Aztec and Mayans

Both the Inca and Aztec civilizations have similarities in religion, politics and social structure. The Aztecs were nomads that were instructed by Huitzilopochtli, the Aztec sun and war god, to head south in search of an eagle on a cactus with a snake in its mouth. They were to establish their city there. When they came about this representation the Aztecs founded their city, in present day Mexico. As they began to establish their city they copied other civilizations through their religion, cities, commerce and culture. By 1325 they began to settle. The Incas, on the other hand, were a small tribe in the Andes in struggle for the rare, rich soil in order to establish farming. When they settled in Cuzco, around 1200, they began to become a powerful empire by attacking apposing tribes. Despite these two empires similarities the Inca had the more powerful empire. This is because the Incas had a much larger empire at it height and a better sense of government while the Aztecs had a better social structure and were more devout to their religion.

To these two comparable empires religion was of great importance. So important that the taking ones life in the sake of religion was accepted. Although this was more prevalent through the Aztecs, it was still practiced with the Inca. Human sacrifice was performed to please the gods and promise for a lavish crop in the year to come. Prisoners of war, volunteers and the youth would be sacrificed in mass. Volunteers who chose to die for their religion were set to one year of anticipation but you would live a very lavish life up to their sacrificial murder. This idea of sacrifice was inherited from the Maya and the Toltec empires. The sacrifice on the Inca side was a step down from the Aztecs. It was rare that they would sacrifice a human; it would be more common to see a goat or other animals be sacrificed. They would only sacrifice a human during a famine, war, etc.