Sacrifice strange people in Syria

A 4,300-year-old building in Syria revealed the strange humanity.

Sometimes the detection of the remains of an acrobatic actor losing his head scattered on the floor near the remains of two other people, a few mules and a row of precious metal objects is fortunes. At the very least, it's the archaeologists' mind that just confirmed such a scene, obviously the result of a ritual, in an ancient city in northeastern Syria.

According to Joan Oates and his colleagues at Cambridge University in England, this discovery brings a unique perspective into society nearly 4,300 years ago in Nagar, a city in the Akkadian Empire of Mesopotamia. Nagar's remains in mud brick construction classes are known under the name Tell Brak. The oldest class dates back more than 6,000 years.

Evidence suggests that sacrifices Nagar formed soon after the city was abandoned by a natural disaster. Residents appease their gods by offering people, animals or valuables in a home previously used to breed and trade vehicles in the king's battle. Following human sacrifice, this work was closed until later activities.

Researchers are working in a 4,300-year-old Mesopotamian building that sees the lower body of an acrobatic actor lying between the headless remains of two other people.All three of them were clearly sacrificed.(Photo: A. Soltysiak)

The acrobatic actor is clearly high enough in Nagar society to turn into a sacrifice, according to researchers in the June Antiquity newspaper. Hieroglyphs belonging to Ebla, a neighborhood of the same time, subject Visit the Nagar people named húb . Scholars have defined it as a word for acrobatic actors, juggling circus artists or knights.

The most complete analysis of the remains discovered in Nagar supports the translation of the word to acrobatic actors. The leg bones, feet and fingers show great signs of development and continuous operation involving acrobatic actors.

To further deepen this hypothesis, cylindrical seals discovered earlier in Nagar describe the parade with actors tumbling upright hair curling backwards. Ebla's documents contain many different words for dancers and singers, whom Oates thinks cannot be the source of Nagar remains.

'Hub at Nagar is well known, maybe even famous entertainers, so perhaps the reputation is the reason they were chosen to sacrifice.'

One of the actors' leg bones has a spur, or protruding part, due to a fall injury.(Photo: A. Soltysiak)

There is no doubt that their reputation comes from acrobatics. The skeleton has not identified this gender, indicating areas of strong growth for ligaments and muscles.

Both arms are characterized by strong grip of the muscles. Large sagging muscles are also noted either on the left or right arm of the ancient javelin-throwers. This Nagar's knee is worn because the joint is rotated back and forth. A section of the upper leg bone has a mark of a large hamstring muscle, acting like a spring when a person jumps up with the knee folded.

Severe activity also causes a bone in the Achilles ligament to attach to the right heel. Traces of ligaments on the toes indicate that these fingers are often bent on hard surfaces, forming dents on the end of the toes.

A heavy fall leaves evidence that a right leg joint is dislocated and the right ankle swells out.'This is the bone of a person who is physically active, jumping and rotating in a very disciplined way with the foot pointing downwards in the jumps.'

The actor's left and right knees, taken from the back (top) and front (bottom), contain striking areas for ligaments against twisting and rotating movements.(Photo: A. Soltysiak)

Two other incomplete skeletons discovered on the floor of the Nagar building also lacked a head. A person can be a charioteer, based on the position of the mule and the relationship of the corpse to the antiquities associated with the car. No clue helps clarify the background of the other person.

Detecting corpses with the bones of the good mules - probably bred from wild donkeys and donkeys - along with bronze and silver, reinforces the sacrifice hypothesis. Antiquities are located in the courtyard of a nearby temple burned during the ceremony marking the closing of the building after the ceremony.

According to archaeologist Guillermo Algaze of the University of California, San Diego, the North Mesopotamian rulers may have competed with the monumental sacrificial rites of southern Mesopotamian kings that began 4,800 years ago. In a southern city of Mesopotamian, the tomb of a queen contains 54 royal servants, 6 soldiers carrying spears and vehicles for 2 vehicles, each drawn by 3 cows.

Algaze said 'The acrobatic actor event that Oates and his colleagues deduced from Nagar's evidence is completely beyond my knowledge.'