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In relation to the worship of Ancient Israel, the term [[w:Korban|Korban]] (offering) was used for a variety of sacrificial offerings described and commanded in the Hebrew Bible, including the [[w:Korban Olah|Korban Olah]] (burnt offering) and [[w:Korban Pesach|Korban Pesach]] ([[Passover]] sacrifice).<ref group="note">There were four types of these offerings - almost like archetypes. The first is the Korban Olah, or "the whole burnt offering"; the second kind of sacrifice is the Mincha, the Meal Offering; the third category is the Hatat, the Sin Offering; and the fourth category was a thanks-or peace-offering, the exact opposite of a sin offering. (Shlomo Riskin. ''"SACRIFICES FROM THE HEART."'' '''The Jerusalem Post'''. March 30, 1990, Friday.)</ref> These types of offerings can be categorized as being of the [[w:Propitiation|propitiatory]] or thanksgiving type.<ref group="note">"A korban ("sacrifice" in Hebrew) is connected to the word karov ("near") - or getting close to God. And how did sacrifices bring Jews close to God? Every day in the Temple, besides the twice-daily offerings, there would be offerings by individuals experiencing special moments of joy and thanksgiving for having been saved from death. As soon as a person digs into his own pocket to pay for an offering, he sacrifices his own wealth for an idea, a belief, an emotion. The offering is a way for the offerer to say: "Who am I to receive such good fortune? I don't deserve it!" His actions are in sharp contrast to those who claim: "My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth." (Deut. 8:17) Instead, he's able to look beyond his own power and might and direct his gaze toward the One orchestrating it all." (Shlomo Riskin. ''"HUMILITY IS REWARDED WITH GREATNESS".'' '''The Jerusalem Post'''. March 15, 1991, Friday.)</ref>Greek Christians in Byzantine times also practiced the sacrificng and roasting of animals as ''"[[w:Kourbania|Kurbans]] (Kourbania)",'' as well as during the celebration of ecclesiastical festivals.<ref group="note">"In the late nineteenth century, Greek Christians of the village of Zele (Sylata) in Cappadocia sacrificed animals to St. [[Haralampus of Magnesia|Charalambos]] especially in time of illness. Though the Greeks frequently referred to these sacrifices by the Turkish term "[[w:Kourbania|kurban]]," the sacrificial practices went back to Byzantine and pagan times as is evident from several factors. They frequently referred to these sacrifices by the ancient Greek terms θυσία and θάλι. The question of Christian borrowing from the Muslim kurban sacrifice is probably retricted to the philological aspect, for the pagan sacrifice seems to have remained very lively and widespread in Byzantine times. One of the most spectacular examples of its existence in [[w:Byzantine Anatolia|Byzantine Anatolia]] was the sacrifice of the fawn to St. Athenogenes at Pedachthoe on July 17 ([[July 16]]). On that day the young animal and its mother passed before the altar of the monastery church of St. Athenogenes while the [[Gospels]] were being read. The fawn was sacrificed, cooked, and eaten by the congregation and thus the faithful celebrated the glory of the martyred saint. The pagan usage of animal sacrifice survived also in the Byzantine practice of slaughtering and roasting animals after the celebration of ecclesiastical festivals. The sixteenth canon of the [[w:Councils of Carthage|Synod of Carthage]] asked the emperor to put an end to this habit; the commentary of [[Theodore IV of Antioch|Balsamon]] indicates that it was widespread in the twelfth century, and it has survived to the present day. The liturgical sacrifice in the Armenian church, known as ''madag'', is also a survival from antiquity." :* [[w:Speros Vryonis|Speros Vryonis]]. ''The Decline of Medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor: and the Process of Islamization from the Eleventh Through the Fifteenth Century.'' Volume 4 of Publications of the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies. University of California Press, 1971. p. 490. ISBN 9780520015975</ref>