Compare Mayan And Aztec Sacrifice

Mayan and Aztec Sacrifice

There were two societies in the beginning part of the history of Mexico that practiced human sacrifices. Those two societies were the Maya and Aztec cultures. The Mayans practiced human sacrifices during ritual specific times and was performed a couple of different ways including adopting one practice from the North. Human sacrifice was a very important religious practice and if neglected they believed cosmic disorder and chaos would ensue. The Aztecs on the other hand would practice human sacrifice on a massive scale compared to the Maya. These human sacrifices were also an important religious practice because Aztecs believed they owed a blood-debt to the Gods. The Mayan empire covered much of the
The taking of life was needed for special occasions, such as the rise of a new king or devotion of a new building. Great pyramids were built for sacrifices and the nacom, high priest, would cut the heart out and hand it to a priest, who would spread the blood from the heart onto the idol of the God they made the sacrifice for. The body would then be thrown down the stairs to a lower ranked priest, who would then skin the body except the hands and feet. The priest would wear the skin and dance in front of all the spectators. Not all the sacrifices were men some of them were women and children. Also they believed the ones sacrificed went to Heaven and were spared from the underworld, which is where everyone else went even the rulers. The rulers and nobles would also practice bloodletting, which is they sacrifice some of their own blood, by stabbing the penis, ear, lip, or tongue with most likely a stingray spine. More blood was expected from someone with a higher position because they are semi-divine and the mediators between the Gods and their people. The Mayan had over a 165 Gods and each one had a specific role to play. Mayans believed these Gods were nourished by human blood and to keep chaos from coming it was their job to keep them pleased. The most important God to keep pleased was Itzamna and a close second was Kukulcan. Also the
It was estimated that on one ritual event that lasted four days 20,000 people were sacrificed to the gods. With so many people getting sacrificed you would think it would make their society weaker but it actually had the opposite effect and united the people. Human sacrifice was a very important religious aspect to their everyday life. The Aztec cycle worked in 18 month intervals and for each month ritual sacrifices must be made. For the Aztecs they believed the world was destroyed four times and created five times. The creation of the world for the 5th time was possible because the Gods had sacrificed themselves to create the world. Humans were made from the bones that were brought back from the underworld by Quetzalcoatl. To repay the Gods for their sacrifice they owed them an endless blood-debt that they must pay for with their lifes. Like the Mayans the Aztec empire was composed of city-states and at the heart of the empire was the city Tenochtitlán. Each city-state would perform their own rituals and most of the sacrifices would come from capturing prisoners from