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The Mayans: What Is Human Sacrifice?

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As far as religions go, the Mayans had a very “creative” one to follow. They were and are a very polytheistic society, worshiping 10 main gods, as well as many other “minor” gods . One of these types of worship, and probably the one that most Mesoamerican cultures are so well known for, is human sacrifice. A person might look at historical evidence of this and think about how horrific this ritual was; they would be right. However, based upon their beliefs, the Mayan people had a few good reasons to think that what they were doing was right. Firstly, in their religion, no one really died; their body might be physically destroyed, but their spirit continues to move forward, ever searching for paradise, or Tamoanchan. This was what death meant to the Mayans. …show more content…

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”. Literally. Then, they had to climb through the upper 13 layers to reach their paradise. It was because of these views and beliefs that human sacrifice became so popular, and even honorable. All of this information about the afterlife in Mayan culture is great, but what happened in the beginning? How did the Mayan culture come to

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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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The Aztecs had a polytheistic belief and used human sacrifices in their rituals. They used these sacrifices to “feed” the sun god so that it continued to move and provide warmth (Aztec source H). The Mayans also believed in many gods, making them polytheistic like the Aztecs. The Mayans were also animistic, thinking that every object had a soul. Instead of using human sacrifices, priests led festivals and rituals that honored the gods (Maya source H).

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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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