Reasons for Female Child Sacrifice: A Historical, Mythological, and Religious Investigation

Abstract: This study explores the phenomenon of female child sacrifice as represented in mythology, ancient African and Arabian societies, and sacred texts. Anchored by the myth of Iphigenia—immortalized in a mosaic unearthed in Perge, Antalya—the research traces how war, religion, and patriarchal control converge to justify and ritualize the killing of young girls. By examining archaeological, scriptural, and mythological data, this paper argues that the sacrifice of girls often functioned as both a political-religious tool and a mechanism of social control. It also questions the historical normalization of war and why girls, in particular, became its sacrificial symbols. Keywords: sacrifice, girl child sacrifice, Iphigenia, primitive religions, pre-Islamic Arabia, African societies