The Aztec's sacrifices were a gruesome practice. However in their eyes it was a very serious ceremony. The Aztecs would usually only sacrifice the captives of war. They would drag the captives up the steps of sacrifice temple. There four priests would hold him down by his arms and legs while a fifth would slice open the captives chest with a sharp obsidian blade and remove his heart. Some said the heart would still beat.
After this they would place the heart in a vessel called a Choc Mool. This vessel was to hold the heart for the God of Rain and Fertility. After the heart was place in the Choc Mool it would be burned. This the Aztecs would do to hopefully satisfy the gods so the world would continue. When the preist would finish with the victim they would throw his body down the stairs of the temple. The temple stairs were very steep just for this purpose.
Different cities always wanted to out-do other peoples sacrificial temples. They however never destroyed these temples, they simply built over them. They made the temples larger and more extravagant, and more pleasing to the eye. Each new layer was taller thus adding more steps, they also had more decorations, and larger sacrificial areas. Archaeologists found a temple that had over six layers.
The Templo Mayor stood about 90 feet tall and consisted of two stepped pyramids rising side by side. The two pyramids represented two sacred mountains of the gods. One represented the Hill of Sustenance, whose patron deity was Tlaloc, the rain god. While the other represented the Hill of Coatepec, birthplace of the war god Huitzilopotchtli. The pyramids were dedicated and housed the images of the two gods.
The building was said to take place in 1325. This was when the capital city of Tenochtitlan was founded. Templo Mayor grew in both size and elaboration resulting in the impressive structure. The temple need reconstructions and enlargements due to the fact that it was built on a lake bed. Powerful rulers most often enhanced the temple to celebrate their own coronations and honor the gods. Templo Mayor was said to receive the best exspansion during the year 1454A.D. when impressive art works and architectural elements were added.
http://www.plu.edu/~arnoldwp/method/home.html
Comments