Mexico´s indigenous civilizations - the Aztecs (part 2 of 3)

Back to the Aztecs´ pyramids and human sacrifices.

According to Aztec mythology, the human sacrifices were necessary in order to keep the sun going around in the sky.  The sun god was considered very weak, and he needed help to move the sun.  Human sacrifice was the only way to provide this help.  

A priest for the sun god (also the god of war) sacrifices to the deity.

If you were sacrificed, there was an important consolation:  you became a deity upon dying - and that was a whole lot better than becoming a wandering ghost, which is what was said to happen to some people.  Still, I can´t imagine many people volunteering.

To put human sacrifice in context:  it's a pretty horrible thing, but it was certainly not unique to the Aztecs.  It was practiced by almost all of the early civilizations in Central and South America, as well as in many other parts of the world (including probably in Europe).  

We should also remember that at the time the Aztecs were practicing it, the Europeans had their Inquisition, and later, their guillotines and revolutions and, of course, the concentration camps of the Nazis.   In the United States we remember the witch hunts, slavery of blacks, and massacre of Native Americans;  Asians had their revolutions and conquests, etc., etc. and Africans had their....you get my point...

The gigantic Pyramid to the Sun was sacred to the Aztecs, even though it was built by other people more than a thousand years before the beginning of the Aztec Empire.

Back to the Aztecs:  another thing you should know about them is that they really loved playing ball.  Their favorite ball game was called ullamalitzli.  It had religious and political overtones, but still, it was a ball game.  Only aristocrats were allowed to play, and people bet heavily ... not only putting up money, but also land, ceremonial feather, and even their own children.  In fact, sometimes people would give themselves up as slaves in order to pay off a debt incurred by losing at a game.

That is to say, they REALLY loved the ball game.

Aztec cities would always have a ball court as part of the holy, ritual part of town. 

The most important aspect of the game was that the ball could not be allowed to touch the ground.  Ever.
And in the Aztec version, the players couldn´t touch the ball with their hands, or their feet, or their legs, or their chests:  only their knees, elbows, heads and hips.

An "I" shaped Aztec ball court for ullamalitzli.  There are two players at each end.

The game was played not only by the Aztecs but by most other ancient Mexican civilizations including the Maya, the Olmec, the Toltec, and others.  Its origins pre-date the Aztecs by more than a thousand years!  

The object of the game was to get the ball to go through a hole in a stone ring at the side of the ball court.  This was so difficult that some ball courts didn´t even bother with the ring, it apparently being assumed that it would be impossible to get the ball to go through it.

If neither team got the ball through the hole in the ring, the winner would be chosen according to which side got the highest number of points.  One way to get lots of points was to get the ball to hit one of six markers built into the sides of the court. 
 
NEXT EPISODE will appear on Sept. 20.
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In our documentary-in-progress, Strong Roots, Bright Flowers:  Arts of Mexican Immigrants and Chicanos, we interview an Aztec drummer and watch part of an Aztec ceremony to learn more about Aztec culture. Keep up to date on our progress by going HERE.