Things were much different in the past because humans didn’t have the kind of exposure and intelligence that we are lucky to have today. Humans mostly had beliefs which were not favorable to some other people. In this post, we have compiled a list of some of the deadliest sacrifices carried out by humans in history, some of them will surprise you.
5) Persecution of People with albinism
In the past, many people didn’t believe that albinism was a genetically inherited condition, they thought it was a taboo. Albinism affects approximately one in every 20,000 people in the world, so we can say it’s not very common. Albinism is more common in Africa than it is in the western world. It occurs in both males and females and it doesn’t happen only to any specific race or ethnic group. Even to this very day, there are still some groups of people that believe that albinism is a punishment from God or just bad luck.
There are some group of Africans that believe that Albinos possess magical powers, this is what led many witch doctors to believe that sacrificing albinos would fortify their magical powers. Sadly, thousands of albinos were sacrificed and d*smembered. Those that were lucky enough to live until their deaths, their graves were dug up and desecrated. It’s sad to know that this practice is still happening in some parts of Africa till date.
4) The Lafkenches Tribe Sacrifice
Over 60 years ago, the strongest ever recorded earthquake hit Chile, taking thousands of lives and destroying many houses and properties. This terrible earthquake was named “the great Chilean earthquake. This earthquake put fear in the hearts of many Chileans who were wondering what they could have done that caused this great disaster. The Chilean people finally concluded that the god of the sea was angry with them and they decided to offer sacrifices to the god of the sea.
This sacrifice was so terrible, they chose an innocent 5 year old boy and sacrificed him in a very horrible manner. They stuck his legs and arms in the beach sand and the beach carried him away, they said this was the only way to calm the water. The people behind the sacrifice were arrested but unfortunately, they were released two years later.
3) The Mayan Sinkhole Sacrifices
In the past, during the pre-Columbian era, a tribe known as the Mayans were known for carrying all sorts of horrible sacrifices because they believed that human sacrifices was a way of nourishing their gods. There was a popular manner of sacrifices which they did regularly, it was called the sinkhole sacrifice. They would deposit live humans and valuables into an underground reservoir of water as a way of offering sacrifices to their rain God known as Chaac.
The Mayans believed that these reservoirs were portals to the underworld and they usually appeased the dead spirits by offering them sacrifices. In recent times, explorers have discovered many of these sinkholes including the legendary Cenote where they offered sacrifices to their god Chaac. Archaeologist have removed many valuables ranging from gold, wood and cloth as well as thousands of skeletons from this Cenote. Turns out they were wrong, it wasn’t an underground portal, just a sinkhole.
2) The Ch*ld Sacrifice in Carthage
In the olden days, ch*ld sacrifices were very common because people believed that children had innocent souls that would be acceptable by their gods. What they didn’t think is why their gods would give them children only to take them back as a sacrifice.The manner at which they carried out their sacrifices was horrible.
They would set up a sacrificial fire pit and the innocent children would be thrown into the fire by their own parents. I can only imagine the feeling of disappointment in those children’s mind as they watch themselves being thrown into a burning fire by their own parents.
When parents of this tribe got tired of sacrificing their own children, this tribe decided to start buying children from neighbouring tribes or take care of their servants children until they were due for the sacrifices.
During calamities like drought, war and famine, the chief priest would demand that not only children be sacrificed by youths as well. They usually carried out these sacrifices under the moonlight where the victims are tossed into the fire amidst singing and dancing.
1) The K*lling of Twins in Nigeria
Cc: Leisure and Culture Dundee
This is another barbaric act that was practiced in Nigeria, the western region of Africa many years ago. This practice was common among some certain ethnic groups in the country. During that time, they saw the birth of twins or more as an abomination and they considered it a bad omen that could bring havoc to their community. They believed that twin babies were not humans but evil beings.
A brave woman from Scotland known as Mary Slessor, was assigned to Calabar Nigeria as a missionary where the practice was very rampant. She did all she could to stop this barbaric belief. And in the year 1885, the British government intervened and the k*lling of Twins was stopped. Twins could now live a normal life without watching over their heads that anyone could attack them.