The Ammonites erected huge bronze statues in his honour, depicting him as a bull-headed colossus with extremely long arms, sitting on a throne of brass. His rites included human sacrifices, especially the immolation of firstborn infants. This sacrifice was said to be the most powerful way to avert disaster and death from the community at large.
The Greeks, who identified him with a Carthaginian deity of male principle, compared Moloch to Cronos. This titan usurped his father's throne and killed him. To make sure that the same fate should not befall him, Cronos devoured his own children. In time the name Moloch came to be applied to any number of cruel doctrines and evil practices.
Moloch (or Saturn-Moloch) is also identified with Baal Hammon in Carthaginian religion, in which human sacrifice was performed to appease the god. An example of a religious tablet reads as such:
"To the Goddess to Tanath the countenance of Baal;
To the Lord to Baal Hammon, a man vowed,
Even Abshamban, a votary of Ashtarte and a filial
Devotee of Ashmon: as thou hearest the supplication,
Do Thou Bless!"
Infants were not the only ones sacrificed in Carthage. Justin writes:
"they used as a remedy a bloody piece of religion and a horrid abonimation. For they sacrificed men as victims, and brought to the altars children..., begging the favour of the gods by shedding the blood..."
Ancient descriptions of the sacrificial sites were described.
"Unlike the houses of the other idols, that of Moloch was set outside the city. It was gigantic in form and had the head of what appeared to be an ox, the hands stretched out as if to receive something, the body was hollow inside. Before the idol, there were seven temples, the first six of which were employed for the sacrifice of various fowl and animals, the seventh reserved for a human sacrifice."
Diodorus described the ritualistic sacrifice. First, the devotee would kiss the image of Moloch. He would then make a fire under the idol, which would quickly cause the hands of the statue to become red-hot. A victim would then be placed in the hands to suffer an agonizing death. His cries would be muffed by the drums. While this was taking place, the prophets would dance around an altar,
"with violent gesticulations, and, having excited themselves to a pitch of frenzy by it, as well as by their fearful vociferations they began to cut their bodies with knives and lancets. In this unnatural state they began to prophesy, or rather rave, as if possessed by some invisible power."
It was mentioned in the Old Testament that Jezebel sacrificed to Moloch, and supported 450 of these prophets.
The exact location of these sacrifices is called Topheth, a name which, according to some, was derived from the Hebrew 'toph,' meaning 'drum;' because drums were supposedly used to drown out the cries of the victims. The place was also called Hinnom in the Old Testament, because of the cries of children. Hinnom is derived from naham, which means to roar. Because of this, Moloch is often referred to as the 'prince of the valley of tears.'
In the Kabbalistic tradition, Moloch, together with Satan, was the first of the ten evil Sephiroth. He represented the negative aspect of the first Sephiroth, Kether, also known as the 'crown of knowledge.'
Several Biblical References include:
See: