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