City of Sacrifice: The Aztec Empire and the Role of Violence in Civilization [Paperback]

David Carrasco (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0807046434 | ISBN-13: 978-0807046432 | Publication Date: December 8, 2000

At an excavation of the Great Aztec Temple in Mexico City, amid carvings of skulls and a dismembered warrior goddess, David Carrasco stood before a container filled with the decorated bones of infants and children. It was the site of a massive human sacrifice, and for Carrasco the center of fiercely provocative questions: If ritual violence against humans was a profound necessity for the Aztecs in their capital city, is it central to the construction of social order and the authority of city states? Is civilization built on violence?

In City of Sacrifice,Carrasco chronicles the fascinating story of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital, investigating Aztec religious practices and demonstrating that religious violence was integral to urbanization; the city itself was a temple to the gods. That Mexico City, the largest city on earth, was built on the ruins of Tenochtitlan, is a point Carrasco poignantly considers in his comparison of urban life from antiquity to modernity.

Majestic in scope, City of Sacrifice illuminates not only the rich history of a major Meso american city but also the inseparability of two passionate human impulses: urbanization and religious engagement. It has much to tell us about many familiar events in our own time, from suicide bombings in Tel Aviv to rape and murder in the Balkans.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A brilliant, provocative, timely, and eternal book.... We know that power, whatever its origin-sacred, natural, ethnic, contractual, or democratic-is an expression of violence. Davíd Carrasco now demonstrates a shattering, unsentimental truth: civilizations themselves are born and maintained by violence. —Carlos Fuentes

About the Author

Davíd L. Carrasco is professor of history of religions at Princeton University. Author and editor of many books, he is editor in chief of the Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican Cultures. He lives in Princeton, New Jersey.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Beacon Press (December 8, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807046434
• ISBN-13: 978-0807046432
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 0.6 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #268,642 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #36 in Books > History > Ancient > Aztec

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating, if grim, side of human religiousity, August 17, 2000

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no longer a customer - See all my reviews

This review is from: City of Sacrifice: Violence From the Aztec Empire to the Modern Americas (Hardcover)

Fascinating study of Aztec religion in the context of the communal life of the City and the promotion of a common cosmology and morality. Unlike many authors of Aztec religion, Carrasco doesn't shy away from presenting the most grim aspects of Aztec human sacrifice, (from the drawing of thorns through the tongue to the heart wrenching sacrifice of children to the phantasmagoric ripping of hearts from chest cavities). In presenting these grim aspects, Carrasco asks the question "why" and offers one possible explanation in the context of the notion of communal city life and the preservation of a common cosmology and morality via ritual and myth, even if violent. Carrasco admits, refreshingly, that this is not the only explanation, and, in fact, we may never fully understand what would prompt any civilization to such wholesale spiritual slaughter, but Carrasco is one of very few scholars in religious studies willing to critically and objectively deal with the notion of violence in religion. One caveat: this is not a casual read and familiarity with Religious Studies and the work of Burkert and Eliade is assumed. At times the text can be hard going and the completion of the book has the abruptness of falling off a cliff. But for readers interested in the study of religion and how it shapes us, this book is an important addition to your bookshelf.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Valuable Voice, October 19, 2006

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J. Li - See all my reviews
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This review is from: City of Sacrifice: The Aztec Empire and the Role of Violence in Civilization (Paperback)

David Carrasco's fascinating account of Aztec cosmology and religious practices, City of Sacrifice, provides the reader with an innovative look at the culture. Moving beyond the shock-value of purported human sacrifice within the religious rituals of the Aztec people, Carrasco moves to focus on the broader context of these ceremonies: the symbolism used, the relationship between "center and periphery" as expressed through the physical movement and placement of the rites, and the manipulation or renewal of time, place, and personal identity. He extends his study further by examining the association of such religious acts with other aspects of society, from social class to foreign affairs. Carrasco's examples come from archaeological findings as well as writings, images, and relics representing both European and Aztec perspectives and interpretations.
Carrasco's interpretation and arguments add a valuable voice to the discussion of the role and purpose of possible human sacrifice and consumption in the pre-colonial period. His clear and informative analyses of archaeological remains, such as the Codex Mendoza and the Coyolxauhqui Stone, illustrate compelling themes that run throughout Aztec culture and that carry great importance. Carrasco deftly applies theories from the study of religion in new and flexible ways to the evidence that he has uncovered within Aztec society. His novel ideas help to advance the study and understanding of cultures and religions across time and around the world.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars interesting Aztec ritual and cosmic geometry, October 24, 2006

By 

Christopher D. Hampson (Boston, MA, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: City of Sacrifice: The Aztec Empire and the Role of Violence in Civilization (Paperback)

In City of Sacrifice, David Carrasco explains his picture of Aztec cosmology by describing various Aztec rituals and traditions. He draws on his archaeological experience as well as his interpretation of Aztec art and myth. We may begin and end the book uncomfortable with human sacrifice, but Carrasco's understanding of the worldview behind it puts it in some perspective.

I find this work to be valuable first as a description of Aztec practices. Carrasco's accounts of the major Aztec festivals are interesting and enjoyable (the chapter titles include "Give Me Some Skin" and "Cosmic Jaws") although often macabre. I appreciate that Carrasco has worked on the archaeological dig in Ciudad de Mexico and understands firsthand the primary sources-- artifacts, remains, sculptures, paintings-- that form our basis of understanding for Aztec culture. Second, I enjoy Carrasco's picture of Aztec cosmology, a cosmology that has lines (both vertical and horizontal) as well as a center, a periphery, and a lynchpin between the worlds. Thinking of religion in terms of cosmic geometry is a really interesting exercize, and enables us to envision how others have ordered the world around them.