The Aztec Ballgame where the Losers were Sacrificed

this episode is brought to you by the great courses plus enjoy lectures from top professors from around the world click on the link in the description below to start your free trial today [Applause] the aztec ball game where the losers were sacrificed the mesoamerican ball game is an ancient sport dating back to 1600 bc played by most pre-hispanic mesoamerican civilizations particularly the mayas and aztecs given its age and widespread adoption across the central american region the sport has known many variations and ritual functions over the centuries it also has several names the aztecs called it oyamalitsli mayans called it pizz while the spanish called it elwego de pelota mesoamericano meaning the mesoamerican ball game the spanish also mistakenly used the nahuatl term clutchley to describe the game though the aztecs only used the word in reference to the court it's not entirely known where the ball game originated though it's likely it came from the low-lying tropical regions of modern-day mexico and guatemala where rubber trees grow over 1 000 archaeological remains of courts have survived in most of the region's major ancient cities the courts are usually near the city's main temples a testament to the game's civic and political importance these enormous masonry courts were commonly built in a capital eye shape they varied tremendously in size but were at least 100 feet long and 20 feet wide the central alley was flanked by two high walls these were vertical or sloped in the end zones the space was commonly closed by thick low walls or temples the earliest classical courts however were left open-ended the game was played using a heavy rubber ball when the spaniards came across the sport in the 16th century the aztecs were playing with balls weighing almost six and a half pounds that's over six times the weight of an average soccer ball though the size could vary across time and region painful bruises were just a routine part of the sport hematomas were often so severe that they had to be drained and a hit to the stomach or head could be fatal spanish chroniclers were particularly impressed by the bounce and elasticity of the ball kept in play thanks to the great walls of the court the mesoamerican peoples used latex sap from lowland rubber trees mixed in with the vine of an american species of morning glory together this formed a resilient rubber used to make the ball the southern province of tochtepek was required to produce sixteen thousand rubber balls every year for the aztec capital of pinochetland the origins of this tribute are unknown but we know that it would have required a tremendous amount of manual labor a rubber tree only produces about three pounds of rubber less than half of what's needed for a single ball so the people of torch depak would have needed to gather the sap from about fifty thousand trees leading the tribute would have required an army of workers and entire forests cut down finally the sixteen thousand balls weighing over a hundred thousand pounds had to be carried about two hundred miles to tenochtitlan it's unlikely this was all done in one go though before we discuss what made the sport so important to mesoamerican civilizations let's look at the rules these varied significantly depending on time and place and it's almost impossible to know all of them however among the many variations some common trends emerge the game was played by two opposing teams each made up of two to four players though other findings put it at five to eight most commonly the ball was kept in the air using the hip and posterior however the use of rackets bats handstones and the shoulder elbow head thigh knee and forearm has also been recorded in different cities and eras except for serves use of the hand was almost always penalized the idea was to keep the ball in play either in the air or simply moving depending on the size of the court and of course location and era we know that it was a very brutal game played aggressively with a lot of diving onto the hard floor with the heavy solid ball regularly striking the players there were several ways of scoring points these included failure to return the ball hitting it out of bounds making the ball land in the opponent's end zone and hitting certain markers that dotted the court a final way of scoring points was to shoot the ball through the raised rings that were fixed on both of the central walls the hoops were a post-classic amaya innovation from the 10th century a.d and would later infiltrate to the toltec and aztec civilizations the hoops also delineated the court into caps divided by a black or green line that stretched from the foot of one hoop to the other shooting the hoop was not an effortless task the rings were so small that they only just allowed for the ball to pass by a few inches they were also fixed way above the player's heads the rings at the ancient mayan city of chichen itza in modern day yucatan for example were almost 20 feet high for a sense of scale a standard basketball hoop is fixed 10 feet above the ground for these reasons shooting this heavy ball into the goal was extremely rare add to that the prohibited use of hands and it seems almost impossible most games were there for one on the other point scoring rules if achieved though shooting the hoop could end the game in the scoring team's favor the rules for ending the game are unclear and no doubt varied substantially one variation states that a game was won when the ball hit the ground in the opponent's cap this would likely have been for smaller courts one that would have allowed the ball to stay in the air for longer periods of time using the walls to support this playstyle in this version scoring points would have happened with no interruptions to the game another version of the game was one when the opponent allowed the ball to stop moving and falls still in the opposite camp this was likely played on larger courts both versions would have been extremely laborious professional ball players made a living through noble patronage and victory prizes while the noble classes including warriors would have also been expected to play the game the game made a great civic spectacle the games were not on the same scale as roman gladiatorial combat or the ancient greek olympic games but they were socially politically and religiously important to most mesoamerican cities the walls of the court were often elaborately colored and the stonework featured intricate carvings these would have been sources of pride for the city designed to be admired by any who were invited to the spectacle the ball game was used for various political means it was sometimes used to settle disputes between different clans rather than going to war rulers could just play ball the 16th century aztec emperor aksa yakuttal allegedly played hiwi telemach the chief of the shochimilko people wagering his annual income against huge portions of his rival's land betting was very common on most occasions people particularly the urban elite gambled from the twin masonry stands on either side of the court gems lands slaves mistresses and even children were gambled away during the festive events players occasionally wore a ceremonial-like elaborate headdress with feathers though deerskin loin cloths and skirts appeared to be the most common often with leather hip guards leather and wooden padding for the knees chest and arms were also used alongside helmets depending on the era and civilization towards the post-classical period ritual sacrifice was added to the game in the mayan world which then spread across to the aztecs the mayas even featured the ball game in a creation myth from the popul vu a text recounting the mythology and history of the keiche people from modern day guatemala though the story has several variations one is that hero twins were playing the game when their noise disturbed the lords of death the lords then summoned the twins into the mayan underworld called shibalba but the twins outfoxed the twelve lords and the challenges they set they could resurrect their father and uncle whom the lords had killed and buried in a ball court and had them merged to become the gods of maize the twins themselves would rise to the celestial realms and form the sun and the moon from this the ball game was depicted as combat between the gods of death and affliction against their earthly adversaries it was a duel between life and death or good versus evil the ball might have symbolized the sun passing between the underworld and the heavens represented of course by both camps the court became associated with fertility and rebirth and blood was ritually spilled to nourish the god of maize the aztecs had a slightly different take on the game's sacred component the game was a duel between day and night one side represented the sun god whitsila while the others represented the moon and stars or the goddess kulyoshaki and kotakui's 400 sons it's unclear exactly how much the sacred component of the ball game trumped over its adoption as a popular sport once again this would have significant variation across mesoamerica given the aztecs track record for human sacrifice it might have been an important festival most likely in spring and autumn the equinoxes in march and september were possibly celebrated with a ball game both in mayan and aztec societies sacrificial victims have been documented including defeated noble players coaches and sometimes entire teams some historians believe that it was common practice for the losing team to be publicly decapitated after the game given the honor of shedding blood for the gods of the sun rain agriculture and fertility sometimes a section or the entire winning team were sacrificed at chichen itza there is even evidence that players use the severed head of a sacrificial victim to evoke mastery and control over the cosmic order it has been suggested that the losing team's sacrificed skulls or whole heads were used as balls if true it would have likely served a ritualistic purpose whichever form the ball game best served the society in which it was played olyamalitsli and pizz made up a huge part of mesoamerican political and cultural life with the spanish conquest the game's widespread adoption suffered a gradual decline in part because the new masters saw it as barbaric but it did not go extinct today it is known as ulama or poktapok and has survived in various indigenous communities of mexico though the courts are more modest and the game's outcome is less bloody the ball game has kept many of its characteristics and the players who take part strive to preserve their ancestors legacy one of the oldest sports in human civilization we'd like to extend a shout out to great courses for making this video possible stream world-class courses right from your home using your tablet tv laptop or any other mobile device this platform has tons of interesting content to watch all curated by knowledgeable professors on the subjects there's a wide variety of historical content including courses ranging from the mayan world to understanding imperial china and their dynasties and culture one of our favorite courses is about the rise and fall of the roman empire something we've covered a few times on our channel start from the dawn of the roman empire and follow its rise to success all the way to its crushing defeat at the hands of barbarians watching this course reminded us that every empire that is seemingly unstoppable can eventually fall check it out now as it's on sale and covers one of the most interesting stories of the ancient world take advantage of our unique deal to all the history lovers watching simple history by checking out the link in the description below or go to thegreatcoursesplus.com simple history to get your free trial started today

Channel: Simple History

Views: 593,726

Rating: 4.9309554 out of 5

Keywords: simple history, animated history, educational, education, aztecs, Mesoamerican ballgame, pitz, Mayans, ōllamaliztli, el juego de pelota Meso-Americano, tlachtli, ulama, pok ta pok, Ancient Mesoamerica, maya, Mexico, Guatemala, rubber trees, court, rubber ball, Spaniards, spanish, sport, sacrifice, Tenochtitlan, Tochtepec, tribute, civilization, Toltec, Chichen Itza, Yucatan, hoop, Axayacatl, Xihuitlemoc, Huitzilopochtli, sun god, moon god

Id: 8LsE6LQDryQ

Length: 12min 8sec (728 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 30 2021