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Discuss The Ways In Which This Exemplifies The Aztec

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Coyolxauhqui Phoenix Douglas California State University Northridge ART 112: World Arts: Africa, Oceania, and the Americas Juliet Moss April 23, 2024 Choose one Aztec building or object from the list. Discuss the ways in which this object exemplifies the Aztec world view. Consider history, myth, religion, geography, and/or the importance of sacrifice. In Aztec culture, the concepts of balance and sacrifice play an important role in its mythology, societal structure, and belief system, which are depicted through its architecture. By examining their history, belief system, and cultural rituals, this essay will explore how the Templo Mayor exemplifies the complexity of the Aztec worldview. Human sacrifice plays a large role in Aztec mythology …show more content…

The Aztec people believed that the gods resided within these twin temples with Huitzilopochtli residing in the red southern temple and Tlaloc residing in the blue northern temple. The god’s temples were constructed together to emphasize the importance of duality and balance in the Aztec belief system. Additionally, the concepts of balance and sacrifice are shown to be intertwined throughout Aztec mythology. It was believed that gods would sacrifice themselves by diving into a bonfire to usher in a new age of the world; therefore, the Aztec people would perform human sacrifices at the top of the temple of Huitzilopochtli as a way of honoring the gods. The Aztecs would sacrifice slaves and prisoners of war to Huitzilopochtli. Human sacrifices were viewed as a necessity in order to empower the war god. According to Aztec mythology, when gods would sacrifice themselves in the bonfire, they would become the sun of that new era. In every era, the title and role of the sun god would renew, each new god would require blood sacrifices in order to ensure the continuation of the current era. It was believed that whenever, a new age would be ushered in by the sacrifice of a god, it was

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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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Worshippers would perform rituals and ceremonies to gain the god’s help, and an important part of these rites was human sacrifice. Shown here is a priest offering a heart taken from a living person and offering it to Huitzilopochtli and Tonatiuh at a pyramid temple, where this often took place (Aztec Britannica, 1).

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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 final reason for emphasizing Human Sacrifice is their motive for war and expansion. The Aztec Empire at its height was twice the size of Ohio. When the Empire was smaller they wanted to get bigger. On the unequipped land the Aztecs would have “flower wars”. The flower wars gave the Aztecs more land and also gave them “flowers”.

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Religion is a very important part of the Aztecs' lives, impacting their society. The Aztecs were very individual, and their religion influenced their daily life, social hierarchy, and their military campaigns. They gave great respect to the gods and goddesses, each god symbolizing different aspects such as the sun, rain, agriculture, and warfare. The Aztecs believed that their gods needed multiple human sacrifices to maintain the world. This act resulted in the erection of magnificent temples, like the Templo Mayor in their capital city of Tenochtitlan, where rituals and ceremonies happened.

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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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In chapter three, Religion of the Aztecs, Carrasco paints an interesting picture demonstrating the complex and mystifying nature of Aztec religion. Much of what was practiced in Aztec religion had some connected to the god, Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl or the Plumed Serpent. Most communities included ceremonial centers dedicated to demonstrating the importance of Quetzalcoatl. At the same time, the cosmos also played a large role in how the Aztecs worshiped. One example of this is how the human body was regarded as one of the most sacred spaces due to certain body parts being assigned to different aspects of the world (pg. 88, 89).

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The Aztecs, like most ancient civilizations, were practicing a polytheistic religion. The most well-known of those civilizations possibly being Ancient Greece. The similarities don’t end there; when most people think of the Aztecs and their religion, they think of their inimical ritual of sacrifice. Thousands of years before, in North Africa, the Carthaginians were sacrificing many of their people, even infants. Most researchers believe it was to appease their gods and even to control the population, which are also reasons Aztec experts believe to be true for the Mesoamerican civilization.

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The Aztec people had significant ups and downs. Human sacrifices were made for their deities, while big farming improvements were being made. They believed sacrificing people for their gods could give them better farming seasons, luck in war, and the sun to come back up. Farming also played a big rule in sacrifice, because of their relationship. However the organization of farming shows that they didn’t do it for sport, moreover that it was a whole ceremony.

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The Aztecs had a complex and polytheistic religious system, they believed in many different Gods. One of their religious practices was doing human sacrifices, this was one of their main practices to please their Gods. The Aztecs did these practices because they believed the Gods would let the sun rise and their crops grow. When the Spanish arrived Hernan Cortes defeated the Aztecs and forced them to convert religions to Christianity. The Spanish destroyed idols and temples.

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The gods could be nourished in many different ways, such as blood or living hearts of captives. The sacrifices were all practiced in Mesoamerica, but the Tencha used sacrifice on a grand scale. (Aztec civilization). “The Aztecs believed that their special purpose in life was to delay destruction. ”(Aztec civilization).

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The most common of these rituals was the human sacrifice. Aztec adherents fasted before ceremonies, which often started at sunset with singing and dancing that lasted well into the night. This often lasted for several nights, the dancing coming to a climax with the offering of incenses, gifts of food and animals to the gods, followed by the ceremonial sacrifice

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The Aztecs thought that the sun was weakening and needed sacrifices, and especially those of human blood, to be able to follow its course and not destroy the world. Human sacrifices were made on a large scale. The sacrifices were carried out on top of huge pyramids, to be closer to the sun, so that the blood spilled down the steps. The book: The Broken Spears, shows us how the king had no mercy for his people. Motechuzoma said to a messenger “You may rest now.”

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They had public ceremonies and prayed to agriculture god for good harvests. Priests kept calendars. Sometimes war prisoners were sacrificed to the gods. Aesthetics (Art, literature, music, dance, leisure activities, legacies to world culture) Aztecs built large and unique structures. They consisted of mainly temples and city walls.

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