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193
After each animal was moved behind the sacrificial area, it hung for a while
before the other members of the butchering crew worked on it. During the first minutes
after its death (and even after complete decapitation in some instances), the hooves of
some of the animals would flail. I assume that injury to the workers was prevented by
allowing the carcasses to hang for a period of time before they were dealt with further.
Eventually, the butchering process was carried out.
The bodies were skinned and the hides set aside for donation to charity.321 The
tails, hooves and some internal organs were removed to the area of the refuse pit; two
men with axes then chopped the bodies in half from tail to neck. At this point, the pieces
were removed to tables where a number of men broke them down further into smaller
pieces. These were then packed into large plastic bags and distributed to the owners of
the animals, who loaded them into cars or carried them through the streets to their
residences to share with friends, family and charitable organizations. The entire process
of butchering and distributing the meat was extremely quick and efficient. Although I
was not able to track the progress of a single animal, I would estimate that it took no
more than 30 to 45 minutes from the time of sacrifice to the distribution of the meat and
disposal of the refuse.
The slaughter and the handling of the bodies of the victims – that is, all of the
sacrificial treatment of the animals brought to this location, from the moment of death
321 Siddiqi 2000, 45.
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 211 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 193 After each animal was moved behind the sacrificial area, it hung for a while before the other members of the butchering crew worked on it. During the first minutes after its death (and even after complete decapitation in some instances), the hooves of some of the animals would flail. I assume that injury to the workers was prevented by allowing the carcasses to hang for a period of time before they were dealt with further. Eventually, the butchering process was carried out. The bodies were skinned and the hides set aside for donation to charity.321 The tails, hooves and some internal organs were removed to the area of the refuse pit; two men with axes then chopped the bodies in half from tail to neck. At this point, the pieces were removed to tables where a number of men broke them down further into smaller pieces. These were then packed into large plastic bags and distributed to the owners of the animals, who loaded them into cars or carried them through the streets to their residences to share with friends, family and charitable organizations. The entire process of butchering and distributing the meat was extremely quick and efficient. Although I was not able to track the progress of a single animal, I would estimate that it took no more than 30 to 45 minutes from the time of sacrifice to the distribution of the meat and disposal of the refuse. The slaughter and the handling of the bodies of the victims – that is, all of the sacrificial treatment of the animals brought to this location, from the moment of death 321 Siddiqi 2000, 45. |
