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David Carrasco

City of Sacrifice: The Aztec Empire and the Role of Violence in Civilization Paperback – Illustrated, December 8, 2000

by David Carrasco (Author)

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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.

Print length

288 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Beacon Press
Publication date

December 8, 2000
Dimensions

5.31 x 0.63 x 8 inches
ISBN-10

0807046434
ISBN-13

978-0807046432
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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

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Beacon Press (December 8, 2000)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0807046434
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0807046432
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11.2 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.31 x 0.63 x 8 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #332,771 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #52 in Aztec History
- #238 in Mexico History
- #1,122 in Native American History (Books)

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Christopher D. Hampson

interesting Aztec ritual and cosmic geometry

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 24, 2006

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In City of Sacrifice, David Carrasco explains his picture of Aztec cosmology by describing various Aztec rituals and traditions, drawing 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 México 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. This is clearly the influence of Mircea Eliade, one of my favorite theorists of religion. Thinking of religion in terms of cosmic geometry is a really interesting exercise, and enables us to envision how others have ordered the world around them. You will want to pick up "The Sacred and the Profane" by Eliada as a companion read to Carrasco.

11 people found this helpful

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Cebes

Impenetrable Academic Jargon

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 22, 2007

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The author rightly points out that scholars have largely avoided the topic of Aztec sacrifice, no doubt for political reasons (for fear that describing the horrible brutality of these practices might appear to be a justification for the European conquest). It is thus good to see someone face the topic directly. Nonetheless the book is a disappointment. Carrasco is addicted to unnecessary pseudo-technical jargon: "locative cosmology", "ortho-visus", "orientatio", "heterogeographical," etc., and to such mind-numbing phrasings such as "forefronting the locative nature of the city's final narrative." It is a challenge to choose the worst-written sentence in this book, so I'll pick two: "In this book, I extend the meaning of orientatio to include both the discovery and organization of central place and the sacrificial performances that have the power to reorganize, redistribute, and regenerate the central place as a culturally and politically meaningful environment." "The text and its interpretations suggest a redirecting of terms toward an expansion of categories to join a hierarchy of meaning to a unity of meaning when exploring synesthesias in urbanized societies." Unfortunately, all too often bad writing is an indicator of sloppy thinking. The author seems to spend as much time telling us what he will accomplish in this book as actually accomplishing it (he constantly announces that he will "carry the discussion further" or "gain some insight" or provide a "new understanding" or "enlarge our understanding"). The book does present some interesting facts about the practice of Aztec human sacrifice, but in the end, the interpretations are rather thin (and of course couched in pseudo-profound lingo, e.g."alignments are viewed as integral but subordinate to larger symmetries"). Nor does the book live up to its pretentious subtitle: "the role of violence in civilization." The author contributes little to a general theory of this profound issue. In sum, I would say that this book's performative narrative insufficiently forefronts a synesthetic orientatio of the Aztec cosmovision.

29 people found this helpful

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John F

Four Stars

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 1, 2016

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Not an exciting read but very informative.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 29, 2022

very informative

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MJ AGUILAR

Quite remarkable book with clear and concise analysis of spirituality ...

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 23, 2015

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Quite remarkable book with clear and concise analysis of spirituality in the Aztec world. Have given copies to friend.

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Ariel Mayes

Useful info but in poor condition

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 2, 2014

Verified Purchase

It was useful in information for a history project but I paid $7 for a book that claimed to be in "good" condition when it was really falling apart from the folds

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 20, 2006

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.

9 people found this helpful

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MX scholar 1973

Brilliant and unflinching

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 20, 2014

The other reviews have been misguided and quite frankly wrong: they disliked the book because it talks about Aztec society without blinders or coddling. They dislike the Aztecs and have unjustly given negative and lukewarm reviews of a tremendous anthropological study. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants an account of Aztec religious practices that isn't filtered through heavy lenses to make an often gritty and violent society more palatable.

7 people found this helpful

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Sahar

Great

Reviewed in Italy 🇮🇹 on May 15, 2019

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I bought this book for an exam. Not necessary to talk about how great this work is for those who are interested in precolombian studies and religious anthropology. Fast shipping and perfect conditions.

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