Wen | Xiaomeng
Editor| Xiaomeng
1440: Montezuma I becomes the fifth leader of the Aztecs
During the Great Famine, Montezuma I reigned. His brother Silhouette was the Serpent Woman or First Advisor of Montezuma, a general of the Aztec army and the Supreme Samurai Regiment Shorn Ones.
When bad weather continued to cause famine, Tlacaelel suggested ceremonial or ceremonial wars to provide captives for the sacrifice of the Aztecs and their enemies. Nearby Tlaxcala was the main enemy of the Triple Alliance.
They also experienced famine. Through human sacrifice, the gods on both sides are appeased.
Their warriors would be told not to kill enemy fighters, but to capture them. Once there are enough prisoners on both sides, the battle will end. Captured fighters will be taken by both sides as a sacrifice in battle.
Therefore, when it was necessary to capture humans, the Aztecs would arrange a floral war from time to time.
In essence, these are ceremonial, and all the details are pre-arranged by the relevant leaders.
Still, for the fighters, it's a matter of life and death.
To be captured means to be sacrificed. Although sacrifice is considered an honorable death, there is no doubt that most warriors prefer to avoid it.
Whether the Flower War was arranged solely to satisfy the religious needs of the victims, train young warriors and ensure the social advancement of their warriors, or whether it had the potential purpose of consuming enemies and intimidating neighboring countries, scholars still debated whether it had the potential purpose of consuming enemies and intimidating neighboring countries.
Some scholars believe that the flower battle is more like a jousting tournament, and its political purpose is nothing more than to satisfy the samurai's competitiveness and provide bloody sacrifice rituals.
Other scholars believe that these ritual wars have a darker political aspect:
Demonstrate the power of the Aztecs, weaken enemies through attrition, and allow Aztec leaders to conquer their own people for fear of losing their loved ones.
Human sacrifice
Human sacrifice The Aztecs were part of their religious rituals, believing that this would properly appease their gods and save them from suffering.
The number of Aztec sacrifices is a mystery today, and may remain a mystery, unless more archaeological evidence is found.
Whether only a few thousand victims are sacrificed each year, or 250,000, as some scholars say, few human remains, such as bones, have been found in major temples or other Aztec temples.
Dozens of bones and thousands of loose bones and skulls do not add up to 250,000 or 20,000 or any quoted number.
Evidence of human sacrifice comes from the Aztecs themselves, their art and the manuscripts containing their writings, as well as the Spanish conquistadors. However, it is safe to say that the Spaniards easily exaggerated the number of people killed, making the Aztecs look more barbaric and cruel than they really were.
In 1487, the great Templo Mayor held a four-day celebration in Tenochtitlan, the main Aztec city.
How many people were sacrificed during that time is the subject of academic speculation:
Some believe the number is as low as 10,000 or 20,000, others believe that 80,400 people were sacrificed in those four days. Scholars believe that Aztec priests used four altars for consecration ceremonies.
But if this were the case and 80,400 people were killed, then the priests would have sacrificed 14 people every minute, which is physically impossible.
Spanish missionaries who sent Aztecs to convert to Christianity learned the Nahuatl language spoken by the Aztecs. These priests and monks talked to the ancient Aztecs and learned about their history.
These Aztecs put the number of sacrifices at the temple at 4,000, which is much lower than the total of 80,400.
Due to insufficient archaeological evidence, it is difficult to know how many Aztecs died under sacrificial knives. Many prominent scholars today estimate the entire Aztec Empire to be between 20,000 and 250,000 per year.
All Aztec cities had temples dedicated to their gods, and all saw human sacrifices. Whatever the total, we know from the Aztecs and Spaniards that many died as a result of human sacrifices.
We may never know exactly how many.
The first thing to understand about Mesoamerican culture and the Aztecs' use of human sacrifice is that they were not terrified by it.
Rather, it is a natural part of life for them, necessary to keep the world in balance and moving forward. Blood and sacrifice help the sun rise and cross the sky.
Without it, their world would end.
This is not to say that all Aztecs and other Mesoamericans willingly went to sacrifice.
There is no doubt that many people do not want to be sacrificed or die. Others, however, agree to sacrifice themselves for the greater good. When we imagine victims being taken to sacrifice, we see them crying, groaning and fighting for freedom.
In most cases, this does not happen at all.
Dying as a sacrifice was the most honorable death the Aztecs knew.
When an Aztec warrior dies in battle or an Aztec woman dies in childbirth, these are good, honorable deaths. Those who die as sacrifices, warriors, or childbirth go to heaven to be with the gods after death.
In contrast, a man who died of disease went to the lowest level of the underworld, Mictlan.
Many scholars have devised theories to explain this "darkness" of the Aztecs, that is, their love of human sacrifice.
Some considered the Aztecs to be barbaric and immoral, inferior to humans.
Others say Aztec leaders used human sacrifices to terrorize their people and nearby culture.
Some say the Aztecs lacked an essential protein in their diet, and they needed "meat" sacrificed by humans to feed themselves and did so using cannibalism. However, none of these theories hold up.
From the beginning, Mesoamerican culture was characterized by human sacrifice, so it was clearly not "invented" by Aztec rulers to intimidate the people, nor was it a betrayal by Aztec spiritual priests.
A study of the Aztecs' predominantly vegetarian diet and occasional seasoning with turkey or dog revealed all the necessary ingredients to sustain life.
Just like us, the Aztecs had laws prohibiting murder and injury, so they were not depraved barbarians.
Rather, it is a core part of their religion and spirituality, giving their blood and lives, dedicating themselves to the gods who sacrificed themselves to create the world and keep it going.
Most religions contain an element of sacrifice—for example, giving up meat during Lent—and giving your life for a friend is a great act of love. The Aztecs considered it an essential part of life.
By dying as sacrifices, they glorified the gods.
Still, we can't help but think that many people don't want to die, but accept that death is inevitable.
After the Spanish conquest, many Spanish priests and monks learned enough of the Aztec language to converse with Aztec survivors of war and disease.
From them, the Spaniards learned that many of the victims were friends of the royal family, or high-ranking nobles and priests. Aztecs of every class were occasionally sacrificed, as were people of all ages.
Children are sacrificed to the rain god. However, it was often nobles and captured warriors who gave their hearts to the gods.
But remember, being sacrificed is the most prestigious way to die.
While this shocks us today, we must still give the Aztecs the treatment they deserve – they found human sacrifice not only acceptable, but necessary and honorable.
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