City of Sacrifice: The Aztec Empire and the Role of Violence

City of Sacrifice: The Aztec Empire and the Role of Violence in Civilization
- Used Book in Good Condition
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.
Country USA
Brand Beacon Press
Manufacturer Beacon Press
Binding Paperback
ItemPartNumber black & white illustrations
Color White
ReleaseDate 2000-12-08
UnitCount 1
Format Illustrated
UPCs 046442046435
EANs 9780807046432

Country	USA
Brand	Beacon Press
Manufacturer	Beacon Press
Binding	Paperback
ItemPartNumber	black & white illustrations
Color	White
ReleaseDate	2000-12-08
UnitCount	1
Format	Illustrated
UPCs	046442046435
EANs	9780807046432

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

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