Aztecs

Japanese: アステカ族 - あすてかぞく
Aztecs

…The Aztecs were people of Aztlan, their legendary place of origin. However, the Aztecs later called themselves Mexica, meaning people who worshipped the god Meshitli. The present-day name of the country, Mexico, is derived from this name, and researchers generally refer to this culture as the Mexica culture.

From [Agricultural Rites]


[North and South America, Oceania]
Corn cultivation and its rituals, which played a major role in shaping the culture of the New World, also show the personification of grains and the ideas of death and rebirth. The Aztecs, who established a civilization on the Mexican highlands in the late 14th century, are known for having created a complex mythological system and diverse agricultural rituals. Every year, as the autumn harvest approached, they held a festival to celebrate the rebirth of Tlazolteotl, the fertility god and earth goddess. A woman dressed as the god was sacrificed, and a priest wore the skin of the goddess and placed the skin of her thigh on the head of a young man dressed as the newly born grain god Sinteotl, enacting a drama of the death and rebirth of grains. Among the Navajo people who live in the southwestern part of North America, a seed blessing ritual is held before sowing corn seeds.

*Some of the terminology that refers to the "Aztecs" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

Japanese:

…アステカAztecaとは彼らの伝説上の起源の地,〈アストランAztlan〉の人を意味する。しかし,アステカ族はのちに,メシトリ神をあがめる人を意味する〈メシカMexica〉と称した。現在の国名メヒコまたはメキシコはこの名に由来しており,研究者の間では,この文化をメシカ文化と呼ぶ方が一般的である。…

【農耕儀礼】より


[南北アメリカ,オセアニア]
 新大陸の文化の形成に大きな役割を果たしたトウモロコシ栽培とその儀礼にも,穀物の擬人化や死と再生の観念がみられる。14世紀後半にメキシコ高原に文明を形成したアステカ族は,複雑な神話体系と多彩な農耕儀礼を生みだしたことで知られているが,彼らは毎年,秋の収穫が近づくと,豊穣神・地母神トラソルテオトルの再生の祭りを行い,この神に扮した1人の女性が犠牲にされると,1人の神官がその皮を身にまとい,その腿(もも)の皮を新しく生まれる穀神シンテオトルに扮する青年の頭にかけて,穀物の死と再生の劇を演じた。北アメリカの南西部に住むナバホ族の間では,トウモロコシの種まきに先立って種の祝福の儀礼が行われる。…

※「アステカ族」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典|株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第2版について | 情報

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