Mesoamerica/Aztec Thread

In the Aztec tradition, a human sacrifice began when a priest made a horizontal incision below the rib cage of a victim with a flint knife. He then inserted his arm into the wound, broke through the diaphragm, and pushed his hand past the lungs toward the heart. After securing his grip on the heart, the priest would rip it from its arteries and remove it from the body (at which time the victim would quickly lose consciousness and then die within the next few minutes). The process would have been excruciatingly painful and, interestingly, the heart would continue to beat for a short time after it was removed.

In a typical sacrificial ceremony, the sacrifice would take place atop a pyramid or religious altar. The victim's corpse would be thrown down the pyramid steps and then taken away for processing. The head was removed and then impaled on a wooden pole for display on a skull rack (tzompantli in Nahuatl, the largest in Tenochtitlan had possibly 60,000 skulls). The limbs were cut from the torso and then ritually cannibalized. The torso was then probably disposed of, perhaps buried or burned. Bernal Diaz mentioned that the remains of sacrificial victims were fed to animals in the city zoos, but this is unconfirmed.

During the festivities on the spring equinox, the Aztecs would honor the flayed god Xipe Totec by flaying the skin off of the bodies of the sacrificed victims. Priests would then wear the skins, often bedecked with gold, jewelry, and feathers, for the rest of the month (20 days in the Aztec calendar). After the end of the month, they tore the rotting skins off their bodies as a symbolic "rebirth". Other methods of sacrifice included ritual combat, where a victim was killed by four men with swords, arrow sacrifice, where the victim was shot to death with arrows, immolation, or simple execution. In many cases, women and children were executed, but the vast majority of victims were captives of war.

Other urls found in this thread:

youtube.com/watch?v=iRu1qVVIGmI
rtve.es/television/carlos-rey-emperador/
twitter.com/SFWRedditGifs

>Montezuma was also terrified to learn how the cannon roared, how its noise resounded, how it caused one to faint and grow deaf. The messengers told him: "A thing like a ball of stone comes out of its entrails: it comes out shooting sparks and raining fire. The smoke that comes out of it has a pestilent odor, like that of rotten mud. This odor penetrates even to the brain and causes the greatest discomfort. If the cannon is aimed against a mountain, the mountain splits and cracks open. If it is aimed against a tree, it shatters the tree into splinters. This is a most unnatural sight, as if the tree had exploded from within." The messengers also said: "Their trappings and arms are all made of iron. They dress in iron and wear iron casques [helmets] on their heads. Their swords are iron; their bows are iron; their shields are iron; their spears are iron. Their deer carry them on their backs wherever they wish to go. These deer, our lord, are as tall as the roof of a house. "The strangers' bodies are completely covered, so that only their faces can be seen. Their skin is white, as if it were made of lime. They have yellow hair, though some of them have black. Their beards are long and yellow, and their moustaches are also yellow. Their hair is curly, with very fine strands. Their dogs are enormous, with flat ears and long, dangling tongues. The color of their eyes is a burning yellow; their eyes flash fire and shoot off sparks. Their bellies are hollow, their flanks long and narrow. They are tireless and very powerful. They bound here and there, panting, with their tongues hanging out. And they are spotted like an ocelot." When Montezuma heard this report, he was filled with terror. It was if his heart had fainted, as if it had shriveled. It was as if he were conquered by despair.

Excerpt from Broken Spears by Miguel Leon de Portilla

>Here it is told how the Spaniards killed, they murdered the Mexicans who were celebrating the Fiesta of Huitzilopochtli in the place they called The Patio of the Gods. At this time, when everyone was enjoying the celebration, when everyone was already dancing, when everyone was already singing, when song was linked to song and the songs roared like waves, in that precise moment the Spaniards determined to kill people. They came into the patio, armed for battle. They came to close the exits, the steps, the entrances [to the patio]: The Gate of the Eagle in the smallest palace, The Gate of the Canestalk and the Gate of the Snake of Mirrors. And when they had closed them, no one could get out anywhere. Once they had done this, they entered the Sacred Patio to kill people. They came on foot, carrying swords and wooden and metal shields. Immediately, they surrounded those who danced, then rushed to the place where the drums were played. They attacked the man who was drumming and cut off both his arms. Then they cut off his head [with such a force] that it flew off, falling far away. At that moment, they then attacked all the people, stabbing them, spearing them, wounding them with their swords. They struck some from behind, who fell instantly to the ground with their entrails hanging out [of their bodies]. They cut off the heads of some and smashed the heads of others into little pieces. They struck others in the shoulders and tore their arms from their bodies. They struck some in the thighs and some in the calves. They slashed others in the abdomen and their entrails fell to the earth. There were some who even ran in vain, but their bowels spilled as they ran; they seemed to get their feet entangled with their own entrails. Eager to flee, they found nowhere to go.

>Some tried to escape, but the Spaniards murdered them at the gates while they laughed. Others climbed the walls, but they could not save themselves. Others entered the communal house, where they were safe for a while. Others lay down among the victims and pretended to be dead. But if they stood up again they [the Spaniards] would see them and kill them. The blood of the warriors ran like water as they ran, forming pools, which widened, as the smell of blood and entrails fouled the air. And the Spaniards walked everywhere, searching the communal houses to kill those who were hiding. They ran everywhere, they searched every place.
When [people] outside [the Sacred Patio learned of the massacre], shouting began, "Captains, Mexicas, come here quickly! Come here with all arms, spears, and shields! Our captains have been murdered! Our warriors have been slain! Oh Mexica captains, [our warriors] have been annihilated!" Then a roar was heard, screams, people wailed, as they beat their palms against their lips. Quickly the captains assembled, as if planned in advance, and carried their spears and shields. Then the battle began. [The Mexicas] attacked them with arrows and even javelins, including small javelins used for hunting birds. They furiously hurled their javelins [at the Spaniards]. It was as if a layer of yellow canes spread over the Spaniards.

Oh yeah, this is from the same book btw. it's a good fucking book.

Based Spaniards

Holy shit thank you OP. The mental imagery is astounding.

>How do you want your cut, senpai
>Coral.
>Say no more!

>and then die within the next few minutes
Brain death occurs after a dozen seconds when it's not irrigated.

did they really think the sun would not rise again if there was no sacrifices or i got memed?

Incas were superior to europeans though.

>ywn kill your enemy and wear his skin as a trophy while you feast on his limbs and impregnate his wife and daughters

Why even live

That seems to be the case. There is one story that, if true, shows the absolute Mexica devotion to human sacrifice.

The Mexica arrived late in the Valley of Mexico and all the other ethnically Aztec groups had already settled around the lake and begun building cities and kingdoms. The Mexica settled near the city of Culhuacan, but were still despised by the other tribes who believed they were barbarous and unclean. The Mexica asked the king of Culhuacan for his daughter, so that they could honor her as a god during one of their religious ceremonies. The king accepted, and then sent his daughter to them. They then invited the king to attend, so he departed from the city and arrived at the Mexica camp (or perhaps it was a village or small settlement, difficult to know). When the king arrived, a Mexica priest emerged, wearing the flayed skin of his daughter as a suit. The Mexica had sacrificed her, believing that this bestowed divine qualities upon her after death.

The king was shocked and furious, and had his soldiers drive the Mexica from their homes, forcing them to flee to the center of the lake, to the island of what would become Tenochtitlan. The Mexica recieved no political benefit from sacrificing the girl, quite the opposite actually. They all risked being slaughtered by the soldiers of a city with which they were allies and subjects. But they chose to do it anyway, probably because they honestly believed in the necessity of human sacrifice. They may have been unaware that this would even be seen as a negative thing by the King of Culhuacan. Throughout recorded history many Mexica willingly offered themselves and their children as sacrifices. They were fanatically devoted to a (then) radical interpretation of Mesoamerican polytheism.

history demonstrates it btw

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

>spaniards
>white
Cool story brah

...

>"Six or seven days may have thus been spent, when Teuthlille returned in the morning with more than a hundred Indian porters, all heavily laden, accompanied by a great Mexican lord, who both in countenance, stature, and deportment, greatly resembled Cortes, and on that account only had been selected by his monarch to accompany the deputation; for, as was related, when Teuthlille brought forth the picture representing Cortes, all the grandees who were present with their monarch Motecusuma, immediately observed that he resembled a person of distinction named Quintalbor."
- Bernal Díaz del Castillo, True History of the Conquest of New Spain, Chapter XXXIX

Is there some residual link to this kind of human butchery in modern Mexican culture.

From having seen images of what the cartels do to each other, e.g. flay, mutilate, behead, emasculate etc. and the strange fascination of Mexican Catholics with skulls, skeletons, and other generally spooky stuff, it seems that they still have a weird morbid streak.

indigenous mexicans don't do that, only spanish mexicans do.

I guess you can argue that spain or the natives, or whatever were both pretty morbid, or have morbid tendencies/motifs in art/culture

>Spanish mexicans
Do you mean mestizos?

I agree, it's fucking creepy, but somehow fascinating, I wish there was some kind of study about that

...

...

...

...

...

...

>who both in countenance, stature, and deportment, greatly resembled Cortes

Countenance is facial structure or appearance, stature is height, deportment is behavior or manners. They never mentioned anything about skin color.

Cortez may not have been pasty white like a brit or scandi, but he and the other spaniards had a much fairer complexion than that of the Aztecs. The difference was large enough that the Mexica regularly made mention of it.

Fucking reptilians, man

holy shit

We took their land Haha Brown retards

Cortes was a gladiator. What a moment
>pic related
must have been, to see this horrifying culture put to the sword.

...

The link is quite tenuous, cartels use horrific violence as a threat to others, not (generally) for religious reasons. OTOH, there is the cult of Santa Muerte, which combines old native tropes with Catholicism to hilarious effect.

Get out, Moor rape-babies

Incas were superior to europeans though.

Truly stuff made of nightmares.
Considering Hispanic numbers how was this even possible? Can a men ki so many and still lift his arms?

European culture > indian "culture"

indian early bronze age "culture">eurangutan early "bronze age" """"""""""""""""culture""""""""""""""""

...

>eurangutan early "bronze age" """"""""""""""""culture""""""""""""""""

Is that why they had their shit kicked in by based Spaniards?

>Non-whites are now based
upvoted

Wrong. Natives beat the Inca.

Incas were superior to europeans. History demonstrates it. Get over it, chimpo.

>"The influence of Minoan civilization is seen in Minoan handicrafts on the Greek mainland. The shaft graves of Mycenae had several Cretan imports (such as a bull's-head rhyton), which suggests a prominent role for Minoan symbolism. Connections between Egypt and Crete are prominent; Minoan ceramics are found in Egyptian cities, and the Minoans imported items (particularly papyrus) and architectural and artistic ideas from Egypt. Egyptian hieroglyphs were models for Minoan pictographic writing, from which the Linear A and Linear B writing systems developed."

Minoan (Egyptian) """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""culture""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

>Natives beat the Inca.
So natives were superior to Incas?

Incas were natives, low-IQ eurangutan.

So Incas beat the Incas? They defeated themselves?

The civil war destroyed the empire.

So the civil war was superior to Incas?

The same way the civil wars were superior to the Roman Empire. Eurangutans are really really dumb, don't they? Shameful...

Still butthurt about the Alhambra decrees? Sad!

The Roman empire did not end by a civil war.

If it weren't for the civil wars, the Roman empire wouldn't have had such bad territorial and administrative problems that made it possible to invade it.

WHEN WILL WE GET A BIG BUDGET AND ACCURATE MOVIE/MINI-SERIES ABOUT CORTES

or would people just be too butthurt

he was basically a jew so hollywood shouldn't have a problem with that

>cartels use horrific violence as a threat to others
I get that, but the attention that they pay to the careful butchering and disfiguring of their victim's bodies isn't something that I'm aware of elsewhere. I would post pics as some of it demonstrates considerable effort, but blueboard.

But I'm willing to accept the link may be tenuous, it's merely a casual observation.

Mexican detected

How did you arrive at that conclusion?

He meant that cartel violence is mostly prevalent in northern Mexico, the "whiter" part of Mexico. In southern Mexico where a lot of the population is indigenous, it doesn't really happen.

The Colombians did that too.

It's a form of politics, read up on the Assyrians if you want to see the same shit happening.

You have the Spaniard tv adaptation but is focused on Charles I, not only in Cortés and isn't as good as Isabel
youtube.com/watch?v=iRu1qVVIGmI
you see Malinche and all that
rtve.es/television/carlos-rey-emperador/

Nice quints!

DO NOT REPLAY to the street-peeing, cat-eating, frog-juice-drinker, delusional "incas were superior" Peruvian expatriate. Don't allow him to ruin a fine and interesting thread.

Aaaand you've demonstrated you are an eurangutan wannabEE mongrel.

PEDRO DE ALVARADO DID NOTHING WRONG YOU DISGUSTING HUMAN FLESH EATING JUNGLE MONKEYS

But he was a savage murderer.

Savage killing is in Spaniard genes, you should know Abdul de Salamanca

Alvarado's Leap
>During the escape from Tenochtitlan, during "La, Noche Triste", Pedro De Alvarado (Age 34) found Himself in a scene, we today would say is straight out of a movie. Wounded, bleeding, and under furious assault by 10's of thousands of Mexica in a thundering rainstorm, Alvarado makes what is now one of the most famous and documented 'leaps of faith' in recorded history. The Spaniards frantic withdrawal from Tenochtitlan was precipitated by Death of Moctezuma, (who was either murdered by his own people in a rage or the spaniards before they left) and occurred over a long,narrow pontoon bridge, the only bridge, out of the waterborne city. During the now legendary melee, Alvarado found himself, trailing from wounds and separated from the main group, on the pontoon bridge escape. During the fighting, sections of the bridge were being destroyed by the Mexica, to trap and cut off the Spaniards from escape. At a finale stretch at the exit of the city, completely and totally swarmed by natives, Alvarado makes a desperate life OR death jump, using the lance as vault, to leap the bridge gap, over the savages and the lake, exit the city, survive, and Return to raze it to the ground.

Gladiators, all of them

...

cool story brah

>Among them are very resolute men who affront death with determination. I saw one of them defending himself most valiantly against two light-horsemen, and another against three or four. The Spaniards seeing that they could not kill him, one of them lost patience, and darted his lance at him, but the Indian, before it reached him, caught it in the air, and with it fought for more than an hour until two foot-soldiers arrived who wounded him with one or two successful arrows. One of them got in front of him, and the other grabbed him from behind and stabbed him.

>had horses, cannons, steel armor and weapons while their foe only had wooden weapons
>still had to be rescued by their allies with wooden weapons
kek

isnt there multiple versions of this? one where its a sacrifice taking place and another where its natives showing the city off to spaniards.

i Think this is the one you are looking for?

>Three or four of our men who had previously served in the Italian wars, swore over and over again that they had never witnessed such furious fighting, neither in the wars with the king of France, nor even in those with the grand Turk himself. Indeed it was no easy matter for us to retreat to our head-quarters, so desperately did they assail us under the most horrible sound of drums, pipes and trumpets, accompanied by the most obscene and abusive language. This day we lost ten or twelve men, and none of us escaped without a wound. We passed the night in deliberations and in preparing for another attack. We now resolved that after the lapse of two days as many of us as were healthy should sally out with two moving towers. These we had strongly put together of wood, and were so constructed, that under each of them twenty-five of our men could stand to move them along. These towers contained loopholes, from which our heavy guns could be fired; besides that there was space enough for a number of musketeers and crossbow-men. At the side of these towers marched a strong body of musketeers and crossbowmen, as also the whole of our horse, who were from time to time to charge the enemy at full gallop.

We however determined, if it were even to cost us all our lives, to push forward to the great temple of Huitzilopochtli. I will not detail the severe struggle we had against one house in particular, which was very strongly fortified, nor the critical position our horse were placed in. For whenever our cavalry galloped in upon the enemy's ranks, our horses were assailed by so many arrows, stones and lances, that they were immediately covered with wounds; while their riders, however courageously they fought, could make but little impression upon the foe. If they pushed further on, the Mexicans either jumped into the canals or into the lake, where the cavalry could not follow them, and where a whole forest of lances stared them in the face: equally fruitless were all our attempts to set fire to their houses, or pull them down, as they stood, in the midst of the water, and were connected to each other by drawbridges only. If at times we did succeed in firing a house, it took a whole day in burning down, nor did the fire spread, from the buildings being at too great distance from each other, and their being surrounded by water, so that all our efforts that way completely failed.

>Here Cortes displayed astonishing courage, though this, I may say, was never wanting in him. What a bloody and terrific conflict was this! The reader should have seen how we were covered with blood and wounds! Above forty of our men lay dead at our feet; but at last, with the aid of Providence, we succeeded in reaching the point where we had erected the image of the holy Virgin. It was, however, no longer there; for Motecusuma, as we subsequently learnt, had either, out of veneration or fear, taken it away, and put it carefully by. We now set fire to the Mexican idols, and part of the chapel was on this occasion burnt down, with Huitzilopochtli and Tetzcatlipuca.

Bernal Diaz del Castillo, describing the battles before the Spanish withdrawl from Tenochtitlan. I always enjoyed his writing style and the way that he speaks directly to the reader.