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Ritual sacrifices, often connected to festivals surrounding a dying and resurrecting god, were important in Phoenician religion. Sacrifices of vegetable and animals were most common, but human sacrifices occurred in times of difficulty. Sacrifice and consumption of pigs, however, was taboo. The preferred human sacrifice was an innocent child who, as a vicarious victim, represented the most extreme act of propitiation possible and was probably intended to guaranteed the future of the entire community.
Read Article: Phoenician Ritual Sacrifices: Sacrificing Innocent Children for the Sins of the Community