The priests took the god of war to Jerusalem after many months of preparation. The ultimate glory was waiting at the highest point of the pyramid's steps. Soon, he'd be being joined by Tonatiuh the sun god. The warrior's whole life had prepared him for this glorious moment.  
  
On the highest point of the temple pyramid, the warrior-god was greeted by the nobleman who had captured him. The sacred ritual was about begin. Four priests seized the warrior-god's legs and arms and laid the man on the altar of stone. The god looked up at the infinite blue sky. The chief priest extended his arm and put a knife in his chest, which was the protector of the gods of war. The priest practiced his actions to insert his hand into the wound and grasp the warrior god's heart. The still-pulsing heart was presented to Tonatiuh the god of sun. The corpse was pushed by others through the steps of the Great Temple. In the end, priests removed the head to hang the head along with hundreds of other skulls on a skull rack.  
  
The Aztec Empire's Aztec Empire consisted of hundreds of thousands of human sacrifices. The Aztecs believed that gods had sacrificed their blood to create human beings. They believed that in order to keep the empire going they had to give back the blood to the gods. To satisfy their bloodlust for gods, they sacrificed soldiers captured during battle, as well as other men and women as well as children. However, the very beliefs which were intended to maintain the Aztec Empire were the reason for its downfall.  
  
The Mexica  
  
The Aztecs who would later be the Aztecs were late arrivals to the Valley of Mexico, the area that today surrounds Mexico City. Around 1200 A.D., these fierce Nahuatl-speaking Chichimec people arrived from the north. They were known as Atzlan. Calling themselves the Mexica nomads, these people from north-central Mexico discovered most of the land occupied by a sophisticated agricultural-based culture that lived in cities and around well-developed towns.  
  
Itzcoatl  
  
Itzcoatl The Mexica King, was the first of six Aztec Emperors. Itzcoatl introduced radical changes to Aztec lifestyle, and fueled the expansion of the empire for over a century. Itzcoatl introduced an Aztec feudal system like Europe's. It concentrated the power, wealth and privilege on the emperor, his soldiers and the other nobles. Itzcoatl granted land to the elite warriors of the Tepanecs who were defeated. To honor soldiers who took captives during battle, he crafted an entirely new system of noble titles and privileges. Itzcoatl declared that the ordinary people owed them financial tribute in the form of labor, military service, in order to support the newly designated classes.  
  
How did the Empire functioned  
  
Itzcoatl was able to conquer other Aztec cities and states in the Valley of Mexico, despite his changes in religion and feudal system. The Aztecs didn't have a permanent army. All Triple-Alliance males were instead pressed into service after a war broke out. Noble warriors were rewarded with status and riches based on how many captives they took in the battle.  
  
Aztecs were a people who fought to kill but , more importantly, they took captives. They believed that, the moment they fell in battle, their souls would become gods. One-on-one battles were usually battled with spears or wooden swords that were made of sharpened obsidian (a kind of volcanic glass) that had deadly rows.  
  
Itzcoatl and the emperors after his rule, dictated the amount of tribute to be paid to defeated cities-states and the appointment of a noble from the local area as their next King. This indirect system allowed life to continue just as it was in conquered cities-states provided that tribute was paid to the Aztec capital. The Aztec kingdom was so easily ruled by the emperor, cities-states that were defeated often rebelled and were eventually taken back.  
  
Resentment against the burden of the system of tribute was the primary reason for most of the revolts against the empire. Cities that were defeated near Tenochtitlan were often commissioned to feed the Aztec capital's growing elite of nobles. Other common tribute items included armored uniforms for warriors, animal skins, building materials as well as firewood and pottery. The Aztecs also required conquered states to supply gold and copper, feathers as well as incense, papers, and cocoa beans, which were used to make money. The Aztec Emperors also demanded workers from conquered cities-states construct temples, aqueducts and Hernan Westmann other projects for the public good.