"… and they will burn their skins and their flesh and their filthiness in the fire …"
(Leviticus 16:27)
A feature of the wars of the Aztecs was that they did not lead them for the possession of territory, did not seek to seize cities, and even more so to storm the pyramids built in them, which would be very problematic. The enemy had to be defeated in a field battle and already there they had to capture as many men of the enemy tribe as possible and thereby bleed him out. And only then demand obedience and tribute! “Otherwise it will be worse. Come and kill everyone else! Naturally, such battles were organized, which was a very difficult task.
1 - Emperor of the Aztecs - Tlatoani, 2 - "General", 3 - Elder. Rice. Angus McBride.
For example, a signaling system should have been provided at the battle site. For this, a command post was set up on a nearby hill, from where the entire army was clearly visible. Signals from the commander were transmitted to junior commanders in a chain, while each messenger could have two and a half miles (about 4 km) of the way. At long distances, smoke was used to communicate between the squads, or signals were sent using a mirror made of polished pyrite. In addition, signals were given by signal horns from shells and drum beats. The attention of one or another unit was attracted by waving a bright standard. The squad leaders watched the signal sent by the standard and listened to the "soundtrack". In battle, they walked along the line from behind and attracted the attention of the soldiers with special whistles and shouting orders depending on the course of the battle.
1 - jaguar warrior of the Triple Alliance, 2 - an ordinary warrior-Aztec, 3 - "captain" of the Triple Alliance. Rice. Angus McBride
Usually the battle began with an exchange of insults. For this, special scenes were played that ridiculed the weakness of the enemies, they were shown naked butts and genitals. Often, even women with children were attracted to insult the enemy, who were specially taken on campaigns for this. All of this had one goal. Force the enemy to disrupt the formation and rush into the attack in a crowd. If this happened, the Aztecs rushed into a feigned retreat in order to further provoke the enemy and lure him into an ambush. When Montezuma I, during the invasion of northern Veracruz, faced a rather formidable army of Huastecs, he ordered two thousand of his soldiers to dig holes in the ground and hide in them, covering them with straw. Then his army struck a deceptive blow to the center of the enemy and began to retreat. The Huastecs rushed in pursuit. As soon as they reached the right place, the Aztec warriors literally rose from under their feet and dealt with the enemies who did not expect anything like this. That is, it is obvious that the place where the battle was supposed to take place suited both sides, but the Aztecs approached it earlier. Further … they had time to dig these holes and disguise them. Moreover, the attack of the Huastecs was carried out in an advantageous way for the Aztecs, in which the pits were behind them. All this speaks of a careful and thoughtful manner of waging a war, and possibly an agreement between opponents where and when they will meet for battle!
Image of the Chief of Nezahualcoyotl, Codex Ishtlilxochitl folio 106R. The image was created a century after his death.
By the way, the Huastecs spoke a language related to the Mayan language, but linguists still argue about when they settled on the Gulf Coast. The Aztecs described them as men of a frightening appearance, with flat heads, which was a consequence of the custom of deforming children's skulls. Some uastecs sharpened their teeth, many had elaborate tattoos. Having a reputation for dissolute drunks, the men of this tribe often neglected such an important piece of clothing for the Aztecs as the mahtlatl, that is, a loincloth.
Warriors of Tlaxcala, drawn from images in the Codex Ixtlilxochitl. Rice. Adam Hook.
That is, if the army moved in two marching columns, then most likely communication was necessarily maintained between them, and organized in such a way that in the event of the interception of one or two messengers of the "signalmen" by the enemy, the communication line would nevertheless not be broken. That is, the messengers had to follow one after the other at a distance of visibility, so that in the event of an attack on one, the others would see it!
Signals, as already mentioned, could be transmitted by smoke and blows to drums, and not only on the battlefield, but also on the march.
But then the opponents converged, the demonstration of the copulatory organs ended and the actual battle began. Archers fired arrows, dart throwers with atlatls in hand sent their shells at the enemy, and slingers did the same. They rained down on the enemy a hail of stones from the sling. I wonder how many kilograms of stones such an Indian slinger carried? After all, the first stone that came across was impossible to use. They were specially collected, sorted, and it is possible that each one learned to throw his own stones, and then he picked them up or boys collected them for him. Be that as it may, such a shelling from a distance of about 50 yards (approx. 45 m) should have a serious impact on the enemy. Interestingly, the Aztecs, like the Greeks and Romans, preferred to use archers and slingers from among the conquered peoples. Perhaps to save on rewards. After all, such warriors did not take anyone prisoner, but it was in no way possible to do without them!
Protective armor of the Aztecs. Rice. Adam Hook.
The detachments of these warriors began the battle, being in front of the main battle line, but then retreated and could well go into the flank of the attacking enemy and continue firing at him. Eagle warriors and jaguar warriors then found themselves in the forefront, and also came under fire. But with helmets and large shields hung with leather ribbons, they did not suffer from throwing weapons as much as lightly armed riflemen. In any case, if the projectiles were brought to the throwers by the servants, as, for example, among the Japanese samurai, then it was impossible to withstand such "fire" for a long time. Therefore, the "heavy infantry" had to attack without fail. It should be noted that for all the "severity" of their protective equipment, the Aztecs fought at a run. Therefore, by the way, one of the goals of maneuvering on the battlefield was to take a place on the hill in order to more conveniently run down the slope.
Aztec ceremonial shield with the image of a singing coyote. Ethnographic Museum in Vienna.
The reverse side of this shield.
The warriors fled, raising their "swords" and hiding behind shields, crashing into the enemy's detachment like Roman legionaries. But then, unlike the tactics of the latter, the battle of the Indians broke up into many fights, since this way they could strike without hesitation with their macuahuitles. Since strikes with such a sword required a huge expenditure of energy, the sword-bearers had to change periodically in order to maintain their strength and rest a little. At the same time, the commanders had to give appropriate signals and send reserves from experienced fighters in time, so that they fill the emerging holes in their own ranks as the fighters leave the battle, or replace them due to losses. The Aztecs always tried to surround their opponent, and for this … to have a numerical superiority over him! But since the surrounded enemies, knowing what awaited them, could fight with desperate rage, the Aztecs, who understood human nature well, gave them the opportunity to flee. The hope of salvation forced them to seek their salvation in flight to the side where there were fewer enemies. But this is exactly what the Aztecs were waiting for, and struck with the forces of reserves hidden for the time being.
Sling of the Aztecs.
When the army returned from the campaign in the spring, the Aztecs celebrated the week-long holiday of Tlakashipeualitztli - the holiday of Ship-Toteka - the Lord-with-Skinned-Skin. The essence of the holiday was the mass sacrifice of captured prisoners and dressed in the clothes of the god Ship-Totek. In each of the districts of the city, the warriors who came with victory prepared their captives for this. Then the holiday began, in which there were fights between prisoners and prisoners, prisoners with winners, after which they also ripped off the skin from the dead, and even from the living.
Ritual flower battle, "Codex Maliabeciano".
According to custom, the men were tied to a temalacatl (a sacrificial stone in the form of a disc), after which he usually fought with four armed jaguar warriors or eagles. The most interesting thing was that the deceased not only lost his skin, but … he was then also eaten.
There are other descriptions according to which the victims were tied to a pillar and then, like Saint Sebastian, pierced with arrows, not allowing them to die quickly, so that the victim's blood would drip onto the ground and its drops symbolize rain.
After the victim's heart was removed, the skin was still removed from her, and completely and diligently dressed. The priests wore robes of this leather with slits at the wrists for the wrists for twenty (or sixteen) days, during the ceremonies following the sacrifices in honor of the god of harvest and the god of rain. It is clear that putting on new skin was of a ritual nature. But it was also the priestly clothing for battle, which horrified the tribes who did not practice such a custom.
During the holiday, the victorious warriors, dressed in the ripped skins of the captives they had defeated, passed through the whole of Tenochtitlan, imitated battles in front of the inhabitants throughout the city, and at the same time begged for … alms. And those who served them food or made expensive gifts received a blessing from the warriors that came directly from God himself!
Ship-Totek in Codex Borgia, with a bloody weapon, dressed in a shirt of ripped human skin.
At the end of the twenty-day holiday, all these … "clothes" were taken off and put into special boxes with tight lids, and even kept in the depths of the pyramids, under the temples, where it was cool, in order to avoid rotting and stench in this way.
According to the belief of the Aztecs, the skin removed from a person possessed great magical power and gave the priest dressed in it the power of a risen from the dead (that is, the power of the victim from which it was removed). The leather was dyed yellow to give it a gilded look, symbolizing that the earth is putting on "new skin" with the onset of the rainy season, which brings about a new harvest.
Thorn Totek wears a shirt of human skin, a spear in one hand and a shield in the other. Above it is the date: March 16. Below is a text in Spanish detailing what happened on this holiday. "Telleriano-Remensis Codex" (by the way, the only codex fully translated into Russian (and Ukrainian) languages). By the way, where did the Spaniards get such an interest in Indian demonology? It turns out that the time of the conquest of New Spain coincided with an appeal to this topic by European and, above all, Spanish theologians, who were interested in the problem of the wiles of the devil, the limits of his power and the limits of the longsuffering of the Lord. Well, the Indian theme "gave them rich food for discussion, so they collected everything that related sacrifices to Indian gods so carefully and translated into Spanish …
It is interesting that the goldsmiths (teokuitlahuake) were also participants in Tlakashipeualiztli along with the warriors, since Sipe-Totek was also considered their patron god. Their holiday was called Yopiko and took place in one of the temples. The priest, dressed in leather, depicted, of course, the god Shipe-Totek. He also wore a wig of long hair and a rich crown of feathers. In the drilled nasal septum, he had gold jewelry inserted, in his right hand he held a rattle, to cause rain, and in his left - a golden shield. The "god" was supposed to be treated to a pie stuffed with raw corn, dances were arranged in his honor, which he also led, and this holiday ended with a demonstration of the military skills of young soldiers who came from the war.
These holidays have been described in the Code of Duran, Code of Maliabecca, Code of Telleriano-Remensis, History … of Sahagun, Code of Bourbon and Code of Commodity. In different codes, their descriptions are somewhat different, but not fundamentally.
