Sacrifice in Maya culture
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218290762
2008-06-09T23:54:33Z
CJLL Wright
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Reverted edits by [[Special:Contributions/131.109.46.99|131.109.46.99]] ([[User talk:131.109.46.99|talk]]) to last version by Snigbrook
{{Cleanup|date=October 2006}}
According to "Western" philosophical history, sacrifice was a deeply [[symbolic]] and highly [[ritualized]] activity among the [[Maya civilization|ancient Maya]] of [[pre-Columbian]] [[Mesoamerica]]. However, many Indigenous Northern and Southern Americans do not agree with this claim.
Spanish conquistadors came to the homeland of the Mayan people where gold, and other precious metals, jade and stones considered precious to the foreigners were used in the making of decorative ornaments. To the Mayan people, as is similar in all peoples indigenous to the Western hemisphere, value was not in possessions or material items; rather, the value of life was the most important aspect of their religion and beliefs. In indigenous eyes, it was the foreigners' desire for the gold and gems that drove them to the massacring of the Mayans, Aztecs and many other peoples.
Some contend the idea of Mayans sacrificing their people came from Western historians' downplay of an advanced civilization to create the idea that the "savages" of North and South America deserved their eventual bloody downfall.
It is said that intertwined with strong [[ideology|religious]] and political significance, different kinds of sacrifice were performed within a range of cultural contexts, from mundane everyday activities performed by [[commoner]]s to rituals performed by [[elite]]s and ruling [[lineage]]s. The aim of the latter was the maintenance of sociocultural and political structure.
==Maya ideology and sacrifice==
[[Sacrifice]] symbolized the renewal of the divine cosmic energy and the continuation of life. Its ability to do so is based on two intertwined concepts that are common to most Mesoamerican belief systems (in one form or another). The first is the notion that the gods had given life to mankind by sacrificing parts of their own bodies. The second is that [[blood]], which often signified life among [[Maya mythology|Maya belief systems]], was partially made up of the blood of the gods (who sacrificed it and gave it to humans when creating life). Thus, in order to maintain order in their universe, the Maya, as well as most Mesoamerican groups, believed that blood and life had to be given back to the gods.
==Types of sacrifice==
Generally, sacrifice can be divided into two types: [[Bloodletting rituals in Maya culture|autosacrifice]] and [[human sacrifice]]. The different forms of sacrifice are reflected in the imagery used to evoke ideological structure and sociocultural organization in Mesoamerica. In the Maya area, for example, stele depict bloodletting rituals performed by ruling elites, eagles and jaguars devouring human hearts, jade circles or necklaces that represented hearts, and plants and flowers that symbolized both nature and the blood that provided life.{{Fact|date=March 2007}} Imagery also showed pleas for rain or pleas for blood, with the same intention – to replenish the divine energy.
===Autosacrifice===
{{main|Bloodletting rituals in Maya culture}}
Autosacrifice, also called [[bloodletting]], is the ritualized practice of drawing blood from oneself. It is commonly seen or represented through iconography as performed by ruling elites in highly ritualized ceremonies, but it is easily practiced among mundane sociocultural contexts (i.e., non-elites could perform autosacrifice). The act was typically performed with obsidian blades or stingray spines, and blood was drawn from piercing or cutting the [[tongue]], [[earlobe]]s, and/or [[genitals]] (among other locations). Another form of autosacrifice was conducted by pulling a rope with attached thorns through the tongue or earlobes. The blood produced was then collected on paper and burned in a bowl.
Autosacrifice was not limited to male rulers, as their female counterparts often performed these ritualized activities. They are typically shown in performing the rope and thorns technique. A recently discovered queen's tomb in the Classic Maya site of [[El Perú (Maya site)|Waka]] (also known as El Perú) had a ceremonial stingray spine placed in her genital area, suggesting that women also perform bloodletting in their genitalia. {{Fact|date=February 2007}}
== See also ==
*[[Maya mythology]]
*[[Mayan civilization]]
*[[Mayan Sacred Tree]]
==Sources==
* http://www.civilization.ca/civil/maya/mmc03eng.html
* http://www.livescience.com/history/human_sacrifice_050123.html
[[Category:Maya society]]
[[Category:Maya mythology and religion]]