretics, foreign slaves or prisoners of war). But outside of civil religion, human sacrifice may also result in outbursts of "blood frenzy" and mass killings that destabilize society. The bursts of human sacrifice during European witch-hunts,[10] or during the French Revolutionary Reign of Terror, show similar sociological patterns[citation needed] (see also Moral panic).

text: Many cultures show traces of prehistoric human sacrifice in their mythologies and religious texts, but ceased the practice before the onset of historical records. Some see the story of Abraham and Isaac (Genesis 22) as an example of an etiological myth explaining the abolition of human sacrifice. The Vedic Purushamedha (literally "human sacrifice") is already a purely symbolic act in its earliest attestation. According to Pliny the Elder, human sacrifice in Ancient Rome was abolished by a senatorial decree in 97 BCE, although by this time the practice had already become so rare that the decree was mostly a symbolic act. Human sacrifice once abolished is typically replaced by either animal sacrifice, or by the "mock-sacrifice" of effigies, such as the Argei in ancient Rome.

text: History by region[edit]

text: Ancient Near East[edit]

text: Ancient Egypt[edit]

text: There may be evidence of retainer sacrifice in the early dynastic period at Abydos, when on the death of a King he would be accompanied with servants, and possibly high officials, who would continue to serve him in eternal life. The skeletons that were found had no obvious signs of trauma, leading to speculation that the giving up of life to serve the King may have been a voluntary act, possibly carried out in a drug induced state. At about 2800 BCE any possible evidence of such practices disappeared, though echoes are perhaps to be seen in the burial of statues of servants in Old Kingdom tombs.[11][12]

text: Mesopotamia[edit]

text: Retainer sacrifice was practised within the royal tombs of ancient Mesopotamia. Courtiers, guards, musicians, handmaidens and grooms were presumed to have committed ritual suicide by taking poison.[13][14] A new examination of skulls from the royal cemetery at Ur, discovered in Iraq almost a century ago, appears to support a more grisly interpretation of human sacrifices associated with elite burials in ancient Mesopotamia than had previously been recognized, say archaeologists. Palace attendants, as part of royal mortuary ritual, were not dosed with poison to meet death serenely. Instead, they were put to death by having a sharp instrument, such as a pike, driven into their heads.[15]

text: Levant[edit]

text: References in the Bible point to an awareness of human sacrifice in the history of ancient near-eastern practice. During a battle with the Israelites the King of Moab gives his firstborn son and heir as a whole burnt offering (olah, as used of the Temple sacrifice) (2 Kings 3:27).[16] The Bible then recounts that following the King's sacrifice "There was great indignation [or wrath] against Israel", and that the Israelites had to raise their siege of the Moabite capital and go away. This verse had perplexed many later Jewish and Christian commentators who tried to explain why should the Moabite King's sacrifice make God angry at the Israelites. Whatever the explanation, evidently at the time of writing such an act of sacrificing the firstborn son and heir was considered as an emergency measure, to be performed in exceptional cases where Divine favor is desperately needed - and that in such cases it might be effective.

text: The binding of Isaac appears in the Book of Genesis (22); the story appears in the Quran but Ismael is the one to be sacrificed. In both the Quranic and Biblical stories, God tests Abraham by asking him to present his son as a sacrifice on Moriah. Abraham agrees to this command without arguing. The story ends with an angel stopping Abraham at the last minute and providing a ram, caught in some nearby bushes, to be sacrificed instead. Many Bible scholars have suggested this story's origin was a remembrance of an era when human sacrifice was abolished in favour of animal sacrifice.[17][18]

text: Another possible instance of human sacrifice mentioned in the Bible is the sacrifice of Jephthah's daughter in Judges 11. Jephthah vows to sacrifice to God whatsoever comes to greet him at the door when he returns home if he is victorious. The vow is stated in the Book of Judges, 11:31: "Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord's, and I will offer Him a burnt offering." When he returns from battle, his virgin daughter runs out to greet him. She begs for, and is granted, "two months to roam the hills and weep with my friends", after which "he [Jephthah] did to her as he had vowed." According to some commentators of rabbinic literature, Jepthah's daughter was not sacrificed, but was forbidden to marry and remained a spinster her entire life, fulfilling the vow that she would be devoted to the Lord.[19]

text: Phoenicia[edit]

text: According to Roman and Greek sources, Phoenicians and Carthaginians sacrificed infants to their gods. The bones of numerous infants have been found in Carthaginian archaeological sites in modern times but the subject of child sacrifice is controversial.[20] In a single child cemetery called the Tophet by archaeologists, an estimated 20,000 urns were deposited.[21]

text: Plutarch (c. 46–120 CE) mentions the practice, as do Tertullian, Orosius, Diodorus Siculus and Philo. Livy and Polybius do not. The Bible asserts that children were sacrificed at a place called the tophet ("roasting place") to the god Moloch. According to Diodorus Siculus' Bibliotheca historica, "There was in their city a bronze image of Cronus extending its hands, palms up and sloping toward the ground, so that each of the children when placed thereon rolled down and fell into a sort of gaping pit filled with fire."[22]

text: Plutarch, however claims that the children were already dead at the time, having been killed by their parents, whose consent—as well as that of the children—was required; Tertullian explains the acquiescence of the children as a product of their youthful trustfulness.[22]

text: The accuracy of such stories is disputed by some modern historians and archaeologists.[23]

text: Europe[edit]

text: Neolithic Europe[edit]

text: There is archaeological evidence of human sacrifice in Neolithic to Eneolithic Europe.

text: Greco-Roman antiquity[edit]

text: References to human sacrifice can be found in Greek historical accounts as well as mythology. The human sacrifice in mythology, the deus ex machina salvation in some versions of Iphigeneia (who was about to be sacrificed by her father Agamemnon) and her replacement with a deer by the goddess Artemis, may be a vestigial memory of the abandonment and discrediting of the practice of human sacrifice among the Greeks in favour of animal sacrifice.[citation needed]

text: In ancient Rome, human sacrifice was infrequent but documented. Roman authors often contrast their own behavior with that of people who would commit the heinous act of human sacrifice. These authors make it clear that such practices were from a much more uncivilized time in the past, far removed.[24] It is thought that many ritualistic celebrations and dedications to gods used to involve human sacrifice, but have now been replaced with symbolic offerings. Dionysius of Halicarnassus[25] says that the ritual of the Argei, in which straw figures were tossed into the Tiber river, may have been a substitute for an original offering of elderly men. Cicero claims that puppets thrown from the Pons Suplicius by the Vestal Virgins in a processional ceremony were substitutes for the past sacrifice of old men.[26] After the Roman defeat at Cannae, two Gauls and two Greeks in male-female couples were buried under the Forum Boarium, in a stone chamber used for the purpose at least once before.[27] In Livy's description of these sacrifices, he distances the practice from Roman tradition and asserts that the past human sacrifices evident in the same location were “wholly alien to the Roman spirit." [28] The rite was apparently repeated in 113 BCE, preparatory to an invasion of Gaul.[29] They buried both the Greeks and the two Gauls alive as a plea to the Gods to save Rome from destruction at the hands of Hannibal. When the Romans conquered the Celts in Gaul, they tortured the people by cutting off their hands and feet and leaving them to die. The Romans justified their actions by also accusing the Celts of practicing human sacrifice.[30]

text: According to Pliny the Elder, human sacrifice was banned by law during the consulship of Publius Licinius Crassus and Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus in 97 BCE, although by this time it was so rare that the decree was largely symbolic.[31] The Romans also had traditions that centered around ritual murder, but which they did not consider to be sacrifice. Such practices included burying unchaste Vestal Virgins alive and drowning hermaphroditic children. These were seen as reactions to extraordinary circumstances as opposed to being part of Roman tradition. Vestal Virgins who were accused of being unchaste were put to death, and a special chamber was built to bury them alive. This aim was to please the gods and restore balance to Rome.[24] Human sacrifices, in the form of burying individuals alive, were not uncommon during times of panic in ancient Rome. However, the burial of unchaste Vestal Virgins was also practiced in times of peace. Their chasteness was thought to be a safeguard of the city, and even in punishment the state of their bodies was preserved in order to maintain the peace.[32]

text:
Captured enemy leaders were only occasionally executed at the conclusion of a Roman triumph, and the Romans themselves did not consider these deaths a sacrificial offering.[citation needed] Gladiator combat was thought by the Romans to have originated as fights to the death among war captives at the funerals of Roman generals, and Christian polemicists such as Tertullian considered deaths in the arena to be little more than human sacrifice.[33]
Over time, participants became criminals and slaves, and their death was considered a sacrifice to the Manes on behalf of the dead.[34]

text: Political rumors sometimes centered around sacrifice and in doing so, aimed to liken individuals to barbarians and show that the individual had become uncivilized. Human sacrifice also became a marker and defining characteristic of magic and bad religion.[35]

text: Celts[edit]

text: According to Roman sources, Celtic Druids engaged extensively in human sacrifice.[36] According to Julius Caesar, the slaves and dependents of Gauls of rank would be burnt along with the body of their master as part of his funerary rites.[37] He also describes how they built wicker figures that were filled with living humans and then burned.[38] According to Cassius Dio, Boudica's forces impaled Roman captives during her rebellion against the Roman occupation, to the accompaniment of revelry and sacrifices in the sacred groves of Andate.[39] Different gods reportedly required different kinds of sacrifices. Victims meant for Esus were hanged, Tollund Man being an example, those meant for Taranis immolated and those for Teutates drowned. Some, like the Lindow Man, may have gone to their deaths willingly.

text: Ritualised decapitation was a major religious and cultural practice which has found copious support in the archaeological record, including the numerous skulls discovered in Londinium's River Walbrook and the 12 headless corpses at the French late Iron Age sanctuary of Gournay-sur-Aronde.[40]

text: Germanic peoples[edit]

text: Human sacrifice was not a particularly common occurrence among the Germanic peoples, being resorted to in exceptional situations arising from crises of an environmental (crop failure, drought, famine) or social (war) nature, often thought to derive at least in part from the failure of the king to establish and/or maintain prosperity and peace (árs ok friðar) in the lands entrusted to him.[41] In later Scandinavian practice, human sacrifice appears to have become more institutionalised, and was repeated as part of a larger sacrifice on a periodic basis (according to Adam of Bremen every nine years).[42]

text: Evidence of Germanic practices of human sacrifice predating the Viking Age depend on archaeology and on a few scattered accounts in Greco-Roman ethnography. For example, Tacitus reports Germanic human sacrifice to (what he interprets as) Mercury, and to Isis specifically among the Suebians. Jordanes reports how the Goths sacrificed prisoners of war to Mars, suspending the severed arms of the victims from the branches of trees.

text: By the 10th century, Germanic paganism had become restricted to Scandinavia. One account by Ahmad ibn Fadlan as part of his account of an embassy to the Volga Bulgars in 921 claims that Norse warriors were sometimes buried with enslaved women with the belief that these women would become their wives in Valhalla. In his description of the funeral of a Scandinavian chieftain, a slave volunteers to die with a Norseman. After ten days of festivities, she is stabbed to death by an old woman, a sort of priestess who is referred to as Völva or "Angel of Death", and burnt together with the dead in his boat. This practice is evidenced archaeologically, with many male warrior burials (such as the ship burial at Balladoole on the Isle of Man, or that at Oseberg in Norway[43]) also containing female remains with signs of trauma.

text: According to Adémar de Chabannes, just before his death in 932 or 933, Rollo (founder and first ruler of the Viking principality of Normandy) practised human sacrifices to appease the pagan gods, and at the same time made gifts to the churches in Normandy.[44]

text: Adam von Bremen recorded human sacrifices to Odin in 11th-century Sweden, at the Temple at Uppsala, a tradition which is confirmed by Gesta Danorum and the Norse sagas. According to the Ynglinga saga, king Domalde was sacrificed there in the hope of bringing greater future harvests and the total domination of all future wars. The same saga also relates that Domalde's descendant king Aun sacrificed nine of his own sons to Odin in exchange for longer life, until the Swedes stopped him from sacrificing his last son, Egil.

text: Heidrek in the Hervarar saga agrees to the sacrifice of his son in exchange for the command over a fourth of the men of Reidgotaland. With these, he seizes the entire kingdom and prevents the sacrifice of his son, dedicating those fallen in his rebellion to Odin instead.

text: Slavic peoples[edit]

text: In the 10th century, Persian explorer Ahmad ibn Rustah described funerary rites for the Rus' (Scandinavian Norsemen traders in northeastern Europe) including the sacrifice of a young female slave.[45] Leo the Deacon describes prisoner sacrifice by the Rus' led by Sviatoslav during the Russo-Byzantine War "in accordance with their ancestral custom."[46]

text: According to the 12th-century Russian Primary Chronicle, prisoners of war were sacrificed to the supreme Slavic deity Perun. Sacrifices to pagan gods, along with paganism itself, were banned after the Baptism of Rus' by Prince Vladimir I in the 980s.[47]

text: Archeological findings indicate that the practice may have been widespread, at least among slaves, judging from mass graves containing the cremated fragments of a number of different people.[45]

text: China[edit]

text: The ancient Chinese are known to have made sacrifices of young men and women to river deities (Hebo), and to have buried slaves alive with their owners upon death as part of a funeral service. This was especially prevalent during the Shang and Zhou Dynasties. During the Warring States period, Ximen Bao of Wei demonstrated to the villagers that sacrifice to river deities was actually a ploy by crooked priests to pocket money.[48] In Chinese lore, Ximen Bao is regarded as a folk hero who pointed out the absurdity of human sacrifice.

text: The sacrifice of a high-ranking male's slaves, concubines or servants upon his death (called Xun Zang 殉葬 or Sheng Xun 生殉) was a more common form. The stated purpose was to provide companionship for the dead in the afterlife. In earlier times, the victims were either killed or buried alive, while later they were usually forced to commit suicide.

text: Funeral human sacrifice was widely practiced in the ancient Chinese state of Qin.  According to the Records of the Grand Historian by Han Dynasty historian Sima Qian, the practice was started by Duke Wu, the tenth ruler of Qin, who had 66 people buried with him in 678 BCE. The fourteenth ruler Duke Mu had 177 people buried with him in 621 BCE, including three senior government officials.[49][50] Afterwards, the people of Qin wrote the famous poem Yellow Bird to condemn this barbaric practice, later compiled in the Confucian Classic of Poetry.[51]  The tomb of the eighteenth ruler Duke Jing of Qin, who died in 537 BCE, has been excavated.  More than 180 coffins containing the remains of 186 victims were found in the tomb.[52][53]  The practice would continue until Duke Xian of Qin abolished it in 384 BCE. Modern historian Ma Feibai considers the significance of Duke Xian's abolition of human sacrifice in Chinese history comparable to that of Abraham Lincoln's abolition of slavery in American history.[50][54]

text: After the abolition by Duke Xian, funeral human sacrifice became relatively rare throughout the central parts of China. However, the Hongwu Emperor of the Ming Dynasty revived it in 1395 when his second son died and two of the prince's concubines were sacrificed. In 1464, the Zhengtong Emperor in his will forbade the practice for Ming emperors and princes.

text: Human sacrifice was also practised by the Manchus. Following Nurhaci's death, his wife, Lady Abahai, and his two lesser consorts committed suicide. During the Qing Dynasty, sacrifice of slaves was banned by the Kangxi Emperor in 1673.

text: Tibet[edit]

text: Human sacrifice, including cannibalism, was practiced in Tibet prior to the arrival of Buddhism in the 7th century.[55]

text: The prevalence of human sacrifice in medieval Buddhist Tibet is less clear. The Lamas, as professing Buddhists, could not condone blood sacrifices, and they replaced the human victims with effigies made from dough. This replacement of human victims with effigies is attributed to Padmasambhava, a Tibetan saint of the mid-8th century, in Tibetan tradition.[56]

text: Nevertheless, there is some evidence that outside of lamaism, there were practices of tantric human sacrifice which survived throughout the medieval period, and possibly into modern times. The 15th-century Blue Annals, a document of Tibetan Buddhism, reports upon how in 13th-century Tibet the so-called "18 robber-monks" slaughtered men and women in their ceremonies.[57] Such practices of human sacrifice were mostly replaced by animal sacrifice, or the self-infliction of wounds in religious ritual, by the 20th century.[citation needed] A systematic survey of evidence for human sacrifice in 20th-century Tibet turns up three instances:

text:
Charles Alfred Bell reports the finding of the remains of an eight-year-old boy and a girl of the same age in a stupa on the Bhutan-Tibet border, apparently ritually killed.[58]
American anthropologist Robert Ekvall in the 1950s reported some instances of human sacrifice in remote areas of the Himalayas.[59]

text: Based on this evidence, Grunfeld (1996) concludes that it cannot be ruled out that isolated instances of human sacrifice did survive in remote areas of Tibet until the mid-20th century, but they must have been rare enough to have left no more traces than the evidence cited above.[60]

text: Indian subcontinent[edit]

text: In India, human sacrifice is mainly known as "Narabali". Here "nara" means man and "bali" means sacrifice.

text: Currently human sacrifice is very rare and almost non-existent in modern India. However, there have been at least 3 cases through 2003–2013 where 3 men have been murdered in the name of human sacrifice implying the practice may still be ongoing in greater numbers in the unpoliced slums.[61][62][63]

text: The earliest evidence for human sacrifice in the Indian subcontinent dates back to the Bronze Age Indus Valley Civilization. An Indus seal from Harappa depicts the upside-down nude female figure with legs outspread and a plant issuing from her womb. The reverse side of the seal depicts a man holding a sickle and a woman seated on the ground in a posture of prayer. Many scholars interpret this scene as a human sacrifice in honor of the Mother-Goddess, although many historians doubt it.[64][65][66][67]

text: Regarding possible Vedic mention of human sacrifice, the prevailing 19th-century view, associated above all with Henry Colebrooke, was that human sacrifice did not actually take place. Those verses which referred to purushamedha were meant to be read symbolically,[68] or as a "priestly fantasy". However, Rajendralal Mitra published a defence of the thesis that human sacrifice, as had been practised in Bengal, was a continuation of traditions dating back to Vedic periods.[69] Hermann Oldenberg held to Colebrooke's view; but Jan Gonda underlined its disputed status.

text: Human and animal sacrifice became less common during the post-Vedic period, as ahimsa (non-violence) became part of mainstream religious thought. The Chandogya Upanishad (3.17.4) includes ahimsa in its list of virtues.[68] The impact of Sramanic religions such as Buddhism and Jainism also became known in the Indian subcontinent.

text: It was agreed even by Colebrooke, however, that by the Puranic period—at least at the time of the writing of the Kalika-Purana, human sacrifice was accepted. The Kalika Purana was composed in Northeast India in the 11th century. The text states that blood sacrifice is only permitted when the country is in danger and war is expected. According to the text, the performer of a sacrifice will obtain victory over his enemies.[68] In the medieval period, it became increasingly common. In the 7th century, Banabhatta, in a description of the dedication of a temple of Chandika, describes a series of human sacrifices; similarly, in the 9th century, Haribhadra describes the sacrifices to Chandika in Odisha.[70] The town of Kuknur in North Karnataka there exists an ancient Kali temple, built around the 8-9th century AD, which has a history of human sacrifices.[70]

text: Human sacrifice is reputed to have been performed on the altars of the Hatimura Temple, a Shakti (Great Goddess) temple located at Silghat, in the Nagaon district of Assam. It was built during the reign of king Pramatta Singha in 1667 Sakabda (1745–1746 AD). It used to be an important center of Shaktism in ancient Assam. Its presiding goddess is Durga in her aspect of Mahisamardini, slayer of the demon Mahisasura. It was also performed in the Tamresari Temple which was located in Sadiya under the Chutia kings.

text: Human sacrifices were carried out in connection with the worship of Shakti until approximately the early modern period, and in Bengal perhaps as late as the early 19th century.[71] Although not accepted by larger section of Hindu culture, certain Tantric cults performed human sacrifice until around the same time, both actual and symbolic; it was a highly ritualised act, and on occasion took many months to complete.[71]

text: The Khonds, an aboriginal tribe of India, inhabiting the tributary states of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, became notorious, on the British occupation of their district about 1835, from the prevalence and cruelty of the human sacrifices they practised.[72]

text: Pacific[edit]

text: In Ancient Hawaii, a luakini temple, or luakini heiau, was a Native Hawaiian sacred place where human and animal blood sacrifices were offered. Kauwa, the outcast or slave class, were often used as human sacrifices at the luakini heiau. They are believed to have been war captives, or the descendants of war captives. They were not the only sacrifices; law-breakers of all castes or defeated political opponents were also acceptable as victims.[73][74]

text: The people of Fiji practised widow-strangling. When Fijians adopted Christianity, widow-strangling was abandoned.[75]

text: Pre-Columbian Americas[edit]

text: Some of the most famous forms of ancient human sacrifice were performed by various Pre-Columbian civilizations in the Americas[76] that included the sacrifice of prisoners as well as voluntary sacrifice. Friar Marcos de Niza (1539), writing of the Chichimecas, said that from time to time "they of this valley cast lots whose luck (honour) it shall be to be sacrificed, and they make him great cheer, on whom the lot falls, and with great joy they crown him with flowers upon a bed prepared in the said ditch all full of flowers and sweet herbs, on which they lay him along, and lay great store of dry wood on both sides of him, and set it on fire on either part, and so he dies" and "that the victim took great pleasure" in being sacrificed.[77]

text: North America[edit]

text: The Mixtec players of the Mesoamerican ballgame were sacrificed when the game was used to resolve a dispute between cities. The rulers would play a game instead of going to battle. The losing ruler would be sacrificed. The ruler "Eight Deer", who was considered a great ball player and who won several cities this way, was eventually sacrificed, because he attempted to go beyond lineage-governing practices, and to try to create an empire.[78]

text: Maya[edit]

text: The Maya held the belief that cenotes or limestone sinkholes were portals to the underworld and sacrificed human beings and tossed them down the cenote to please the water god Chaac. The most notable example of this is the "Sacred Cenote" at Chichén Itzá.[79] Extensive excavations have recovered the remains of 42 individuals, half of them under twenty years old.

text: Only in the Post-Classic era did this practice become as frequent as in central Mexico.[80] In the Post-Classic period, the victims and the altar are represented as daubed in a hue now known as Maya Blue, obtained from the añil plant and the clay mineral palygorskite.[81]

text: Aztecs[edit]

text: The Aztecs were particularly noted for practicing human sacrifice on a large scale; an offering to Huitzilopochtli would be made to restore the blood he lost, as the sun was engaged in a daily battle. Human sacrifices would prevent the end of the world that could happen on each cycle of 52 years. In the 1487 re-consecration of the Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan some estimate that 80,400 prisoners were sacrificed[82][83] though numbers are difficult to quantify as all obtainable Aztec texts were destroyed by Christian missionaries during the period 1528–1548.[84]  The Aztec, also known as Mexica, periodically sacrificed children as it was believed that the rain god, Tlaloc, required the tears of children.[85]

text: According to Ross Hassig, author of Aztec Warfare, "between 10,000 and 80,400 people" were sacrificed in the ceremony. The old reports of numbers sacrificed for special feasts have been described as "unbelievably high" by some authors[84] and that on cautious reckoning, based on reliable evidence, the numbers could not have exceeded at most several hundred per year in Tenochtitlan.[84] The real number of sacrificed victims during the 1487 consecration is unknown.

text: Michael Harner, in his 1997 article The Enigma of Aztec Sacrifice, estimates the number of persons sacrificed in central Mexico in the 15th century as high as 250,000 per year. Fernando de Alva Cortés Ixtlilxochitl, a Mexica descendant and the author of Codex Ixtlilxochitl, claimed that one in five children of the Mexica subjects was killed annually. Victor Davis Hanson argues that an estimate by Carlos Zumárraga of 20,000 per annum is more plausible. Other scholars believe that, since the Aztecs always tried to intimidate their enemies, it is far more likely that they inflated the official number as a propaganda tool.[86][87]

text: Sometimes sacrificial captives were flayed, such as for the festival of Xipe Totec, who himself is characteristically depicted wearing the skin of a slain victim.

text: United States and Canada[edit]

text: The peoples of the Southeastern United States known as the Mississippian culture (800 to 1600 CE) have been suggested to have practiced human sacrifice, because some artifacts have been interpreted as depicting such acts.[88] Mound 72 at Cahokia (the largest Mississippian site), located near modern St. Louis, Missouri, was found to have numerous pits filled with mass burials thought to have been retainer sacrifices. One of several similar pit burials had the remains of 53 young women who had been strangled and neatly arranged in two layers. Another pit held 39 men, women and children who showed signs of dying a violent death before being unceremoniously dumped into the pit. Several bodies showed signs of not having been fully dead when buried and of having tried to claw their way to the surface. On top of these people another group had been neatly arranged on litters made of cedar poles and cane matting. Another group of four individuals found in the mound were interred on a low platform, with their arms interlocked. They had had their heads and hands removed. The most spectacular burial at the mound is the "Birdman burial". This was the burial of a tall man in his 40s, now thought to have been an important early Cahokian ruler. He was buried on an elevated platform covered by a bed of more than 20,000 marine-shell disc beads arranged in the shape of a falcon,[89] with the bird's head appearing beneath and beside the man's head, and its wings and tail beneath his arms and legs. Below the birdman was another man, buried facing downward. Surrounding the birdman were several other retainers and groups of elaborate grave goods.[90][91]

text: A ritual sacrifice of retainers and commoners upon the death of an elite personage is also attested in the historical record among the last remaining fully Mississippian culture, the Natchez. Upon the death of "Tattooed Serpent" in 1725, the war chief and younger brother of the "Great Sun" or Chief of the Natchez; two of his wives, one of his sisters (nicknamed La Glorieuse by the French), his first warrior, his doctor, his head servant and the servant's wife, his nurse, and a craftsman of war clubs all chose to die and be interred with him, as well as several old women and an infant who was strangled by his parents.[92] Great honor was associated with such a sacrifice, and their kin were held in high esteem.[93] After a funeral procession with the chiefs body carried on a litter made of cane matting and cedar poles ended at the temple (which was located on top of a low platform mound); the retainers with their faces painted red and drugged with large doses of nicotine, were ritually strangled. Tattooed Serpent was then buried in a trench inside the temple floor and the retainers were buried in other locations atop the mound surrounding the temple. After a few months time the bodies were dis-interred and their defleshed bones were stored as bundle burials in the temple.[92]

text: The Pawnee practiced an annual Morning Star Ceremony, which included the sacrifice of a young girl. Though the ritual continued, the sacrifice was discontinued in the 19th century.[94] The Iroquois are said to have occasionally sent a maiden to the Great Spirit.[95]

text: The torture of war captives by the tribes of the Eastern Woodlands cultural region also seems to have had sacrificial motivations.  See Captives in American Indian Wars

text: South America[edit]

text: The Incas practiced human sacrifice, especially at great festivals or royal funerals where retainers died to accompany the dead into the next life.[96] The Moche of Eastern Peru sacrificed teenagers en masse, as archaeologist Steve Bourget found when he uncovered the bones of 42 male adolescents in 1995.[97]

text: The study of the images seen in Moche art has enabled researchers to reconstruct the culture's most important ceremonial sequence, which began with ritual combat and culminated in the sacrifice of those defeated in battle. Dressed in fine clothes and adornments, armed warriors faced each other in ritual combat. In this hand-to-hand encounter the aim was to remove the opponent's headdress rather than kill him. The object of the combat was the provision of victims for sacrifice. The vanquished were stripped and bound, after which they were led in procession to the place of sacrifice. The captives are portrayed as strong and sexually potent. In the temple, the priests and priestesses would prepare the victims for sacrifice. The sacrificial methods employed varied, but at least one of the victims would be bled to death. His blood was offered to the principal deities in order to please and placate them.[98]

text: The Inca of Peru also made human sacrifices. As many as 4,000 servants, court officials, favorites, and concubines were killed upon the death of the Inca Huayna Capac in 1527, for example.[99] A number of mummies of sacrificed children have been recovered in the Inca regions of South America, an ancient practice known as qhapaq hucha. The Incas performed child sacrifices during or after important events,  such as the death of the Sapa Inca (emperor) or during a famine.[97]

text: West Africa[edit]

text: Human sacrifice was common in West African states up to and during the 19th century. The Annual customs of Dahomey was the most notorious example, but sacrifices were carried out all along the West African coast and further inland. Sacrifices were particularly common after the death of a King or Queen, and there are many recorded cases of hundreds or even thousands of slaves being sacrificed at such events. Sacrifices were particularly common in Dahomey, in the Benin Empire, in what is now Ghana, and in the small independent states in what is now southern Nigeria. According to R. J. Rummel, "Just consider the Grand Custom in Dahomey: When a ruler died, hundreds, sometimes even thousands, of prisoners would be slain. In one of these ceremonies in 1727, as many as 4,000 were reported killed. In addition, Dahomey had an Annual Custom during which 500 prisoners were sacrificed."[100]

text: In the Ashanti Region of modern-day Ghana, human sacrifice was often combined with capital punishment.[101]

text: In the northern parts of West Africa, human sacrifice had become rare early as Islam became more established in these areas such as the Hausa States. Human sacrifice was officially banned in the remainder of West African states only by coercion, or in some cases annexation, by either the British or French. An important step was the British coercing the powerful Egbo secret society to oppose human sacrifice in 1850. This society was powerful in a large number of states in what is now south-eastern Nigeria. Nonetheless, human sacrifice continued, normally in secret, until West Africa came under firm colonial control.

text: The Leopard men were a West African secret society active into the mid-1900s that practised cannibalism. In theory, the ritual cannibalism would strengthen both members of the society as well as their entire tribe.[102] In Tanganyika, the Lion men committed an estimated 200 murders in a single three-month period.[103]

text: Canary Islands[edit]

text: It has been reported from Spanish chronicles that the Guanches (ancient inhabitants of these islands) performed both animal and human sacrifices.[104]

text: During the summer solstice in Tenerife children were sacrificed by being thrown from a cliff into the sea.[104] These children were brought from various parts of the island for the purpose of sacrifice. Likewise, when an aboriginal king died his subjects should also assume the sea, along with the embalmers who embalmed the Guanche mummies.

text: In Gran Canaria,  bones of children were found mixed with those of lambs and goat kids and on Tenerife, amphorae have been found with the remains of children inside. This suggests a different kind of ritual infanticide to those who were thrown off the cliffs.[104]

text: Prohibition in major religions[edit]

text: Judaism[edit]

text: Judaism explicitly forbids human sacrifice, regarding it as murder. Jews view the Akedah as central to the abolition of human sacrifice.  Some Talmudic scholars assert that its replacement is the sacrificial offering of animals at the Temple —using Exodus 13:2–12f; 22:28f; 34:19f; Numeri 3:1ff; 18:15; Deuteronomy 15:19—others view that as being superseded by the symbolic pars-pro-toto sacrifice of the covenant of circumcision. Leviticus 20:2 and Deuteronomy 18:10 specifically outlaw the giving of children to Moloch, making it punishable by stoning; the Tanakh subsequently denounces human sacrifice as barbaric customs of Moloch worshippers (e.g. Psalms 106:37ff).

text: Judges chapter 11 features a Judge named Jephthah vowing that "whatsoever cometh forth from the doors of my house to meet me shall surely be the Lord's, and I will offer it up as a burnt-offering" in gratitude for God's help with a military battle against the Ammonites.[105] Much to Jephthah's dismay, his only daughter greeted him upon his triumphant return. Judges 11:39 states that Jephthah did as he had vowed, but "shies away from explicitly depicting her sacrifice, which leads some ancient and modern interpreters (e.g., Radak) to suggest that she was not actually killed."[106]

text: According to the Mishnah he was under no obligation to keep the ill-phrased, illegal vow. According to Rabbi Jochanan, in his commentary on the Mishnah, it was Jephthah's obligation to pay the vow in money.[105] According to the commentators of the rabbinic Jewish tradition, Jepthah's daughter was not sacrificed, but was forbidden to marry and remained a spinster her entire life.[19]

text: The 1st-century CE Jewish-Hellenistic historian Flavius Josephus, however, stated that Jephthah "sacrificed his child as a burnt-offering—a sacrifice neither sanctioned by the law nor well-pleasing to God; for he had not by reflection probed what might befall or in what aspect the deed would appear to them that heard of it".[107] Latin philosopher pseudo-Philo, late first century CE, wrote that Jephthah burnt his daughter because he could find no sage in Israel who would cancel his vow. In other words, in the opinion of the Latin philosopher, this story of an ill-phrased vow consolidates that human sacrifice is not an order or requirement by God, but the punishment for those who illegally vowed to sacrifice humans.[108][109]

text: Christianity[edit]

text:
Christianity developed the belief that the story of Isaac's binding was a foreshadowing of the sacrifice of Christ, whose death and resurrection enabled the salvation and atonement for man from its sins, including original sin. There is a tradition that the site of Isaac's binding, Moriah, later became Jerusalem, the city of Jesus's future crucifixion.[110] The beliefs of most Christian denominations hinge upon the substitutionary atonement of the sacrifice of God the Son, which was necessary for salvation in the afterlife. According to Christian doctrine, each individual person on earth must participate in, and/or receive the benefits of, this divine human sacrifice for the atonement of their sins. Early Christian sources explicitly described this event as a sacrificial offering, with Christ in the role of both priest and human sacrifice, although starting with the Enlightenment, some writers, such as John Locke, have disputed the model of Jesus' death as a propitiatory sacrifice.[111]
Rene Girard has demonstrated that the Gospels are a radical subversion of pagan notions of sacrifice. Instead of humans offering victims to angry deities (as is always the case with pagan sacrifice), Jesus, as the incarnate presence of God (YHWH), offers himself into the hands of violent humans to reveal what the Hebrew prophets meant when they said that "the Lord" (YHWH) rejects sacrifice and desires justice and mercy instead. The "self-sacrifice" of Christ is, therefore, a revelation that violent sacrifice has nothing to do with God. It is simply murder—which the story of Cain and Abel showed at the very dawn of civilisation (Cain is called "father of cities"). Saint Paul calls on Christians in his Letter to the Romans (12:1) to do the very opposite of conventional religious sacrifice: "offer your own bodies as a living sacrifice", he says, instead of the dead bodies of others. In other words, the only kind of "sacrifice" acceptable to God is to give one's life for others, which means to live one's life for others, even unto death, just as Jesus did. It is in that sense that Christ "sacrificed" himself; and in that sense that his "pure sacrifice" is celebrated in the sacrament of the eucharist.

text: Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Christians believe that this "pure sacrifice" as Christ's self-giving in love is made present in the sacrament of the Eucharist. In this tradition, bread and wine becomes the "Real Presence" (the literal carnal Body and Blood of the Risen Christ. Receiving the Eucharist is a central part of the religious life of Catholic and Orthodox Christians.[112][113] Most Protestant traditions do not share the belief in the Real Presence but otherwise are varied, for example, they may believe that in the bread and wine, Christ is present only spiritually, not in the sense of a change in substance (Methodism)[114] or that the bread and wine of communion are a merely symbolic reminder (Baptist).[115] Although early Christians in the Roman Empire were accused of being cannibals, theophages (Greek for "god eaters")[116] practices such as human sacrifice were abhorrent to them.[117]

text: In medieval Irish Catholic texts, there is mention of the early church in Ireland supposedly containing the practice of burying sacrificial victims underneath churches in order to consecrate them. This may have a relation to pagan Celtic practices of foundation sacrifice. The most notable example of this is the case of Odran of Iona a companion of St Columba who (according to legend) volunteered to die and be buried under the church of the monastery of Iona. However, there is no evidence that such things ever happened in reality and contemporary records closer to the time period have no mention of a practice like this.[118]

text: Eastern religions[edit]

text: Many traditions of Eastern religions including Buddhism, Jainism and some sects of Hinduism embrace the doctrine of ahimsa (non-violence) which imposes vegetarianism and outlaws animal as well as human sacrifice.

text: In the case of Buddhism, both bhikkhus (monks) and bhikkhunis (nuns) were forbidden to take life in any form as part of the monastic code, while non-violence was promoted among laity through encouragement of the Five Precepts. Across the Buddhist world both meat and alcohol are strongly discouraged as offerings to a Buddhist altar, with the former being synonymous with sacrifice, and the latter a violation of the Five Precepts.

text: In Hinduism, based on the principle of ahimsa, any human or animal sacrifice is forbidden.[119][120][121] In the 19th and 20th centuries, prominent figures of Indian spirituality such as Swami Vivekananda,[122] Ramana Maharshi,[123] Swami Sivananda[124] and A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami[125] emphasised the importance of ahimsa.

text: In Jainism, although ahimsa is considered its foremost vow, the extension of this to self-sacrifice at times may be considered equivalent to human sacrifice (or ritual suicide), especially by those who oppose the Jain practice of Sallekhana (fasting to death), whereas Jaina scriptures supposedly (or interpretively) counter that Sallekhana leads to Ahimsa, because their concept of simple living could even become excessive to that end (as it may be impossible to exist more or less selflessly), when lifestyle remains a preclusion to the state of nirvana, and likewise a notion of transcending the problem (of how to live and let live), with one's bodily sacrifice being a voluntary spiritual practice; perhaps the courts having ruled back and forth on it as a legal matter suggests that the paradox (or debatability) of Ahimsa versus Sallekhana, which is essentially that of nonviolence amounting to violence, involves determining whether such a death is a physical act of human(e) sacrifice or lack thereof.

text: Allegations of human sacrifice[edit]

text: Allegations accusing Jews of committing ritual murder were widespread during the Middle Ages, often leading to the slaughter of entire Jewish communities.[126][127] In the 20th century, blood libel accusations re-emerged as part of the satanic ritual abuse moral panic.[127]

text:
In their effort to discredit Tibetan Buddhism, the People's Republic of China as well as  Chinese nationalists in the Republic of China make frequent and emphatic references to the historical practice of human sacrifice in Tibet, portraying the 1950 People's Liberation Army invasion of Tibet as an act of humanitarian intervention.
According to Chinese sources, in the year 1948, 21 individuals were murdered by state sacrificial priests from Lhasa as part of a ritual of enemy destruction, because their organs were required as magical ingredients.[128]
The Tibetan Revolutions Museum established by the Chinese in Lhasa has numerous morbid ritual objects on display to illustrate these claims.[129]
In Taiwan, Li Ao in his TV talk show in 2006 claimed that the Dalai Lama had commanded human sacrifices, asking his followers to "tear out human skin" for "some religious ceremony".[130]
Most of the human remains that the Chinese exhibit as gruesome evidence of Tibetan human sacrifice are in fact body parts of people who died of natural causes which were collected after sky burial and preserved as relics.[60]

text: Modern cases[edit]

text: Americas[edit]

text: Brazil[edit]

text: In the city of Altamira, State of Pará, several children were raped, with their genitalia mutilated for what appear to be ritual purposes, and then stabbed to death, between 1989 and 1993.[131] It is believed that the boys' sexual organs were used in rites of black magic.[132] Dr. Anísio Ferreira de Sousa, an alleged member of the "Lineamento Universal Superior" (Superior Universal Alignment) sect, is among the accused and is currently in jail.

text: Chile[edit]

text: A 1989 book by investigative journalist Patrick Tierney documents a modern ritual human sacrifice during the devastating earthquake and tsunami of 1960 by a Machi of the Mapuche in the Lago Budi community.[133]

text: The victim, 5-year-old José Luis Painecur, had his arms and legs removed by Juan Pañán and Juan José Painecur (the victim's grandfather), and was stuck into the sand of the beach like a stake. The waters of the Pacific Ocean then carried the body out to sea. The sacrifice was rumoured to be at the behest of local machi, Juana Namuncurá Añen. The two men were charged with the crime and confessed, but later recanted. They were released after two years. A judge ruled that those involved in these events had "acted without free will, driven by an irresistible natural force of ancestral tradition."[134][135]

text: The story is also mentioned in a Time magazine article from that year, although with much less detail.[136]

text: Mexico[edit]

text: In 1963, a small cult in Nuevo Leon, Mexico, founded by two brothers, Santos and Cayetano Hernández, committed between 8 and 12 murders during bloody rituals that included drinking human blood. The cult was initially a scam to obtain money and sexual favors, but after a  prostitute named Magdalena Solís entered in the organization, she inaugurated human sacrifices inspired by ancient Aztec rituals as a method to control disciples.[137] .[138] [139]

text: During the 1980s, other case of serial murders  that involved human sacrifices rituals occurred in Tamaulipas, Mexico. The drug dealer and cult leader Adolfo Constanzo  orchestrated several executions during rituals that included the victims' dismemberment.[140] Constanzo had several accomplices, one of them was Sara Aldrete, a woman who participated actively in around 15 murders between 1987 and 1989.[141]

text: Between 2009 and 2010, in Sonora, Mexico, a serial killer named Silvia Meraz committed three murders in sacrifice rituals. With the help of her family, she beheaded two boys (both relatives) and one woman in front of an altar dedicated to Santa Muerte.[142]

text: United States[edit]

text: In 2017, two suspected members of the MS-13 gang have been charged with allegedly murdering a Houston 15-year-old girl as part of a "Satanic" ritual.[143][144]

text: Asia[edit]

text: Bangladesh[edit]

text: In March 2010, a 26-year-old labourer in Bangladesh was killed by fellow workers on the orders of the owners after a fortune teller suggested that a human sacrifice would yield highly prized red bricks.[145]

text: India[edit]

text: Human sacrifice is illegal in India. But a few cases do occur in remote and underdeveloped regions of the country, where modernity has not penetrated well and tribal/semi-tribal groups adhere to cultural practices as they did over the course of millennia. According to the Hindustan Times, there was an incident of human sacrifice in western Uttar Pradesh in 2003.[146] Similarly, police in Khurja reported "dozens of sacrifices" in the period of half a year in 2006, by followers of Kali, the goddess of power.[147][148][149][150][151]

text: In 2015 during the Granite scam investigations of Tamil Nadu there were reports of possible human sacrifices in the Madurai region to pacify goddess Shakthi for getting power to develop the illegal granite business. Bones and skulls were retrieved from the alleged sites in presence of the special judicial officer appointed by the high court of Madras.[152][153][154][155][156][157][158]

text: Malaysia[edit]

text: On 2001 it was reported Carolyn Jamica Noraini Abdullah, 35, had been murdered so that the authors might learn the winning numbers on the national lottery.[159][160]

text: Nepal[edit]

text: In 2015 it was suspected that a 10-year-old boy who disappeared near the village of Kudiya was in fact sacrificed by a neighboring family hoping to save the life of a sick child propitiating spirits with a human sacrifice.[161][162]

text: Singapore[edit]

text: In 1981, three people in Singapore were convicted of murdering two children, purportedly as sacrifices to the god Kali.  They were hanged in 1988.

text: Africa[edit]

text: Human sacrifice, in the context of religious ritual, still occurs in other traditional religions, for example in muti killings in South Africa and other ritual killings in West African Vodun.[citation needed] When the purpose of the practice is to procure wealth for the one who commissions the act, a human sacrifice is called a Money ritual. Human sacrifice is no longer officially condoned in any country, and such cases are regarded as murder.

text: In January, 2008, Milton Blahyi of Liberia confessed being part of human sacrifices which "included the killing of an innocent child and plucking out the heart, which was divided into pieces for us to eat." He fought against Charles Taylor's militia.[163]

text: Europe[edit]

text: United Kingdom[edit]

text: In June 2005, a report by the BBC claimed that boys from Africa were being trafficked to the UK for human sacrifice. It noted that children were beaten and murdered after being labelled as witches by pastors in an Angolan community in London.[164]

text: Oceania[edit]

text: Papua New Guinea[edit]

text: Steven Tari, a Papua New Guinea cult leader known as "Black Jesus" was castrated and disemboweled by villagers after being hacked to death. Police said that he was hunted down by a mob of villagers, after allegedly killing a teenage girl during a sacrifice ritual.[165]

text: Ritual murder[edit]

text: Ritual killings perpetrated by individuals or small groups within a society that denounces them as simple murder are difficult to classify as either "human sacrifice" or mere pathological homicide because they lack the societal integration of sacrifice proper.

text: The instances closest to "ritual killing" in the criminal history of modern society would be pathological serial killers such as the Zodiac Killer, and mass suicides with a doomsday cult background, such as the Peoples Temple, the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God, the Order of the Solar Temple or the Heaven's Gate incidents.[according to whom?] Other examples include the "Matamoros killings" attributed to American cult leader Adolfo Constanzo and the "Superior Universal Alignment" killings in 1990s Brazil.[166]