Although these were the most common methods, others were used as well. One included a cut made to the victim s stomach, tearing out of the diaphragm, and the cutting of the heart ligament from the inside (Frederiksen). Because the victim would literally disembowel himself during the rite, this procedure was rarely used (Frederiksen). Another form did not include the removal of the heart at all. Instead, a form named gladiatorial sacrifice was used. A victim would be dressed in warrior s attire and given dummy weapon would step out onto the battlefield, and stand tethered to a large stone. Next, a group of Aztec warriors would fight the victim using real weapons. Although it meant humiliation during the procedure, as the victim was practically torn apart, it was still considered an honor to compete on the stone (Frederiksen). This honor extended throughout the entire subject of sacrifice for the Aztecs, and in a way was their secret weapon, or their strength. However, when foreigners saw the Aztec procedures, they made strong judgments based on what they saw.
The Aztec people were the strongest people living in this hemisphere. However, their empire was no match for the modern, foreign Spanish invaders, lead by Hernando Cortes, in 1521. He and his men captured and destroyed the city of Tenochtitlan, along with their Native Mexican allies (Frederiksen). When the Spanish conquest took place, the foreign voyagers came upon the Aztec civilization, and were very surprised when they saw the ways the Aztecs worshipped their gods. One traveler, Bernal Diaz, stated that the walls of the temple were splashed and encrusted with blood whore stench was unbearable (Frederiksen). Diaz wrote,
In that small space, there were many diabolical things to be seen, bugles and trumpets and knives, and many hearts of Indians that they had burned in fumigating their idols, and everything was so clotted with blood, and there was so much of it, that I curse the whole of it, and as it stank like a slaughterhouse we hastened to clear out of such a bad stench and worse sight, (Time-Life, 29).
Cortes, upon witnessing the sacrifices, also made statements about what he saw. He wrote, they take many girls and boys and even adults, and in the presence of the idols they open their chests while they are still alive and take out their hearts and entrails and burns them before the idols, offering the smoke as sacrifice. Some of us have seen this, and they say it is the most terrible and frightful thing they have ever witnessed, (29).
The temples were described by other ambassadors from foreign nations as streaming with blood, which poured down the stairways and sides of the monument, forming huge pools on the white stucco pavement (Townsend, 100). The Aztecs created a tough look for themselves by performing sacrifice so commonly. Under the rule of Ahuizotl, sacrifice was transformed into a terror inducing thought to any who witnessed it. A shock was brought upon any who observed the blood-covered temple and skull racks strung with thousands of gory trophies. This jump in the intensity and gore of sacrifice marked a turning point in the rule of Ahuizotl, before the empire of the Aztec s finally came to an end (100).
Because of their strong beliefs and courage to stand up to them, the Aztecs lived a long and abundant lifetime. Their civilization survived for decades. They created an image for themselves through their religious practices. Their strength was not overlooked by the horrified Spanish conquestors, but it was surpassed. Although their procedures may have seemed vicious and evil, what is difficult for many people to understand is the fact that sacrifices in the lives of the Aztecs was simply their way of worshipping and honoring their gods.