Sacrifices tothe Gods

AZTEC EMPIRE

The Aztec trace their origins to Aztlan innorthwest Mexico. During the 13th century, they migrated south, led by the heroHuitzilopochtli, who was later deified. On

their journey, the Aztec marveled at ruins of monuments once erected by the Toltec.

SHOCKING SACRIFICESome Toltec had settled at Culhuacan on LakeTexcoco, where Aztecs encountered their descendants around 1300. At first, the Aztec placed themselves under the Toltec’s protection and served assoldiers, absorbing local culture, until they wereforced out by a significant error in judgment. After

inviting a prominent Culhuacan daughter to serveceremonially as their queen and become the ‘wifeof Huitzilopochtli,” they sacrificed her to that god.Her furious father waged war on the Aztec anddrove them into Lake Texcoco, where they tookrefuge on an island.

ISLAND CITYThe island proved to be a haven. The Aztecreclaimed land from the swamp by diggingdrainage canals and raising floating fields called

Moctezuma II, the last Aztec emperor, in full featherheaddress, strikes a pose in this 16th-century painting.

1325 Tenochtitlanfounded by Aztec,later becomingtheir capital.

1487 Ahuitzotl reportedlysacrifices 20,000prisoners on the GreatPyramid in Tenochtitlan.

1426-1428 ltzcoatlconquers Valley ofMexico and establishesAztec Empire.

1502 Moctezuma III succeeds Ahuitzotl.

1519 Hernäncortes reachesTenochtitlan.

1521 cortes andallies conquerAztec Empire.

1520 Moctezuma IIdies after beingtaken prisoner bycortes.

90 THE MIDDLE AGES

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principal ones, are very wide and straight.”-HERNANDO CORTES, LETTER TO THE

EMPEROR CHARLES V, 1520

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92 THE MIDDLE AGES

chinampas. In 1325 theybuilt a temple that wouldevolve into the GreatPyramid.Over time, the Aztec

traded and intermarriedwith other groups. KingTezozomac of the nearbyTepanec used Aztec troopsin 1371 to subjugate his rivals.By the time he died in 1426,the Aztec had achievedsupremacy through alliancewith the city-states of Texcoco and Tlacopan.

CORONATION WARSThe Aztec Empire was founded by ltzcoatl, whoreigned from 1428 to 1440. Moctezuma I expandedthe empire to the Gulf Coast. His successorsreached the Pacific, encompassing 80,000 squaremiles and six million people. Tlatelolco, near thecapital Tenochtitlan, became one of the world’sbusiest marketplaces, selling goods from throughout Mesoamerica.

Each new Aztec kingembarked on a coronation war, exacting tributeand taking thousands ofcaptives who were putto death. Atop the GreatPyramid priests cut openthe enemies’ chests andextracted their hearts. Suchprodigious human sacrificemay have antagonized manypeople, who eventuallyturned against them.When Hernän Cortés and

his men arrived in Mexico in1519, Moctezuma II welcomed

them and presented them with gifts, including adisk of gold “as large as a cartwheel.” The Spaniards proceeded to seize him and hold him hostage.Moctezuma was disgraced, and the Aztec deposedhim. Cortés then organized a far-reaching campaign,recruiting not only the Aztec’s sworn enemies butalso their disaffected allies. When Tenochtitlan fell in1521, it was not due to only a few hundred well-armedSpaniards but also to thousands of native people.

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Sometimes it seems that great archaeologicalfinds are made only in remote and hard-to-

find places. One of the most significant Aztec

sites lay hidden right in the middle of one of the

world’s biggest cities, however. When the Span

iards conquered the Aztec, they built what is now

Mexico City over the ruins of the Aztec capital

of Tenochtitlan. They erased the location of the

Templo Mayor, or Great Temple, a huge pyramidal

structure topped with two shrines. Over the

centuries, construction crews and archaeologists

in Mexico City made occasional finds of statues

and other artifacts—enough to provide a strong-

indication of the temple’s location. In 1978, utility

company workers digging near the ZOcalo, the

city’s main plaza, found ancient stone sculptures.

Archaeologists and others undertook a painstak

ing multiyear excava

tion of the Templo

Mayor, which, when

unearthed, rose

to 196 feet. Some

of the uncovered remains

of the temple include walls

with traces of original murals

now visible to visitors.

The deity Tialoc

templo mayor

Temple artifact

THE WORLD’S GREATEST EMPIRES 93