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| THE
AZTECS
They date the beginning of their history
to 1168 and their origins to an island in the middle of a lake north
of the Valley of Mexico.
Their god, Huitzilopochtli, commanded
them on a journey to the south and they arrived in the Valley of
Mexico in 1248.
According to their history, the Tenochca
were originally peaceful, but their Chichimec ways, especially their
practice of human sacrifice, revolted other peoples who banded together
and crushed their tribe.
In 1300, the Tenochcas became vassals
of the town of Culhuacan; some escaped to settle on an island in
the middle of the lake.
The town they founded was Tenochtitlan,
or "place of the Tenochcas
Tenochtitlan
The city of Tenochtitlan grew and grew, up to an
estimated population of 200,000.
The city grew to a point where there was no more
room for expansion on the island and they were forced to move out
into the lake areas.
The agricultural portion of this expansion
was successful because of the invention of the chinampas or floating
gardens.
“The floating gardens were constructed by bunching
twigs together then stacking mud on top of the twigs.
They were not anchored at first and could be towed
until the plants roots anchored into the lake floor |
Human sacrifice
For most people today,
and for the European Christians who first met the Aztecs,
human sacrifice
was and is the most striking feature of Aztec civilization.
While human sacrifice
was practiced throughout Mesoamerica, the Aztecs, if their own accounts
are to be believed, brought this practice to an unprecedented level.
For example, for the reconsecration
of
Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan
in
1487, the
Aztecs reported that they sacrificed 84,400 prisoners over the course
of four days, reportedly by
Ahuitzotl,
the Great Speaker himself.
However, most experts
consider these numbers to be vastly overstated. For example,
the sheer logistics associated with sacrificing 84,000 victims
would be overwhelming.
A similar consensus
has developed on reports of cannibalism among the Aztecs:
although it is possible that instances of ritual cannibalism
were a feature of Aztec culture, it is doubtful that the
practice was widespread.
In the writings
of
Bernardino de Sahagún,
Aztec "anonymous informants" defended the practice
of human sacrifice by asserting that it was not very different
from the European way of waging warfare.
Europeans killed
the warriors in battle, Aztecs killed the warriors after
the battle.
Accounts by the
Tlaxcaltecas, the primary enemy of the Aztecs at the time
of the Spanish Conquest, show that at least some of them
considered it an honor to be sacrificed.
In one legend,
the warrior Tlahuicole was freed by the Aztecs but eventually
returned of his own volition to die in ritual sacrifice.
Tlaxcala
also practiced the human sacrifice of captured Aztec warriors.
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Fall of
the Aztec Empire
The fall of the Aztec Empire was based not only on the actions
of the Spaniards, but on the revolt of surrounding smaller
communities which belonged to this huge collaboration of
peoples.
Cortes
had found the weakness of this Empire, that being the Empire
was nothing more than a collection of smaller groups of
people who were tied together by one thing: membership in
this society.
Many
of these communities despised the Aztecs and wanted freedom
from their rule. Cortes saw this and exploited it to its
fullest.
By
gathering up more than 150,000 of these native peoples and
9,000 of his own troops, he completely dismantled the Aztec
Empire and in the process gained control of those who were
fighting for their own freedom.
Finally,
after the city of Tenochtitlan became infected with the
smallpox epidemic, and half of the city was wiped out, Cortes
seized the city and laid it in ruins.
By
August 13th, 1521, the Aztec empire was decimated and Spanish
rule soon spread throughout the newly gained land.
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The impact
of epidemics on the Aztec Empire
The first epidemic, an outbreak of
smallpox (cocoliztli) occurred from 1520-1521 and decimated
the population of Tenochtitlan and was decisive in the fall
of the city.
The
other two epidemics, of smallpox (1545-1548) and
typhus (1576-1581) killed up to 75% of the population
of Mesoamerica.
Whole towns of the Aztec empire disappeared, lands were
deserted, roads were closed and armies were destroyed. The
Spaniards, trying to make more of the diminishing population,
merged the survivors from small towns into the bigger ones.
This
broke the power of the upper classes of the Aztec empire
and dissolved the coherence of the indigenous society. In
addition, the indigenous peoples collected in the larger
towns were more susceptible to epidemics due to the higher
population density.
The population of the Aztec empire before the time of the
conquest is estimated at 15 million; by 1550, the estimated
population was 4 million and less than two millions by 1581.
Thus,
the "New Spain" of the 17th century was a depopulated
country and many Mesoamerican cultures were wiped out. Because
of the fall of their social structure, the population had
to resort to the Spanish to maintain some order.
In order to have an adequate supply of labor, the Spaniards
began to import black slaves, although most of them eventually
merged with the population.
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The
Capital City of the Aztec Culture
A shallow lake bed was
converted by the Aztecs into chinampas (highly
productive gardens formed by piling up mud from the lake
bottom to make artificial islands).
Causeways and bridges
were built to connect the city to the mainland, aqueducts
were constructed, and canals were dug throughout the city
for easy transportation of goods and people.
When the Spanish arrived
they called it the Venice of the New World!
Religious structures dominated
the landscape—giant, stepped, limestone-faced pyramids
on which temples were erected.
As a result of its location
and superior organization, the city flourished. By the
time Hernán Cortés arrived in 1519, the great market was
attracting up to 60,000 people daily.
Goods were brought into
Aztec hands by tribute agreements with conquered territories,
and many goods were exported from the city to be traded
in other parts of the Aztec Empire and Central America.
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Hernán
Cortes
Born
in
Medellin,
Extremadura,
in
Castile,
to a family of lesser nobility, Cortés as a young man chose
to win a livelihood in the New World.
He went to
Hispaniola
and later to
Cuba,
where he received an
encomienda
and for a period became mayor of a small town. In 1519 he
was elected captain of the third expedition to the mainland,
an expedition which he partly funded.
His enmity
with the governor of Cuba
Diego Velázquez
resulted in the latter calling back the expedition in the
last moment, an order which was ignored by Cortés in an
act of disobedience.
Arriving on
the continent Cortés executed a successful strategy of allying
with some indigenous peoples against others. He also successfully
used a native woman,
Doña Marina,
as interpreter and later she became mother of a son to Cortés.
When the Governor
of Cuba sent emissaries to arrest Cortés he fought them
and won and used the extra troops as reinforcements. Instead
he wrote letters directly to the king asking to be acknowledged
for his successes instead of punished for mutiny.
When the Aztec
empire was overthrown Cortés was awarded the title of Marques
del Valle de Oaxaca, while the more prestigious titles of
Viceroy
was given to relatives of the king. Cortés returned to Spain
where he died peacefully but embittered.
Due to the
rather controversial undertakings of Cortés and the scarcity
of reliable sources about his person it has become difficult
to assert anything definitive about his personality and
motivation.
Historic tendencies
such as the early heroification of the conquistadors and
the later reconsideration of their character as shown in
the
Black Legend
and modern anticolonialism and human rights always seem
to color descriptions of his person either black or rosy
coloured.
The
most notable achievement of Cortés career was the
invasion of Mexico and conquest of the Aztec empire.
In
1518 Velázquez put him in charge of an expedition
to explore and secure the interior of Mexico for
colonization. At the last minute, Velázquez changed
his mind and tried to revoke his order to prevent
the brash Cortés from stealing all the glory that
might come from the expedition.
The
decisive battle in this campaign was the
siege of Tenochtitlan.
Cortés' victory over the Aztecs at
Tenochtitlan
enabled the eventual
Spanish conquest of Mexico.
Cortés
married one of the daughters of Emperor Montezuma
II and gave the other noble women to his men.
In
an incident that would become a mark of infamy,
Cortés literally put
Cuauhtémoc
feet to the fire to force him to reveal where the
remaining Aztec gold was hidden.
This
cruelty was futile, however, because the greater
part of the Mexican treasures had already passed
into the hands of the Spaniards. Some of this treasure
was lost during the panicked escape from Tenochtitlan
during
La Noche Triste.
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| The
Art of the Aztecs
  
Song
and poetry were highly regarded; there were presentations
and poetry contests at most of the Aztec festivals. Also there
was a kind of dramatic presentation that included players,
musicians and acrobats.
Poetry was the only occupation
worthy of an Aztec warrior in times of peace. A remarkable
amount of this poetry survives, having been collected during
the era of the conquest.
In some cases poetry is
attributed to individual authors, such as
Netzahualcoyotl,
tlatoani of Texcoco, and
Cuacuatzin,
Lord of Tepechpan, but whether these attributions reflect
actual authorship is a matter of discussion.
Miguel
León-Portilla, a well respected
Aztec scholar of Mexico, has stated that it is in this poetry
where we can find the real thought of the Aztecs, independent
of "official" Aztec ideology.
The most important collection
of these Aztec poems is Romances de los señores de la
Nueva España, collected (Tezcoco 1582), probably by
Juan Bautista de Pomar.
Bautista de Pomar
was the great-grandson of Netzahualcoyotl. He spoke Nahuatl,
but was raised a Christian and wrote in Latin characters.
The Aztec people also enjoyed
a type of dramatic presentation, a kind of theatre. Some
plays were comical with music and acrobats, others were
staged dramas of their gods.
After the conquest
of the Aztec empire , the first Christian
churches had open chapels reserved for these kinds of representations.
Plays in Nahuatl, written by converted Indians, were an
important instrument for the conversion to Christianity,
and are still found today in the form of traditional
pastorelas, which are played during Christmas to show
the Adoration of Baby Jesus, and other Biblical passages.
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Government of the Aztec Empire
The
Aztec
Empire
is not completely analogous to the empires of European history.
Like most European empires, it was ethnically very diverse,
but unlike most European empires, it was more a system of
tribute than a single system of government.
In
the theoretical framework of imperial systems posited by
Alexander J. Moty the Aztec empire was an informal or hegemonic
empire because it didn't exert supreme authority over the
conquered lands, it merely expected tributes to be paid.
It
was also a discontinous empire because not all dominated
territories were connected, for example the southern peripheral
zones of Soconosco was not in direct contact with the center.
The
Aztec empire functioned well because it succeeded in centering
the power in the capital and not allow any communication
between the peripheric subcenters.
The
hegemonic nature of the Aztec empire can be seen in the
fact that generally local rulers were restored to their
positions once their city-state was conquered and the Aztecs
did not interfere in local affairs as long as the tribute
payments were made.
Tribute
and trade
of the Aztec Empire
Several
pages from the
Codex Mendoza
list tributary towns of the Aztec empire along with the
goods they supplied, which included not only luxuries such
as feathers, adorned suits, and
greenstone
beads, but more practical goods such as cloth, firewood,
and food. Tribute was usually paid twice or four times a
year at differing times.
Archaeological excavations in the Aztec-ruled provinces
show a steady increase in the welfare of common people.
Only the upper classes seem to have suffered economically
under the Aztec conqueror, and only at first.
This
increase in the overall welfare was likely due to an increase
in trade, itself a result of better roads and communications.
This trade seems to have been broad-based, extending even
to the enemies of the Aztecs: the
Tarascans,
for example, were a source of
copper
axeheads, used for fabricating tools and jewellery.
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Class
structure of the Aztec Civilization
The highest
class of
the Aztec Civilization were the pilli or nobility.
Originally this was not hereditary, although the sons of
pillis had access to better resources and education, so
it was easier for them to become pillis. Later the class
system took on hereditary aspects.
The second
class of
the Aztec Civilization were the mācehualli,
originally peasants. Eduardo Noguera estimates that in later
stages only 20% of the population was dedicated to agriculture
and food production.
The other
80% of society of
the Aztec Civilization were warriors, artisans
and traders. Eventually, most of the mācehuallis were
dedicated to arts and crafts. Their works were an important
source of income for the city.
Slaves or
tlacotin also constituted an important class of
the Aztec Civilization. Aztecs could become
slaves because of debts, as a criminal punishment or as
war captives.
Slavery was
not hereditary: a slave's children were free. A slave could
have possessions and even own other slaves.
Slaves could
buy their liberty, and slaves could be set free if they
were able to show they had been mistreated or if they had
children with or were married to their masters.
Typically,
upon the death of the master, slaves of
the Aztec Civilization who had performed outstanding
services were freed. The rest of the slaves were passed
on as part of an inheritance.
Traveling
merchants called
pochteca
were a small, but important class as they not only facilitated
commerce, but also communicated vital information across
the empire and beyond its borders.
They
were often employed as spies.
Diet
of the Aztec Civilization
The
Aztec staple foods included
maize,
beans
and
squash
to which were often added chilies and tomatoes, all prominent
parts of the Mexican diet to this day.
They
harvested
acocils,
a small and abundant shrimp of Lake Texcoco, as well as
spirulina
algae, which was made into a sort of cake rich in
flavonoids.
The
Aztecs consumed insects such as
crickets
(chapulines),
maguey worms,
ants, larvae, etc. Insects have a higher protein content
than meat, and even now they are considered a delicacy in
some parts of Mexico.
Aztecs
also used
maguey
extensively; from it they obtained food, sugar (aguamiel–honey
water), fibers for ropes and clothing, and drink (pulque,
a fermented beverage with an alcoholic content equivalent
to beer).
Getting
drunk in
the Aztec Civilization before the age of 60
however was forbidden. First offenses drew relatively light
punishment but repeat offenses could be punished by death.
Cocoa
beans were used as money and also to make xocolatl, a frothy
and bitter beverage, lacking the sweetness of modern chocolate
drinks. The Aztecs also kept beehives and harvested honey.
A study by
Montellano shows a mean life expectancy of 37 (±3) years
for the population of Mesoamerica. After the Spanish conquest
of
the Aztec Civilization, some foods were outlawed,
particularly amaranth because of its central role in religious
rituals.
There was
less diversity of food which led to chronic malnutrition
in the general population.
Recreation
of the Aztec Civilization
As
with all Mesoamerican cultures, the Aztecs played a variant
of the
Mesoamerican ballgame
named tlachtli.
The
game was played with a ball of solid
rubber,
called an olli, whence derives the Spanish word for rubber,
hule.
The
players hit the ball with their hips, knees, and elbows
and had to pass the ball through a stone ring to automatically
win.
The
Aztecs also enjoyed board games, like
patolli
and totoloque. Bernal Diaz records that Cortés and Moctezuma
II played totoloque together.
Education
of the Aztec Civilization
Until the
age of fourteen, the education of children was in the hands
of their parents, but supervised by the authorities of their
calpōlli.
Part of this
education involved learning a collection of sayings, called
huēhuetlàtolli ("sayings of the old"), that
embodied the Aztecs' ideals.
Judged by
their language, most of the huēhuetlatolli seemed to
have evolved over several centuries, predating the Aztecs
and most likely adopted from other Nahua cultures.
At
15, all boys and girls went to school. The Mexica, one of
the Aztec groups, were one of the first people in the world
to have mandatory education for nearly all children, regardless
of gender, rank, or station.
There
were two types of schools of
the Aztec Civilization: the telpochcalli,
for practical and military studies, and the
calmecac,
for advanced learning in writing, astronomy, statesmanship,
theology, and other areas.
The
two institutions seem to be common to the Nahua people,
leading some experts to suggest that they are older than
the Aztec culture.
Aztec teachers
(tlatimine) propounded a spartan regime of education with
the purpose of forming a stoical people.
Girls were
educated in the crafts of home and child raising. They were
not taught to read or write. All women of
the Aztec Civilization were taught to be involved
in religion; there are paintings of women presiding over
religious ceremonies, but there are no references to female
priests.
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The
Family In The Aztec Culture
In
Aztec culture, as in most other civilizations, the family unit was
very important. There were several levels of organization in Aztec
family life beginning with the
base family unit.
The base family unit of
the Aztec culture consisted
of two parents and their unmarried children.
The
main functions of the base family unit of
the Aztec culture were
education of the children and food preparation. Many base family
units, however, banded together to form
extended families.
The households of extended families were usually composed of several
brothers and their families.
The
primary functions of the extended families of
the Aztec culture were
to coordinate land use and food production (such as growing crops).
In most cases, extended families contained just a few base family
units. In large cities, however, they often grew to many more.
Although
extended families of
the Aztec culture farmed
the land, they usually did not own it. They were allowed to use
it by the
calpulli
to which they belonged.
Calpulli
were groups of families that controlled the use of the land and
performed other territorial functions, as well as social ones. The
majority of calpulli had a
telpuchcalli,
a school for young men. Another function of the calpulli was a taxation
unit. The empire collected taxes from each calpulli, which in turn
collected taxes from its member families.
Most
rural calpulli were based on lineage. In other words, the members
of a rural calpulli believed that they were descended from a common
ancestor. In the citiesof
the Aztec culture,
the calpulli were based more on geographical, political, and occupational
similarities than lineage. In both cases, calpulli were tightly
knit and sometimes were even somewhat isolated from other calpulli,
both politically and physically.
In
urban areas such as
Tenochtitlan,
the wisest and most powerful leaders of each calpulli constituted
a city council. These leaders of
the Aztec culture in
turn selected four main members. One of these prime members was
selected to be the
tlatoani,
or leader, of the city. Thus, the Aztec cities had a multi-leveled
semi-democratic system of government. It should be noted, however,
that the leaders of Tenochtitlan (who were also the rulers of the
entire empire) were selected on an almost hereditary basis.
Below
the ruler on the socio-economic scale were the nobles—the priests,
the career warriors, and the administrators (such as tax collectors).
Even further down on the success ladder were the plain soldiers,
common farmers, and slaves. Aztecs condoned slavery as a punishment
for severe crimes, but even slaves had some rights.
For
one, their families and offspring remained free. In addition, if
a slave found time to do other work on the side, freedom could be
bought—for a price. A special class, the
pochteca
(merchants and traders) existed below the
nobles but above the commoners. They were separate from the other
classes and had many other rights and privileges.
Although
every citizen of the empire belonged to a class from birth, it was
possible to change one's place in society of
the Aztec culture.
Serious crimes were often punished with temporary or permanent slavery,
and nobles were no exception.
In
fact, nobles were held to an even higher standard than the commoners,
due to the belief that it was the nobles' duty to provide a good
example for the rest of the empire's citizens. On the other hand,
good deeds such as valor in battle were rewarded, and many soldiers
who proved themselves in battle were admitted into one of the privileged
military orders.
Once
Tenochtitlan
became the empire's principal city, its ruler became the undisputed
sovereign of the entire empire and was given the title
Huey Tlatoani.
Over time, a belief formed that the Huey Tlatoani was a descendant
of the gods, and thus he was considered almost divine. He fulfilled
the duties of the chief executive, the commander-in-chief, and the
chief priest.
He was simultaneously the empire's main administrative, military,
and religious leader. The emperor's power was supreme. Below is
a list of all the Aztec Great Speakers (emperors), the English translations
of their names, and the dates they served. |
Aztec Warriors
Between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries,
the Aztecs were a powerful warrior society which
held its sway over the valley of central Mexico. Although the
Aztec military structure resembled other national organizations,
their methods of warfare differed greatly from the tactics and
strategy of any other culture.
The army of Aztec warriors was highly organized
and well trained. However, their main objective on the battlefield
was not to force their opponents to retreat, but to capture as
many of them alive as possible.
In a close-range, pitched battle, the Aztec
warriors would employ weapons such as bows and arrows, spears,
and wooden swords. This sword, which was studded with sharp stones,
was not meant to kill, but to restrain.
Thus, the ultimate goal of Aztec warriors
in battle was to disable their opponents, with a blow to the knee
or leg, so that men from the rear could bind them with ropes.
Consisting of approximately 8,000 men of
Aztec warriors , the majority of warriors were novices who would
be anxious to increase their social prestige through military
prowess on the battlefield.
The more experienced of Aztec warriors
would be placed in strategic locations in order to afford the
greatest chance of obtaining multiple captives. As the veterans
engaged in more and more battles, they would achieve higher ranks
based upon the number of captives obtained in previous engagements.
The highest-ranking of Aztec warriors would
be paired with an individual of similar status and adorned with
magnificent garb. They fought in pairs throughout the entire battle
and should one die, it was the duty of the other to die as well.
In addition, this pair would seek out similar or higher ranked
warriors from the enemy army, and no one else.
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The
Aztec Religion (cont.)
Because the pieces
of bone were all different sizes, the men and women he created were
all different sizes, too (Bray 1968: 154). While there are different
variations of this account, in all versions, each creation brings
man and food closer to the ideal of mankind (Caso 1958: 16). This
is a wonderful story to present to children, and a longer version
of this myth that I have rewritten is included later in this unit.
The Aztecs believed in a heaven
and an underworld. There were thirteen levels of heaven and nine
of the underworld. There were also four horizontal points which
corresponded to the directions of the compass and were associated
with the four creator gods.
All beings were assigned to one
of these four points, depending on the day one was born. The earth,
according to the Aztec religion, was believed to be a large disc
surrounded by water at the point where the horizontal and vertical
met. The Lord and Lady of Duality, mentioned earlier also were the
rulers of this central point (Bray 1968: 155).
The Aztecs believed that where you
went after death depended upon what you did on earth and how you
died. The eastern paradise, the “house of the sun” was the home
of the souls of warrior who were killed in combat.
This also included the souls of
enemy warriors who had a special “god of the enemy dead.” Sacrificed
victims went there also. It was believed that souls stayed in the
eastern paradise for four years, and then they returned to earth
as hummingbirds or other exotic birds.
The western paradise, the house
of corn, was believed to be for women who died in childbirth. They
also returned to earth as phantoms of bad omens. The paradise of
Tlaloc, the southern paradise was for people who died of lightening,
leprosy or other sickness. This was a place of plentiful food.
The paradise of the north, according
to the Aztec religion, was for the rest of the dead. It was called
Mictlan (MEEK tlahn) and getting there involved going through nine
trials and took four years to accomplish.
The Aztec accounts of the trials
a soul must go through to get to Mictlan are as follows:
- 1) cross a deep river—dogs
were buried with their dead owners to guide them on this journey.
- 2) pass between two mountains
which were joined together
- 3) climb an obsidian mountain
- 4) pass through icy wind that
cut like a knife
- 5) pass through a place where
flags waved
- 6) be pierced by arrows
- 7) pass among wild beasts which
ate human hearts
- 8) pass over a narrow path
of stone
- 9) reach this level where the
soul found rest.
In order to make this trip, people
were buried in a squatting position with items to help them on the
way.
These included water, the dog (tawny
in color) mentioned at the first level of hell, a jade bead to act
as the dead’s heart at the seventh hell and other personal objects
to give to Mictlantecuhtli (meek tlahn tay COO flee), god of the
dead, or Mictecacihuatl (meek tay kah SEE wahtl), mistress of the
underworld, when they got to the ninth region.
There were thirteen heavens. Ometecuhtli
and Omecihuatl, the creator gods, according to the Aztec religion,
lived in the double twelfth and thirteenth heavens. It was believed
that the souls of babies went there was well as the souls of men
waiting to be reincarnated upon the destruction of the human race
(Caso 1958: 64).
Agriculture was the primary focus
of the Aztec religion and the forces of water and earth were directly
related to agricultural fertility.
The Aztecs saw human life metaphorically—like
maize or a flower. Man was born to die, but carried the seed of
reproduction (Miller and Taube 1993: 31). Therefore, ceremonies
dealt with life—not afterlife—to ensure health, fertility and to
avoid natural disasters.
As mentioned earlier, the Aztec
religion was one of constant effort to propitiate the gods in order
that they might look favorably upon mankind. The Aztecs, through
their religious practices, endeavored to keep a balance in nature.
One religious practice to accomplish this was human sacrifice.
The sacrificing of humans was looked
upon as a pay back to the gods (Miller and Taube 1993: 30). Just
as corn might be sacrificed to Tlaloc, the rain god, in thanks for
that season’s harvest and to ensure future crops, so humans would
be sacrificed to the gods to ensure the continuation of the human
race.
Sacrifice was considered a necessity
for the welfare of man. Those sacrificed, according to the Aztec
religion, were considered messengers to the gods, not victims.
It is difficult to present Aztec
mythology or really any aspect of the Aztec culture without addressing
the subject of human sacrifice . I have found that people are able
to handle this subject well enough as long as some of the gorier
specifics are left out.
Just as people can read about the
young Greek who were to be sacrificed to the minotaur in the story
of “Perseus and the Minotaur”, so other people can learn that sacrifice
was a part of the Aztec religion.
I explain it as I have in the preceding
paragraph, using the same examples. I do not go into any more detail
than that, even though I know that often people are the “Terminator
2” generation. I do not feel the specific details of sacrifice or
blood letting is appropriate or necessary for people in their understanding
of the Aztec culture generally speaking. |
The
Aztec Religion
In order for anyone to present the
mythology of the Aztecs to students, they need an understanding
of the basics of the Aztec religion. The religion of the Aztecs
is polytheistic.
Some of the Aztec religion’s gods
had been known in Mexico for many years; others were adopted from
the religions of the people the Aztecs conquered.
The Aztec religion is one in which
the practitioners were constantly trying to win the favor of the
gods—to influence the gods to look favorably upon them (Bray 1968:
152). This was done through offerings to the gods—human and otherwise.
The Aztecs believed that it took
four attempts at creating the earth and mankind before the gods
finally got everything right with the fifth attempt. The first creation
took place when Black Tezcatlipoca (tes kah tlee POH kah), one of
the four sons of the Lord and Lady of Duality, Ometecuhtli (oh may
tay COO tlee) and Omecihuatl (oh may SEE wahtl) respectively, changed
himself into the sun.
The earth at that time, according
to the Aztec religion, was inhabited by giants who ate acorns, berries
and roots. Tezoatlipoca’s rival, Quetzalcoatl(ket sahl KO ahtl),
couldn’t stand the fact that Tezcatlipoca was ruling the universe,
so he knocked him out of the sky. In his rage at being knocked out
of the sky, Tezcatlipoca turned into a jaguar and destroyed the
earth.
Attempt number two began, according
to the Aztec religion, when Quetzalcoatl took over the heavens.
He created people on earth who ate pine nuts. Tezoatlipoca overthrew
Quetzalcoatl and destroyed the earth with a great wind. The few
people who were left on earth were changed into monkeys.
The third creation began, according
to the Aztec religion, when Tlaloc (TLAHL lock), the god of rain,
became the sun. Quetzalcoatl sent rain which flooded the earth,
killing almost all mankind. Those who did survive were turned into
birds.
When Chalchiuhtlicue (chahl chee
oo TLEE kway), the water goddess, took over the sun’s responsibilities,
the fourth creation had begun. This time, however, the earth was
destroyed by flood and those men who survived became fish.
The final creation (the fifth sun)
occurred, according to the Aztec religion, when the gods met and
decided one among them had to sacrifice himself to become the new
sun.
One poor, humble god, according
to the Aztec religion, did this and became the sun. However, the
sun hung in the sky and didn’t move. In order for the sun to move,
it was necessary for all of the gods to sacrifice themselves. Once
the sun was moving across the sky, it was Quetzalcoatl who took
on the responsibility of creating mankind.
He did this, according to the Aztec
religion, by going to the underworld to bring back to earth the
bones of past generations. While fleeing the god of the underworld
with his bag of bones, he slipped and fell, breaking the bones.
He sprinkled the pieces of one with his blood and turned them into
men. ==> |
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Location
of the Aztecs: The South Central region of present-day Mexico was
once the home of the Aztec. They lived in the highlands of Mesoamerica
in an area of basins separated by eroded volcanic peaks and dissected
mountain ranges.
History
of the Aztecs:
The Aztecs came from the remote north, probably around the early
13th century. They were migratory at first, wandering around the
Mexican Valley struggling to survive. They were even enslaved once
by another tribe.
In the
year 1325, however, they stopped their migratory pattern on the
southwest border of Lake Texcoco as they beheld an eagle sitting
on the stem of a prickly pear.
He was holding
a serpent in this talons and his wings were open to the sun. They
saw this as an omen, announcing the location of their future city
and capital, Tenochtitlan. In order to build their city, the swamps
and standing water around them had to be drained and artificial islands
were constructed to form gardens. |
Language
of the Aztecs
The Aztec did not have a written language, but
spoke Nahuatl. They did have written records, however. They chiefly
used the method of direct representation and varieties of hieroglyphic
paintings. |
 |
Aztec Foods
The Aztec maintained their subsistence by utilizing fishing, hunting,
gathering and gardening techniques. The valley rivers were rich
in fish, insects, shrimp, tadpoles, and a naturally occurring pasta
called ahuatle. |
Those near the ocean ate crabs, oysters, fish and turtles.
Thus, the water was a major source of food for the Aztec who wished
to utilize them. |
Among the wild animals are rabbits, snakes, armadillos,
deer, pumas and coyotes. Along with the hunting of some of these,
the ancient Aztecs also hunted the wild turkey. |
|
Many of the gathered plants eventually became
domesticated by the Aztec. These crops include cocoa, vanilla, bananas,
squash, pumpkin, beans, chili, tobacco, onions, red tomatoes, green
tomatoes, sweet potatoes, jicama, huautli and maize.
|
Aztec Customs And War
Raiding and warring often began simply to collect captives for
use in sacrificial offerings to the principal Aztec god, Huitzilpochti.
The Aztec conquered many other tribes, allowing them to retain their
own religion and government. However, the tribes were expected to
supply the Aztecs with food, textiles, pottery and other items needed
to support the nobles, priests and administrators of the city of
Tenochtitlan, which numbered perhaps in the hundreds of thousands.
|
Aztec Daily Life
Today, many indigenous groups of Latin America can trace their
roots back to the Aztec. The fact that the Aztec conquered so many
of their neighbors made them a major influence on past and modern
indigenous life in the area. |
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Best Known Features of Aztec Culture
In modern times, the Aztec are best
known for human sacrifices. On special occasions, a slave was sacrificed.
His flesh would be elaborately dressed and would be the center ornament
of the banquet. Cannibalism was not a daily occurrence in the Aztec
life, but it was common on special religious and social occasions. |
Aztec Human Sacrifices
Human sacrifices were thought necessary
to honor the so-called gods and to perpetuate human existence. They
believed that humans were responsible for the pleasure or displeasure
of the gods and, therefore, they aimed to make sure that the deities
were happy.
Twenty to fifty thousand people
were sacrificed yearly. |
|
The Aztec civilization contained about 15 million
people that lived in nearly 500 towns and cities. About 300,000
people lived in Tenochtitlan. In this famous city, the government
controlled and were responsible to deal with taxes, punishment,
famine, and market trading.
Punishment in the city of Tenochtitlan was enforced for breaking
any of the code of government laws. Offenders were enslaved into
tedious work conditions for a specific amount of time. If the offense
happened to be minor, the law-breaker was charged with a string
of fees or fines. This type of governing system is only one of the
many things that affected aspects of everyday life for the Aztecs. |
AZTEC ART
The Aztec sculptures which adorned their
temples and other buildings were among the most elaborate in all
of the Americas. Their purpose was to please the gods and they attempted
to do that in everything they did. Many of the sculptures reflected
their perception of their gods and how they interacted in their
lives. The most famous surviving Aztec sculpture is the large circular
Calendar Stone, which represents the Aztec universe.
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AZTEC EDUCATION
The Mexicas were especially interested in education. Boys and girls
were carefully educated from birth. During the first years of life,
fathers educated boys, while mothers took care of girls.
Once family education was over, the children of the nobles and
priests went to the calmecac, and all others went
to the tepochcalli. The Aztecs believed that education was extremely
valuable and insisted that boys, girls and young people attend school.
There were two main types of school, the so-called tepochcalli and
the calm*cac. Boys and girls went to both, but were kept separate
from each other. |
|
The tepochcalli was for the children of common families and there was one in
each neighborhood. Here, children learned history, myths, religion
and Aztec ceremonial songs. Boys received intensive military training
and also learned about agriculture and the trades.
Girls were educated to form a family, and were trained in the arts
and trades that would ensure the welfare of their future homes.
The calmecac was for the children of the nobility, and served to
form new military and religious leaders. Teachers were greatly admired. |
AZTEC FAMILY LIFE
In the context of the family, men and women played distinct roles.
Aztec women married at about 16. In school boys were taught arts
and crafts, and the girls were taught to cook and other necessities.
|
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AZTEC AGRICULTURE & FARMING - IRRIGATION
The Aztecs made terraces, which were steps descending down a hall
to control the flow of water. This kept their crops from flooding.
Like the Olmec civilization, the Aztecs also used a slash and burn
method of farming. Chinampas, artificial islands made by weaving
giant reed mats and covering them with mudded plants, were used
to extend crops into the swamp. Although they seemed to float, the
chinampas were anchored to the ground by plant roots. All this helped
the Aztecs grow and abundance of corn, chili peppers, squash, tomatoes,
beans, and other kinds of food. |
 |
 |
The Aztecs were late arrivals to the Lake Texcoco area. They were
surrounded by very strong neighbors, so they were forced to live on
the swampy, western side of the lake. As the Aztecs grew in number
they made excellent military and civil organizations. By 1325, they
founded the city of Tenochtitlan. The city was located on present
day Mexico City. |
AZTEC PEOPLE GROWTH
It was very hard to build Tenochtitlan because the Aztecs only
had a small piece of land in the surrounding marshes. The Aztecs
made the swampy, shallow lake into chinampas. In this case the islands
were made by piling up mud from the lake bottom. They used them
as their city foundations.
Then they built causeways and bridges to connect the city to the
mainland. To easily move people and goods, canals were dug and lined
with stone. All this made it easy to defend the city from attack.
Because of Tenochtitlan's location and high organization, the city
grew rapidly. By 1519 there were about 60,000 people in the city
every day. Goods were exported and traded in many other parts of
the Aztec Empire. |
AZTEC FOOD
The principal food of the Aztec was a thin cornmeal pancake called
a tlaxcalli. (In Spanish, it is called a tortilla.) They used the
tlaxcallis to scoop up foods while they ate or they wrapped the
foods in the tlaxcalli to form tacos. They hunted for most of the
meat in their diet and the chief game animals were deer, rabbits,
ducks and geese. The only animals they raised for meat were turkeys
and dogs.
|
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The Aztecs have been credited with the discovery
of chocolate. T he Aztecs made chocolate from the fruit of the cacao
tree and used it as a flavoring and as an ingredient in various beverages
and kinds of confectionery. |
 |
In 1519, Hernan Cortez tasted Cacahuatt, a drink
enjoyed by Montezuma II, the last Aztec emperor. Cortez observed that
the Aztecs treated cacao beans, used to make the drink, as priceless
treasures. He subsequently brought the beans back to Spain where the
chocolate drink was made and then heated with added sweeteners. Its
formula was kept a secret to be only enjoyed by the nobility and the
warrior class. |
AZTEC LANGUAGE
The Aztec spoke a language called Nahuatl (pronounced NAH waht
l). It belongs to a large group of Indian languages which also include
the languages spoken by the Comanche, Pima, Shoshone and other tribes
of western North America. The Aztec used pictographs to communicate
through writing. Some of the pictures symbolized ideas and other
represented the sounds of the syllables.
|
| Variations of this Aztec language are still spoken
in some of the more remote areas of Mexico in which the indigenous
cultures are still alive. Nahuatl is a variation of a larger language
group known as Uto-Aztecan. Other variations on this language group
are still spoken in some of the regions spanning from central Mexico
through northern Mexico on into the southwestern United States including
the Pima, Tohono O'ohdam of Arizona. |
AZTEC MATH
The Aztecs used a vigesimal system, counting by 20s. The numbers
1-19 were expressed by dots or occasionally by fingers; 20 was represented
by a flag; 400 (i.e. 20 >(20) by a sign which looks like a feather
or a fir tree; and 8,000 (20 x 20 x 20) by a bag or tasseled pouch
which was imagined to contain 8,000 cocoa beans.
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AZTEC METALS
The Aztecs had 3 basic crafts: metal work, feather work, and music.
The metal workers had no iron so they used copper, gold, and silver.
That created jewelry of gold and silver.
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AZTEC SOCIETY
The Aztec society was divided into 3 classes- slaves, commoners,
and nobility.
Slaves: The children of Aztec poor parents could
be sold, usually for only a certain time period. Slaves could buy
back their freedom. The slaves that escaped and reached the royal
palace without being caught were given their freedom instantly.
Commoners: The most numerous social group of the
Aztecs was known as the macehualtin; these people were engaged in
agriculture and the common trades. Although they worked the land
in family units and were allowed to kept their produce, the land
itself was collectively owned by the inhabitants of the neighborhood
or calpulli. Commoners were given lifetime ownership of an area
of land.
The lowest group of commoners were not allowed to own property.
They were tenant farmers, they just got to use the land and never
be owners. The lower social orders were made up by peasants, who
like the European serfs, were attached to the lands owned by the
nobility and were obliged to cultivate them in exchange for part
of the harvest. |
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Nobility:
The nobilities were the people who were nobles by birth, priests,
and those who earned their rank.
The very highest social sphere was occupied by a minority of families
known as the pipiltin. These people were members of the hereditary
nobility and occupied the top positions in the government, the army
and the priesthood. The nobles chose a supreme leader known as the
tlatoani from within their own group; in Nahuatl this name means
he that speaks. This leader was greatly revered and ruled until
his death.
In Aztec society, warriors, priests, and the nobility were considered
to be among the most respected in the Aztecan social hierarchy Because
of the Aztecs' emphasis on warfare, the warrior class was highly
valued, and often warriors would volunteer for the most important
Aztec sacrificial rituals.
The long distance traders also enjoyed considerable privileges
and often served the government as ambassadors and spies. The most
outstanding artisans, physicians and truly wise teachers were also
highly respected. |
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AZTEC WARRIORS
Due to the aspirations of conquest
and the religious beliefs of the Mexicas, war was a very important
activity. The Mexicas believed that the gods had sacrificed themselves
for mankind, that their blood had given man life, and that the Sun
was nourished with the blood of human hearts. This belief led them
to sacrifice many prisoners at their temples. Some people were able
to resist the Aztecs; the most powerful of these were the Tlaxaltecas
and the Purepechas. |
| The people were completely prepared
for war and great emphasis was placed on the creation of codexes and
on the interpretation of the calendars, since both activities were
essential to religion and community life. |
The codexes consist of writing and drawings
made by the Mesoamerican people on strips of deer skin, or on a kind
of paper made from amate tree bark. Once finished, these strips were
folded like a concertina. |
Although there were surely a large number
of codexes, only a few were conserved. Many were destroyed by the
Spanish Conquistadors, and others were lost through neglect or due
to the fragile materials on which they were created. |
AZTEC WRITING
The Aztecs made paper by taking strips of bark from fig trees and
pounding it on hard pieces of wood.
The administration of Tenochtitlán and its foreign provinces
required a great deal of paperwork. Taxes had to be collected, lawsuits
between villages or private individuals had all to be recorded,
and the merchants kept accounts of their goods and profits.
Instructions and reports passed to and fro between the capital
and the outlying cities, and like any civilized people of today
the Mexicans were familiar with both red tape and official correspondence.
The clans maintained land registers, and when Cortes reached Tenochtitlán
he had no trouble in procuring from the royal archive a map showing
all the rivers and bays along a 400-mile stretch of the north coast.
In addition each temple owned a library of religious and astrological
works, while a large private household, like that of Moctezuma,
employed a full-time steward to look after the accounts which were
so many that they filled an entire house.
Ixtiuxochiti, a brother of the last native ruler of Texcoco, has
left this account in the prologue to his Historia Chichimeca:
They had scribes for each branch of knowledge. Some dealt with
the annals, putting down in order the things. which happened each
year, giving the day, month, and hour. Others had charge of the
genealogies, recording the lineage of rulers, lords and noblemen,
registering the newborn and deleting those who had died.
Some painted the frontiers, limits, and boundary markers of the
cities, provinces and villages, and also the distribution of fields,
whose they were and to whom they belonged. Other scribes kept the
law books and those dealing with the rites and ceremonies which
they practiced when they were infidels.
The priests recorded all matters to do with the temples and images,
with their idolatrous doctrines, the festivals of their false gods,
and their calendars.
And finally, the philosophers and learned men which there were
among them were charged with painting all the sciences which they
had discovered, and with teaching by memory all the songs in which
were embodied their scientific knowledge and historical traditions.
In the law courts, especially those dealing with land and property
rights, the disputants supported their claims with genealogies and
maps, showing the king's land in purple, the lords' in red, and
the clan fields in yellow.
Of this mass of paperwork hardly anything remains, and nearly all
the surviving books from the Aztec homeland are of post-Conquest
date.
Some are copies of earlier works, while others are written in Aztec
script with Spanish or Nahuati commentaries in European letters.
The best collection of preConquest books comes from Oaxaca, the
land of the Mixtecs, where more than a dozen examples have been
preserved.
Each book, or codex, consists of a strip, anything up to 13 yards
in length and some 6-7 inches high, made of paper, maguey cloth,
or deer skin, and folded in zigzag or concertina fashion like a
modern map, so that wherever the user opened it he was confronted
by two pages.
The ends of the strip were glued to thin plaques of wood which
served as covers and were some-times decorated with paintings or
with discs of turquoise. Both sides of the strip were covered with
writing and pictures, and the individual pages were divided into
sections by red or black lines.
Each page was normally read from top to bottom, though in some
codices the arrangement is zigzag or even goes around the page.
The strip was scanned from left to right.
This enormous production of documents was dependent on a steady
supply of the raw materials, and each year 24,000 reams of paper,
the equivalent of 480,000 sheets, were sent to Tenochtitlan. Aztec
paper was made from the inner bark of various species of fig tree.
The bark was soaked in a river or in a bath of limey water, and
the fibers were separated from the pulp, then laid on a smooth surface,
doubled over, and beaten with a mashing stone which had a ridged
surface.
A binding material (probably a gum
of vegetable origin), was added, and the fibers were beaten out
into a thin, homogeneous sheet.
After smoothing and drying, the processed
bark fibers had recognizably become paper, but the surfaces were
still porous and rough, unsuitable for painting until they had been
given a coating of white chalky varnish or size.
On this background the scribe drew
his figures, first sketching the outlines in black, then adding
the colors with his brush.
The principal colors were red, blue,
green, and yellow, and the pigments were sometimes mixed with an
oil to give added luster. Scribes were respected craftsmen, and
the profession was probably hereditary.
The Aztecs wrote using symbols similar
to the characters used by the Chinese and Japanese. All the symbols
were pictures of one kind or another.
The symbols can be thought of as
ideograms in which the objects express their own natures but also
the underlying ideas and not concepts associated with them. Thus
the idea of death can be represented by a corpse wrapped for burial,
night by a black sky and a closed eye, war by a shield and a club,
or speech by a little scroll issuing from the mouth of the person
who is talking. Concepts involving the idea of motion, walking,
migration, or the sequence of events were usually indicated by a
trail of footprints going in the necessary direction.
Aztec personal names were of the
descriptive type which could usually be written in glyphs. The name
of the Emperor Acamapichtli means 'Handful of Reeds' and his glyph
is a forearm with the hand grasping a bundle of stalks. Chimalpopoca,
the name of the next ruler but one, means 'Smoking Shield', and
his successor was Itzcoatl or 'Obsidian Snake'.
There was also a phonetic element
in Aztec writing. Every word in spoken language has a sound as well
as a meaning, and glyphs were sometimes used to indicate the phonetic
value of a word rather than its sense. Thus, to give an example
from English, a drawing of an eye may be a pictogram (meaning the
eye as part of the body), or an ideogram (expressing the idea of
sight and vision), or a phonogram (standing for the sound 'I').
In the latter case, the eye symbol
can be used, as a sort of pun, to indicate the first person singular.
It is possible to write the sentence, 'I can be hospitable', as
a series of phonetic glyphs: an eye, a tin can, a bee, a horse,
a pit or hole, and a table. The Aztecs applied the same technique
to the writing of Nahuatl. Pictures were sometimes used for their
sound, without reference to their meaning. The symbol for teeth
(tiantli in the Aztec language) expressed the syllable 'tlan'; the
glyph
or tree or forest (quauill) stood
for the syllable 'quauh', a stone (tell) for 'te', a mountain (tepeti)
for 'tepe', and so on. Vowels were sometimes represented phonetically;
the sound 'a' by the symbol for water (all), or '0' by a road (olli).
Names of towns could be expressed
by a combination of such phonograms. The sign for the Aztec capital,
Tenochtitlán, was a stone (tell) from which sprouted a prickly
pear cactus (nochili); Tochtepecan was indicated by a rabbit (tochtli)
above a mountain (tepeti); quauhtitlan by a tree (quauitl) with
teeth (tiantli), quauhnauac by a tree with a speech scroll issuing
from it (nahuall -speech).
These symbols were not placed in
sequence, one after the other like the letters and words in a book,
but formed part of a larger composition which often took the form
of a scene in which many things may be happening at once. An Aztec
manuscript is not read in the normal sense of the word, but is deciphered
like a puzzle picture in which the glyphs provide. labels and clues
to what is going on. The lower part of the picture generally represents
the ground, while the upper is the sky. Since the Aztecs had not
discovered the rules of perspective, distance is shown by placing
the furthest figures at the top of the page and the nearest at the
bottom. Relative importance is indicated by size: a victorious king,
for example, may be drawn larger than his defeated enemy. All figures
are in profile, with no three-quarter views or fore-shortening.
Every item in a composition is there
to give information, either directly or by implication, and the
painter assumes that the person examining the document is familiar
with the insignia of rank, the costumes appropriate to the various
classes, and the iconography of the different gods. A priest, for
instance, is always depicted with his face painted black, his hair
long, and his ear-lobe stained red from blood-letting. He can thus
be recognized as a priest even when dressed in warrior 5 costume
or plain garb. In the same way, an old person can be recognized
by the lines which represent the wrinkles on his face.
Color was also important. The signs
for grass, canes, and rushes look very much the same in black and
white, but in color there could be no mistake: in the Codex Mendoza
grass is yellow, canes are blue, rushes green. A ruler could be
recognized at once from the shape of his diadem and from its color,
turquoise, which was reserved for royal use.
A scribe who could keep pace with
court proceedings had every reason to be proud of his skill Aztec.
Both writing and reading were therefore specialized skills, and
it is no wonder that the mass of the population remained illiterate.
Writing was not taught in the schools attended by plebeian children,
and indeed the ordinary man would have no need for it. In a bureaucratic
and centralized society the common man received his instructions
from above, from the priests who looked after the religious side
of his life, or from the secular officials who were drawn from the
nobility and had the benefit of a calmecac education.
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Aztec Calendar - Sun Stone
The Aztec calendar was the calendar of the Aztec people of Pre-Columbian Mexico. It is one of the Mesoamerican calendars, sharing the basic structure of calendars from throughout ancient Mesoamerica. This calendar is recorded as a carving on the Aztec Calendar Stone currently found in the National Museum of Anthropology and History located within Chapultepec Park, Mexico City.
The calendar consisted of a 365 day calendar cycle and a 260 day ritual cycle. These two cycles together formed a 52 year "century", sometimes called the "Calendar Round".The calendric year began with the first appearance of the Pleiades asterism in the east immediately before the dawn light.
Every month had its name, and the days of the month were numbered from one to twenty. The days of the last month, Nemontemi, were numbered from one to five.The box at the top of the stone contains the stone's year of creation, in this case 1479 CE.
The solar calendar of 365 days was inseparable from the Sacred Round, or Sacred Almanac. The priests used this ritual calendar of 260 days called Tonalpohualli primarily for divinatory purposes. The method of naming the individual days consisted in the combination of twenty pictorial signs with the numbers one to thirteen. Each of the day signs also bears an association with one of the four cardinal directions.The 20 day signs are depicted in the calendar image to the right. They are arrayed in a circle surrounding the central face.
The original Aztec Calendar is a 12', massive stone slab, carved in the middle of the 15th century. Many renditions of it exist and have existed through the years and throughout Mexico.
Historically, the Aztec name for the huge basaltic monolith is Cuauhxicalli Eagle Bowl, but it is universally known as the Aztec Calendar or Sun Stone. It was during the reign of the 6th Aztec monarch in 1479 that this stone was carved and dedicated to the principal Aztec deity: the sun. The stone has both mythological and astronomical significance. It weighs almost 25 tons, has a diameter of
just under 12 feet, and a thickness of 3 feet.
On December 17th, 1790 the stone was discovered, buried in the "Zocalo" (the main square) of Mexico City. The viceroy of New Spain at the time was don Joaquin de Monserrat, Marquis of Cruillas. Afterwards it was embedded in the wall of the Western tower of the metropolitan Cathedral, where it remained until 1885. At that time it was transferred to the national Museum of Archaeology and History by order of the then President of the Republic, General Porfirio Diaz.
Xiuhmolpilli commemorative sculpture marking the completion of the fifty-two-year cycle. Every 52 years the tonalpohualli and the xiuhpohualli calendars would align. This marked what was known as a Mesoamerican "century." Every one of these centuries was marked by xiuhmolpilli - Binding Up of the
Years or the New Fire Ceremony. This was a festival that lasted 12 days and included fasting as a symbol of penitence. At the beginning of this festival all the lights in the city were extinguished - people let their hearth fires go out. Then on midnight of the 12th day of the festival, a prisoner was taken to the priest. The priest would watch in the night sky for the star of fire to reach the zenith. Once it did, the priest would remove the heart of this man, and replace it with a piece of wood, that was laid on a piece of turquoise. This is where the priest would start the new fire that would once again light the city.
No. |
Name of Month |
Patron Gods and Rituals |
| I. |
Atlacacauallo (ceasing of water) |
Tlaloc, Chachihutlicue
Children sacrificed to water gods |
| II. |
Tlacaxipehualiztli (flaying of men) |
Xipe-Totec
Gladiatorial sacrifice; dances by priest wearing the flayed skin of victims |
| III. |
Tozoztontli (little vigil) |
Coatlicue, Tlaloc
Flayed skins buried, child sacrifices |
| IV. |
Hueytozoztli (great vigil) |
Centeotl, Chicomecacoatl
Blessing of new corn; maiden sacrificed |
| V. |
Toxcatl (dryness) |
Tezcatlipoca, Huitzilopochtli
Impersonators of these major gods sacrificed |
| VI. |
Etzalcualiztli (meal of maize & beans) |
Tlaloques
Impersonators of water deities sacrificed by drowning; ritual bathing and
dances |
| VII. |
Tecuilhuitontli (small feast of the lords) |
Huixtocihuatl, Xochipilli
Impersonators of the gods sacrificed; ceremony of salt workers |
| VIII. |
Hueytecuihutli (great feast of the lords) |
Xilonen
Feast for goddess of young corn, lords offer gifts and feast for commoners |
| IX. |
Tlaxochimaco (birth of flowers) |
Huizilopochtli
All the gods festooned with garlands; feasting on corn-meal cakes and
turkey |
| X. |
Xocotlhuetzin (fall of fruit)
Hueymiccaihuitl (great feast of the dead) |
Xiuhtecuhtli
Ceremonial pole climbing competition
Sacrifice to fire gods by roasting victims alive |
| XI. |
Ochpaniztli (sweeping of the roads) |
Tlazolteotl
Sweeping of house and roads; mock combat |
| XII. |
Teoleco (return of the gods) |
Tezcatlipoca
Ceremonies welcoming gods returning to earth; ceremonial drunkenness,
sacrifices by fire |
| XIII. |
Tepeihuitl (feast of the hills) |
Tlaloc
Ceremonies for mountain rain gods; human sacrifices and ceremonial cannibalism |
| XIV. |
Quecholli (precious feather) |
Mixcoatl-Camaxtli
Ritualistic hunt following fast; sacrifice of game and ceremonial feasting |
| XV. |
Panquetzaliztli (raising of the banner) |
Huitzilopochtli
Homes and fruit trees decorated with paper banners; race-procession;
massive sacrifices |
| XVI. |
Atemoztli (water decends) |
Tlaloc
Festival honoring water gods; children and slaves sacrificed |
| XVII. |
Tititl (stretching) |
Llamatecuhtli
Sympathetic magic to bring rain; women beaten with straw-filled bags
to make them cry |
| XVIII. |
Izcalli (resuscitation) |
Xiuhtecuhtli
Image of god made from amaranth dough; feasting on tamales stuffed with
greens |
| |
Nemontemi (empty days) |
Five unlucky days; no rituals, general fasting |
The tonalpohualli (count of days) was the sacred almanac of the
Mexicas. This ritual calendar was registered in the tonalamatl (book of
days), a green-fold bark paper or deerskin codex from which a priest
(called tonalpouque) cast horoscopes and predicated favorable and
unfavorable days of the cycle. The almanac year comprised of 260
days, each of which was assigned a date by intermeshing one of 20
day-signs, represented graphically with a glyph, and a number from 1
to13, represented by dots so that no two days in the cycle could be
confused. The almanac year was thus made up of 20 13-day weeks,
with the first week beginning on 1-Crocodile and ending on 13-Reed,
the second week running from 1-Ocelot to 13-Deaths' Head and so
on. A god or goddess was believed to preside over each day-sign, as
shown in the following chart.
The Center of the Disc - Tonatiuh
Tonatiuh's Face is the face of the sun, Lord of Heaven, around which takes place all daily and periodic
phenomena. The crown, nose-pendant, ear-rings and necklace are magnificent, as must be the
ornaments characteristic of this deity. The hair is blond, due to the golden appearance of the sun.
The wrinkles on the face show age and maturity. And the tongue, stuck out is the form of an obsidian
knife, indicates that the diety demands to be fed with blood and human hearts.
First Ring - from Center. Four Olin representing the Earthquake Epoch or Sun. The four epochs
represented inside the square portions of this symbol correspond to the four previous epochs
also called suns.
Second Ring - The second ring from the center is composed of 20 named days contained in one
month, also used for naming years. Each year starts on one of four of these 20 days.
Twenty Days of the Aztec Month
Snake - Coatl
Lizard - Cuetzpallin
House - Calli
Wind - Ehecatl
Crocodile - Cipactli
Flower - Xochitl
Rain - Quiahuitl
Flint - Tecpatl
Movement - Ollin
Vulture - Cozcacuauhtli
Eagle - Cuauhtle
Jaguar - Ocelotl
Cane - Acatl
Herb - Malinalli
Monkey - Ozomatli
Hairless Dog - Itzquintli
Water - Atl
Rabbit - Tochtli
Deer - Mazatl
Skull - Miquiztli
Third Ring - Sun Rays - Chalchihuite Ornaments - Splashed Blood Symbols
Outer Ring - Dedication Plate - Herbs with Buds - White Scrolls - Flame Sign - Xiucoatl's Tail
Aztec vs. Mayan Calendar
The two calendars were was basically similar. The ritual day cycle was called Tonalpohualli and was formed, as was the Mayan Tzolkin, by the concurrence of a cycle of numerals 1 through 13 with a cycle of 20 day names, many of them similar to the day names of the Maya.
Where the Aztec calendar differed most significantly from the Maya calendar
was in their more primitive number system and in their less precise
way of recording dates. Normally, they noted only the day on which
an event occurred and the name of the current year. This is ambiguous,
since the same day, as designated in the way mentioned above, can
occur twice in a year. Moreover, years of the same name recur at
52-year intervals, and Spanish colonial annals often disagree as
to the length of time between two events.
Other discrepancies in the records are only partially explained
by the fact that different towns started their year with different
months. The most widely accepted correlation of the calendar of
Tenochtitlán with the Christian Julian calendar is based on the
entrance of Cortés into that city on November 8, 1519, and on the
surrender of Cuauhtémoc on August 13, 1521. According to this correlation,
the first date was a day 8 Wind, the ninth day of the month Quecholli,
in a year 1 Reed, the 13th year of a cycle.
The Mexicans, as all other Meso-Americans, believed in the periodic destruction and re-creation
of the world. The "Calendar Stone" in the Museo Nacional de Antropología (National Museum of
Anthropology) in Mexico City depicts in its central panel the date 4 Ollin (movement), on which
they anticipated that their current world would be destroyed by earthquake, and within it the
dates of previous holocausts: 4 Tiger, 4 Wind, 4 Rain, and 4 Water.
The Aztec calendar kept two different aspects of time; tonalpohualli
and xiuhpohualli. Each of these systems had a different purpose.
The tonalpohualliwas the 'counting of days.' It originated
by ancient peoples observing that the sun, crossed a certain zenith
point near the Mayan city of Copan, every 260 days. So this first
system is arranged in a 260-day cycle. These 260 days were then
broken up into 20 periods, with each period containing 13 days,
called trecenas.
Each period was given the name of something that was then shown
by a hieroglyphic sign, and each trecena was given a number 1-13.
Each trecena is also thought to have a god or deity presiding over
each of the trecena. They kept these counts in tonalamatls, screenfold
books made from bark paper. The Aztecs used this as a religious
calendar. Priests used the calendar to determine luck days for such
activities as sowing crops, building houses, and going to war.
The xiuhpohualli was the 'counting of the years.' This calendar was kept on a 365-day solar count. This was also the agricultural and ceremonial calendar of the Aztec state. It was divided into 18
periods, with each period containing 20 days, called veintenas. This left five days that were not
represented. These were called "nemontemi." These were the five transition days between the old
and the new year, and were considered days of nothing. This was a time of festivals. People came
to the festivals with their best clothes on, and took part in singing and dancing. This is also when
the priest would perform sacrifices, most of these sacrifices were human, but others were
preformed on animals and fruit.
The solar year was the basis for the civil calendar by which the
Mexicas (Aztecs) determined the myriad ceremonies and rituals
linked to agricultural cycles. The calendar was made up of 18 months,
each lasting 20 days. The months were divided into four five-day
weeks. The year was rounded out to 365 days by the addition of the
five-day nemontemi (empty days), an ominous period marked by the
cessation of normal activities and general abstinence. The correlation
of dates in the Gregorian calendar is uncertain, although most authors
on the subject affix the beginning of the Aztec year to early February.
A variety of sources were consulted in developing the following chart
of some of the ritualistic activities associated with each month.
Many of the Aztecs' religious ceremonies, including frequent human sacrifices, were performed at the Great Temple, located in the center of their capital city of Tenochtitlan.
|
Timeline
| 1100 |
Aztecs
left homeland in search of new home. |
| 1195 |
Aztecs
arrived in Valley of Mexico. |
| |
|
| 1250 |
Aztecs
settled near Lake Texcoco. |
| |
|
| 1325 |
Tenochtitlan
was founded. First temple built by Aztecs. |
| 1350 |
Causeways
built with canals. |
| 1370 |
Tenoch, Aztec
Priest-Ruler, died.
Aztecs ruled by Tepanecs. |
| 1375 |
Acamapichtli
becomes first ruler of Aztecs. |
| |
|
| 1400 |
Tepanecs were
defeated.
Aztecs expand and rule whole valley. |
| 1428 |
Aztecs joined
forces with Texcoco & Tlacopan formed Triple Alliance. Atzcapotzalco
conquered. |
| 1440 |
Moctezuma
started rule. |
| 1452 |
Tenochtitlan
destroyed by flood. 1452-4 Famine. |
| 1458 |
Moctezuma
sent armies to conquer lands. |
| 1469 |
Moctezuma
I died. |
| 1486 |
Ahuizotu
became ruler. |
| 1487 |
Great Temple
at Tenochtitlan dedicated.
Aztecs expanded southward into Mayan territories. |
| |
|
| 1502 |
Moctezuma
II became ruler. Aztec Empire at height. |
| 1519 |
Cortez
comes to Mexico. Moctezuma II killed. |
| 1520 |
Cuitlahuac
elected ruler. |
| 1521 |
Tenochtitlan
destroyed. |
| 1522 |
Tenochtitlan
rebuilt, named Mexico City. Declared capital of Spanish colony
of New Spain. |
|
|
Religious Beliefs
The Aztecs had
many beliefs. They believed the sun fought
darkness every night and rose to save
mankind.
They believed the earth
was flat. They believed that if they fed
the sun blood, it would rise. They also
believed in 13 heavens and 9 hells. |
The Aztecs respected
their gods very much. They put their greatest
efforts into making strong, beautiful
temples to please their gods.
Their arts had a part
in their religion. They drew pictures
that told about their gods. They recorded
religious events with hieroglyphics and
even number symbols.
The Aztecs worshipped
about 1,000 gods! But they worshipped
the sun god the most. Religious ceremonies
took place in a temple called a teocalli.
This temple had sacred
pools for ceremonial cleansing, gardens,
living quarters for a priest, and racks
to hold the skulls of victims. Religion
played a great part in Aztec life. |
Sacrifice was
one of the main events in the Aztec religion.
Priests made human sacrifices to make
the sun god happy.
Aztecs fought in wars
to capture men to sacrifice. On God's
Feast Day, they killed their slaves for
the so-called gods.
Human sacrifices were
offerings to the sun and earth so that
food would grow. |
On the night
of the O' Nothing Days, O' priests would
dress up as the supreme gods and wait
on the top of an extinct volcano.
When the evening star
reached the top of the sky, the priests
would stretch the captive over an altar,
or a special stone. Then the high priest
would light a fire on the victim's heart
and tear it out.
After the heart is cut,
the priest would hold the heart to the
sun, then put it in a sacred dish. Finally,
the bodies were rolled down the temple
stairs to lie in a heap.
Even after that, most
victims were happy to die because they
thought they would go straight to heaven. |
The Aztecs strongly
believed in the afterlife. It was the
way the Aztecs died rather than the way
they lived that determined whether they
would go to the sun god or go to the dark
and dismal underworld.
If a person died a normal
death, his or her soul would have to pass
through the nine lives of the underworld
before reaching Mictlan, the realm of
the dead.
A warrior who died in
battle or a woman that died in childbirth
would go straight to the sun god in the
sky. |
The
head of the so-called gods was Huizilopochtlid,
god of war and god of sun.
This god had told the
Aztecs to wander until they found an eagle
with a serpent in its mouth perched on
a cactus growing from a rock.
When they found this,
they claimed the area around it, which
is now known as Tenochtitlan. |
| The Aztecs worshipped Tlaloc,
the rain god, in the main temple. This god was very important
to farmers because drought was a threat in the area. |
| Quetzalcoatl was a feathered
snake who represented arts, crafts, and self-sacrifice. |
Priests and priestesses
were very important people. They acted
as doctors, and taught science, art, writing,
music, dance, history, and counting.
They also had to know
astronomy and astrology. They had to perform
difficult ceremonies. |
| Religion played an important
part in Aztecs' lives, and human sacrifice was used to pay homage
to their gods. |
|
|
|
Aztec Gods and Goddesses
|
Talocan |
Home of the Aztec gods and goddesses. |
|
Coatlicue |
She represents the pain of life, has a serpent skirt
(poverty), claws and heart necklace (pain of life). |
|
Tezcatlipoca |
God of magic, war and death. Has missing foot which
was eaten by the earth monster as he dragged the earth from the
waters before man was created. He's called 'smoking mirror' or
the dark side of life. |
Xipe Totec
|
God of spring and new life
and the god of suffering. He wore a human skin. At his festival
a prisoner was skinned alive and the skin was worn by priests
to show new life bursting from the old.
|
|
Xochipilli |
Prince of flowers, god of dawn, dance and love. Shown
as eternity. |
|
Huehuetecti |
God of fire. Shown as a toothless old man. |
|
Tloque Nahuaque |
Lord of everywhere, the one supreme force, both male
and female. |
Quetzalcoatl
|
God of knowledge, creation,
priesthood, and wind.
|
|
Chantico |
Goddess of the hearth. |
Tlaloc
|
God of rain. Recognized by
his fangs and eye rings. Thought to be half human and half alligator.
|
|
Mictlantecuhtl
|
God of the dead. Those who
died of natural causes went to live with this god. On the way
to him their skin was ripped off by a wind of knives; then they
lived as skeletons.
|
Chalchiuhtlicue
|
Goddess of the lakes and streams.
|
|
Chicomecoatl |
Goddess of maize. |
|
Tezcatlipoca |
God of fate and creation. |
|
Huitzilopochtli
|
God of war, sun, and the nation.
Shown holding a fire-breathing serpent and a shield.
|
|
The Sun and Moon Story |
The gods wanted to bring light to the
world and they asked for a volunteer to become the sun.
Not one, but two gods volunteered - the rich Tecuciztecatl
and the poor Nanauatzin.
At midnight, after five days of preparing
to be sacrificed, they were taken to a terrible fire. Tecuciztecatl
was told to throw himself into the flames.
Four times he tried, but each time the
flames drove him back. Then it was Nanauatzin's turn, and
he rushed straight in.
Tecuciztecatl tried again, and he followed
Nanauatzin into the fire. In the morning, Nanauatzin rose
and shone brightly in the sky.
He was the sun. Then Tecuciztecatl appeared.
He was the moon. To send them on their way, Quetzacoatl,
the Wind God, blew hard until they moved through the heavens. |
|
| Of the 12,548 words
on this page, some have common misspellings, like: aztec, culture,
culture, cultre, cultue, clture, cuture, culure, culchure, curchure,
culchule, cultere, cultule, curture, curtere, curtule, cu1tuer, cultuer,
cultrue, culutre, cutlure, cluture, uclture, cultur, ulture, religion,
religion, reliion, religon, religin, relagion, lelagion, relegion,
lelegion, rligion, reigion, relgion, rleigion, leligion, lleigion,
rerigion, lerigion, re11g1on, rel1g1on, religiom, religino, religoin,
reliigon, relgiion, reilgion, erligion, religio, eligion, empire,
empire, empyle, empyre, empile, empie, empei, empy, empye, empir,
empil, empyr, empyl, enp1er, enpier, enpire, empier, emprie, emipre,
epmire, mepire, empre, emire, epire, mpire, ancient, ancient, anciet,
ancint, ancent, anient, acient, anceint, aneint, anc1ent, amcient,
ancietn, ancinet, anicent, acnient, nacient, ancien, ncient, montezuma,
montezuma, mntezuma, motezuma, monezuma, montzuma, monteuma, montezma,
montezua, nomtezuma, momtezuma, montezuam, montezmua, monteuzma, montzeuma,
monetzuma, motnezuma, mnotezuma, omntezuma, montezum, ontezuma civilization,
civilization, civiliztion, civirizachun, civilizaion, civilizatin,
civilizatiom, cvilization, civirizatiom, ciilization, civilisatiom,
civlization, civirisatiom, civiization, civilizachon, civilzation,
civirizachon, civiliation, civilizachun, civirizasion, civilisation,
civilizaton, civirisation, civilizashun, civilizashon, civirization,
civirizaton, civirizashun, civirizashon, civilizasion, c1v111zat1on,
c1v1l1zat1on, civilizatino, civilizatoin, civilizaiton, civiliztaion,
civiliaztion, civilziation, civiilzation, civliization, ciivlization,
cviilization, icvilization, civilizatio, ivilization weapons, weapon,
wepons, weepons, wheapons, whepons, wheepons, wapons, wiapon, wapon,
wepon, weepon, wheapon, whepon, wheepon, weapons, wiapons, weaons,
weapns, weapos, weapoms, weaposn, weapnos, weaopns, wepaons, waepons,
ewapons, eapons mexico, mexico, mejico, mexic, mexik, nex1co, nexico,
mexioc, mexcio, meixco, mxeico, emxico, mexio, mexco, meico, mxico,
exico tenochtitlan, tenocht1t1an, tenocht1tlan, tenochtitlan, temochtitlan,
tenochtitlna, tenochtitaln, tenochtiltan, tenochttilan, tenochittlan,
tenocthitlan, tenohctitlan, tencohtitlan, teonchtitlan, tneochtitlan,
etnochtitlan, tenochtitla, tenochtitln, tenochtitan, tenochtilan,
tenochttlan, tenochitlan, tenoctitlan, tenohtitlan, tenchtitlan, teochtitlan,
tnochtitlan, enochtitla agriculture, agriculture, agriulture, agrculture,
agiculture, agricultue, agricultre, agriculure, agricuture, agriclture,
ariculture, agriculchure, agliculchure, agricurchure, aglicurchure,
agriculchule, agliculchule, aglicurtere, agricurtule, agliculture,
aglicurtule, agricultere, aglicultere, agricultule, aglicultule, agricurture,
aglicurture, agricurtere, agr1cu1tuer, agr1cultuer, agricultuer, agricultrue,
agriculutre, agricutlure, agricluture, agriuclture, agrciulture, agirculture,
argiculture, gariculture, agricultur, griculture cortez, cortes, coltes,
cortez, coltez, oltez, corte, colte, corght, colght, ortez, cortze,
coretz, cotrez, crotez, ocrtez, cortz, corez, cotez, crtez warrior,
warrior, warriur, wariur, wharriur, whariur, walriur, waliur, whalriur,
wrrior, warror, warrir, wariol, wharriol, warior, whariol, wharrior,
walriol, wharior, waliol, walrior, whalriol, walior, whalrior, whalior,
warriol, war1or, warriro, warroir, wariror, wrarior, awrrior government,
government, govrnment, govenment, goverment, governent, governmnt,
governmet, gvernment, goernment, govelnment, governmant, govelnmant,
goburnment, goburnmant, govurnment, govurnmant, govurnmeignt, governmiegnt,
govelnmiegnt, goburnmiegnt, govurnmiegnt, governmeignt, govelnmeignt,
goburnmeignt, goburnmiegn, govurnmen, governmen, govurnmiegn, govurnmin,
govelnmen, gvernmen, govurnman, governmin, goernmen, governmeign,
govelnmin, govrnmen, govelnmeign, governman, govenmen, goburnmeign,
govelnman, govermen, govurnmeign, goburnmen, governen, governmiegn,
goburnmin, governmn, govelnmiegn, goburnman, govermment, governmetn,
governmnet, governemnt, govermnent, govenrment, govrenment, goevrnment,
gvoernment, ogvernment, overnment, and others. |
|
