The practice of castration has its roots before recorded human history. Castration was frequently used in certain cultures of Europe, the Middle East, India, Africa and China, for political, religious or social reasons. After battles in some cases, victors castrated their captives or the corpses of the defeated to symbolise their victory and 'seize' their power. Castrated men — eunuchs — were often admitted to special social classes and were used particularly to staff bureaucracies and palace households: in particular, the harem. Castration also figured in a number of religious castration cults. Other religions, for example Judaism and Islam, were strongly opposed to the practice. The "Leviticus Holiness code", for example, specifically excludes eunuchs or any males with defective genitals from the priesthood, just as castrated animals are excluded from sacrifice.