Aztec Beliefs

The Aztecs were a Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican people of central Mexico in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. The Aztec, also known as the Mexica, empire lasted more than 100 years until it was conquered by a spanish conquistador, Hernan Cortes in 1521. There are many interesting aspects of the ancient Aztec culture, that people should know; for example, they should know about their religion, human sacrifices class structure, and arts. Religion was extremely important in Aztec culture. The gods and goddesses they worshipped, ruled one or more human activities or aspects of nature. The Aztecs had many agricultural gods because their culture was heavily based on farming. Many of the gods included Huitzilopochtli, the patron god, Tlaloc, god of rain, Tonatiuh, the sun, Tezcatlipoca, meaning “Smoking Mirror” and Chalchiuhtlicue, The goddess of running water and all aquatic elements. Many priests taught how not to behave in order to refrain the gods from becoming angry. An important aspect to them was the sun. According to the website, Aztec History and Culture, explains how the Aztecs believed they were the People of the Sun. They felt that in order for the sun to rise each day the Aztecs needed to perform rituals and sacrifices to give the sun strength.

Without the human sacrifices, they believed the sun would fail and the world would end. The website, Aztec culture and Society explains how many Aztec people believe that in order for the sun to rise, it needed human blood. “For example, the sheer logistics associated with sacrificing 84,000 victims would be overwhelming, 20,000 being a more likely figure.” Yearly, 20,000 people were sacrificed. Whether they were war captives, slaves or their own selves, it was a ritual to repay the gods for sacrificing themselves in order for the world to be created. According to Aztec Gods, the website states