Human Sacrifice
A special thank you is extended to Xochitl Luján whose collaboration made the construction of this web page possible.
Introduction
The Nahua belief system was constructed around Mesoamerican traditions and beliefs. Some of the more important deities included Huitzilopochtli (Hummingbird on the left - god of the sun and war), Tlaloc (god of rain) and Quetzalcoatl (feather serpent). Some historians argue that human sacrifice played an important role in the Nahua belief system. Other scholars question whether human sacrifice was even practiced at all in the Nahua world. The controversy over human sacrifice is reflective of the uncertainty of the nature of historical knowledge (remember our first discussion this semesster). Today's web based exercise explores the controversies surrounding the practice of human sacrifice.
A Mainstream View
In 1979, a conference was held at the Dumberton Oaks Research Library (Washington D.C.) on ritual human sacrifice in Mesoamerica. At this conference, Jacques Soustelle of the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Socials explained the following: "In Mesoamerica, human sacrifice is firmly linked to Aztec culture and has been considered one of the main features of Aztec ideology."1 Soustelle's observation has been echoed by many other specialists in the field of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican history and has influenced the way textbooks address ritual human sacrifice.2 Below are two such examples taken from textbooks.
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The Legacy of Mesoamerica: History and Culture of a
Native American Civilization, explains the rational of ritual human
sacrifice in the following way: ". . . [Huitzilopochtli], provided the
main rational for conducting military actions, collecting tribute, and
ritually sacrificing human beings, three of the most important occupations
of the Aztecs." |
In constructing this interpretation of ritual human sacrifice, historians and anthropologists have used a variety of sources. These include pre-Columbian and post-Columbian Native American sources. Scholars argue that sacrifice by beheading was a ritual practiced regularly by the Nahua. Why? Scholars explain that the Nahua believed that the head collected a divine force called tonalli. This view has led many scholars to argue that "the decapitated head of enemy warriors were a supreme prize for the city [Tenochtitlan]. . . . ." The Codex Borgia, a Native American painted book, is believed by specialists to have been written shortly after the arrival of the Spanish and is a source regularly referred to for evidence of the practice of ritual human beheading. Below is a fragment from the 260-day ritual calendar recorded in the Codex Borgia used by scholars to support their interpretations about ritual human beheading.
Figure 1: Beheading in the Codex Borgia
The Florentine Codex, or the General History of the Things of New Spain, was written by Nahua scribes under the direction of the Franciscan monk Bernardino de Sahagún. This colonial composition consists of information about Nahua life prior to the arrival of the Spanish. It is a source used by scholars to learn about ritual human sacrifice and heart sacrifice. Below is a fragment from this work describing the ritual of the heart sacrifice. What challenges do historians and anthropologists face when they use this source to learn about ritual human sacrifice?
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Florentine Codex Thus was performed the sacrificial slaying of men, when captives and slaves died, who were called Those who have died for the god. Thus they took [the captive] up [to the pyramid temple] before the devil. [the priests] going holding him by his hands. And he who was known as the arranger [of captives], this one laid him out upon the sacrificial stone. And when he had laid him upon it, four men stretched him out, [grasping] his arms and legs. And already in the hand of the fire priest lay the [sacrificial] knife, with which he was to slash open the breast of the ceremonially bathed [captive].3 |
Figure 2: Human Sacrifice in the Florentine Codex
Scholars generally agree that some of the earliest recordings of Spanish accounts of human sacrifice can be found in the second letter Hernan Cortés wrote to Charles V, and in Bernál Díaz del Castillo's The True History of the Conquest of Mexico. Below are fragments from these sources.
Figure 3: Hernan Cortes
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Hernan Cortes to the king of Spain I forbade them moreover to make human sacrifice to the idols as was their wont, being an abomination in the sight of God it is prohibited by your Majesty's laws which declare that he who kills shall be killed. From this time henceforth they departed from it, and during the whole time that I was in the city not a single living soul was known to be killed and sacrificed.4 |
Figure 4: Bernál Díaz del Castillo
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Bernál Díaz del Castillo, The True History of the Conquest of Mexico . . . and we saw how our companions who were made prisoners were taken to be sacrificed . . . they later placed their backs [captured Spaniards] on top of stones which they used to sacrifice, and with large blades, they cut open their chests pulling our their hearts and offering them to their gods .5 |
Over the years, scholars have proposed a variety of theories to explain the practice of ritual human sacrifice in Mesoamerica. Explanations have ranged from Michael Harner's protein deficiency theory (see "The Ecological Basis for Aztec Sacrifice" American Ethnologist 4, 1977) to theories that emphasize political motives behind these sacrifices. Most scholars, however, have focused their attention on the religious implications of ritual human sacrifice. The Life of Tolpitzin Queztalcoatl and the creation of the fifth sun in the Codex Chimalpopoca, and the birth of Huitzilopochtli in the Florentine Codex are some of the sources used by scholars linking ritual human sacrifice with religious practices. Scholars argue that Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl's story emphasizes "the sacrality of the human body and its potential to return its energy to the celestial forces that created it." Based on the fragment below, would you agree or disagree with this statement?
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The Life of Tolpitzin Queztalcoatl, Codex Chimalpopoca Now, this year, 1 Reed, is when he got to the ocean, the seashore, so it is told and related. Then he halted and wept and gathered up his attire, putting on his head fan, his turquoise mask, and so forth. And as soon as he was dressed, he set himself on fire and cremated himself . . .And as soon as his ashes had been consumed, they saw the heart of a quetzal rising upward. And so they knew he had gone to the sky, had entered the sky. The old people said he was changed into the star that appears at dawn. Therefore they say it came forth when Quetzalcoatl died, and they called him Lord of the Dawn. |
According to the Nahua creation myth, the gods put into motion the four different suns, or ages, before our present age. After the end of the Fourth Sun, the gods once again restored life. Below is a fragment describing this restoration. How was life restored to the world? What role did the gods have in this? How might a historian/anthropologist use this source to explain why ritual human sacrifice was important part of the Nahua belief system?
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Creation of the Fifth Sun in the Codex Chimalpopoca The male bones are in one pile, the female bones are in another pile . . . Then he carried them to Tamoanchan. And when he had brought them, the one named Quilaztii, Cihuacoatl, ground them up. Then she put them into a jade bowl, and Quetzalcoatl bled his penis on them. Then all the gods, who have been mentioned, did penance: Apanteuctli Huictlolinqui, Tepanquizqui, Tlallamanac, Tzontemoc, and number six is Quetzalcoatl. Then they said, "Holy ones, humans, have been born.'' It's because they did penance for us." |
The main ceremonial center of the Mexica world was the Templo Mayor, or Coatepec/Coatepetl (Serpent Mountain). It supported the shrines of Tlaloc (god of rain and agriculture) and Huitzilopochtli (god of tribute and war). Huitzilopochtli was the supreme deity of the Mexica who encouraged their to journey to the place that became Tenochtitlan. Scholars argue that ritual human sacrifice took place throughout the year as Mexica re-enacted the victory of Huitzilopochtli over 400 gods. Below is a fragment describing what took place after the birth of Huitzilopochtli.
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Birth of Huitzilopochtli in the Florentine Codex "Then Huitzilopochtli was proud, he pursued the four hundred gods of the south, he chased them, drove them off the top of Coatepetl, the mountain of the snake. And when he followed them down to the foot of the mountain, he pursued them, he chased them like rabbits, all around the mountain. He made them run around it four times. In vain they tried to rally against him, in vain they turned to attack him, rattling their bells and clashing their shields. Nothing could they do, nothing could they gain, with nothing could they defend themselves. Huitzilopochtli chased them, he drove them away, he humbled them, he destroyed them, he annihilated them." |
Reevaluating Theories and Sources
More recently, the interpretation of ritual human sacrifice proposed by scholars such Soustelle has been scrutinized and challenged. A reexamination of written sources and the archeological record has led a new wave of scholars to question whether ritual human sacrifice was even practiced at all by the Nahua. One proponent of this new school of thought is Peter Hassler, an ethnologist at the University of Zurich. A summary of Hassler's critique of "mainstream" views of ritual human sacrifice was published in Die Zeit. Please read Hassler's views by visiting the site below. How has Hassler challenged the "mainstream" interpretation of ritual human sacrifice? According to Hassler, what mistakes have historians such as Soustelle made in explaining ritual human sacrifice?
Peter Hassler: Human Sacrifice Among the Aztecs?
Recall Hassler's statement that "There are plenty of possible interpretations of the images of hearts and even killings . . . " One is that these images "could present narrative images--allegories, symbols, and metaphors." Let us briefly test this possibility by exploring the Eucharist sacrifice performed in Christian masses. How might a non-Chirstian explain what takes place during the Eucharist from reading the statements below?
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The New Testament The Gospel according to Matthew, xxvi, 28: Touto gar estin to aima mou to tes [kaines] diathekes to peri pollon ekchynnomenon eis aphesin amartion. For this is my blood of the new testament, which shall be shed for many unto remission of sins. The Gospel according to Mark, xiv, 24: Touto estin to aima mou tes kaines diathekes to yper pollon ekchynnomenon. This is my blood of the new testament which shall be shed for many. The Gospel according to Luke, xxii, 20: Touto to poterion he kaine diatheke en to aimati mou, to yper ymon ekchynnomenon. This is the chalice, the new testament in my blood, which shall be shed for you. |
Let us probe this theme a little further by reading a fragment from Octavius by Marcus Minucius Felix (c. 160/300 CE). Octavius is a dialogue between Caecilius Natalis, who upholds the cause of paganism, and Octavius Januarius, who upholds the cause of Christianity. Historians argue that the pagan view of the initiation of novices was influenced by the sacrifice of the mass (revisit the reading immediately above). Based on your reading of the fragment below, would you agree or disagree with this interpretation? Does evidence such as this support Hassler's challenge?
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Octavius I know not whether these things are false; certainly suspicion is applicable to secret and nocturnal rites; and he who explains their ceremonies by reference to a man punished by extreme suffering for his wickedness, and to the deadly wood of the cross, appropriates fitting altars for reprobate and wicked men, that they may worship what they deserve. Now the story about the initiation of young novices is as much to be detested as it is well known. An infant covered over with meal, that it may deceive the unwary, is placed before him who is to be stained with their rites: this infant is slain by the young pupil, who has been urged on as if to harmless blows on the surface of the meal, with dark and secret wounds. Thirstily - O horror! they lick up its blood; eagerly they divide its limbs. By this victim they are pledged together; with this consciousness of wickedness they are covenanted to mutual silence.8 |
What about the symbol of the crucifixion? Compare and contrast the images below. How might someone never exposed to Christianity interpret the display of the crucifixion in churches and cathedrals? According to Hassler, how should the image of the heart sacrifice be interpreted? Why?
Figures 5/6: Crucifixion and Heart Sacrifice
Recall Hassler's statement
that Spanish recordings of human sacrifice served as a "justification for their
destructive acts." If this was the ultimate end, then how effective was
this propaganda? Perhaps and answer to this questions can be found in the
writings of Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda.
Image 7: Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda
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Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda, Democrates Alter, sive de justas belli causi apud Indos (On the Just Cause of War on the Indians) Interpreting their religion in an ignorant and barbarous manner, they sacrificed human victims by removing the hearts from the chests. They placed these hearts on their abominable altars. With this ritual they believed that they had appeased their gods. They also ate the flesh of the sacrificed men . . . . War against these barbarians can be justified not only on the basis of their paganism but even more so because of their abominable licentiousness, their prodigious sacrifice of human victims, the extreme harm that they inflicted on innocent persons, their horrible banquets of human flesh, and the impious cult of their idols. |
Sources
1Elizabeth H. Boone, ed., Ritual Human Sacrifice in Mesoamerica: A Conference at Dumbarton Oaks (Washington D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library, 1984), 1.
2See Michael E. Smith, The Aztecs (Oxford: Blackwell, 1996), 221-243; Davíd Carrasco, Religions of Mesoamerica: Cosmovision and Ceremonial Centers (Prospect heights: Waveland, 1990), 85-91; Michael D. Coe, Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs (London: Thames and Hudson, 1994), 175-177; Enrique Florescano, Memory, Myth, and Time in Mexico (Austin: Univeristy of Texas Press, 1994), 45. Also see leonardo López Luján, The Offerings of the Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan (Niwot: University of Colorado Press, 1994).
3As quoted and cited in Smith, The Aztecs, 222-223.
4Hernando Cortés, Five Letters to the Emperor (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1991), 91-92.
5Bernal Díaz del Castillo, Historia Verdadera de la Conquesta de la Nueva España (Madrid: Dastin, 2000), 85.
6Robert M. Carmack, Janine Gasco and Gary H. Gossen, The Legacy of Mesoamerica: History and Culture of a Native American Civilization (New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1996), 117.
7Michael C. Meyer, William L. Sherman, and Susan M. Deeds, The Course of Mexican History (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999), 65-67.
8Minucius Felix in The Ante-Nicene Fathers, (Buffalo, N. Y.: The Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1887), 177-178.