Aztec Culture:Human Sacrifice
Human Sacrifice was a normal occurrence in Aztec Culture. The topic of human sacrifice is a very sensitive topic. The report of the first human sacrifice with the Aztecs is a partial legend about the sacrifice and skinning of the kings daughter Coxcox of Culhuacan. The great Aztec city of Tenochtitlan was founded on this first sacrifice. It was the center of the Aztec Empire. Tiacaelel, who was Montezuma’s brother and Itzcoatl’s nephew who where the first and second Aztec emperors, increased the prevalence of human sacrifice particularly during a period of natural disasters that started in 1446.
As with all Mesoamerican cultures, human sacrifice was considered a natural part of life. In the Aztec culture the legend “ Legend Of The Five Suns” all the gods gave themselves in sacrifice so mankind could live. This is where their belief that there is an ongoing sacrifice to sustain the universe came from. They believed that life in essence was the dead being brought back to through penance. Their worldview was built on the concept of paying back a debt to the universe. Every aspect of the planets existence, crops, people, planets, stars you name it was believed to come from every severed head or body part used in a sacrifice. In fact the victim who was to be sacrificed was referred to someone who gave their service. The Aztec culture metaphor for sacrifice was debt-payment. Human sacrifice to the Aztec culture was a debt-payment obligation to the gods that was fulfilled.
The Aztecs gladly parted with anything as a sacrifice. Things from art that was smashed to animals and grains to humans where heaped unto mounds including the temple pyramids. Animal sacrifice was quite common. The Aztecs bred dogs just for sacrifice as well as sacrificed jaguars, eagles and deer. Objects were also broken and offered to the gods.
The Aztec culture also practiced bloodletting. They would cut the fleshy parts of their bodies such as earlobes, lips, tongues, chest and calves. The common people would offer Maguey thorns covered with their blood and the kings would cut their tongues, earlobes and penises. In extreme hardships Aztec kings would pierce their tongues and run a rope through it. This was a supreme sacrifice to ensue the dynasty would not fail. In Aztec culture each god was offered a human sacrifice in a particular fashion. Huitzilopochtli was a tribal deity and was identified with the sun zenith and warfare. The human sacrifice would be placed on a sacrificial stone where the priest would cut through his or her abdomen with an obsidian knife. The heart would be removed while beating. It was held up for the Sun god and then either cremated or given to the warrior who captured the victim. The body was then cut up and either used in ritual cannibalism or given in pieces to various warriors or nobility as an offering. Tezcatlipoca was considered the most powerful god representing night, sorcery and destiny. One sacrifice given to him was that of a victim who was tethered in place and given a mock weapon to fight four warriors with. Another sacrifice to this god was once a year he was given a handsome man who was supposedly his incarnate on earth. The young man would be a volunteer who lived in luxury with 4 beautiful women for 1 year. He would walk the streets playing a flute with the 4 women. On the day of his sacrifice a feast would be given in honor of the god, the young man would voluntarily walk the pyramid stairs break his flute and be sacrificed. Hueheuteotl was the senior deity and the god of fire. Victims of this god were burned alive and before they died were removed from the fire to have their hearts removed. This god has a preference for newlywed couples as sacrifices. That was considered a double offering. Sacrificing to him was believed to prevent bush fires that could destroy the villages. Tialoc was the rain god. It was believed he had to have a young child as a sacrifice that cried on his way to his death. Sometimes the priests would tear out the child’s nails to make them cry. This sacrifice was done to ensure the crops had rain and to make sure diseases like leprosy were kept at bay. In Aztec culture when it was a peaceful time in order to get human sacrifices ritual wars were enacted called flower wars. Because the objective was to get live humans that were to be sacrificed the captives may have been injured but not killed. They were called the dept payment to the gods. Slaves that were lazy or sold three times were also used as sacrifices. There is a fine line between scholars who view the act of human sacrifice as a practice of indigenous people who were noble savages or barbarians who were primitive. In many cases the information of human sacrifice and the early cultures that practiced it were not fully understood and interpreted their acts without understanding their beliefs and culture. We don’t have to agree with the practices but they believed that their acts of human sacrifice were preserving the universe.
Mayan Civilization Ancient Maya History
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