The Death Obsession of the Aztec

The Death Obsession of the Aztec

The ancient Aztec civilization, considered one of the greater empires to have ever existed, was a society rich in practice and belief. Death among the Aztec was an integral part of their culture, and one could say it ruled over many of their more deep-rooted beliefs. There are several points I will bring up in an attempt to educate and prove to the reader that this is quite evident in this great civilization’s history. To begin, I will develop a brief history of the Aztec to give the reader a better understanding of their culture. Then I will include several main points about the Aztec’s beliefs about death which I believe to be relevant, including the importance of human and blood sacrifices, the Aztec obsession with time, basic burial practices, and the Aztec concept of the afterlife. The Aztec empire is believed to be the most influential and powerful Mesoamerican civilization of all time. This was a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual realm that stretched for more than 80,000 square miles from central Mexico to what is now the present day Republic of Guatemala. The majority of the Aztec peoples spring from a relatively unknown group of settlers known as the Mexica, which, according to legend, moved from an island known as Aztlan to the Valley of Mexico during the 12th and 13th centuries A.D. Their increasing military strength by the 15th century A.D. made the Aztec a formidable force, and their capital city, Tenochtitlán, prospered indefinitely. At what could have been the height of their civilization, around the 16th century A.D., the Aztec were conquered by Spanish conquistadors, the most famous being Hernando Cortez. The Spanish brought with them guns, diseases, and missionaries that basically wiped out the civilization and its practices. The importance of religious rites and ceremonies in the ancient Aztec civilization were related to the various aspects and needs of life. The Aztec had many rituals that differed from place to place, but they all followed a basic structure that consisted of preparatory fasting, purification of the body, and offerings to deities—after which came blood and human sacrifices that were an act of major importance for the Aztec; for without death, there could not possibly be new life. It was widely believed by the Aztec that the gods gave things to human beings only if the gods were nourished by human beings, thus blood sacrifices by those of importance were very common and vital to Aztec life. Priests and people of status could practice blood-letting, but it was well known by the Aztec that a living heart sacrificed to the gods was the best way to cater to their needs. The Aztec were always in search of sacrificial victims, and this lead to widespread wars of conquest to capture them. Some sacrifices were very minimal, but some were great events in which hundred or even thousands of war captives were sacrificed.
Sacrificing was a strict system, and was always performed in the same way according to the type of sacrifice offered. Most commonly, the victim was held down by four priests on a raised altar or pyramid while an officiant made an incision below the rib cage. The beating heart was then removed and burned, and the corpse of the victim was pushed or carried down the steps of the temple, depending on their courage or nobility; the more noble the victim, the more respect was given, and many times, the more brutal the sacrificial method. There were even more brutal types of sacrifice, most notedly those to Huehueteotl, the god of fire. Victims were first drugged, most likely with a hallucinogen, and then thrown into a fire. Before they were consumed and killed by it, they were pulled from it by hooks and the living heart was removed and thrown back into the fire. Although human sacrifice is one of the more dramatic and appalling elements of the Aztec culture, it was seen by them as a way to influence the balance of the universe. It was an urgent way to control the forces of creation and destruction that were in constant conflict. The Aztec, as with other Mesoamerican civilizations, such as the Mayans, were in an endless battle with time. The need to understand, measure, and calculate it consumed their everyday lives, and they used it to determine precisely how to act, when to act, and how best to do it in order to achieve fullness of life. The Aztec were an overwhelmingly eschatological society, obsessed in their beliefs about fate and destiny. They based predictions from two coinciding calendars which were labeled as the ritual year, which lasted 260 days, and the solar year, which lasted 365 days. I believe it is impossible to overstress the importance these two calendars had in the planning and upkeep of the Aztec 's daily living regimens.
The Aztec lived in cycles of 52 years, based on when these two very precise calendars resynchronized. At the end of each 52 year cycle, there would be a five day period in which the Aztec would discard all early possessions in fire and go into a state of mourning for the world, which they believed was about to end. The Aztec’s associated the earth very closely with death, not only because the earth is the place where the dead are placed, but because the stars, seen as gods, descended into it in the West, where they believed the world of the dead lie; thus it was treated as such, and mourned for accordingly. At the end of the five days, there would be a ceremony to determine if the world was actually going to end, and if it would not, there were feasts, ceremonies, and massive sacrificial affairs. Celebration of the new era would begin, and possessions and houses would be renovated for the coming time. This need to understand time had a great effect on the way death was viewed in the Aztec mind; that is, that it was always an inevitable but necessary part of the cycle of life. There is little known about the burial practices of the Aztec because very limited remains or record have been found to document them. This is due to the destruction of many pictorial manuscripts during the Spanish conquest, although there is enough evidence remaining to analyze the treatment and disposal of the dead in pre-Hispanic Aztec culture. Most information is derived from codices, written or pictorial documentation made by ancient civilizations. In one codex, known as the Codex Magliabechiano the funerary rites of those belonging to upper class society are noted. It has been recorded from this codex that “a deceased lord was shrouded in a squatting position and then, depending on the cause of death, was either burned or cremated. In this case we can see the symbol of fire on top of the funerary bundle, hinting at the imminent cremation of the deceased. In front of him a slave is sacrificed by extracting his heart so he can accompany the noble lord to the other life.” Wives were also often seen buried alive with their husbands in order to serve them. This codex shows that possessions such as chocolate, grinding stones and corn are sent with the deceased for life after death. The human arm on top of the grinding stone is relating to the theory that human flesh was given to the dead as food. Family members can also be seen mourning around the funerary pyre.
Along with these codices, actual archaeological evidence has been found that supports them. Intact mortuary bundles have been found preserved in caves and contain many things that one may need in the afterlife, including bows, arrows, fishing nets, clothing, and even mummified pets as companions. These burial sites do not contain bodies, in most cases, due to the face that the dead were almost always cremated and the remains have since decomposed. Burial sites could be located in a variety of areas, including near the home of the deceased, in a nearby wood, or, if the death was of someone of importance, under the floor of a temple or holy place, such as the Temple Mayor, where burials have been recovered. Death in the Aztec society was not considered as something undesirable, but rather little more than an incident in the continuity between this life and the next, thus the need for belongings in the burial process. The Aztec had a complex view of the afterlife, including several levels to which the deceased person’s soul could go, depending on the destiny which it had been given. Opposing the traditional view of death in western theology, the Aztec believed that the manner with which one died, rather than earthly conduct or deeds performed in life, was the determining factor of the fate of the soul. This springs from the belief that the manner of death had a more direct bearing on which path the soul would follow to the afterlife. The first realm, and therefore the most sought after, was a region known as Ichan Tonatiuh Ilhuijcan, or the eastern paradise of the sun. This level was reserved for warriors whom had died in battle or as sacrificial victims. These deceased warrior souls assembled themselves on a great plain, where for four years, they greeted the sun and escorted it on in journey to the zenith. After this period of time in the “heaven sun,” they returned to earth in the form of beautiful, bright-plumed birds. This realm was also the destination of woman who had died in childbirth, who accompanied the warriors, following the sun from zenith to horizon, taking the form of moths. The sun was believed to be kept in motion by these privileged and respected few. The disposal of the bodies of those destined to Ichan Tonatiuh Ilhuijcan was accompanied by cremation and placement in a stone jar, except for the women, who were not cremated, but buried.
The second region was known as Tlalocan, the terrestrial paradise, and home to the rain god Tlaloc. Those who had died of unpleasant diseases such as leprosy, scabies, or gout were destined to this paradise, described as a fertile valley in perpetual summer. Also, anyone dying a water-related death, such as drowning, or being lightning struck, was assured a place here. The disposal of these dead was direct inhumation within their traditional mortuary bundles. In the case of those of the lower class, burial was often under the floor of the house, so the connection between the deceased and their living counterparts could remain strong.
The third region of destination for the deceased was called Mictlan, or the realm of the underworld. This was the region for those who had died a natural death, or one of old age. Many Christians mistakenly believed Mictlan to be the equivalent of hell, based on the disputed physical nature of this underworld. It is known to have nine levels, eight of which must be undertaken as a long, perilous journey until one reaches the final place of rest. The road was described by David Iguaz (Mortuary Practices Among the Aztec; para. 24) as including the soul’s passage through “two clashing mountains, to run the gauntlet of a great snake and huge lizard, to traverse eight deserts and eight hills, and to encounter a wind full of stone knives.” Ultimately, at the end of four years, the soul was to cross a great river known as Chicunanhuapan, or “nine waters” (eluding to the nine levels of Mictlan) with the help of a red dog that had been reared in the house during life, and slain at the funeral of the deceased.
The final location of the deceased was known as Tonacatecuhtli Ichan. Comparable to the physical nature of Tlalocan, it was the final resting place of children and babies who had died innocent deaths. The funerary rites of those whose bodies had been lost were conducted using paper models of the living. They usually were destined to Mictlan, unless they were known to have been a warrior and were believed to have died in battle. It is not know whether or not the deceased who were not given proper burial roamed the earth as ghosts, but some references point to ghost-like beings who took the form of skeletons or mortuary bundles.
As I have proven, the Aztec preoccupation with death was taken to a level of deep religious cult. It was not just an attempt at the culture to grasp the fact that they will inevitably die, but rather a calculated, systematic process which enabled them to prepare for the eminent fact that life will undoubtedly continue after death. The ideas of human sacrifice connect deeply with the Aztec belief about death in that there can only be new life with death, and they believed they could control this flow through sacrificial practices. This infinite need to control what seems to be uncontrollable also comes into play in their obsession with time, and their need to predict how to live in order to come to the best outcome for the afterlife. It is also apparent that the ways in which the Aztec disposed of their dead was not random, but also a carefully thought out and prepared process. The ways in which the dead were treated metaphorically reflected the way in which the Aztec viewed life and death. Death, in a sense, was a return to life, thus burial in the fetal position and placement in jars was to represent rebirth upon one’s arrival to the afterlife. The Aztec society as a whole had a deep connection with their beliefs about death, and this was genuinely reflected in the ways this great civilization lived.

Works Cited
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Caso, Alfonso. The Aztecs: People of the Sun. University of Oklahoma Press, 1958.
Hooker, Richard. Civilizations in America: The Mexica/Aztec. 15 Apr. 2005. Washington State University. 6 June 1999. <http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/CIVAMRCA/AZTECS.HTM>

Iguaz, D. Mortuary Practices Among the Aztec. 15 Apr. 2005. Papers from the Institute of Archaeology. 1993. <www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/pia/pv41993/pv4iguaz.htm>

Moctezuma, Eduardo Matos. The Mask of Death. 15 Apr. 2005. mexicolore.com. <http://www.mexicolore.co.uk/azt_lif_dea.htm>

Townsend, Richard F. The Aztecs. London: Thames and Hudson, 1992.

Aztec Religion. 15 Apr. 2005. ELMAR Project. 1998/9. http://philtar.ucsm.ac.uk/encyclopedia/latam/aztec.html

Cited: Callahan, Kevin L. Aztec Religion. 15 Apr. 2005. angelfire.com. 1997. <http://www.angelfire.com/ca/humanorigins/religion.html#aztec> Caso, Alfonso. The Aztecs: People of the Sun. University of Oklahoma Press, 1958. Hooker, Richard. Civilizations in America: The Mexica/Aztec. 15 Apr. 2005. Washington State University. 6 June 1999. <http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/CIVAMRCA/AZTECS.HTM> Iguaz, D. Mortuary Practices Among the Aztec. 15 Apr. 2005. Papers from the Institute of Archaeology. 1993. <www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/pia/pv41993/pv4iguaz.htm> Moctezuma, Eduardo Matos. The Mask of Death. 15 Apr. 2005. mexicolore.com. <http://www.mexicolore.co.uk/azt_lif_dea.htm> Townsend, Richard F. The Aztecs. London: Thames and Hudson, 1992. Aztec Religion. 15 Apr. 2005. ELMAR Project. 1998/9. http://philtar.ucsm.ac.uk/encyclopedia/latam/aztec.html