The Aztec Practice of Human Sacrifice

1. The Aztec Practice of Human Sacrifice

2. Great Temple Stairs, Mexico City The Great Temple in Tenochtitlan had two stairways of access to the top, where there were two shrines or chapels dedicated to Tlaloc, the god of water on the left side (as you face the structure), and to Huitzilopochtli, god of war, on the right side. Human sacrifices were conducted in these shrines.

3. Victims would ascend the steps of the pyramid, wearing a sacrificial mask, where priests would then stretch them across a convex stone and rip their hearts out with a sharp knife.

4. Folio 58Magliabechiano Codex

5. Sacrificial Knife currently in the British Museum. The sacrificial knife was called Tecpatl Ixcuahua, "The Knife With the Broad Forehead".

6. Scene from the Florentine Codex After the sacrifice, bodies were thrown down the temple steps. There the bodies were divided up and pieces given to the captor and to the king.

7. The Wall of Skulls, Tenochtitlan Skulls were displayed in the plaza around the base of the Great Pyramid. Scene from theCodex Durán

8. In Mesoamerica, the most obvious practice of human sacrifice was found in the Aztec Culture. Under the leadership of the king, sacrifice became a key element in their ritual and worship to many gods. The Aztecs were constantly at "war" with neighboring tribes and groups. The goal of this constant warfare was to collect live prisoners for sacrifice. The Flower Wars began with a mutual agreement between the Aztecs and the Tlaxcalans to capture live men for future sacrifice (Meyers & Sherman:65).

9. Folio 54Magliabechiano Codex The Aztecs worshipped a war god called Huitzilopochtli, who took on the likeness of the sun over time. It was thought that in order to insure the sun's arrival each day, a steady supply of human hearts had to be offered in holy sacrifice (Hogg:43). They believed that the sun and earth had already been destroyed four times, and in their time of the 5th sun, final destruction would soon be upon them. In order to delay this dreadful fate, the practice of human sacrifice became a major element in Aztec society and livelihood (Meyer & Sherman:67).

10. Scene from theCodex Durán The most common form of sacrifice was performed outside, on the top of a great pyramid. The victim was spread-eagled on a round stone, with his back arched. His limbs were held, while a priest used an obsidian knife to cut under the rib cage and remove his heart. This method was used when honoring the sun god, Huitzilopochtli.

11. Each god apparently preferred a different form of sacrifice. For the fertility god Xipe Totec, the person was tied to a post and shot full of arrows. His blood flowing out represented the cool spring rains (Meyer & Sherman:69). The fire god required a newly wed couple. They were thrown into the god's altars and allowed to burn and at the last minute they were taken out and had their hearts removed as a second offering (Hogg :48). The earth mother goddess, Teteoinnan, was extremely important. At harvest time, a female victim was flayed and her skin was carried ceremoniously to one of the temples. Her skin was worn by an officiating priest who then symbolized the goddess herself (Meyer & Sherman:44)

12. The Aztec Civil Calendar The solar year was the basis for the civil calendar by which the Aztecs determined the many ceremonies and sacrificial rituals linked to agricultural cycles. The calendar was made up of 18 months, each lasting 20 days