Gods

The Aztecs were polytheists.

• Tlaloc

  • god of rain, hurricanes, fertility and lightning

  • babies drowned for sacrifice

• Huitzilopochtli

  • god of war, thunderstorms, fire and sun

  • blood sacrifice

  • role in the founding of Tenochtitlan

    • Aztecs were losing hope

    • Huitzilopochtli appeared to priests in a vision

    • Told them to settle where they saw an eagle perched on a cactus growing from a rock eating a snake

    • they saw this on the island in Lake Texcoco and founded their city there

    • Tenochtitlan means place of the cactus fruit

    • the eagle on a cactus became their symbol

    • seen on Mexican flag today

• Quetzalcoatl

  • god of agriculture, arts, love, science and wind

  • said to return in 1519 to restore peace to the Aztec empire

• Mictlantecuhtli

  • god of death

  • lord of Mictlan

    • Mictlan = underworld

• Xipe Totec

  • god of agriculture, fertility, seasons and renewal

  • flayed himself to give humanity food

Sacrifice

• believed that unless they made offerings of blood and human lives to the gods, the Sun would die and the world would come to an end

• also offered gifts such as maize and marigolds to the gods

Method

Who?

• Aztec warriors would capture prisoners for sacrifice

• extreme cases where family might offer someone in order to procure favours from the gods

• rebellious slaves

• between 10 000 - 50 000 could be sacrificed each year

Where?

• Top of Templo Mayor

  • Templo Mayor:

    • largest temple in Tenochtitlan.

    • very magnificent temple made of monumental stone

    • pyramid like

    • made for Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc

How?

1. held on a stone tablet by 4 priests

2. fifth priest slice abdomen with ceremonial knife, although the cut would often go through the diaphragm

3. fifth priest pulls beating heart out

4. heart was placed in special bowl and body was thrown down the stairs of the temple

5. body was taken by the owners to be eaten

Tzompantli

• archaelogists discovered remains in Mexico City (Tenochtitlan)

• enormous rack of skulls, rows of skulls and mortar lined up on vertical posts connected by crossbeams

• discovered in 2015

• hundred of skull fragments were excavated

• 35m x 14m x 4.5m (w x l x h)

Priests

• boys joined priesthood at 17

• painted body black and pierced himself with cactus spikes

• drank special herbs to have holy visions

• most important honour was to perform human sacrifice

• emperor was great priest

Calendars

Types of calendars

The Aztecs used three types of calendars:

Ritual calendar

• ritual calendar

  • 260 days

  • tracked rituals

  • determined lucky or unlucky days for particular events

Solar calendar

• solar calendar

  • 365 days

  • 18 months of 20 days

    • each period of 20 days marked new festival

  • agricultural purposes

  • hollow days

    • five additional unnamed days at the end of each year

    • thought be unlucky

52-year calendar

• 52 year calendar

  • combination of ritual and solar calendars

  • every 52 years/18 980 days…

    • solar calendar would end at the same time as the ritual calendar

    • calendar for that year would become the 52 year calendar

    • used for performing the ‘new fire ceremony’

Extra notes

• Quetzalcoatl

  • thought to have made the calendar and books

  • thought to have left the city

  • prophesised to return as a light skin bearded man on the reed year 1

    • reed year 1 (Aztec Calendar) = 1519 (western calendar)

• Aztecs believed in a cyclical view of time with constant beginnings and ends