How did ancient animal sacrifice work?

Question

For example, in the Middle East BCE.

Did the offering person just bring the animal to the priests, or did she kill it and burn it herself?

Did the priests get offcuts, or a chance to steal the animal and resell it?

How did the temples get enough wood to burn all these animals to ash? Wouldn't it have been ridiculously expensive?

Was it just a rort perpetrated by the priestly classes, like the timing of eclipses?

Answer 1

Sometimes it was brought to a priest, if it was a city dweller, more often done by oneself.  Yes, the priests were often known to take some of the meat for themselves, lived on it really.  You don't need very much wood to burn a body.  And I don't know what a rort is, so can't answer that one.

Answer 2

these rituals and sacrifices were created by the clergy to perpeuate their power, ensuring blind obedience and source of income to the church/temple/mosques/synagogues etc.  common folks on the other hand had no one to turn to for religious guidance and ever grateful when the priests bless them thinking that they r getting a dose of salvation.  then the level of eduction was low and clergy was part of the learned class.  today the scenario has changed.  we have attained maturity in education / knowledge acquisition / discernment hence able to think / judge / decide / choose etc.  many of us still rely on the clergy for our salvation/peace of mind.

thats the way it works till we heard of the bahai faith where there is no clergy and incumbent upon every adherent to find out.  lets investigate further