Sacrificial knife, Aztec/Mixtec, Mexico, 15th-16th century. Artist: Unknown

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Sacrificial knife, Aztec/Mixtec, Mexico, 15th-16th century. The handle is carved in wood and covered with mosaic of turquoise, shell and malachite. The blade is made of chalcedony. The figure is an eagle warrior, a member of a prestigious order of Aztec warriors. According to myth, the principal god Huitzilopochtli asked the Aztecs to found their city at the place where they saw an eagle perched upon a cactus. This became Tenochtitlan. From the British Museum.

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Size: 6056px × 2891px
Location:
Photo credit: © CM Dixon/Heritage Images / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: 15th, 16th, artefact, artifact, aztec, british, century, chalcedony, cm, color, colour, concept, country, dixon, eagle, fifteenth, guy, handle, knife, knives, location, male, man, men, mexican, mexico, mike, mixtec, museum, object, people, sacrifice, sacrificial, sixteenth, unknown, war, warrior