The Aztec religion was influenced by the beliefs and mythologies of other Mesoamerican cultures such as the Olmec, Maya, Teotihuacan, and Toltec. As in other Mesoamerican religions, human sacrifice was an important part of the religion, and was linked to cycles of birth, death, and rebirth. The Aztec emphasized the importance of the sun as well as over one thousand powerful, yet occasionally fallible, deities. Huitzilopochtli was the god of war and the sun who, according to mythology, led the Aztecs to the location where they founded the city of Tenochti-tlan. One of the most popular deities was the heroic Quetzalcoatl, who was often depicted in art as a feathered serpent. Religion was an extremely important part of everyday life for the Aztecs.