Voice of the Publisher, 2019, 5, 77-87 https://www.scirp.org/journal/vp ISSN Online: 2380-7598 ISSN Print: 2380-7571 DOI: 10.4236/vp.2019.54006 Dec. 31, 2019 77 Voice of the Publisher Circumcision: History, Scope, and Aim: Part I Ilia Brondz 1* , Tahmina Aslanova 2 1 Norwegian Drug Control and Drug Discovery Institute (NDCDDI) AS, Ski, Norway 2 Department of History of Azerbaijan Baku State University, Baku, Azerbaijan Abstract The issue of circumcision has been vigorously discussed throughout human history. Discussions about its origin, history, purpose, and religious and so- cial meanings have been ongoing since the first human civilizations, occur- ring within primitive tribes, slave-based societies, fortified cities, slave king- doms, and empires (e.g., the Roman Empire). The topic has been taken up across feudal and modern kingdoms, and within modern capitalist and so- cialist societies. For example, the Nazis stand out for having used circumci- sion in their propaganda against Jews, and as an identifier to segregate Jews from others during their extermination. However, despite such prolonged and vigorous discussion, no consensus has been reached on the issue. Many well-based explanations for specific aspects of circumcision have been ad- vanced (e.g., its origin, history, purpose, and religious and social meanings), yet each has contradicted the others. The aim of this paper is to determine the most plausible explanations for circumcision, within the context of various forms of genital manipulations that have been conducted across human his- tory. It is difficult to cover all aspects of this topic in a relatively brief pa- per—indeed, it would also be difficult to cover the entire story in a volumin- ous book. In addition to the evidence available from other sources, special at- tention is paid to the passages from the Torah, the Old and New Testaments of the Bible, and the Koran. Keywords Circumcision, History, Protection against Sacrificing 1. Introduction The external and internal sex organs and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis together represent the reproductive system [1]. The drive to reproduce is considered one of the most powerful among living creatures: “Sex is the most How to cite this paper: Brondz, I. and Aslanova, T. (2019) Circumcision: History, Scope, and Aim: Part I. Voice of the Pub- lisher, 5, 77-87. https://doi.org/10.4236/vp.2019.54006 Received: December 16, 2019 Accepted: December 28, 2019 Published: December 31, 2019 Copyright © 2019 by author(s) and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY 4.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Open Access