Tonatiuh

In Mesoamerican culture, Tonatiuh ( "Movement of the Sun") is an Aztec sun deity of the daytime sky who rules the cardinal direction of east. According to Aztec mythology, Tonatiuh was known as "The Fifth Sun" and was given a calendar name of , which means "4 Movement". Represented as a fierce and warlike god, he is first seen in Early Postclassic art of the Pre-Columbian civilization known as the Toltec. Tonatiuh's symbolic association with the eagle alludes to the Aztec belief of his journey as the present sun, travelling across the sky each day, where he descended in the west and ascended in the east. It was thought that his journey was sustained by the daily sacrifice of humans. His Nahuatl name can also be translated to "He Who Goes Forth Shining" or "He Who Makes The Day". Tonatiuh was thought to be the central deity on the Aztec calendar stone but is no longer identified as such. In Toltec culture, Tonatiuh is often associated with Quetzalcoatl in his manifestation as the morning star aspect of the planet Venus.

== Creation myths == There are several versions of Tonatiuh's birth as a sun deity in the Aztec creation myth. The Aztecs (also known as the Mexica) believed in a number of sun gods. According to their mythology, Earth and its beings had been created five times in five cosmic eras and were ruled by five different sun gods. When each era or eon had ended and the sun god and its beings had been destroyed, the gods were to choose a new sun God. The four suns that preceded Tonatiuh were called "4 Jaguar", "4 Wind", "4 Water", and "4 Rain." Each of the four eras and its beings had been destroyed by an element simultaneously named after its sun god: the beings in 4 Jaguar (giants) were consumed by jaguars; the beings in 4 Wind (monkeys) were destroyed by great winds; the beings in 4 Water were consumed by water; the being in 4 Rain (turkeys) were killed by rains of fire. The first two eras lasted for 676 years, while the third era lasted for 364 years.