Aztecs
Aztecs
The Aztecs
Gods and sacrifice
Religious ceremonies played
a large part in Aztec people's lives. They went to war partly to capture prisoners
for sacrifice to their gods. To win the gods' favor, and to ensure bountiful harvests
and good fortune, priests cut open the bodies of their victims top of steppes temples,using
a sacrifice knife. The Aztec believed that the hearts and blood of the victims
nourished the gods. There religious ceremonies that included sacrifice had to be
performed on the right day, according to the sacred 260-day calendar used by the
Aztecs.
The Aztecs were fierce
warriors who conquered a huge empire that eventually reached all the way across
Mexico and was at it's height in the early 1500s. But in 1521, Aztecs rule came
to a sudden end when they lost their empire to a small band of Spanish treasure-seekers.
