Did the Aztecs have the right idea somewhat distorted or past its expiry date?

[Boojatta]

Poll question: Did the Aztecs have the right idea somewhat distorted or past its expiry date?

[gabeana]

1. Too bad the whole idea of mass Aztec sacrifice is a myth

Only one Spaniard supposedly witnessed the sacrifice but he was over 2-3 miles away. Never have found the bodies of the supposed victims. In the codex that depict sacrifice all were created after the sacrifice, not one codex before conquest depicts this act, the idea of the sacrifice was to cover the atrocities that Spanish were committing on the mechica, ( Aztecs called themselves the Mechica, Spanish put the Aztec name on them from their mythical beginnings in Aztlan), the whole idea well I did bad but my enemy is even worse.
just thought I'd share this information

ps I know modern archaeologist say the have proof by uncovering bones, but in my opinion they are starting from a false assumption. I like the line from an old professor I had, archaeologist are politicians in academia

[Boojatta]

4. Assuming that MASS Aztec sacrifice is indeed a myth,

what would prevent anyone from selecting the first answer option: "Yes, deliberate sacrifice of at least one pre-selected human being was necessary"?

[gabeana]

10. I agree with you n/t

[aquart]

8. So you missed Secrets of the Dead last week on PBS?

Where they found the bones, skulls, and then the picture in the codex?

This was the sacrifice of Spanish stragglers. It was historically identifiable because there were European women among the skulls, as well as horses.

Interesting show. You should catch it.

Oh wait. Your idea is that the codices are a Spanish conspiracy to cover up their murders of the Aztecs?

But they weren't ashamed of that. They were proud.

You really need to get the guts to face our human past. The Aztecs weren't ashamed of what they did, either. Why is it necessary to whitewash them in your mind? Would they appreciate being remembered only as slaughtered lambs?

I had an idiot professor who told me the Maya were philosopher kings. He simply believed whatever he'd been told without one moment of independent thought. Not one single question about how unusual it was for an entire civilization to rise because of "philosophy" and not bloodshed.

And you oughta take a look at the Moche, too.

And if you really, really need to place blame, then you can start wondering why anyone can read the Aztec calendar with a book of indoeuropean wordroots.

[gabeana]

9. were the codex written before or after the conquest?

the Spanish you refer to as stragglers, well there was a war.
And how they determine sacrifice is by the knife cuts on the bones, I'm sure the bodies were not mummified. therefore how were they determine knife cuts?
Who says they were proud of it,are they from contemporary Mechica sources before the conquest?
I know you are familiar with false confession under torture. You know I'm sure you know about the horrific acts of violence the Spaniards did to the MEchica, right, and the sources comes from the spanish accounts because they were proud of their exploits, such as after the Mechica recovered enough gold putting them tightly bunched in houses made from grass, and burning them alive. Or having contest see who was fastest in cutting up children, or taking babies from their mothers arms and slicing them open, throwing people in open ditches with stakes pointing up, theres a lot more, feeding the mechica to their dogs,I could go on but that is enough If you can't read spanish all you got do is pick up American Holocaust by Stannard.

And know I'm not saying that the Mechica were perfect, they were not they were an imperial country in their region, which was oppressive, but remember to kill someone you have to dehumanize them and thats what the Spanish did as "Blood Thirst Aztec Savages

The whole idea of the Mechica having Mass sacrifices is starting to be revised, stay tuned

[FirstLight]

2. WHY are you asking this question?

...a little moire history ould make the answers understandable. I believe they used captured Prisiners of War as their sacrifices to make a point. It is still brutal, and I hope the bush regime doesn't start sacificing people to make a point about righteousness!

[nebenaube]

5. then what was Katrina? n/t

[Boojatta]

6. I hope that most readers of this thread have heard of an academic discipline called...

"history."

If you wish to do more than inform or remind readers of this thread that there is a discipline called "history", then you might start a thread about the Aztecs after following the link below:

World History Group

Note: some authorities distinguish between "history" and other related areas such as "medieaval studies", "classical studies", and "archaeology."

[Glorfindel]

3. Well, of course..."for reasons not listed above"

Some method of reducing the population of breeding-age males is required. :evilgrin:

[Boojatta]

7. Would testicle sacrifice not be harsh enough for that purpose?

[Glorfindel]

11. Nah...then you'd have hordes of petulant, dissatisfied eunuchs milling about

No telling what that would lead to. Better just to do them in; then they don't require feeding.

[Boojatta]

12. Why not make them work 12 hours per day, six days per week?

You could keep most of the revenue produced via their labor. You could supply all the bread they can eat, plus foods that provide all essential nutrients that aren't in the bread. To maximize profits, you could supply no other luxuries except for periodic opportunities for them to be spectators at circus performances. I presume that you aren't squeamish about slavery if you are proposing mass killing of civilians who aren't guilty of any crime.

[Occam Bandage]

13. Depends on if you draw a distinction between sacrifice and martyrdom.

[Boojatta]

14. When I hear people talk about some "Perfect Sacrifice"

that occurred thousands of years ago, should I ask whether or not they mean "perfect martyrdom"?