Book Description
In communities throughout precontact Mesoamerica, calendar priests and diviners relied on pictographic almanacs to predict the fate of newborns, to guide people in choosing marriage partners and auspicious wedding dates, to know when to plant and harvest crops, and to be successful in many of life's activities. As the Spanish colonized Mesoamerica in the sixteenth century, they made a determined effort to destroy these books, in which the Aztec and neighboring peoples recorded their understanding of the invisible world of the sacred calendar and the cosmic forces and supernaturals that adhered to time. Today, only a few of these divinatory codices survive. Visually complex, esoteric, and strikingly beautiful, painted books such as the famous Codex Borgia and Codex Borbonicus still serve as portals into the ancient Mexican calendrical systems and the cycles of time and meaning they encode.
In this comprehensive study, Elizabeth Hill Boone analyzes the entire extant corpus of Mexican divinatory codices and offers a masterful explanation of the genre as a whole. She introduces the sacred, divinatory calendar and the calendar priests and diviners who owned and used the books. Boone then explains the graphic vocabulary of the calendar and its prophetic forces and describes the organizing principles that structure the codices. She shows how they form almanacs that either offer general purpose guidance or focus topically on specific aspects of life, such as birth, marriage, agriculture and rain, travel, and the forces of the planet Venus. Boone also tackles two major areas of controversy—the great narrative passage in the Codex Borgia, which she freshly interprets as a cosmic narrative of creation, and the disputed origins of the codices, which, she argues, grew out of a single religious and divinatory system.
Book Description
Religion and Empire is an innovative and provocative study of the two largest states of the Precolumbian Americas, the Aztec and Inca Empires. By examining the causes of the formation and expansion of these two empires, the authors identify similar patterns and processes underlying their rise and decline. They demonstrate that in both examples among the critical elements in the transition from marginal people to imperial power to disintegrating society were changes in traditional religion, including the elaboration of Aztec human sacrifice and Inca worship of the corpses of their kings. The authors show that the complex interaction between such ideological shifts and political and economic factors generated the spectacular historical trajectories of these Pre-Colombian empires.
Customer Reviews:
Do we really need a reprint of an old and not very good book?.......2007-01-06
The interpretations of the Aztec empire in this book were misleading and deficient when it was first published in 1984; now they are both bad and outdated. According to the authors, the driving force of Aztec imperial expansion was rabid religious fanaticism. Crazed bloodthirsty warriors supposedly ran around conquering peoples with no sense of planning of strategy, and with no economic motivation (sounds sort of like the bloodthirsty Maya of Mel Gibson's movie Apocalypto). This interpretation does not for work Apocalypto, and it does not work for the Aztec empire either.
I'm not qualified to evaluate the Inka sections of the book. But if you are interested in Aztec imperialism, please check some of the post-1984 literature.
Excelent, well thoughtout arguments.......2002-12-13
I read this book as part of a research project into the rise and fall of the Mexica, or Aztec. This book offered an interesting view of the Aztec, as a warfaring society which was propelled by a religous zelous that got out of hand and eventually caused the destabilization of a great empire. While I happen to disagree with certain arguments in this book they are all well justified with valid arguments. This field is constantly changing and is full of writers who don't have the background or the backing for their arguments, this is not one of them. Conrad and Demerest use fresh, compelling, and well thoughtout arguments to make an interesting point. If researching the Inca and Aztec this is a must read to achieve a good view of these two expansionist empires.
Has good and bad points.......2001-12-21
I read this book for a class on the emergence of state society. The book was great for its review of Aztec ideology and its resulting effects on the society. Too many authors ignore the importance of the way people think. However, archaeological evidence does not support their conclusions about the Inca's ancestor worship. But the book was good read, very fast paced and enjoyable. I recommend it.
Very detailed........2000-01-20
The book really gets into the nuts and bolts of the empires, showing you how ideas could give birth to and help expand the two cultures. But it also shows how the same ideas could hinder and even start to destroy the empires later in their existance. Yet it is not hard to read and even delightful at some points. They answer alot of questions I had about the Aztec and Inca, making sure to support everything they say with lots of details. A must of any history library.
This book is excellent........1998-09-22
It explains how modern/western thought fails when applied to the cultures of the Aztecs and Incas. This book is good for beginning students for the narrative is easy to follow. However, it is outstanding for the more advanced scholar. This book would make a great companion book to broader studies of these two cultures. The authors criticise modern archaeology for its dogmatic unbending views.The authors also take modern political theory and apply it to these ancient cultures. What happens is that it falls apart. Marx, Hegel, et al have met their match against these ancient ones. What a great departure from the faulty theories of socialism & communism.
Book Description
The Spanish conquest of Mexico was a remarkable military expedition that had a huge impact on the history of the world. Hernán Cortés led the expedition, the aim of which was the addition of Mexico to the Spanish Empire, and the extraction of Aztec riches. Following the appearance of portents, the Aztecs were expecting a catastrophe in 1519, and the Spanish invasion fulfilled this expectation. Although they fought fiercely to the end, the Aztec civilisation was doomed, and the face of Mexico would be changed for ever. This book examines the campaign, but also the lives, training and experience of the men on both sides: the Spanish conquerors and their opponents, the exotic Aztecs, who were fighting for their lives and their civilisation. Contains material peviously published in Essential Histories 60, Warrior 32 and Warrior 40.
Customer Reviews:
Exact explanations and insights suitable for both high school and college level history students........2007-01-07
Any student of early Spanish history or Aztec history must take a look at AZTECS & CONQUISTADORES: THE SPANISH INVASION & THE COLLAPSE OF THE AZTEC EMPIRE, which surveys the impact the Spanish conquests had on world history. The focus here is upon the military might of Cortes, the training and experience of men on both sides of the conflict, and the major battles that subdued the Aztecs. Color maps, illustrations and charts throughout enhance the survey and provide exact explanations and insights suitable for both high school and college level history students.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
Excellent visual insight.......2007-01-04
Well written with excellent pictorial information. And one who has done any kind of research into this period of history and was curious about how things actually looked would be very interested in seeing good detailed and written descriptions of maps, battle suits, weaponry and other items of the period. A good overview of the events during this period in Mexico's history, but the book is more valuable as a visual insight. Would highly recommend this as an ideal companion book to read with a more detailed historical book of this period in history, such as Bernal Diaz del Castillo's book of the conquest or William H. Prescott's wonderfully written History of the Conquest of Mexico.
Book Description
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.
Customer Reviews:
awesome .......2007-02-22
product is in great condition, as described. I received it in a timely manner.
interesting Aztec ritual and cosmic geometry.......2006-10-24
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.
A Valuable Voice.......2006-10-20
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.
This book is HORRIBLE!.......2003-10-23
Its unfortunate that freedom of speach also allows authors such as this to completley fabricate and slander an entire culture. There has been documented scientfic evidence of the fabrications that substantiated human sacrifice and the so called god theory. The reality is, europeans LACKED the understanding and knowledge that would allow them to comprehend the indigenous cultures they encountered. Their belief system was so different, that they saw EVIL where there was none. To this day there has been NO archeological or scientific PROOF of sacrifices. This book is nothing more than a good piece of fiction.
Fascinating, if grim, side of human religiousity.......2000-08-17
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.
Customer Reviews:
Beautiful book.......2007-08-09
I love the size of the book because it fist in my purse. The paper quality and the pictures are amazing. It is very easy to read because of all the images it has. Beautiful
One of the best books I've ever read.......2001-06-09
For anyone interested in learning more or learning for the first time about the Aztecs, this book is highly recommended. As mentioned by the other reviewer, it is filled with so many high quality art pictures and is very effective in describing the history, beliefs and rituals of this great empire. Someone stole my book, but I'm going to buy it again. It's that good.
A great little book.......2001-02-01
This a handy little book that can be taken with you anywhere, it is smaller than an average man's hand. It's an excellent source book for covering the the rise and fall of the Mexica(Aztec) civilization. The illustrations are wonderful reproductions of some of the most famous paintings of the conquest, including many from the murals of Diego Rivera. The paper is thick stock and fact filled with little commentary that is conjecture. The strength of this reference book is that it has many rarely seen pictures from an assortment of codexes and the reproductions are superb. Some are small but the quality remains so as to distinquish what you are looking at without any problem. The color in the illustrations is great and very much as the originals. Every page has at least one picture and most have numerous. It is visually stimulating to see as you read the history. Another strength of the book is that it has one third dedicated to documents. The conquest is retold, again, in a series of original documents, dating from the time period being discussed, most of which are primary documents. Anyone interested in Mexico and it's history will benefit from this book. Also anyone interested in art will enjoy the collection of illustrations throughout book. This is an excellent, little, wealth of information waiting for the student of Mexican history.
Very Good Introduction.......2000-09-06
This was a very helpful book in understanding the Aztec civilization and culture, and the spanish conquest. The illustrations are very helpful and the judgements are sparse and generally fair.
Book Description
The ruthless explorer Cortés devastated an entire people in his search for fame and gold for himself and for his country. Witness the conquering of the Aztec Empire during the Age of Discovery.
Book Description
There has probably never been a single volume with such extensive information on the uniforms and costumes of the European conquest of the Americas. Ian Heath has assembled 247 drawings and other illustrations to depict the native peoples of South America and the eastern parts of North America as well as Spanish, English, French and even German adventurers and explorers. The accompanying text also offers a clear account of the rise and development of the various European colonies. Includes extensive bibliography.
Book Description
This book unveils the lost world of the Aztec, Maya and many other peoples found by the European conquistadors.
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Mexico
| Americas
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Ritual and Power in Stone: The Performance of Rulership in Mesoamerican Izapan Style Art
Janaab' Pakal of Palenque: Reconstructing the Life And Death of a Maya Ruler
Ancient Objects and Sacred Realms: Interpretations of Mississippian Iconography (The Linda Schele Series in Maya and Pre-Columbian Studies)
Olmec Archaeology and Early Mesoamerica (Cambridge World Archaeology)
History and Mythology of the Aztecs: The Codex Chimalpopoca
