Page 25 - All About History - Issue 54-17

How not to… 4 FAMOUS…
play the game and lose your empire
BALLGAME
Moctezuma II, one of the very last Aztec empire would crumble. Whether the ball
rulers and the one who welcomed Spanish game was the decider is unclear, but the COURTS
conquistador Hernán Cortés to Tenochtitlán, empire did undoubtedly fall.
was a keen Tlachtli player. He was also very After Moctezuma welcomed Cortés to
much a believer in omens and foretelling the Aztec capital, the Spaniards captured
and so, when a rival king from neighbouring and killed him. Within a few short months,
city-state Texcoco claimed that he had thanks to the Spaniards’ more advanced
foretold the demise of Moctezuma’s empire, weaponry and the spread of European
the two decided to settle the score with disease, a siege put the mighty Tenochtitlán,
a ball game. Moctezuma lost, which he and with it the Aztec empire, in the hands
considered to be yet another sign that his of the Spanish. CODEX BORGIA
MESOAMERICA, C.1500
A folio from the Codex Borgia
shows Aztec warriors on the
I-shaped court playing the ball
game using sticks.

SACRED BALL COURT
TENOCHTITLAN,
MEXICO, 1402-1506
June 2017 saw the excavation of
the ball court at the Aztec capital,
which is now Mexico City. The
PICK TEAMS WEAR PROTECTIVE GEAR ball court was situated next to the
Tlachtli is a tough game, so your players will need to Getting hit with a Tlachtli ball can break bones and circular temple of Quetzalcoatl.
03 be strong and agile — especially if you’re competing 04 cause internal bleeding, so to stay safe make sure
against a rival village to settle a score. Alternatively, if the game to wear a padded belt called a yoke made of leather, cotton
is being held as part of a religious festival and you’re planning and wood. Also invest in padded armbands and kneepads. If
on sacrificing the losers to the gods, you can use captured the game has a ceremonial significance, feather headdresses
prisoners of war instead. may also be needed.

BALL COURT
AT MONTE ALBAN
OAXACA, MEXICO, 500 BCE
Monte Alban was the centre of
Zapotec civilisation, which ruled
most of what is now Oaxaca. Like
most other pre-Colombian tribes,
the ball court was a central part
of their culture.

START PLAYING MAKE THE SACRIFICE PASO DE LA AMADA
The aim of the game is to keep the ball in play. Players Many Aztec ball games are played in order to provide
05 must chiefly use their hips to keep the ball in the air 06 sacrificial victims for the gods. This is an honour CHIAPAS, MEXICO, 1400 BCE
(although anything but hands is the accepted rule) and you can for the winning team or a punishment for the losing team The oldest known ball court dates
bounce it off the sloped walls in your attempts to get it over the depending on the significance of the match. Those being back 3,400 years. Its placement
suggests that it was built for elite
central line. If you’re skilled enough to put the ball through the sacrificed should be beheaded by priests just off the court or at players but not in connection with © Ed Crooks
hoops, you’ll win extra points for your team. a nearby temple. ceremonial worship.

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