The Main Temple

Close by the excavations is the Zocalo subway station. Here you can see a scale model of what the main temple is thought to have looked like. It was pyramid-shaped with two towerlike buildings on the top. As the main center of Aztec worship, it stood surrounded by other temples in the central square of Tenochtitlán. Here were the principal idols worshiped by the Aztecs, Huitzilopochtli, the war god, and Tláloc, the god of rain.

When the Spaniards arrived, Tenochtitlán was an island in a valley full of lakes. Parallel to its streets were canals where goods were transported in chalupas, little boats. Salvador Toscano, in his book entitled Cuauhtemoc, describes it for us: “The great square of the main temple took up the center of the island, and Cortés adds ‘that there is no human language that can describe the grandeur and uniqueness of it, so big that dwellings for 500 people could be built within its bounds. The square contained several pyramids for worship, an area for ball games, priests’ homes, skull platforms (tzompantlis), and temples made out of hewn stone and aromatic cedar wood. Besides all of these, there was the main temple pyramid for the sun god of war, Huitzilopochtli, 30 meters [100 ft] high​—116 steps up to the top—​which commanded the view of the island.’”

However, one cannot help but feel chills when looking at the sacrificial stone in front of Huitzilopochtli’s oratory. It was on the flat surface of this stone that the victim was laid, face up, ready to have his heart torn out and offered to the gods.

Another stone, the statue of the goddess Coyolxauhqui, reveals another aspect of Aztec worship. Coyolxauhqui was said to be Huitzilopochtli’s sister whom he killed and divided into pieces. Hence, the flat sculpture represents her as dismembered, with the head detached from the thorax. Apparently, the Aztecs felt no qualms about worshiping a dismembered goddess.

Comparisons​—Ancient and Modern

Bible readers are aware that human sacrifices have often been a part of false worship. The Canaanites, and sometimes even apostate Israelites, sacrificed their children to demon gods. (2 Kings 23:10; Jeremiah 32:35) The Aztecs, too, practiced child sacrifice. We read about this in the book El Templo Mayor: “The remains of sacrificed children were found in one of these [pits] along with representations of the rain god. Would this be a special offering because of famine?”

On page 219 the same books adds: “Fray Juan de Torquemada tells us something about this in the book Monarquía Indiana (Indian Monarchy): ‘The children would be taken to the sacrificial place richly dressed, atop portable platforms or litters, abundantly decorated with flowers and feathers, and these would be carried along on the shoulders of priests and ministers. Others would go before them playing instruments and singing and dancing. This is the way they would be conducted to the place where they would be sacrificed and offered to the demon.’”

Pointing up further resemblances between the religion of the Aztecs and the religions of the Old World, it is reported that the god Tláloc was also the god of fertility. One of the main altars is dedicated to him. Also represented in the temple are two huge snakes, the snake being a fertility symbol. Similarly, many of the ancient pagan religions of the Old World had a god of fertility, and the serpent was a widespread religious symbol. Interestingly, too, Huitzilopochtli was said to be born to Coatlicue, and this mother goddess was later called the “mother of all the gods.”

[Picture on page 23]

The goddess Coatlicue

[Credit Line]

Nat’l Institute of Anthropology and History, Mexico

[Picture on page 24]

The goddess Coyolxauhqui

[Credit Line]

Nat’l Institute of Anthropology and History, Mexico