Tonatiuh
In the above photograph is shown a Calendar Stone, also called Sunstone.
The carvings in the stone represent the four cycles of creation and destruction.
The skull at the center depicts the god Tonatiuh, the
fifth sun. A similar sunstone is at the Museo Nacional de Antropologia, Mexico.
Click on image for full size
Image courtesy of Corel Corporation.
For the Aztecs, who lived in central Mexico, Tonatiuh was a Sun god. Aztecs believed that four suns had been created in four previous ages, and all of them had died at the end of each cosmic era. Tonatiuh was the fifth sun and the present era is still his. Tonatiuh was in charge of the Aztec Heaven called Tollan. Only dead warriors and women who died in
childbirth could be received in Tollan.Click on image for full size
Image courtesy of Corel Corporation.
Tonatiuh was responsible for supporting the universe. To prevent the end of the world, Aztecs believed it
was essential to maintain the strength of the Sun god by offering him
human sacrifices.
