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I feel like there is a really fine line between voluntary and forced sacrifice. It was deemed an honour for Aztecs and their neighbouring peoples to be ritually sacrificed and thus ensure the continuation of the universe- though this doesn't necessarily mean captives always wanted to give up their lives that way. Perhaps it could have been similar in the ancient near east, other places like ancient China, and even Viking boat burials. People sort of thinking they were doing the right thing, potentially even being talked into it, but not necessarily committed 100%, obviously, because who wants to die. But that's where the drink and drugs come in, to numb the victim and make them go along with it without causing a scene. It's all pretty grim, but so interesting. We're basically sheep at the end of the day, and if your world view says people have to die to ensure a smooth passage of a god king to the afterlife, or to stop the world from dying, then a lot of people would probably just go along with it.

Liking and commenting because, Sumerians. Nice video mate.

I witnessed a crow funeral in my back yard a few years ago. Weres what happened. Between two 70 year old spruce trees lay a dead crow. A murder of crows arrived and purched in the branches of several adjacent elm trees. They did not make a sound. As I watched one crow flew down, landed next to the dead one, looked at it, approached it, stopped and looked again, than pulled on one of the dead bird's feathers. It then flew back up into a tree. They all purched there for awhile than all flew away in silence. If this was not a funeral then what was it? The thing that impressed me most was the silence. This is the only time I have ever seen crows being quite.

It's possible that the ones that were struck in the head were those who refused to drink the poison. They could also have served as an example to all others that were hesitant about following their master in death

I'm gonna skip church that day.

Honestly, I'd rather find a dog than a pile of the remains of ancient sacrificial victims. But that's just me :D

Simon I love how you are so engaged with your viewers and respond so kindly when people ask questions! It’s wonderful to know people like you are out there

Beg to disagree, Stefan. Other animals do "attend funerals" for example elephants. As researchers improve methods of observing non-humans in the wild, more examples will be seen. Always enjoy your posts, bro.

I can only imagine they were sedated before they got the spike, seeing the guy with the spike work his way closer to you, witnessing all the death, would most likely create a panic. Even if they were led into the pit, and killed one at a time, seeing all the bodies would also create panic, but would be easier to manage. However, occult indoctrination does have a powerful effect on ones ability to rationalize the events happening around them.

It's amazing and often terrifying what people can do to each other, whether by force or through misleading beliefs. Thank you for your very informative materials.

Just found your channel. Now starts the bingewatching.

Elephants mourn the death of members of their group

Side note, theres quite a few animals that will acknowledge the passing of others. Elephants, gorillas, whales, dolphins, etc. I've seen cats and dogs mourn the loss of their owner or other pets in the home. I had one cat who almost starved herself to death because she was mourning the loss of her human who was put into a nursing facility.

Loving your delivery and information. Thanks man

Dude these videos are great! Really glad I found your channel!

really glad you popped up in my recs! i love the format here, it's like i'm just sitting in the woods with a chill dude having a chat about ancient history.

0:08 Elephants be like "Am I nothing to you?"

@Stefan Milo Thank you so much for your wonderful channel, I have gained many hours of enlightening entertainment and thought-provoking content from it, I regularly rewatch ( re-listen to ) your content whilst commuting or when trying to fall asleep, hearing about the long continuity of human history gives me great serenity in these difficult times. Thank you and all of your supporters for all that you do. Stay safe and stay healthy, everyone.

Here’s an idea: what if sacrificial victims were plied to sleep/unconsciousness with some kind of substance such as that in the cauldron, then arranged in order, and then ritually killed with one quick blow to the head? So that they wouldn’t feel pain but would also never wake up? I know opium has been used for thousands of years in that particular region, although I’m not sure about the eta these skeletons are dated to… I wish we could study the rest of the skeletons to determine if there are any defensive injuries, that would really help sort some things

Been looking for more ancient history and archaeology material for ages, then your channel pops up. Thanks, algorithm! And thank you for the great content! 😁

"I'm gonna skip church that day." Omg, that's funny as hell.

“What a jolly time to be a colonial overlord” I love you Stefan

"I'm gonna skip church that day." Lol. Me too. It's hard to say if sacrifices were "willing". Motivations don't preserve as well as bones do. It's hard enough to find them in living specimens. Was the choice "be sacrificed, or go do whatever you want, follow your bliss" or was the choice "be sacrificed this way, or be executed in a more horrible way". Some choices are more free than others.

I visited the Ziggurat of Ur while stationed in COB Adder. Got to walk the steps with the group. It was the highlight of my tour in Iraq. So surreal to be standing on top a building that an ancient civilization built.

Thanks, we just watched your video after seeing a previous video on the excavation. My husband said that perhaps some were not dead after drinking the poison, but unconscious; for that reason the overseer of the situation may have killed them to prevent the terror of waking up and realizing they were buried alive. Another thought- what if some had plans to escape and did not drink the poison.

When you said, "I don't know, I've never tried it before" in reference to the head wounds, it cracked me up.

Can't believe it took Operation Odysseus for me to find your channel! This is exactly my cup of tea. Subscribed!

I was right wycked video brah, honestly I’ve watched a lot of stuff on Ur but this is the first video where I’ve heard any mention of these practices

Great video Stefan. I agree with comments below that the retainers were either volunteers or slaves who were raised to expect to die with their owner, so sort of a volunteer (at least someone with no concept of the option to refuse). I think they probably all had their narcotic drinks, and lay down in orderly rows so the copper spike guy could do his thing.

Thanks for the video. I found the video compelling.

Interesting and worthwhile video.

Maybe the drink was a sedative, followed by the spike thing? Also, do we know for sure that these people were put there at the same time? Is it possible they died naturally later, were bunged in a royal tomb to act as servants, the number gradually accumulating, and had some kind of rudimentary trepanation applied at that point, eg, to allow the spirit to escape? Pure guess, but it would fit.

oh stefan youre a defining feature of my species ~

When a great father dies, your grief is so great that being left behind is unbearable and following him into the afterlife is appealing.

It’s gotta suck when your ruler dies and the entire court goes with them.

Hey just want to say, I love your channel. Very informative, interesting and funny! Can you do more videos on ancient Mesopotamia? I'm very interested in how people lived back then, and why did they start to build large civilizations, from hunter/gather, farming communities? How did these changes take place in such a short period of time? How did they create such advanced technologies so quickly? Where is the connection between hunter/gather to farmer, to large scale cities like UR? Curious to know! Thanks!

no wonder Father Abraham fled Ur of the Chaldees. He said to hell with this I'm heading for Haran Syria, maybe even buy some land in Beersheba, and of course there is always Egypt.

How happy he is to tell about human sacrifice😃

After spending loads of time reaching Mesopotamia for my next video, i just stumbled upon yours this is great stuff keep it up!

Fascinating stuff. Seems like there is evidence pointing both directions, but I feel like at least some, if not most/all of them were unwilling.

Great video! This is really intriguing. I would definitely skip church, too. But, with the bodies lined up how they were described you'd think someone put them there. Unless they had to line up to go in the death pit. I mean... How terrifying?!

Very interesting vid. Here’s my take. Poisoned and then axed in the head to release their spirit. Then placed in the grave. Just way too messy for a burial. Brain and blood everywhere. Slipping hazard.

I've been to Ur! I was stationed there in 2009 with the US Army. The Zigerot was about a mile from my living area. I went to explore the ruins twice and went to the home of Abraham!

You make a good case for the hypothesis that all of those bodies were the result of either voluntary death and inhumation or that someone "volunteered" all of those people to die in some ritual death to accompany their master or mistress. But that's not the only way to look at it. Consider the following: Life 5 or 6 millennia ago was, as Hobbes pointed out, ""solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short..." Warfare was one of the main reasons for this condition. Men have always waged waged war on each other. Civilization, however, brought with it organized warfare on a larger scale than that which occurred between tribes. Cities fielded larger and larger armies to compete for power with other cities or regional hegemons. In particular, the city of Ur was conquered and reconquered a number of times by various peoples - i.e., the Akkadians, Sumerians, Gutians, & etc. It was also not uncommon for conquerors to eliminate the political base of the conquered by executing everyone in the households of the former rulers. It was also not unheard of for competitors to a throne to kill off their rivals. I am not suggesting that the large mass burials were, in fact, the results of conquest or political rivalry - because I don't know enough about the history surrounding the city of Ur at the relevant times to make that call. What I would like to know is: What evidence do we have in the physical and written archeological record to disprove the hypothesis that these mass graves resulted from political upheavals?

woops ! 0:41-0:43 “twenty-second and twenty first” *_centuries_* , not *millennia* “B.C.E.” That (2200-2100) would be third millenium BCE. It's a sad day when i notice a small error in a video of yours (diminished by the fact that on screen the right dates appear) but then again, it's the joy of going through most of your videos i haven't watched yet ! Great work !

awesome

Peer pressure and custom are the usual drivers: the willing sacrificial victim is the theme behind several religions, some of which did use ritual human sacrifice.

Regarding the initial claim - there seems to be some sort of reciprocal ritualistic behaviour between certain wolf and raven populations that may hint to something kinda like funerals.

nice vid i think both : they were asked, and if they refused, they were forced

I volunteer Milo for the Honor. Milo is the perfect Candidate. Milo is 9/10 God already, so close.

0:30 you made it sound like the three examples before "the Tyrant" were different, but in actually the Egyptians were doing massive human burial sacrifices just before the Pyramids, the Yayoi/Kofun is also believed and documented to do human burial sacrifices, and of course, the Nordics with their ships also did. Also, isn't the thumbnail a reference to one of the woman in one of the thumbs? I think I remember hearing a comment about a specific woman that left the impression she was "late" for the ceremony and didn't had the time to finished wearing all the clothes and accessories.

It seems likely to me that the very concept of 'volunteering' for anything may have been entirely inconceivable to the sacrificial victims. Being, probably, attendants to the queen may well have been the functional equivalent to being the tyres on a bus; chattel born and chattel bred, life was the way it was, one did what one was told or one died, brutally and immediately. I recently watched your brief treatment of Hawaiian culture and there you touched on the kapu version of compulsory servitude. It seems likely that the system of god kings was nearly ubiquitous throughout ancient history, and a corollary of that is that a major portion of society is utterly subjugated and that the means and methods of that subjugation were institutionalized and vividly on display every day just to keep the power structure firmly fixed in everybody's minds. Given the above, then, willing and unwilling were likely to be unknown concepts to the subjugated classes. Otoh, running away must have occasionally occurred to folks. This may help to explain the rapid and thorough diffusion of humans in prehistory; some of the subjugated run away, set up their own version, perpetuate Devine kingship and eventually run off another batch to rinse and repeat. Pretty soon you've got Moai on Easter Island. And, speaking of islands, if you choose to go any more deeply into the fascinating topic of pre-contact Hawaiian culture, I would be happy to give you some perspectives on that subject as transmitted to me by various local people during my 12 years on Kauai. There is far more to the story than is addressed in most popular or even academic literature.

Remember the beginning scene in the movie AVP? Just like this.

I wish to leave a comment: yeeeeeowwwww! Thanks. Great vid!

0:09 actually elephants do. They may lack the thumbs to grab shovels, but the do understand the concept of death, displayed by their grief. Dont underestimate our Earthing friends. Thanks for the insight in pinnacles of human madness.

My personal theory, before reading any other comments, is that they all took a drink of something either to pass out, or dull the pain then came the blow to the head. I can see this in both willing participant, and as being duped. Can just imagine those party invites!

It puts on a new perspective on why Abraham (or God telling Abraham) had to leave Ur.

Perhaps they were drugged before being killed. This would explain the large basin and cup. Interesting. I would love to see a microscopic residue scraping of the basin. Thank you for the video.

it would be interesting to know if they all died at the same time

I think the cauldron was full of wine (possibly opium-laced?), and they got them all drunk until they passed out, then did the deed.

Read the Rigveda and the soma ritual, giving the victim the pressed juice and then subsequently sacrificing it

I agree

No residue analysis yet of the cups that possibly contained poison?

penn museum? is that at the college? i think that's where i attended the amarna exhibit in 2006

It's entirely possible that they were complicit. I know that histamine can do some strange things to your mental state. I've had allergic reactions (less than life-threatening in severity) that caused me to feel that I was utterly doomed to death in the near future (with no reason for me to believe this beyond the power of histamine to induce powerful hallucinations and delusions). Histamine is so so so important to religious/spiritual life, and many people are simply more sensitive to various inflammatory triggers, which makes them more susceptible to this level of psychological allergic reaction from a long list of seemingly safe plants or other environmental triggers - tobacco, potato, many kinds of seeds, etc. Different cultures have different inflammatory triggers of course, but my point is there's a *lot* of inflammatory triggers that can cause this level of a reaction in someone who has an overpowered innate immune system

Human sacrifice changed shape, it's not gone, it's just for economic reasons now instead of religious ones.

One benefit derived from mass burial of subjects is when those subjects were the principle underlings of a reign of kings is that it makes political change possible. The vestiges of the old regime are thusly removed completely allowing progress to occur. In that regard, perhaps it would benefit modern societies greatly to re-institute the practice. Of course then you might have the problem of nobody wants to be around when the king dies.

There are a number of critters who hold funerals. Crows, elephants.........

At 4:20 you say that you haven't tried killing anyone witha spear yet. That was back in November, have you tried it since and if you did how was it and how did you avoid arrest?

But seriously, another cool vid. Thing is, much of our view of the past is coloured by modern ideas. Whatever we think of these practices, the pre science ancients were less troubled by religious sacrifice. For a given value of "real", this was real to them. As to the volunteer or pressed victim question? Perhaps a little from column A, a little from column B. Everyone knows it's part if the deal with the gods but when it comes down to it a decent intoxicant is used to prevent undignified panic right at the end. Take European bog bodies as another example of this, perhaps. Also, some kinds of intoxication were seen as being in the presence of the gods, so maybe it was seen as an appropriate precursor to the pointy stabby part of the ceremony.

That's it, when I die I am taking everyone with me.

Could be that their families bought access to the palace with this offering. There’s the case of the walled in old man in an Indian palace which, if I remember correctly, happened in recorded history.

4:50 So a pick then.

I love your videos, but one thing. Some other species do have funerals.

The simplest explanation is they were given a choice, drink the potion that puts you to sleep. You will get the spike either way. It is just better to be asleep when it's your turn.

I watched a video here in youtube elephants doing something with a dead elephant that equated to funeral or burial.

My Opinion: "Eeeyyaaa-ew ew ewwww, agggg!" (Gives me the willies. )

It was probably similar to the Rus viking human sacrifice described by an Arab traveler. The sacrificial victim was sort of coerced to "volunteer", drugged, and then killed with a weapon. Poison was pretty messy back then (your stomach would inflate, you'd vomit etc) so it was probably easier to drug them or get them drunk and then kill them. The "volunteering" was important, because you want servant spirits in the afterlife, not vindictive ghosts.

Very well informed video and well presented, the constant smiling throughout whilst talking about a very horrific theme was a little off putting but nevertheless it was a good presentation.

Here’s my theory. The people drank poison willingly and, just to be sure, after they passed out they were given the coup de grace with the pick. Very similar to what I believe happened to the excavated skulls of the battle of Towton (substitute mortal battle wounds for poison). 👍

Legit lol that you did not find a live dog just hanging out around the dig site.

Forced or not I guess it was really up to the beliefs of the “powerful” person that died and what they wanted. Still today we are a mixed bag on the subject, e.g , my family asked me what i wanted at my own funeral , cremation or burial ?, I replied that I simply didn’t care, whatever made them handle grief better was good enough for me. That is cos I personally believe that when yr dead that’s it, my body is just a representation of the person I was, “I” no longe exist so my body to me was simply a vessel in which my consciousness used to interact with the environment. This view does not refute the existence of heaven/hell but if my consciousness ends up in either place I certainly won’t be needing my body . But like I said that’s just me and my choice, atleast my choice doesn’t involve anyone else having to loose thier own lives . Take Care . R .

I always hated when they had people (such as your wife or servants) killed whenever you died to accompany in the afterlife. Like I don't think they asked for any of that! "I don't know. I've never tried it before." *suspicious* I think some of them were willing (those with the poison) but those who were brutally attacked were unwilling. I think if you're going to sacrifice yourself willingly, the least they can do is give you a "nice" death regardless of your rank. Unless they felt so entitled to your sacrifice that they'll brutally murder no matter what. And that sucks.

I think most people just don't want to kick up a fuss :)

Started to wonder If this dude would face a firing squad with that little smile

I just wonder if Puabi is the same as body 61

حضارة بلدي افتخر بها

Crows Have funerals They just don’t bury the dead!

Maya lords toward the end of the classic period (600 - 900 AD) were known to have taken large groups of people with them to the after life, inc. immediate family, friends, shamans, even a court dwarf. One dig uncovered approx. 70, inc. the kings fav. dog. It was also noted a predilection for "red" dogs to be placed in high end grave site. Why? So the Lord would have suitable company during his stay in the Underworld, a very isolated location it was assumed. I possess a well maintained juvenile jaguar skull created specifically as 'grave goods' for such a regal burial, encrusted in full with hundreds of shards of apple green jade; the share of jade in vogue at that time it seems. Above all, the jaguar was a well established spiritual (mythic) tool of transition from the world of man to the world of spirit. A guide and protector during the dangerous and demanding journey.

This very same thing happened in Jonestown, Guyanna back in the 70's. An old chap named Reverend Jim Jones forced over 800 followers to drink Kool-aid laced with cyanide and a sedative, and they all fell down, to accompany mister Jones to the afterlife.

4:20 "I've never tried it BEFORE" [emphasis added]. Have you tried it now?

What was the date of these tombs?

I know the video is old but in Ahmad ibn Fadlan's account of a viking funeral there is a woman who seems to volunteer to be violently sacrificed.

Took me a minute to realize there were graves behind you lmao

Is this Washington Park? (I live in Portland)

Not very long ago Hindi widows "Chose" to die by suicide on their husbands pyre. I'm not sure if that extended to the lower castes, but to outlive your husband was considered a disgrace and your life was made hell by your in laws. Technically the suicide was willing, but the choice was to die or live a life not worth living. The same idea might have applied to these women, if they were considered as property of the Ruler or Priestess, part of her family the idea may have been that they could accompany her into the next world or remain in this one alone and disloyal. If you have known all your life that this would happen and were trained to believe it was a high honour you would go willingly.

I think that some were volunteers but since they were not enough who volunteered, others were forced. I think the skulls that show blunt-force trauma were those who did not volunteer voluntarily.

Elephants may “go to funerals”.

Is society at the time was deeply deluded to believe that there is a wonderful afterlife, then the servants might have been OK with the idea of simply joining their master by drinking a bit of poison. The blunt force approach though.. who would be willing to go using such a mechanism? Then again, believing in an afterlife is crazy enough for me.