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Reference.org
Sacrifice
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<p>Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a <a href="/facts/Deity/doCvhDHj">deity</a> as an act of <a href="/facts/Propitiation/3P6Uqb4T">propitiation</a> or <a href="/facts/Worship/Y9CGUlEd">worship</a>. Evidence of ritual <a href="/facts/Animal_sacrifice/XRCuvP82">animal sacrifice</a> has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly existed before that. Evidence of ritual <a href="/facts/Human_sacrifice/a5D1u7y1">human sacrifice</a> can also be found back to at least pre-Columbian civilizations of <a href="/facts/Mesoamerica/cFjUFklr">Mesoamerica</a> as well as in European civilizations. Varieties of ritual non-human sacrifices are practiced by numerous religions today. </p>