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Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity as an act of propitiation or worship.[1][2] Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly existed before that. Evidence of ritual human sacrifice can also be found back to at least pre-Columbian civilizations of Mesoamerica as well as in European civilizations. Varieties of ritual non-human sacrifices are practiced by numerous religions today.
- ^ "Sacrifice Definition & Meaning". Dictionary.com. Archived from the original on 16 August 2019. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
- ^ Cowdell; Fleming, Chris; Hodge, Joel, eds. (2014). Violence, Desire, and the Sacred. Vol. 2: René Girard and Sacrifice in Life, Love and Literature. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781623562557. Retrieved 1 June 2016.