In the ancient world, it was common for the parties entering into a contract to go through some type of ceremonial ordeal. Sometimes, this would take the form of invoking a curse upon themselves. In the Hittite world, they would "cut" a deal, contract, or covenant by taking a small animal and killing it. The first party would essentially say, "If I don’t keep my agreement, may this happen to me!" The other party or parties would then invoke that same curse upon themselves. We see a glimpse of this later when the Nephites rend their clothing upon accepting the Title of Liberty and covenant that if they do not fight valiantly, the same thing should happen to them, being torn to shreds and trampled upon. These ordeals showed that people really meant what they were saying.