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Ancient Aztecs Research Paper

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Recommended: Topics of aztec civilization

Scott C. Hudson
Eng 386.001
Ms. Horn
December 15, 2014
Re-exploring Aztec Thought It is commonly known that Hernan Cortes conquered the Aztec Empire without great difficulty. This is a tale we have been told since our early history classes. What many may not realize is why. To this effect, this paper will explore not only the myths surrounding this circumstance, but also many of the other beliefs and myths of the ancient Aztecs. We will commence out discussion at the beginning, naturally. In the belief system of the Aztecs, our world was not the first but the fifth. It is interesting to note that each previous world, or “sun,” correlated with an element – earth, air, fire, and water. Each previous sun was destroyed by the two warring …show more content…

Whereas, Tezcatlipoca represented war and darkness. These two deities, along with their siblings, would fight over each sun until it was ultimately consumed in their celestial war. With each new sun, a different deity would preside over the new world. In each previous sun – earth, air, water, and fire – the entirety of humanity was wiped out. However, following perhaps the Indian belief system, each new race of humanity was improved upon by the gods to constitute an improved and more intelligent creation. (Aguilar-Moreno 139-140) According to legend, the fifth and current sun fell to Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca to create. Apparently, these two gods set aside their differences for the good of their soon-to-be world. It is said that there was a giant crocodile-monster swimming in the waters of the previously flooded world. Quetza and Tezca transformed themselves into serpents and tore the creature in …show more content…

This aspect is well-known as it is popularized in movies, books, and historical stories. However, the motives of the sacrifices are not always made clear. Human sacrifices were always performed in a pious and religious context. Never were they sought out in a blood lust manner such as the gladiatorial games in ancient Rome. In fact, many of the people sacrificed were Aztec warriors who saw their sacrifice as an honor. In addition, voluntarily offering your blood to the sun god assured a place in paradise in the afterlife. One must understand how the Aztecs viewed their world and their deities. In fact, the world was formed by the sacrifice of the lives of their gods. The ancient people saw this a great favor and a gift. In their minds it was only fair to return the favor, and they did it with honor and humility. In a sense, also, they viewed the sacrifice of people as selfless. If the sun would cease to move due to a lack of human blood, the whole world would wither and die. In effect, it was their noble duty to provide fuel for the cosmos. (Aguilar-Moreno

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Also, it was to honor their gods, the god will feel stronger and the Aztecs will believe that if they unpleased the gods they will destroy the world. Additionally, some Aztecs will have a spiritual connection to the gods by offering themselves to be sacrificed. When they will be sacrificed there blood was given to the gods. Based on a interview from an Aztec shown in Document E, the Aztec

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Introduction The Aztecs lived in a mountainout area with lots of rain. They had a good connection with water to support their farming systems. The Aztecs also participated in human sacrifice. They were polytheistic, meaning they believed in many gods, which they sacrificed people in order to please. Human sacrifice affected culture trhough intimidation and rituals.

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Outsiders may look upon Aztec human sacrificial practices as disturbing, but to the Aztecs, it was a beautiful, worthy, and prideful thing to do. In fact, it was considered an honor to be a human sacrifice, and as described by one 17 year-old boy watching a sacrificial ceremony, he described that he felt “amazed by the physical beauty of the enemy warrior who was killed at the end of the festival.” In the time before one is sacrificed, he is given all the finest luxuries from the nobles' storehouses, including foods, clothes, teachers, women, and instruction. He walks among the Aztec people as “a living god.” There have been many works of art depicting the sacrifice, which are direct references that historians can refer to for Aztec culture and history.

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The year that Cortes arrived was the year that the god Quetzalcoatl was meant to return. The god was also meant to return from the east. Cortes also came from the east. The god Quetzalcoatl was said to be a white skinned man who Cortes was also. Montezuma let Cortes come very close to their city because they thought that he was a god.

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This belief in the necessity of sacrifice was intricately woven into their worldview and provided a unique perspective on the meaning of life and the role of humans in the divine order. The Aztec religion was highly ritualistic, with a wide array of ceremonies and practices aimed at establishing and maintaining harmonious relationships with the divine. One of the most significant rituals was the "New Fire Ceremony." Every 52 years, the Aztecs believed that the world was on the verge of destruction, and a new era needed to be initiated. During this ceremony, a human sacrifice was offered, and a new sacred fire was kindled.

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As some may conclude the Aztecs performed human sacrifice out of pure evil, the real reason behind the gruesome act revolved around the Aztec’s gods. The ritual of human sacrifice was ultimately to receive the god’s gifts, which gave them life. In document J the previous opinion is discussed saying, “…humans must sacrifice that which was most important to them – life – to receive the sun, the rain, and other blessings of the gods that made life possible”(Document J). If Aztecs looked at human sacrifice in this way it can be argued that they participated in this act for the sake of keeping the gods happy, who were the providers of everyday fundamentals such as the sun and rain. Ultimately, the Aztecs were determined to give the gift of life to the god’s.

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Did you know that almost every single religion has their own opinion on creation? The Aztec Creation Story is a myth. Myths are stories that are retold in different ways each time they are read. The “Aztec Creation” story is not real since there were no people before time, there were more then 3 people running, and there was land before time in the story. There were no people before that time.

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He stated an example of this when he said “It was common for all men, on the day customarily set for human sacrifice, to sprinkle the altar with human blood.” Showing that sacrifices have been common throughout history. This familiarizes the act as a habit of ancient people who had not been introduced to Christianity. He stated more examples such as “The Carthaginians had the custom of offering human victims to Saturn and when they had been conquered by Aglothocles, the King of Sicily, they thought their god was angry with them and so that they might more diligently blot out their crime, they sacrificed two hundred noble children.” This large scale of sacrifice also diminishes the impact of the Native Americans own hefty ceremonies.

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So with the most controversial practice going first the Mayans and Aztecs did use human sacrifice to appease their gods but not nearly as much as the Spanish gave. Around 126 human remains were found in the temple Mayor. More common practices were offerings of corn, animals, and bloodletting. Bloodletting was when a priest or a high up in their society would either cut themselves or use cactus needles to pierce themselves and have their blood used to help please their gods. But more sacrifices of animals occurred than human ones.

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In Aztec culture, the virtue of self-sacrifice meant that your own life must be sacrificed if necessary. The Aztecs were willing to sacrifice personal possessions and life itself in order to please the gods. Self- sacrifice was an important virtue to the Aztecs because they firmly believed in giving in order to receive, in offering gifts to the earth in exchange for daily sustenance (food), and in paying the gods back for the sacrifices they had made at the Fifth Sun for human life to begin. Self-Sacrifice was seen as an important virtue in their culture in order to keep peace and harmony with the gods and their people. Fagan states, "The offering of human blood was the most profound Aztec religious act.

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Although the Aztecs were not the only early civilization to practice human sacrifice, they are still heavily criticized because they were more documented than the others. Aztec sacrifice is looked down upon so much, mainly because of Hernan Cortes and the Conquistadors. Before Cortes met the

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Throughout history, civilizations have sought to clarify and justify the world around. In the Mesoamerican region that encompasses the majority of present-day Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras, the Aztecs and Maya developed the concept of the “cosmovision”(Lopez Austin). The cosmovision was derived from the notion that a cosmological force was driving the all aspects of community, religion, communication, family, life etc., which was a driving force in the interactions between the hierarchies. It was a means to incorporate space and time into a unified entity. Overall, the cosmovision is defined as a structured group of ideological systems that have gradually evolved to meet the need of the society (Carrasco 2012:

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The Aztecs would often sacrifice prisoners of war or criminals or some victims offered. Whoever the victim was had gotten their heart ripped out and decapitated. The Aztecs sacrificed people to keep the sun moving in the sky and preserve their lives. They believed they had to feed their gods. They sacrificed one person every ten minutes which would be approximately 144 people a day.

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This leads to the second reason why the Mayans thought it was okay to sacrifice people. This reason is that there were a couple ways that someone could skip this perilous journey and head straight to Tamoanchan. Some of these include dying while giving birth, dying on the battlefield, and, you guessed it, by being sacrificed. So, as the Mayans saw it, they were doing their sacrifices a favor by giving them a “get-out-of-Xibalba-free card”. Speaking of this subject, humans had to make their way through 9 levels of the underworld, making the beginning of their afterlife pure “hell”.

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The Aztecs practiced human sacrifices and sometimes cannibalism as a religious belief (Anawalt, 1982). The custom of human sacrifices has been seen throughout the history of many cultures (Winkelman, 2013). Humans were used as an offering to the gods in many rituals. People like the Aztecs were very religious individuals and they wanted to give their gods anything they could provide. There could be a variety of reasons why human sacrifices are made like religious reasons or

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