the First Book of the Maccabees tells of the profanation of the temple of Jerusalem by Antiochus IV Epiphanes in 167 B.C.
Recent Examples on the WebNo tear-floods, nor sigh-tempests move; ’Twere profanation of our joys To tell the laity our love. John Edgar Wideman, The New Yorker, 8 July 2021 The first assault is on the Nile itself, which is turned to blood, thereby ruining both agriculture and aquaculture in one swoop, a profanation with religious consequences. Kevin D. Williamson, National Review, 28 Nov. 2019 His family has argued that the exhumation would amount to profanation of a burial site, and said the only alternative resting place for Franco should be inside the crypt of the Madrid cathedral, a suggestion that the government found unacceptable. Raphael Minder, New York Times, 4 June 2019