City of Sacrifice - The Aztec Empire and the Role of Violence in Civilization (Paperback, New edition)

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.

General

Imprint:	Beacon Press
Country of origin:	United States
Release date:	November 2000
First published:	December 2000
Authors:	David Carrasco
Dimensions:	203 x 140 x 17mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback
Pages:	288
Edition:	New edition
ISBN-13:	978-0-8070-4643-2
Categories:	Books > Humanities > History > American history > Pre-Columbian period, BCE to 1500 Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Alternative belief systems > General Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Anthropology > Social & cultural anthropology > General Books > History > American history > Pre-Columbian period, BCE to 1500 Books > Religion & Spirituality > Alternative belief systems > General
LSN:	0-8070-4643-4
Barcode:	9780807046432

Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate? Let us know about it.

Does this product have an incorrect or missing image? Send us a new image.

Is this product missing categories? Add more categories.

Review This Product

No reviews yet - be the first to create one!