Aztec sacrifices

Most of the sacrificial rituals took more than two people to perform. In the usual procedure of the ritual, the sacrifice would be taken to the top of the temple.[36] The sacrifice would then be laid on a stone slab by four priests, and his/her abdomen would be sliced open by a fifth priest with a ceremonial knife made of flint. The cut was made in the abdomen and went through the diaphragm. The priest would grab the heart and tear it out, still beating. It would be placed in a bowl held by a statue of the honored god, and the body thrown down the temple's stairs.[37]

Before and during the killing, priests and audience (who gathered in the plaza below) stabbed, pierced and bled themselves as autosacrifice (Sahagun, Bk. 2: 3: 8, 20: 49, 21: 47). Hymns, whistles, spectacular costumed dances and percussive music marked different phases of the rite.

The body parts would then be disposed of: the viscera fed the animals in the zoo; the bleeding head was placed on display in the tzompantli, meaning 'hairy skulls'.[38] Not all the skulls in the tzompantlis were victims of sacrifice. In the Anales de Tlatelolco it is described that during the siege of Tlatelolco by the Spaniards, the Tlatelolcas built three tzompantli: two for their own dead and one for the fallen conquerors, including two severed heads of horses.

Other kinds of human sacrifice, which paid tribute to various deities, approached the victims differently. The victim could be shot with arrows (in which the draining blood represented the cool rains of spring); die in unequal fighting (gladiatorial sacrifice) or be sacrificed as a result of the Mesoamerican ballgame; burned (to honor the fire god); flayed after being sacrificed (to honor Xipe Totec, "Our Lord The Flayed One"), or drowned.

The Aztecs really took their human sacrifices seriously. Not only would they sacrifice people, but the people watching the sacrifice would "autosacrifice" by cutting themselves. There are stories of between 4,000 and 80,000 people being sacrificed in a four day period.

Some people claim that the Aztecs cannibalized the victims of sacrifices. One of the reasons they might have done this was to provide protein into their diet.

For the re-consecration of Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan in 1487, the Aztecs reported that they sacrificed about 80,400 prisoners over the course of four days, though there were probably far fewer sacrifices. According to Ross Hassig, author of Aztec Warfare, "between 10,000 and 80,400 persons" were sacrificed in the ceremony.[40] The higher estimate would average 14 sacrifices per minute during the four-day consecration. (As a comparison, the Auschwitz concentration camp, working 24 hours a day with modern technology, approached but did not equal this pace: it executed about 19,200 a day at its peak. The limiting factor for the Nazis was not killing people, but efficient disposal, via cremation of the bodies.)[41] Four tables were arranged at the top so that the victims could be jettisoned down the sides of the temple.[42] Nonetheless, according to Codex Telleriano-Remensis, old Aztecs who talked with the missionaries told about a much lower figure for the reconsecration of the temple, approximately 4,000 victims in total.

The sacrifices may have been very important politically as psychological warfare. I know that if I knew someone in my neighborhood was cutting the hearts out of live people, I would never in a million years mess with that person.

The high-profile nature of the sacrificial ceremonies indicates that human sacrifice played an important political function. The Mexica used a sophisticated package of psychological weaponry to maintain their empire, aimed at instilling a sense of fear into their neighbours. The Aztecs controlled a large empire of tribute paying vassal tribes. The population of native Aztecs was very small compared to the population of the area they controlled. The Aztecs were vulnerable - they would have been easily outnumbered had their vassal tribes formed alliances and rebelled. To sow dissention among the vassals the Aztecs demanded human victims as part of the annual tribute. The vassals would raid each other to capture prisoners. This encouraged animosity between the vassals and strengthened Aztec political central rule. This was a method of political control which was innovative and perhaps unique in human history.

The Aztecs really put a lot of thought into all of their rituals and it is really amazing that they were able to thrive as a civilization all the while making many human sacrifices. Maybe they were on to something.

Would the Aztec civilization still be thriving today if it wasn't for the European influence?

Aztec Human Sacrifice

[edit on 7/22/2010 by SUICIDEHK45]

A thread after my own heart.





In this performance the Director Mel Gibson captures all that you speak of and more. This is by far on e of the most demonstrative scenes I know of in cinema. It seems it must have taken hundreds of people to bring the sacrifices to their fate. Besides the full crew we see at the top of the temple.

I also call your attention to the order of things that go on atop the temple.
Did you see them? The world class elite that sit and simply enjoy the festival and life, as the Politician does their bidding for them. this so representative that in truth things haven't changed a bit through time.

They sacrificed children then, they are still doing it today.
SnF
IMO a great post.

[edit on 22-7-2010 by randyvs]

A lot of historians argue that the Aztecs were on the way out anyways before the Spaniards even landed ashore.

A good example is the mystery of what happened to the Maya.

Records indicate that those civilizations that became embroiled into sacrificial customs became plagued with all types of political problems.

Villages were turning against each other, and wars erupted between them (within the empires) often. This was a major issue that harmed these cultures.

Who killed the Aztec? I think they killed themselves for the most part.

Their reputation and treachery had become so renown that they could not keep allies and every faction began to stab each other in the back when the Spanish came onto the scene.

The politics of these nations were not simple, they were indeed highly complex and sophisticated. There were royal families and bloodlines, there were vying political factions, there were resources and wealth worth fighting over, and there was great intrigue and deception going on in the later era of either culture.

Their way of life was too brutal, and too volatile. They struggled to find political or economic stability due to the constant warfare. So essentially the Aztec way of life was the main cause of their inevitable destruction and downfall.

They were simply too selfish and too destructive to have really lasted much longer anyways.

worship the monolith!

I think Ancient Aztec cultures are perfect examples of truly horrible human behaviour. Places where the bad things ruled.

Originally posted by Aeons
perfect examples of truly horrible human behaviour. Places where the bad things ruled.

Are we talking about Aztec human sacrifice here or about bankers?

I'm confused. They're so darn hard to tell apart sometimes.

The Aztecs weren't so bad, after all they believed they had to sacrifice people the way they did to "feed" the Sun so it wouldn't die and rise again the next day. when short of prisoners/enemies to sacrifice, nobles volunteered so that the circle of the Sun was unbroken.

Bankers on the other hand can sacrifice whole nations at once, and for what? Pure greed? I'd take the Aztecs any day of the week and twice on Sundays

reply to post by SUICIDEHK45


Excellent posting. Good subject matter. While some areas are subjective, the one area that has always made me think is whether the Aztec were shown human sacrifice by some external entity that used such sacrificial bodies to do things that perhaps appeared like magic to the early Aztecs.

I can only speculate but perhaps these alien visitors that needed human sacrifices showed the Aztec how and who and when to kill. They taught them the mechanics of the ritual. The result would have to have some meaningful reward or motivation for the Aztec to acquire the custom and then on their own begin human sacrifice for whatever purpose the numerous deaths provided. While some evidence of cannibalism exists, most if not the majority of the sacrifices were not cannibalized. This implies some other purpose for the sacrifices.

Those true reasons could be the same reasons some groups today, perform blood sacrifices, cutting out hearts, eating children and performing rituals to invoke demons and other entities to assists in gaining wealth and power over others. Those demons that feed off of the victims energy could be the same entities that the Aztec killed to appease.

Perhaps the ritual vibrated a frequency that is recognized by these entities and the ritual is to the entities like a dinner bell is to us. It only signals that dinner is ready and you can eat your meal. The type of death could be the means necessary to imbue the victims with high levels of adrenaline and other hormones before the entities can eat them. The relationship is needed because the entities cannot consume the victims unless they have attained a state of fear and terror that no doubt alters blood chemistry.

You see, there had to be something in it for the Aztec to do this. Some think it was form of mind control, some think it was to feed reptilian aliens that feed off of humans and well, as you can see, it can be any number of possibilities but whatever it was I think only humans can prepare the victims and if done by ritual, it prepares and allows the entities to consume them only in such a manner.

With one having great power and one willing to serve that power, it sets up a symbiotic relationship that I feel is never really discussed enough. While the Aztec are historically renown for their human sacrifices, I have for most of my life felt that they did what they did because something was in their interests to do so. Secrets that have been taken to the grave. Oh well.

Perhaps one day we will know. Thanks for the posting. Good read. Good subject matter.

mmhh

Originally posted by Aeons
I think Ancient Aztec cultures are perfect examples of...

ancient times and the power in the hands of a few powerful leaders based on the "stupid beliefs" false gods.

Hey but they have an excuse ... primitive beliefs and of course they lived in the period XIId.c

truly horrible human behaviour. Places where the bad things ruled.

Irak? XXI century and and we're not seeing a Hollywood movie.

reply to post by SUICIDEHK45


The people who were sacrificed weren't exactly unwilling, so it wasn't for fear. The Aztecs believed in a Heaven-like place that only women who died during childbirth and people who were sacrificed went to. Everyone else, even the emperors, went to a hellish afterlife.

reply to post by Nosred


I think the Aztecs also sacrificed thousands of prisoners of war. I'm guessing the POWs weren't exactly volunteering for this ritual.

reply to post by SUICIDEHK45


That's true, but they still thought the POWs were going to a better place and it was considered an honourable execution. Thousands of people did volunteer for sacrifices though. They truly thought sacrifices kept the universe going.

reply to post by SUICIDEHK45


That's true, but they still thought the POWs were going to a better place and it was considered an honourable execution. Thousands of people did volunteer for sacrifices though. They truly thought sacrifices kept the universe going.

reply to post by SUICIDEHK45


That's true, but they still thought the POWs were going to a better place and it was considered an honourable execution. Thousands of people did volunteer for sacrifices though. They truly thought sacrifices kept the universe going.

reply to post by MaxBlack


Funny you should bring this up.I've often thought that this level of abattoir like sacrifice was driven by an outside influence.

I don't have any evidence for it though But their rituals to me have cargo cult element to them

and cargo cults are the results of influences from outside the affected culture

My theory is this ,they are mimicking or reenacting something that they we never privy to the purpose ,of such as genetic experimentation or surgery or or maybe they saw some of these' outlanders' had a method of surviving mortal wounds.... or some scenario along those lines

The Outlanders left, that much is clear leaving the native people to try to get them back by enacting bloody rituals that they for some reason thought the missing Gods would respond to ,but as in a cargo cult they Gods (people with a more advanced technology ) have not thought about these natives since they left

so the rituals and myths become distorted as time passes until nobody remembers why they do it except that it is a good terror tactic with which to control people

that's a very general outline but Graham Hancock thinks so too I saw an interview that David Wilcox did with him and I was astounded to Hancock say that what I have thought for a long time

it was a cargo cult I think

Originally posted by randyvs
They sacrificed children then, they are still doing it today.

Sort of makes you wonder what the true reason is behind the need for that giant wall around the Giza plateau...

Actually, I can answer your question:

Originally posted by SUICIDEHK45

Would the Aztec civilization still be thriving today if it wasn't for the European influence?

No. They'd made enemies of the other people (Texlacans and many others) of the area. The one reason the Spanish took over so readily was that the minute they went into action against the Aztecs, other tribes joined them.

All it would have taken was a long drought (to cut the farming productivity) or overextending their resources and the others in the region would have eliminated them.
www.aztec-history.net...