In antiquity it was custom sacrificing the first-born. A petty king in Palestine, in building the walls of Jericho, “laid the foundation thereof in Abiram, his first-born, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son, Segub”. [1]
Moses attempted to end human sacrifices by inaugurating the ransom as a substitute. Even after most groups had ceased the ritual killing of children, it was the custom to put an infant away by itself, off in the wilderness or in a little boat on the water. [2]