Aztec Sacrifice

Human Sacrifice and Cannibalism

Human sacrifice and cannibalism of adults in Aztec culture are established facts, attested by early eyewitness accounts and supported by archeological evidence as well. The variety and magnitude of human sacrifice is too broad to be covered in essay format, but a glimpse will suffice to illustrate the point.

The Aztecs believed that the sun god, Huitzilopoztli, required blood so that the sun would come out each day. Ritual cannibalism frequently ensued. Sacrifices were not limited to men but included all ages and sexes. The frequency and number of sacrifices is hotly debated, but we know that 18 out of the 20 months of the Aztec calendar included some type human sacrifice. This was not a rare or infrequent event.

According to Sahagún, they were sacrificed to the goddess Xilonen by decapitation followed by heart extraction and finally flayed so the skin could be worn by a noble. Aztecs sacrificed men to the fire god Xiuchtecutli in a particularly gruesome manner: the men’s bodies were tainted yellow and red and dressed with feathers. Before the sacrifice, the top of their scalps was cut and kept as a relic. A large pyre encircled by stones was lit until only red-hot coals and ash remained. The men were sprayed with incense, and then thrown into the burning coals alive. Once their bodies were “scorched and covered with blisters” in agonizing pain, but still alive, they were pulled out of the pool of coals and finally taken to a sacrificial stone where their beating hearts to be

“[E]very day,” wrote Diaz, the Aztecs “sacrificed three or four or five Indians in front of us, offering their hearts to the idols, smearing their blood on the walls, cutting off their legs, arms and muscles as butchers do in our country, and they eat them like beef that is brought from the butcheries in our country.” Similar accounts abound in early Spanish eyewitness writings confirmed by archeology.

Idolatry

The list of Aztec deities includes more than 1000 idols. It is interesting to note that worshiping in the Aztec cult was not geared towards moral improvement but as means to coerce the gods to obtain favor. Along with the practice of human sacrifice, the long list of Aztec ceremonies included bloodletting of earlobes, legs and genitals; dances wearing the skins of flayed victims, and burning offerings of snakes and other animals.

During the second month of the Aztec calendar, some of the blood from human sacrifices was collected to taint the mouth of different idols symbolizing their satisfaction with the