[Anatomia sacra. Religiously motivated interventions on human or animal bodies]

Controlled surgery in the interior of human or animal bodies in classical antiquity was allowed only under certain circumstances. Bloody animal sacrifice and its rules for the interpretation of entrails as well as the rare examples of 'ritual anatomy' presented a religious framework for the opening of bodies. Greek mythology provided several examples of medical operations, for example, the Caesarean section, transplantations and plastic surgery. Great cultic significance was given to organ votives or reproductions of human inner organs which were offered in temples ex voto or with request for their curing. The anatomical knowledge transported along with these offerings represents a separate tradition different from the state of anatomical knowledge found in medical literature of the period.