Human sacrifice was a religious practice characteristic of pre-Columbian Aztec civilization, as well as of other Mesoamerican civilizations like the Maya and the Zapotec. The extent of the practice is debated by modern scholars. Spanish explorers, soldiers and clergy who had contact with the Aztecs between 1517, when an expedition from Cuba first explored the Yucatan, and 1521, when Hernán Cortés conquered the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, made observations of and wrote reports about the practice of human sacrifice. For example, Bernal Díaz's The Conquest of New Spain includes eyewitness accounts of human sacrifices as well as descriptions of the remains of sacrificial victims. In addition, there are a number of second-hand accounts of human sacrifices written by Spanish friars that relate the testimony of native eyewitnesses.
The Aztec and Maya were Mesoamerican civilizations (living in Mexico and Central America) while the Incas lived in South America. The religious beliefs and practices of the Mayans and Aztecs were similar, but the Incas worshiped the sun. The Mayans are credited for the Mayan calendar and the Aztecs also have a calendar, while the Incas are famed for their masonry and engineering skills. All three were great civilizations. The Mayans made several breakthroughs in these fields.
Religion gave meaning and explained human existence, agriculture, natural biological occurrences, and even the light of day. Religion and the gods surrounded the Aztecs lives in every direction. In order to further understand the reasoning behind why the Aztecs felt they needed to practice sacrifice, one needs to understand the importance religion held within the Aztec race. Sacrifice of any form was considered to be a payment to their gods. According to Michael Graulich (2000), the director of religious studies at a school in Paris, the primary reason for sacrifice was atonement (p. 2).
He’s describing the way the people look and how they worship different idols than what his people worship. |What did the author/creator hope to accomplish?The author hope to accomplish the Aztec view of life and their culture. Did the author/creator seek to influence, teach, persuade, entertain, regulate, inform, record, fulfill a duty, describe, promote himself or herself, or some combination of these?The author seek to influence, teach, persuade, inform, record, fulfill a duty, and promote himself. How does the source reflect this purpose?The source reflect these purposes because he wrote about the Aztecs temples, houses, halls, etc. He try to persuade the Aztecs to worship his god and he try to inform them that the advantages of converting to his people religion and way of living.
The Mayans also believed in ancestor worship and communication performed by the Halach Uinic and Shaman during their hallucinations. Blood letting was also an activity practiced by the Mayans as a means of sacrifice to wards their God and as worship. Firstly it was drained fro captives in war and prisoners as Mayans and then nobles’ blood were more treasured. The Halach Uinic’s blood was treasures to the point where his letting was compared and considered equivalent to the birth of a new heir. Blood letting was also used as a means of hallucinating because with the loss of blood came a weakened state from which visions could be seen and also from the bunt blood of the king visions would appear in the smoke of things to come.
Often gods and goddesses were represented as part human and part animal much like the civilization of the Aztecs whose gods were viewed as having the appearance of an animal or having animal parts on their body. Temples were built as places for the gods to stay in. Each city had a temple built for the god of that city such as the great pyramid of Giza that was built for the sun god Ra. Daily life in Ancient China and Ancient
There was a supreme god, Itzama, and the rest of gods were ranked in importance. Most gods had human characteristics and needed human sacrifices to propitiate them. It is said that rivalry among the Mayan city-states often involved bloody fights. Painting show a society bent on war and using captives as sacrifices. At the top of the society was a ruler and around the ruler were a class of aristocrats whose wealth was determined by ownership of land.
Religious Beliefs of the Aztec and Maya The Aztec and Mayan cultures have many similarities and also many differences due to many different factors that played a role in their society. Like many religions that developed during this time, they had many primitive beliefs and practiced many things that we do not still practice today. Both of these cultures practiced human sacrifice and they put emphasis on praising objects around them. They would use gods to explain why certain things happened because they did not have the technology or the reasoning that we do today. They would use the reasoning that it was the will of the certain god and that is why a certain action took place.
Allison Helton History of World Civilization II Research Paper February 3, 2013 Aztec Religion and Afterlife The Aztec religion was a complex, polytheistic set of beliefs, rituals, and gods. They were extremely violent and incorporated war and sacrifice in very much of their lives. The rituals and gods helped them to separate the aspect of death and life on a daily basis. The Aztecs were not only very into sacrifice and violence, but also relied on the aspect of nature and the world in order to understand weather, agriculture, etc. Their religion and views were so complex and impressive, that they even spread to the cultures around them.
The Mayan also attacked killing and injuring some Aztec. Huts were burned with families still in them. The Mayans stood strong to protect their village, but the large group of Aztecs conquered the village and took them as slaves. The Aztecs always wanted to appease the gods through sacrificing humans. They believed extracting the hearts and chopping the victims head would renew the world.