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The Aztecs have become somewhat infamous in the modern era for their religious practice of human sacrifice. Before the arrival of the first European Christians to encounter the civilization, human sacrifice was very profound in Aztec civilization. At the sanctification of the Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlán in 1487 for example, surviving Aztec codicies (texts) puts one specific sacrifice at 20,000 individuals over four days. Aztecs believed that their gods required nourishment to keep the world in balance and human blood was the highest form of sacrifice the Aztec could offer.

The Aztecs have become somewhat infamous in the modern era for their religious practice of human sacrifice. Before the arrival of the first European Christians to encounter the civilization, human sacrifice was very profound in Aztec civilization. At the sanctification of the Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlán in 1487 for example, surviving Aztec codicies (texts) puts one specific sacrifice at 20,000 individuals over four days. Aztecs believed that their gods required nourishment to keep the world in balance and human blood was the highest form of sacrifice the Aztec could offer.

According to [[Spain|Spanish]] texts referencing the affair, <ref>Díaz, Bernal (2005, published posthumously in 1632), Historia verdadera de la conquista de Nueva España (Introducción y notas de Joaquín Ramírez Cabañas). Editorial Porrúa, 24.</ref> the Aztecs tore the heart from the sacrificed, while the victims were still alive.

According to [[Spain|Spanish]] texts referencing the affair, <ref>Díaz, Bernal (2005, published posthumously in 1632), Historia verdadera de la conquista de Nueva España (Introducción y notas de Joaquín Ramírez Cabañas). Editorial Porrúa, 24.</ref> the Aztecs tore the heart from the sacrificed, while the victims were still alive. This was a regular practice at Aztec sacrifices. The victim would be stretched across a small bench stone and held flat while the high priest stabbed the victim just below the ribs with an obsidian knife. The high priest would then make a cut in the abdomen and reach under the ribcage and remove the heart with his hands. The heart would then be offered to the god and placed in a receptacle. The dead victim would then be thrown down the temple steps.

==Spanish Conquest==

==Spanish Conquest==