ext
morning, the men went forth with their bows and their arrows, and began
to shoot at the enemy. Whereupon the Majesty of this god said unto them:
'Your sins are remitted unto you, for sacrifice precludes the execution
of the guilty.' And this was the origin upon earth of sacrifices in
which blood was shed."

Thus it was that when on the point of separating for ever, the god
and men came to an understanding as to the terms of their future
relationship. Men offered to the god the life of those who had offended
him. Human sacrifice was in their eyes the obligatory sacrifice, the
only one which could completely atone for the wrongs committed against
the godhead; man alone was worthy to wash away with his blood the sins
of men.[*] For this one time the god accepted the expiation just as it
was offered to him; then the repugnance which he felt to killing his
children overcame him, he substituted beast for man, and decided that
oxen, gazelles, birds, should henceforth furnish the material for
sacrifice.[**]

* This legend, which seeks to explain the discontinuance of
human sacrifices among the Egyptians, affords direct proof
of their existence in primitive times. This is confirmed by
many facts. We shall see that _uashbiti_ laid in graves were
in place of the male or female slaves who were originally
slaughtered at the tombs of the rich and noble that they
might go to serve their masters in the next world. Even in
Thebes, under the XIXth dynasty, certain rock-cut tombs
contain scenes which might lead us to believe that
occasionally at least human victims were sent to doubles of
distinction. During this same period, moreover, the most
distinguished hostile chiefs taken in war were still put to
death before the gods. In several towns, as at Eilithyia and
at Heliopolis, or before certain gods, such as Osiris or
Kronos-Sibu, human sacrifice lasted until near Roman times.
But generally speaking it was very rare. Almost everywhere
cakes of a particular shape, and called [Greek word], or
else animals, had been substituted for man.

** It was asserted that the partisans of Apopi and of Sit,
who were the enemies of Ra, Osiris, and the other gods, had
taken refuge in the bodies of certain animals. Hence, it was
really human or divine victims which were offered when
beasts were slaughtered in sacrifice before the al