# What do we know about pre-Christian religious rites?

**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-know-about-pre-christian-religious-rites/735680
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [October 25, 2015, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-know-about-pre-christian-religious-rites/735680 "2015-10-25T01:53:58Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
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### Author: ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)
#### Post date: [July 31, 2016, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-know-about-pre-christian-religious-rites/735680/12 "2016-07-31T18:42:01Z")

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There were very strong similarities between the early religious rituals of the Hindu Brahmin and the Old Irish Druids. This [article is about new Irish Kings bathing with a sacrificed horse](http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:G8ZK_PicYkwJ:openjournals.library.usyd.edu.au/index.php/SSR/article/download/660/640+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk) and compares it with [the traditional Vedic Hindu royal inauguration.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashvamedha) And there are other similarities between ancient Indic and Irish religions; as well as relationships to Greek, Roman and Norse religions.

This connection seems odd — Ireland is a long distance from India; the Irish and Indic languages separated about 5500 years ago; the two populations have different Y-chromosome haplogroups. I think these religious parallels may suggest the great dominance of the early Indo-European culture.

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