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187
photographing, helping me to avoid the worst of the gore, which occasionally traveled
quite a distance.
I arrived at the sacrificial area about noon. By the time of my arrival, the
sacrifices had been ongoing since the conclusion of the dawn prayer, approximately 6:00
A.M. at that time of the year. The day was overcast and fairly cool, between 7° and 9° C
(44° to 48° F). The location for the sacrifices was an open lot in which several stations
for dealing with the animals had been erected; the entire area of the lot was
approximately 5 x 10 m (16 x 32 ft.). Five or six cows and bulls were tied in various
spots around the area. Most of the animals were marked with numbers painted on their
hide identifying the owners of the animals, though Islamic custom also allows for
markings in the form of wool garlands.312 About half of the cattle had blindfolds tied
over their eyes, in most cases composed of a type of plastic fiber (probably portions of
feed bags) secured behind their ears with rope.313 Interestingly, there was no separation
between the people and the animals, no pens in which the animals could be corralled.
I did not see where the rest of the animals were being held, but assume that they
were being kept nearby and only a few brought into the area at a time. There had already
312 Both the painted numbers and the garlands fulfill the religious requirement that animals designated for
sacrifice should be marked. Islamic scholars contend that pre-Islamic traditions dictated marking sacrificial
animals by inflicting a bodily wound, but that Mohammed instituted the more humane practice of marking
with non-wounding symbols such as a collar. See Siddiqi 2000, 24-5. Although I did not see any in this
case, on other occasions I have observed smaller animals whose horns were gilded or painted in the days
leading up to Kurban Bayram.
313 According to the religious requirements for the sacrifices, all of the animals should have been
blindfolded. In addition, they were to have been given water and salt prior to the sacrificial moment. I did
not see this taking place, though it could have been done before the animals’ arrival. I have not found a
source explaining the basis for this tradition, but I wonder if it is intended to reduce the animals’ cravings
for sodium, which might make them less likely to lick or drink the blood of previously slaughtered animals,
a gruesome aspect of bovine behavior discussed as some length later in this chapter.
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 205 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 187 photographing, helping me to avoid the worst of the gore, which occasionally traveled quite a distance. I arrived at the sacrificial area about noon. By the time of my arrival, the sacrifices had been ongoing since the conclusion of the dawn prayer, approximately 6:00 A.M. at that time of the year. The day was overcast and fairly cool, between 7° and 9° C (44° to 48° F). The location for the sacrifices was an open lot in which several stations for dealing with the animals had been erected; the entire area of the lot was approximately 5 x 10 m (16 x 32 ft.). Five or six cows and bulls were tied in various spots around the area. Most of the animals were marked with numbers painted on their hide identifying the owners of the animals, though Islamic custom also allows for markings in the form of wool garlands.312 About half of the cattle had blindfolds tied over their eyes, in most cases composed of a type of plastic fiber (probably portions of feed bags) secured behind their ears with rope.313 Interestingly, there was no separation between the people and the animals, no pens in which the animals could be corralled. I did not see where the rest of the animals were being held, but assume that they were being kept nearby and only a few brought into the area at a time. There had already 312 Both the painted numbers and the garlands fulfill the religious requirement that animals designated for sacrifice should be marked. Islamic scholars contend that pre-Islamic traditions dictated marking sacrificial animals by inflicting a bodily wound, but that Mohammed instituted the more humane practice of marking with non-wounding symbols such as a collar. See Siddiqi 2000, 24-5. Although I did not see any in this case, on other occasions I have observed smaller animals whose horns were gilded or painted in the days leading up to Kurban Bayram. 313 According to the religious requirements for the sacrifices, all of the animals should have been blindfolded. In addition, they were to have been given water and salt prior to the sacrificial moment. I did not see this taking place, though it could have been done before the animals’ arrival. I have not found a source explaining the basis for this tradition, but I wonder if it is intended to reduce the animals’ cravings for sodium, which might make them less likely to lick or drink the blood of previously slaughtered animals, a gruesome aspect of bovine behavior discussed as some length later in this chapter. |
