Olmec and Aztec Art, religion, and culture had an effect on our recent generation by giving us techniques and inventions were we inherit in our everyday lives. Cultural art and religion particularly showed us proof on how the Aztec and Inca civilization settled, since they were a huge importance in ancient life. Art itself is a way of expressing feelings and representing their own ancient culture. As for religion we analyse their beliefs and question them.
In figure 1 it shows you the location of the Aztec empire.As you can see it is located in the Gulf of Mexico and close to the North Pacific Ocean.
Religion in an Aztec empire
Aztec religion appears to us today as a highly complex and confusing system of Gods, myths, rituals, and beliefs. "Part of this complexity originated from incomplete fusion of different historical relegious traditions." They're filled with stories of human sacrifices and demanding Aztec gods and goddesses, the Aztecs have left behind a legacy that will be studied and marveled for years to come.
Why did the aztecs build pyramid-like shaped monuments?
Figure 1: A well known Mayan Aztec temple
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The Aztecs did build monuments called temples. Figure 1 is an example of a temple that is very well known temple that the Aztecs built. Those temples were large pyramids with flat tops. This was built by the Aztecs themselves to offer up sacrifices for their Gods. The Aztecs built these temples to show how important the Gods were to them. They also built these large and high temples to get closer to the Gods who were in the sky. Lastly, they built temples since the Aztecs believed that the gods told them to find an eagle sitting on a cactus, growing off a rock, and eating an insect of some kind. When they found it they started building there. Rulers would often bury their wives in the temples after they have died. Inside the temple there were carvings of gods and goddesses as well as victims skull displayed neatly on a wall as an offering for their beloved Gods. There is also an amazing collection of masks necklaces and ornaments made out of gold jade and turquoise. Not only were their skulls of victims but crocodile, and puma and if you go even deeper into the temple you will find the remains of the Jaguars body with jade balls in their mouths.
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What were the Aztec Gods like?
Aztec beliefs and worships ?
The Aztec citizens believed that the world was divided into three parts which were heaven, the world they live in (Earth), and finally the land of the dead. One of their most important goals in life was to maintain living in their land so they predicted that if you keep giving things to Gods, then they will bless their lives. The Aztecs believed that their Gods can be kept happy by offering them sacrifices. Victims were sacrificed by drowning, beheading, or by having their hearts ripped of their body (as shown in figure 3). Then the victims heart and blood are offered as a gift to the Gods. They would prick their earlobes every morning and give the three drops of blood to their Gods. They believed that the way a person dies dictates where he heads for later; the heavens or the underworlds of the Aztec religion. For example, a person who dies a normal death will have to pass the nine underworld levels in order to reach heaven. Whereas, warriors or women who die in childbirth would go directly to one of the different heavens.
Figure 3 shows pictures of Aztec priests or nobles ripping out a victims heart out as an offer to keep them happy.
Did they have special ceremonies and festivals? What did they do in them?
Festivals were an important part in the Aztec religion and life. All big Aztec cities had a huge open space in the center, where crowds gathered to sing and dance to honor the gods and festival days. Every twenty days, there were celebrations to mark the start of a new month. This was normally held according to the patterns in the calendar. The festivals with prayers and sacrifices were to mark important seasons of the farming year.
Figure 4 shows a drawing of their celebrations in their festivals.
Figure 4 shows a drawing of their celebrations in their festivals.
Who was most responsible for their religion?
The priests played the most important roles in the Aztec religion. They had more than five jobs in the Aztec empire. The Priests were responsible for making sure that the gods were offered the correct offerings and sacrifices. They had to perform all sorts of ceremonies in the temples to make sure that the gods were not angry with the Aztecs.They were well-respected and powerful in the Aztec society.
What were their Myths, legends and omens?
The Aztecs lived in constant fear that their world might come to an end. Ancient legends told that this had happened four times before. Each time, the world had been born again. Yet Aztec priests and astrologers did not believe that this would happen the next time. If the world ended a fifth time , it would be forever. The souls of all Aztec people would be banished to a dark gloomy underworld. The wind of knives would cut the flesh from their bones, and living skeletons would feast and dance with the lord of the dead. Then the Aztecs would vanish forever when they reached Mictlan (hell).
What were heavens, hell and afterlife like?
Many people in the past and today believe that if people have afterlives, what a person’s afterlife is like is determined by how that person lived. Warriors who died in battle or by sacrifice either went to a paradise in the east and joined the sun’s rising in the morning, or joined the war god Huitzilopochtli in battle. Women who died in childbirth were considered just as courageous and honorable as warriors who died, and went to a paradise in the west and joined the sun’s descent in the evening. People who died from lightning, drowning, certain diseases, or particularly violent deaths went to Tlalocan, a paradise presided over by the god Tlaloc located within the Aztec’s thirteen heavens.