The Aztec Human Sacrifices

The Aztec civilization was a very complex society that was feared and known well for their various gory sacrifices done to please their many gods in their polytheistic religion. The much feared civilization began by the exile of one of the two Toltec leaders, which lead to the decline of the Toltec state that was later replaced by Mexica, or the Aztecs. According to the Aztecs, the land chosen to build their main city was chosen by the portrayal of an eagle perched on a cactus with a snake in its mouth. Through military might, the Aztecs managed to become the most powerful civilization in the mid-fourteenth century. They maintained their power through military might and the fear they caused other civilizations because of the human sacrifices they performed on their captured victims. In the mid-fourteenth century, the Aztecs used the method of human sacrifices to uphold fear in their neighbors by using the method year round to please the gods and ensure their survival.

According to Aztec legend, the first world was created by a dual god- meaning that it was both a female and male- called Ometeotl. The Aztec pantheon included hundreds of gods, all who originated from Ometeotl himself. The Aztecs also believed that the gods represented forces of nature, such as rain, and also human characteristics (Benson 504). Prior to the current world the Aztecs believed that there were four other worlds, all which ended with a major catastrophe. After the end of the fourth world all the gods gathered at the Aztec’s main city, or Teotihuacán, to discuss the creation of the fifth world. They chose two gods: a wealthy, healthy one and a poor, sickly one that would both jump into the sacrificial fire. When they were sacrificed the first sunrise of t...

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.... Even though human sacrifices were a common occurrence at the time, the Aztecs ritual and persistence to please the god made the civilization to be known as Central America’s bloodiest civilization in the fourteenth century.

Works Cited

“Aztec Human Sacrifices”. Myths of Latin America. 24 Mar. 2014

Edu/LA260/Aztecs.htm>

Benson, Sonia. “Aztec Religion. Culture, and Daily Life.” Early Civilizations in the Americas:

Almanac Vol.2.Ed. Deborah J. Baker. Michigan: Farmington Hills, 501-527.Print.

Callery, Sean. The Dark History of the Aztec Empire. New York: Marshall Cavendish

Benchmark, 2011.Print.

Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and Scholars Woodrow Wilson International

Center for. “The Mystery of Aztec Sacrifices.” Wilson Quarterly 2.4 (2000):110. History Reference Center. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.