Places of Sacrifice ('Opferstätten')

Abstract

It was not only in temples and upon tables of offerings that sacrifices were performed in early times in Mesopotamia, for certain detached areas were hallowed, and in them sacrifices were offered, constantly repeated on precisely the same spot. The ritual directions for the preparation for these ceremonies must have been both explicit and stringent, for the evidence reveals a scrupulous adherence to every detail, perpetually repeated every time the place was used. These particular places of sacrifice are known as “Opferstätten”, the designation given them by the excavators at Uruk-Warka, who were the first to interpret the evidence correctly; it is, indeed, to Dr. Lenzen's perspicuity and detailed observations that we owe most of the information we possess concerning them.