Tophet

Tophet or Topheth ( ; ; ) is believed to be a location in Jerusalem , in the Valley of Hinnom , where the Canaanites sacrificed children to the god Moloch by burning them alive . After the practice of child sacrifice was outlawed by King Josiah , the valley became a refuse site where animal carcasses, waste and the bodies of criminals were dumped, with fires permanently burning to keep disease at bay. Tophet became a synonym for hell .

In the Hebrew Bible Tophet or Topheth ( ; ; ) was a location in Jerusalem , in the Valley of Hinnom , where worshipers influenced by the Canaanite Pantheon sacrificed children to the gods Moloch and Baal by burning them alive . Tophet became a theological or poetic synonym for hell within Christendom . The traditional explanation that a burning rubbish heap in the Valley of Hinnom south of Jerusalem gave rise to the idea of a fiery Gehenna of judgment is attributed to Rabbi David Kimhi 's commentary on Psalm 27:13 (c. 1200). He maintained that in this loathsome valley fires were kept burning perpetually to consume the filth and cadavers thrown into it. However, Hermann Strack and Paul Billerbeck state that there is neither archaeological nor literary evidence in support of this claim, in either the earlier intertestamental or the later rabbinic sources. Strack and Paul Billerbeck, Kommentar zum Neuen Testament aus Talmud and Midrasch , 5 vols.

Location in Jerusalem where human sacrifice was practiced For the place in Ancient Carthage with that name, see Ancient Carthage . In the Hebrew Bible , Tophet or Topheth ( ; ; ) was a location in Jerusalem in the Gehinnom where worshipers influenced by the ancient Canaanite religion engaged in child sacrifice to the gods Moloch and Baal by burning children alive . Tophet became a theological or poetic synonym for Hell within Christendom . The traditional explanation that a burning rubbish heap in the Valley of Hinnom south of Jerusalem gave rise to the idea of a fiery Gehenna of judgment is attributed to Rabbi David Kimhi 's commentary on Psalm 27 ( Psalm 27:13 ). He maintained that in this loathsome valley fires were kept burning perpetually to consume the filth and cadavers thrown into it.

Carthaginian child sacrifice sites and cemeteries In the Hebrew Bible , Tophet or Topheth ( ; ; ) is a location in Jerusalem in the Valley of Hinnom (Gehenna) , where worshipers engaged in a ritual involving "passing a child through the fire", most likely child sacrifice . Traditionally, the sacrifices have been ascribed to a god named Moloch . The Bible condemns and forbids these sacrifices, and the tophet is eventually destroyed by king Josiah , although mentions by the prophets Jeremiah , Ezekiel , and Isaiah suggest that the practices associated with the tophet may have persisted. Most scholars agree that the ritual performed at the tophet was child sacrifice, and they connect it to similar episodes throughout the Bible and recorded in Phoenicia (whose inhabitants were referred to as Canaanites in the Bible) and Carthage by Hellenistic sources. There is disagreement about whether the sacrifices were offered to a god named "Moloch". Based on Phoenician and Carthaginian inscriptions, a growing number of scholars believe that the word moloch refers to the type of sacrifice rather than a deity. There is currently a dispute as to whether these sacrifices were dedicated to Yahweh rather than a foreign deity. Archaeologists have applied the term "tophet" to large cemeteries of children found at Carthaginian sites that have traditionally been believed to house the victims of child sacrifice, as described by Hellenistic and biblical sources. This interpretation is controversial, with some scholars arguing that the tophets may have been children's cemeteries, rejecting Hellenistic sources as anti-Carthaginian propaganda. Others argue that not all burials in the tophet were sacrifices. The tophet and its location later became associated with divine punishment in Jewish eschatology .

Carthaginian child sacrifice sites and cemeteries In the Hebrew Bible , Tophet or Topheth ( Biblical Hebrew : תֹּפֶת , romanized: Tōp̄eṯ ; Ancient Greek : Ταφέθ , romanized : taphéth ; Latin : Topheth ) is a location in Jerusalem in the Valley of Hinnom (Gehenna) , where worshipers engaged in a ritual involving "passing a child through the fire", most likely child sacrifice . Traditionally, the sacrifices have been ascribed to a god named Moloch . The Bible condemns and forbids these sacrifices, and the tophet is eventually destroyed by king Josiah , although mentions by the prophets Jeremiah , Ezekiel , and Isaiah suggest that the practices associated with the tophet may have persisted. Most scholars agree that the ritual performed at the tophet was child sacrifice, and they connect it to similar episodes throughout the Bible and recorded in Phoenicia and Carthage by Hellenistic sources. There is disagreement about whether the sacrifices were offered to a god named "Moloch". Based on Phoenician and Carthaginian inscriptions, a growing number of scholars believe that the word moloch refers to the type of sacrifice rather than a deity. There is currently a dispute as to whether these sacrifices were dedicated to Yahweh rather than a foreign deity. Archaeologists have applied the term "tophet" to large cemeteries of children found at Carthaginian sites that have traditionally been believed to house sacrificed human children, as described by Hellenistic and biblical sources. This interpretation is controversial: some scholars argue that the tophets may have been children's cemeteries and reject Hellenistic sources as anti-Carthaginian propaganda. Others argue that not all burials in the tophet were sacrifices. The tophet and its location later became associated with divine punishment in Jewish eschatology .