Home›Aztec Deities›Historicity›Not a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingBrowse ByNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingThis page groups deities by whether their existence in belief is considered fully mythological, debated, or grounded in a historical cult that can be traced. Wikipedia defines historicity as "the historical actuality of persons and events, meaning the quality of being part of history instead of being a historical myth, legend, or fiction." Browsing this way helps a visitor separate gods with a documented historical cult from ones known only through later literary retelling.FactsLearn MoreNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingSourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0)FactsAttestationEra of AttestationWell-attestedSeveral figures are attested in central Mexican art long before the Mexica; the Mexica state cult is attested from the growth of Tenochtitlan; and the fullest textual record was compiled under colonial conditions between 1521 and 1590. 2Veneration TodayWell-attestedThe Mexica state cult ended with the conquest of 1521 and no continuous cult of these gods survives. 2OverviewWhat Defines This GroupingWell-attestedThe gods of the Mexica and the wider Nahua world of Late Postclassic central Mexico. The pantheon is reconstructed from pre-conquest sculpture, temple offerings and divinatory codices together with a much larger body of text compiled after 1521 by Spanish friars working with Nahua informants. The colonial conditions of that record are part of the evidence, not a footnote to it. 2DirectoryCategoryWell-attestedDeities 1Learn MoreThe gods of the Aztecs This group holds the deities of the Aztec (Mexica) civilisation of central Mexico, known from indigenous and Spanish colonial sources compiled around and after the conquest of 1521. Aztec religion set human life within a fragile cosmos of successive world-ages sustained, in the tradition's account, by ritual offering including human sacrifice. The browser will find the war and sun god Huitzilopochtli, patron of Tenochtitlan; the feathered serpent Quetzalcoatl; the smoking-mirror god Tezcatlipoca; the rain-god Tlaloc; and earth and fertility deities such as Coatlicue and Xipe Totec. The entries flag that the principal sources were written under colonial conditions and must be read critically.Not a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingFilter Results31 entriesPlanetary FaceAllChiron (1)Jupiter (1)Mars (1)Mercury (1)Moon (1)Pluto (1)Sun (1)Venus (1)Child OfAllCoatlicue (2)TheologyAllPolytheistic: many gods (31)ArchetypeAllThe Caregiver (4)The Hero (1)The Lover (2)The Magician (4)The Rebel (1)The Ruler (2)The Sage (1)Veneration StatusAllHistorically attested; no continuous cult (31)Era Attested Start YearAll100 (1)1000 (1)1200 (1)1325 (2)1400 (24)1450 (1)1469 (1)Worshipped InAllAztec Religion (22)Domain / FunctionAllAgriculture and harvest (3)Beauty (2)Childbirth (3)Craft, metalwork and smithing (1)Creation and cosmogony (2)Dance and theatre (2)Death (4)Disease and plague (1)Earth (4)Fate and time (1)Fertility and generation (3)Fortune and luck (2)Guide of the dead (1)Healing and medicine (2)Kingship and sovereignty (1)Love and desire (2)Magic and sorcery (1)Moon (3)Motherhood (1)Music and poetry (2)Night and darkness (2)Purification (1)Rivers, lakes and springs (1)Sea and Provision (1)Spring and renewal (2)Stars and planets (1)Sun (2)The hunt (1)The underworld (2)Trickster (1)Tutelary of a place or community (1)War and battle (2)Water (1)Weaving and textile craft (1)Wind (1)Wine and intoxication (5)Wisdom and counsel (1)Writing, scribes and learning (1)GenderAllAndrogynous / dual-gendered (1)Collective / plural, not a single figure (1)Female (14)Male (15)PantheonAllAztec (18)Show ResultsBrowseCompareSelect all 31Centzon TotochtinNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingChalchiuhtlicueNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingChalchiuhtotolinNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingChicomecoatlNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingCoatlicueNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingCoyolxauhquiNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingHuehuecoyotlNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingHuitzilopochtliNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingHuixtocihuatlNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingIlamatecuhtliNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingItzpapalotlNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingMacuilxochitlNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingMayahuelNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingMetztliNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingMictecacihuatlNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingMictlantecuhtliNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingMixcoatlNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingPatecatlNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingQuetzalcōātlNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingTecciztecatlNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingTezcatlipocaNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingTlaltecuhtliNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingTlazolteotlNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingTociNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingTonacatecuhtliNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingTonatiuhNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingXilonenNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingXipe TotecNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingXochipilliNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingXochiquetzalNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingXolotlNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingSources1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Treetier 12. Encyclopedia of Religiontier 1Mircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.), Macmillan Reference, 2005s.v. Aztec ReligionView the SourceDivinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptionstier 1Comments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.