The Aztec Tribe's Human Sacrifice Tradition

Speaking of the Aztecs, it cannot be separated from the traditions of human sacrifice of the Aztecs. In fact, the progress of the Aztec tribe seemed rivaled by the tradition of human sacrifice.

Rituals The Aztec tribe's own human sacrifice is still being debated by scientists. Some argue that the ritual of human sacrifice was a myth made by Spanish conquerors to justify and validate their conquests. However, in reality, a lot of evidence shows that the Aztec state, like many other pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, regularly performed human sacrifice rituals.

Evidence also shows that the Aztecs instituted this practice, even elevating it to the most important forms of art and public viewing in the Aztec.

This evidence includes a number of Spanish and indigenous records which were compiled during or even after the conquest of Mexico, along with abundant archaeological and textual artifacts that preceded the Spanish invasion.

Religious and cultural beliefs that inspired the ritual of Aztec human sacrifice have been rooted in the culture of Mesoamerican society. Many pre-Columbian governments in the American continent were known to have sacrificed humans ritually to their gods. Such practices are rooted in pan-Mesoamerican beliefs about the spiritual power of human blood and the daily intervention of the gods in human affairs.

The state then changed this broad cultural understanding into the state ideology. Groups of rulers described the general offering of human blood as a debt payment to the gods. By glorifying the gods with the most valuable substance in the universe - human blood - the state terrorizes the enemy and dedicates itself to securing greater social and cosmic goodness.

Aztecs take this practice to the extreme, sacrificing people on various occasions. Of the 18 ceremonial events that took place during each of the 18 months of the solar year of the Aztec tribe, eight of them were rituals of human sacrifice.

This ritual includes the Quecholli (precious feather) ceremony on October 31 - November 9, where ritual priests kill and sacrifice prisoners who dress like deer, and the Atl Catano ceremony (Stopping water) on February 13 - March 4, where infants and children openly line up in groups before being sacrificed.

This terrible sacrifice involved four priests holding a victim on a large rock, the victim would later be cut to take his heart.

With ritual preparation and transformation, the victim is described as a god to whom he will be sacrificed. There are many variations on these ritual themes. The most commonly held divine entities are Huitzilopochtli, the sun god, and war, especially at the end of every 52 years of the Aztec century. Without the ritual of human sacrifice, the state claims, the Sun will stop rising and the universe will end.

After the Triple Aztec Alliance of 1428 joined Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopán, the practice of human sacrifice was instituted at the highest level of the Aztec state

Major events such as victories in war, the inauguration of new rulers, or the dedication of important public structures are opportunities for large-scale human sacrifice. The broadest example occurred in 1487. The ritual of human sacrifice was held at the Huitzilopochtli temple in Tenochtitlan, in which the estimated 20,000 people were sacrificed for four days.

The Aztecs also initiated war with the neighboring government. This ritual battle is called "Flower War". This war aims to get potential victims of human sacrifice rituals.

Along with the skyrocketing Aztec domination, such practices became an integral part of the country's ideology and imperial ambitions. Ritual human sacrifice shows the extraordinary political and religious power of the Aztec state. On the other hand, this practice terrorized his enemies, worked as a cohesive ideological force among his people, and aroused a rebellion against the Aztec government which was later utilized by Hernan Cortes and Spanish forces to conquer Mexico.