Fired Clay Statue of Mictlantecuhtli

Fired Clay Statue of Mictlantecuhtli

Location Found: House of Eagles, north of the Templo Mayor
Current Location: Templo Mayor Museum, Mexico City
Date: 1480

This is a statue depicting Mictlantecuhtli, the aztec god of death, and from his stomach hangs his liver. The liver was home of the ihíyotl, or spirit, but was often associated with death, and consequently, Mictlantecuhtli. He lived in the lowest, coldest part of the universe, and many people believe that the worship of Mictlantecuhtli is related to cannibalism. He and his wife, Mictecacíhuatl, ruled Mictlan, the underworld and met face to face with souls who had not made it to paradise. These souls faced a 4 year journey through Mictlan, through essentially the 9 circles of hell, and in the very end they would find rest. In Aztec beliefs, the placement of the soul after death depended more on the type of death than it did the quality of life.
-Those who died by normal means, such as old age or illness, were said to be sent to make the journey through the nine realms of the underworld. The end of the painful journey was Mictlan, ruled by the Lord and Lady of Death, which was a place of darkness.
-Those who died during battle were taken by the Sun God on a four year journey to the paradise realm. After the completion of the journey, the soul was said to be reincarnated in a hummingbird or butterfly.
-Merchants who died pursuing trade were said to experience a similar afterlife to that of a warrior who perished in battle.
-Women who died during childbirth were also received by the Sun God and they helped deliver the sun from midday to sunset. Childbirth was seen as a battle in itself and such a death was honorable.
-Deaths that involved drowning, storms, lightning or sickness related to water were placed in the hands of the Rain God. He took them to Tlalocan, a paradise full of food and unknowing of suffering.
-Infants who died were taken to a paradise near Tlalocan but this paradise was full of milk dripping from a tree. Babies, full and happy, await the end of the current world to be given a second life.