Aztecs - Part 4
East,
the direction of the rising sun, was the main sacred direction to the
Aztecs. They believed that they had to follow the example of the gods
Nanahuatzin and Tecuciztecatl, who set themselves on fire at the start
of the 5th age becoming the sun and moon respectfully, as well as Queztalcoatl
(Venus), who immolated himself to pay for his transgressions on earth
(Krupp, 1996). How would they do this? By feeding the sun with hearts
of sacrificial victims. They sacrificed 50,000 people a year (at regular
intervals this would mean one every 10 minutes).
When
the Conquistadors arrived in Meso America they found huge calendar stones
made from stone and gold in the possession of the Aztecs. These stones
mapped the time between the beginning and ending of the world. A calendar
stone made of gold was melted down by the Spaniads - a very unfortunate
loss. However, one made of stone still exists. The Sun Stone of Axayacatl,
6th Emperor of the royal dynasty, weighs 24.5 tons and is 12 feet in diameter.
At the top of the stone is the date 13-Acatl (13-Cane), equivalent to
the year 1479 A.D. The Sun Stone can be found in the Museo de Anthropología
e Historia in Chapultepec Park
outside of Mexico City. 52 squares representing the 52 years in a century
encircle the inner carvings. An inner ring of 20 glyphs represent the
names of the 20 days in a month. The above drawing of the Sunstone
is taken from the December 1980 issue of National Geographic.