The Man Show, Circa 1500 BC

Riffing on my previous post, here's Karen Armstrong, describing party day among a gaggle of [ancient] Aryan cattle rustlers:

The sacrifice was a solemn occasion, but it was also a large, rowdy carnival. Vast amounts of wined and soma were consumed, so people were either drunk or pleasantly mellow. There was casual sex with slave girls laid on by the officiating raja, and lively, aggressive ritual contests: chariot races, shooting matches, and tugs of war. Teams of dancers, singers, and lute players competed against one another. There were dice games for high stakes. Groups of warriors conducted mock battles. It was enjoyable, but also dangerous. In this highly competitive atmosphere, mock battles between professional warriors, all hungry for fame and prestige, could easily segue into serious fighting. A raja might wager a cow in a game of dice, and lose his entire herd. Carried away by the excitement of the occasion, he could also decide to lead an attack against his “enemy,” a neighboring raja who was on bad terms with him or who was holding a rival sacrifice of his own. … A raja who had not received an invitation to a ritual was insulted; he felt honor-bound to fight his way into the enemy camp and carry off booty. … [P]eople could and did get killed.

—Karen Armstrong, The Great Transformation 21-2
(First Anchor Books ed., 2007)

Hah, don’t tell me it isn’t hard-wired! But it is interesting (although I assume entirely accidental), that her title repeats the title Karl Polanyi chose for his book on how we all morphed outselves into Benthamite utility-maximizers.