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33
Persian rite sanctifying a political treaty between Rome and Assyria in 400 C.E.,
describing it thus: “The peace is sworn at altars sweet with the fragrance of incense and
the harvests of Saba. Fire is brought forth from the innermost sanctuary and the Magi
sacrifice heifers according to the Chaldaean rite. The King himself dips the jeweled bowl
of sacrifice and swears by the mysteries of Bel and by Mithras who guides the errant stars
of heaven.”46 Though the rite described is foreign, it includes all of the elements we have
seen represented in Roman art and described in texts. Even allowing for the visual
shorthand utilized by artists when representing sacrifice, we may assume that certain rites
would have included all of these sources of odor.
For example, our evidence for Roman imperial cult sacrifices, in which the
emperor and certain members of the imperial family were honored, indicates that those
rites included, on various occasions, all of the olfactory elements described above. A
relatively simple offering to the emperor could involve pouring a libation, burning a
pinch of incense, or both. A description of a simple sacrifice to the emperor is provided
for us in a letter of Pliny the Younger (c. 61-112 C.E.) to Trajan, in which he explains his
method for proving the innocence of those falsely accused of being Christians in the
province of Bithynia et Pontus where he was serving as governor: “I considered that I
should dismiss any who denied that they were or ever had been Christians when they had
repeated after me a formula of invocation to the gods and had made offerings of wine and
46 Cons. Hon. Cons. Stil. 1.58-63 (transl. Platnauer 1990, LCL). Turis adoratae cumulis et messe Sabaea
pacem conciliant arae; penetralibus ignem sacratum rapuere adytis rituque iuvencos Chaldeo stravere
magi. Rex ipse micantem inclinat dextra pateram secretaque Beli et vaga testatur volventem sidera
Mithram.
Object Description
| Title | Making sense of sacrifice: Sensory experience in Greco-Roman cult |
| Author | Weddle, Candace Cherie |
| Author email | candaceweddle@gmail.com; weddle@usc.edu |
| Degree | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Document type | Dissertation |
| Degree program | Art History |
| School | College of Letters, Arts and Sciences |
| Date defended/completed | 2011-03-04 |
| Date submitted | 2011 |
| Restricted until | Unrestricted |
| Date published | 2011-04-27 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Pollini, John |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Yasin, Ann Marie Bitel, Lisa |
| Abstract | Performing a sacrifice was one of the most sensorially full actions undertaken in the Greco-Roman world. The production and control of the correct movements, scents and sounds were prerequisites for summoning, communicating with and propitiating deities. Sacrifice was also ubiquitous, occurring on an almost continual basis as a range of sacrificial activities were celebrated publicly and privately in a variety of locations in urban areas. Cultivating a multi-sensory understanding of the full range of sensory elements that accompanied ancient cult rites – visual and auditory cues, things smelled, tasted and touched - provides a platform for achieving a more thorough knowledge of the meanings of the rites.; This dissertation examines the archaeological, literary and epigraphical evidence for the role of the senses in Greek and Roman sacrifice in order to analyze the social and ritual importance of the senses, the impact of sacrificial rituals within ancient urban spaces, and the sensory experience of the ancient worshiper. Given the ephemeral nature of much of the evidence for sensory elements of worship, as well as the subjectivity inherent in representations of sensory experience in literature and art, this dissertation argues for the necessity of crossing disciplinary boundaries in order to appreciate the sensory impact of ancient sacrifice. Therefore, in addition to utilizing traditional historical and art historical approaches, methodological tools from the field of anthropology and evidence from studies in the animal behavioral sciences and consumer sciences are employed. For example, I suggest that greater understanding of the experience of ancient sacrifice may be acquired through an autoethnographic investigation of modern religious sacrifice. To that end, I analyze my experience of the slaughter of large numbers of bovines during the Islamic Kurban Bayram sacrifices in Istanbul to make suggestions concerning certain elements of the sensory experience of ancient blood sacrifice. I focus not only on the sensory experience of humans participating in (or within range of) sacrifices, but also on that of the animal victims. Given the immense ritual importance of the behavior of sacrificial animals in antiquity, I suggest that it is possible to identify some sensory aspects of the sacrificial process that may have been intentionally manipulated in order to control the reactions of the victims as far as possible.; Particular attention is paid to mundane aspects of the process of sacrifice not often addressed in ancient literary sources or represented in art that would have resulted in notable sensory impacts on areas surrounding urban temples, for example the removal of sacrificial refuse. I conclude not only that these elements of sacrifice formed an important part of the sensory experience of Greco-Roman cult, but also that their effects were more far-reaching – in terms both of how great an area they affected and how long they lasted – than has previously been recognized. Using fresh interdisciplinary approaches to well-known examples of texts and images, this dissertation employs a more visceral approach to the study of the sensory experience of ancient sacrifice than is possible when considering textual and archaeological evidence alone. |
| Keyword | archaeology; autoethnography; cult; Greece; religion; Rome; sacrifice; senses |
| Geographic subject (city or populated place) | Rome |
| Geographic subject (country) | Italy; Greece |
| Coverage date | circa -0600/0600 |
| Coverage era | Greco Roman |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m3788 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Rights | Weddle, Candace Cherie |
| Repository name | Libraries, University of Southern California |
| Repository address | Los Angeles, California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Filename | etd-Weddle-4363 |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume48/etd-Weddle-4363.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 51 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 33 Persian rite sanctifying a political treaty between Rome and Assyria in 400 C.E., describing it thus: “The peace is sworn at altars sweet with the fragrance of incense and the harvests of Saba. Fire is brought forth from the innermost sanctuary and the Magi sacrifice heifers according to the Chaldaean rite. The King himself dips the jeweled bowl of sacrifice and swears by the mysteries of Bel and by Mithras who guides the errant stars of heaven.”46 Though the rite described is foreign, it includes all of the elements we have seen represented in Roman art and described in texts. Even allowing for the visual shorthand utilized by artists when representing sacrifice, we may assume that certain rites would have included all of these sources of odor. For example, our evidence for Roman imperial cult sacrifices, in which the emperor and certain members of the imperial family were honored, indicates that those rites included, on various occasions, all of the olfactory elements described above. A relatively simple offering to the emperor could involve pouring a libation, burning a pinch of incense, or both. A description of a simple sacrifice to the emperor is provided for us in a letter of Pliny the Younger (c. 61-112 C.E.) to Trajan, in which he explains his method for proving the innocence of those falsely accused of being Christians in the province of Bithynia et Pontus where he was serving as governor: “I considered that I should dismiss any who denied that they were or ever had been Christians when they had repeated after me a formula of invocation to the gods and had made offerings of wine and 46 Cons. Hon. Cons. Stil. 1.58-63 (transl. Platnauer 1990, LCL). Turis adoratae cumulis et messe Sabaea pacem conciliant arae; penetralibus ignem sacratum rapuere adytis rituque iuvencos Chaldeo stravere magi. Rex ipse micantem inclinat dextra pateram secretaque Beli et vaga testatur volventem sidera Mithram. |
