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223
scavenging animals.362 This is not the place to pursue an exhaustive list, but rather to
make some suggestions regarding the sensory impact of the sacrificial waste and its
disposal.
Upon my return to the Bayram site seven weeks after the sacrifices, I noted that
the smell of manure lingered more strongly than did that of blood. This odor may also
have been an ever-present one at frequently used sacrificial sites, though it is a fair
assumption that the grounds of a temple warranted more thorough cleaning than did the
empty Istanbul lot. Nevertheless, it is likely that the smell was present to some degree
much of the time at temples where large-scale rites were carried out.
More interesting, however, was the fact that the smell of blood was clearly
distinguishable in the vicinity of the concrete retaining wall, which as I noted had been
cleaned thoroughly. This suggests to me that the smell of blood may linger for quite
some time in certain hard surfaces. This has interesting implications for ancient altars
and paving surfaces comprised of marble or limestone, porous materials that would have
soaked up and retained all types of sacrificial liquid. It seems likely that the smells of
sacrifice would have been in evidence near an altar long after the completion of
slaughter, even if it were cleaned assiduously.
362 Modern Greek Kourbánia regulations specify that the inedible parts of the sacrificial animals’ bodies,
including bones, not be allowed to be touched by dogs. As Georgoudi suggests, this may be a
consideration specific to the Christian tradition, based on the Biblical passage in which Christ exhorts his
followers not to “give dogs what is sacred” (Matthew 7:6). See Georgoudi 1989, 190. Although Christ’s
statement was metaphorical, it may have developed into a requirement of Greek Orthodox sacrificial
practice in a literal sense. We should not necessarily assume the same type of restrictions in the ancient
Greek and Roman tradition without further evidence.
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 241 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 223 scavenging animals.362 This is not the place to pursue an exhaustive list, but rather to make some suggestions regarding the sensory impact of the sacrificial waste and its disposal. Upon my return to the Bayram site seven weeks after the sacrifices, I noted that the smell of manure lingered more strongly than did that of blood. This odor may also have been an ever-present one at frequently used sacrificial sites, though it is a fair assumption that the grounds of a temple warranted more thorough cleaning than did the empty Istanbul lot. Nevertheless, it is likely that the smell was present to some degree much of the time at temples where large-scale rites were carried out. More interesting, however, was the fact that the smell of blood was clearly distinguishable in the vicinity of the concrete retaining wall, which as I noted had been cleaned thoroughly. This suggests to me that the smell of blood may linger for quite some time in certain hard surfaces. This has interesting implications for ancient altars and paving surfaces comprised of marble or limestone, porous materials that would have soaked up and retained all types of sacrificial liquid. It seems likely that the smells of sacrifice would have been in evidence near an altar long after the completion of slaughter, even if it were cleaned assiduously. 362 Modern Greek Kourbánia regulations specify that the inedible parts of the sacrificial animals’ bodies, including bones, not be allowed to be touched by dogs. As Georgoudi suggests, this may be a consideration specific to the Christian tradition, based on the Biblical passage in which Christ exhorts his followers not to “give dogs what is sacred” (Matthew 7:6). See Georgoudi 1989, 190. Although Christ’s statement was metaphorical, it may have developed into a requirement of Greek Orthodox sacrificial practice in a literal sense. We should not necessarily assume the same type of restrictions in the ancient Greek and Roman tradition without further evidence. |
