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Sacrificing Humans To Aztec Gods
So, who was sacrificed? Human sacrifices were performed on specific days. It is believed ceremonies occurred for each of the 18 Aztec months. Purified Aztec pottery vessels were used to burn the sacred copal during these ceremonies. Each god required a different kind of victim: Xilonen the goddess of maize required young women; children were sacrificed to Tlaloc the god of rain; Huitzilopochtli the war god required brave prisoners that were captured in battle and a single volunteer would be accepted for Tezcatlipoca, god "Smoking Mirror". The Aztecs trained all the male population to be warriors. Every Aztec warrior had to provide at least one prisoner for sacrifice. Only the ones who continuously succeeded in providing captives could became full-time members of the warrior elite. Those that were unsuccessful were delegated to a less desirable status. "Flower Wars" offered these failed warriors an opportunity to redeem themselves by providing prisoners for the next festivities. There is still much debate as to what social groups constituted the usual victims of these sacrifices. It is often assumed that all victims were 'unwanted' commoners or foreigners. This is not accurate; victims seem to have been persons from any status level even of Aztec society. Likewise, it is believed that virtually all child sacrifices were offered by noble level parents as the ultimate gift to the demanding gods. So How Many Sacrifices Occurred? This question is very difficult to answer with certainty. Codices that depict the rites were pictorial not written texts. Also, Catholic priests and Spanish conquistadores burned all obtainable texts because they believed the images depicted on the pages were evil. In the most famous account, the re-consecration of the Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan, it is believed Aztec priests used only 4 sacrificial altars during the four-day re-consecration. To reach the 80,400 human sacrifices during this time period the priests would have had to average 14 sacrifices per minute. This is a physical impossibility. Furthermore human sacrifice was probably used to terrorize subjugated populations and most likely grossly over exaggerated and used as a propaganda tool. According to the Codex Telleriano-Remensis, old Aztecs who talked with missionaries about the affair told about a much lower figure for the re-consecration ceremony, approximately 4,000 victims in total. Current best estimates from recognized historians and archaeologists about the thirst of Aztec gods for human blood range from 250,000 to 20,000 sacrifices per year. Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com Sigi Fris spends his time in Mexico traking down pre-Columbian style home/office decore items. He is familiar with Maya glyphs and Aztec history. He has also spent time with the Raramuri in the Cooper Canyon of Chihuahua. View his collection of ancient Aztec pottery and ceremonial items. |
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