The Aztec calendar is the calendar system that was used by the Aztecs as well as other Pre-Columbian peoples of central Mexico. It is one of the Mesoamerican calendars, sharing the basic structure of calendars from throughout ancient Mesoamerica.
Aztec stone calendar originally carved in 1479. Naturally, it was dedicated to the sun god. Calendar was massive, 3.22 feet thick, almost 12 feet across, and weighing roughly around 22.5 tonnes (22500 kg). Calendar was carved originally from basalt, basalt is dark-colored, fine-grained, igneous rock composed mainly of plagioclase and pyroxene minerals, mostly known as solidified lava. The calendar consisted of a 365-day calendar cycle called xiuhpohualli (year count) and a 260-day ritual cycle called…show more content… Tonatiuh was known as sun god in Mesoamerican religion. Aztecs believed in fifth sun, in most Mesoamerican myth people believed Tonatiuh was preceded after fourth era, they believed four suns had been created in four previous ages before Tonatiuh, and all of them died at the end of the era, each era was ended in violent destruction. Analyzing the Aztec calendar, it was stylized, compared to being naturalistic and showing their characteristics. Main reason it was constructed was to be seen by everyone. Being enormous in size it was best to stylize it, to be seen by everyone. Characteristics of the deity include his hair, wrinkles on the face, and the tongue. Deity’s hair appears to be is blond, due to the appearance of the sun in the sky, wrinkles on the face represent the age and maturity, and finally the tongue represents a knife indicating deity need to be fed with human…show more content… The day when both calendars would align it was also known as a century. This could bring disaster on the world, so a special ritual took place called the New Fire Festival. Every 52 years, the current creation was in danger of being destroyed. Every one of these centuries was marked by xiuhmolpilli also known as New Fire Festival. It was a festival that lasted 12 days and included fasting as a symbol of penitence. All fires would be extinguished and household pots smashed, ready for renewal. Priests would wait on the outskirts, and then on midnight of the 12th day of the festival, a prisoner would be taken to the priest. The priest would wait for the star of fire to reach the zenith. Once it did, the priest would remove the heart of this warrior, and replace it with a piece of wood, that was laid on a piece of turquoise. At midnight they would lit a new fire in the chest cavity of a captive warrior, and its flame would be distributed to the temples and eventually to households. This ceremony of human sacrifice concept that out of human sacrifice would come life, a sacred aspect of the duality of death and