Ancient Aztec Civilization: Life And Afterlife

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Ancient Aztec Civilization: Life and Afterlife
The ancient Aztec civilization had a perspective on life and afterlife that is remarkably different from the perspectives of many modern cultures. It was largely shaped by their religion, which permeated nearly every aspect of ancient Aztec life.
Background on Ancient Aztec Civilization
The term Aztec can refer to certain native ethnic groups that have lived in what is today Mexico. It can also refer to those people who spoke the Nahuatl language and lived in Mesoamerica from the 14th to 16th centuries. The most specific group of people the term Aztec can refer to, and is the definition most people relate to the term, are the people of Mexica ethnic descent who founded the city of Tenochtitlan …show more content…

The Aztecs also developed and lived by two calendar systems that served different purposes: a solar calendar that measured time, and a ritual calendar for religious festivals. Their government, political, military, and class structures were highly developed and complex. They entertained themselves with art, poetry, games, and sports, the latter being so central to Aztec life that the celebrity of their successful athletes rivaled that of modern professional athletes.
But what the Aztecs may be most notable for was their religion, and specifically the mass human sacrifice it called for. Human sacrifice carried out for religious purposes is not unique to ancient Aztec civilization, but the scale of human sacrifice the Aztecs performed is; historians estimate that the Aztecs sacrificed thousands of people every year. People within the Aztec empire were used for human sacrifice, but the Aztecs also warred with outsiders for the express purpose of capturing more candidates for human …show more content…

Warriors who died in battle or by sacrifice either went to a paradise in the east and joined the sun’s rising in the morning, or joined the war god Huitzilopochtli in battle. Women who died in childbirth were considered just as courageous and honorable as warriors who died, and thusly went to a paradise in the west and joined the sun’s descent in the evening. People who died from lightning, drowning, certain diseases, or particularly violent deaths went to Tlalocan, a paradise presided over by the god Tlaloc located within the Aztec’s thirteen

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