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THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



native records of this sacrifice refer to 

 southern Mexico and are hxrgely con- 

 cerned with astronom\'. 



From these pictures alone we should 

 be unable to obtain more than an ob- 

 jective similarity to the human sacrifice 

 among the Pawnee. But Sahagun and 

 other early writers gi\'e us intimate 

 studies of acts and thoughts of the Mexi- 

 cans that could hardly be expressed in 

 drawings. Many ceremonies are de- 

 scribed; some occurring at fixed times 



look the spiritual ones. The ^'ictim was 

 often regarded as a personification of a 

 god and as such he was feted, clothed 

 in fine garments, and given every honor. 

 Efforts were made to cause him to go 

 willingly to his death, uplifted by a truly 

 religious ecstasy. It was considered 

 unlucky that he should grieve or falter. 

 To give an example: On the last day of 

 the month Toxcatl there was sacrificed 

 a young man chosen from captured 

 chieftains for his beautv and accom- 





One of two drawings in the Codex Porfirio Diaz representing a scaffold sacrifice. This manuscript is preserved 

 in the National Museum in Mexico City and is accredited to the Ciucatecan tribe of the State of Guerrero. Before 

 a crude drawing of a temple, a priest shoots arrows at the victim before the eyes 6f onlookers who sit and watch 



in the year, others at a time regulated 

 by the Tonalamatl, or book of days, or by 

 the rising of some star or planet. The 

 psychological attitude toward human 

 sacrifice comes out clearly in many of 

 these accounts. 



Ceremonialism was intensely devel- 

 oped in Mexico and the dramatic quality 

 of many Aztec rites of human sacrifice 

 has probably never been eciualled. We 

 are apt to think only of the gruesome 

 features of human sacrifice and to over- 



plishments. For an entire year this 

 intended ^•ictim, gayly attired and 

 accompanied by a retinue of pages, had 

 been granted the freedom of the city. 

 When the month of Toxcatl entered he 

 was given brides whose names were those 

 of goddesses, and in his honor was held a 

 succession of brilliant festivals. On the 

 last day there was a parade of canoes 

 across Lake Texcoco, and when a certain 

 piece of desert land was reached the 

 l)rides and courtiers l)a(le farewell to the 



