Search Results: Mictlantecuhtli

Mictlantecuhtli (pron. Mict-lan-te-cuht-li) or 'Lord of the Land of the Dead' was the Aztec god of death. He ruled the underworld (Mictlán) with his wife Mictecacíhuatl. Mictlantecuhtli was worshipped and feared across Mesoamerica. The god...

The gods of the Aztecs (1345-1521 CE) were many and varied and, as with many other ancient cultures, deities were closely associated with things and events important to the culture and the general welfare of the community. These include gods...

A belief in an afterlife was central to every major civilization of the ancient world and this encouraged the recognition of the reality of ghosts as the spirits of the departed who, for one reason or another, either returned from the realm...

The Aztecs of ancient Mexico measured time with a sophisticated and interconnected triple calendar system which followed the movements of the celestial bodies and provided a comprehensive list of important religious festivals and sacred dates...

The Tizoc Stone is a huge stone cylinder from the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan which depicts a sun-disk on its flat upper surface and carries a frieze around its outer edge showing Aztec warriors and the Aztec king Tizoc, whose reign from...

The Aztecs of northern Mesoamerica (c. 1345 and 1521 CE) worshipped some of the weirdest, most fantastic and downright scary gods seen anywhere in history. The Aztec civilization and the empire it created revolved around winning special favour...

There are records of ghouls and ghost stories dating from very early times, right back to the beginning of literature and with oral traditions going even further back in time. What we find absolutely amazing is that the fascination for the...

A stone vessel depicting Mictlantecuhtli the Aztec god of death and Lord of the Underworld. (National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City).

Sculpture of the Aztec God of Death, Mictlantecuhtli. The terracotta sculpture is tall and almost life-sized. 14-16th century CE. (Melbourne Museum, Melbourne)

The religion of the Aztec civilization which flourished in ancient Mesoamerica (1345-1521 CE) has gained an infamous reputation for bloodthirsty human sacrifice with lurid tales of the beating heart being ripped from the still-conscious victim...