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Sacrifice was a common theme in the Aztec culture. In the Aztec "Legend of the Five Suns", all the gods sacrificed themselves so that mankind could live.Some years after the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, a body of the Franciscans confronted the remaining Aztec priesthood and demanded, under threat of death, that they desist from this traditional practice.
Sacrifice of a war captive (Image based on the Codex Magliabechiano) The tecpatl or sacrificial knife, was an important element in Aztec rituals. The tecpatl was used by Aztec priests to open the chest of the victims of human sacrifice to extract the heart that would feed the gods, in the hope that the offerings would bring blessings to mankind ...
However, Huitzilopochtli was known as the primary god of war in ancient Mexico. [30] Since he was the patron god of the Mexica, he was credited with both the victories and defeats that the Mexica people had on the battlefield. The people had to make sacrifices to him to protect the Aztec from infinite night. [31]
The scale of Aztec human sacrifice has provoked many scholars to consider what may have been the driving factor behind this aspect of Aztec religion. In the 1970s, Michael Harner and Marvin Harris argued that the motivation behind human sacrifice among the Aztecs was the cannibalization of the sacrificial victims , depicted for example in Codex ...
Huītzilōpōchtli, god of war, human sacrifice, bloodletting, and the lord of the South. (Blue Tezcatlipoca) [10] Payīnal or Pāinaltōn, god of battles and Huitzilopochtli's messenger. Tlācahuēhpān, Toltec equivalent of Huītzilōpōchtli. Tepēyōllōtl, god of the animals, darkened caves, echoes, and earthquakes. Tepeyollotl is a ...
A trove of Aztec sacrifices including a richly adorned jaguar dressed as a warrior and recently discovered in downtown Mexico City could lead archaeologists to the most tantalizing find yet: an ...
Annotated image of Xipe Totec sculpture. In Aztec mythology, Xipe Totec (/ ˈ ʃ iː p ə ˈ t oʊ t ɛ k /; Classical Nahuatl: Xīpe Totēc [ˈʃiːpe ˈtoteːk(ʷ)]) or Xipetotec [3] ("Our Lord the Flayed One") [4] was a life-death-rebirth deity, god of agriculture, vegetation, the east, spring, goldsmiths, silversmiths, liberation, deadly warfare, the seasons, [5] and the earth. [6]
Discovered off the steps of the Aztec's holiest temple during the reign of the empire's most powerful ruler, the sacrificial offerings also include a young boy, dressed to resemble the Aztec war ...