The Aztecs culture was one of many amazing discoveries. Archeologists have found many interesting tools, ruins, and codices that were left behind in Mexico City. The Aztecs were a powerful tribe. They called themselves the Mexicas and spoke the Nahuatl language. Since they came from a land called Aztlan, people named them the Aztecs. Because the Aztecs were very rich, the Spaniards wanted to take control of their territory by destroying their empire.
The Aztecs migrated to the valley of Mexico sometime in the 1200s from northern Mexico, a place called Aztlan. According to their beliefs, their god Huitzilopochtli was going to give them a sign on where to establish their city. The sign was an eagle on top of a cactus with a serpent in its beak. They saw the sign in Lake Texcoco, Mexico around AD 1325 and this is where the Aztecs settled. Lake Texcoco is where present-day Mexico City is located. Although, it was hard for them to settle close to a lake, they built a great city. Because they were very sophisticated, other groups like the Tapaneca and Acolhuaca wanted to ally with them. Between the newly formed allies, they created the great city of Tenochtitlan. The Aztecs life involved interesting sports that was not only for entertainment, but to determine their destiny. For instance, one day a ruler from Texcoco said that the Aztec empire was coming to an end. Montezuma, ruler of the Aztecs, was very disappointed. He offered him to play a game called tlachtli to let the Gods decide their destiny but Montezuma lost the game. Some believe this was a sign that the end of the Aztecs was near. The Aztecs had several games such as: patolli (gambling game) similar to backgammon, ball game (tlachtli), totoloque which they play with small gold balls. They also used hunting and fishing for entertainment. They usually prayed before starting a game so their
The biggest and greatest tribe to ever rule Mexico was the Mexica, which is how the name Mexico originated, or later called the Aztecs. The Aztecs drew from the Toltecs and other groups for their civilization. When the started they paid tributes to neighboring tribes and were forced to live in swampy, wet lands. There was a small island...
The Aztecs were a large group of Indian tribes.They were originally migratory and as they migrated they assimilatated other tribes. Through this process they joined together and became rich in civilization. The tribes the comprised the Aztecs were the Toltect whom the Chichimec [Aztecs] conquered in the early 1300's A.D. The Toltect embarked on conquests, which resulted in the Aztecs becoming a dominate civilization of their time.(1) Their migratory pattern stopped on the southwestern border of Lake Texcoco as they discovered an eagle sitting on the stem of a cactus, holding a serpent in his talons with his wings open to the sun. This as an omen from the gods.(4) The Aztecs finally settled in central Mexico, where Mexico City is now located, and began building Tenochtitlan in 1325. Over time the civilization's control spanned from Tenochtitlan east to the Gulf of Mexico and south to Guatemala.(1)
1) The Aztecs, like most societies, had a type of class structure. There were two main classes. The first was the class of the nobles or the pilli. The second class were the commoners or the macehaulli. There were also many subsets to these groups that held different responsibilities in societal life. Nobility was thought to be mostly hereditary. The nobles were educated from a young age to be leaders in Aztec society. However, the commoners had a variety of occupational choices. They were the farmers, merchants, and could even be athletes. Art, social events, and religion were all a huge part of Aztec culture. The Aztecs had a game known as Ullamaliztli and the athletes that played in these games were a kind of celebrity in Aztec culture. One interesting thing about their culture was the mandatory education. Once the women and the men were properly educated it would be time to marry. Marriages in Aztec culture were arranged and were also very closely intertwined with religion. There are many fascinating things about the Aztec culture, but perhaps the most important to them was their religion.
The Aztec religion was a polytheistic religion and was a combination of many beliefs and practices of other Mesoamerican cultures and religion.Religion was very important to the Aztec and they had temples for the Gods they worshipped.They worshipped this Gods Huitzilopochtli is the God of war, Quetzalcoatl is the feathered serpent and is the God of morning and evening, Tonatiuh is the sun God, and Patecatl is the God of healing and fertility.The Aztec
The Aztec Civilization covered most of present day Mexico. It was made up of marauding bands of warriors who migrated from the north. The God of Sun and War for the Aztecs was Huitzilpochtli.
In Northern Mexico, a group of people known as the Aztecs arrived and became the dominant
The Aztec Empire was the most powerful Mesoamerican kingdom of all time. They dominated the valley of Mexico in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The Aztecs were an advanced and successful civilization that built beautiful, sophisticated cities, temples, and pyramids. They also created a culture full of creativity with mythological and religious traditions. Aztecs lead a structured and evocative life that let their society to become a very superior civilization. The Aztec’s communication skills were very well developed for their time; through religious beliefs, government involvement, and family life they lived a full and productive life. Until in 1519 when the Spanish conquistadors arrived in Mexico, and defeated the Aztecs.
The Aztec people began as a nomadic group on the shores of Lake Texcoco in modern day Mexico. They eventually settled on a marshy island on the lake w...
The Spanish and Aztecs were both, very powerful and rich empires. They both were immensely successful. The Aztecs, originally known as the Mexica, was a group of people who lived in Tenochtitlan, now know as Mexico City. They believed that the gods controlled the world, and that they worshipped them by sacrificing. If the gods were not fed blood, the believed that the world would end. The Aztecs became one of the greatest cities in the world. On the other hand, the Spanish lived in the west of Europe, converting people to Catholicism. The Spanish wanted to explore, to conquer and by doing that, they could get rich. They were both powerful in their own areas. The Spanish soon were exploring and came across the Aztecs. The Spanish were seeking
Aztec merchants were called pochtecas. They served not only as merchants, but as spies for the priests and king. This required them to go very far to spy on other tribes. When they came back they could come with things and idea’s the people had never imagined. This brought the edges of the world that much closer to the Aztecs simply because believed that their merchants should spy on other tribes to see what kinds of gods they are worshiping.
The ancient religion of the Mexican Aztec’s was a complex interaction between gods and its adherents through human sacrifice, rituals, and principle beliefs. The fall of the Toltec civilization allowed for the Aztec religion to form and thrive during the 14th and 15th century. They believed the gods were powerful enough to effect everyone from the emperor right down to the slaves. Huitzilopochtli was the tribal sun god and god of war, without whom no life would exist on earth. Although often influenced by the surrounding cultures, the Aztec rituals and beliefs shaped and gave meaning to life for its adherents.
The religion and culture of the Aztecs played a role in the way the way they thought and fought. They worshiped the war-god Huitzilopochtli. He was identified with the sun and was called "the Giver of life" and "the Preserver of Life" (xxxix). The religion carried some ridiculous rituals such as human sacrifice along with using magicians and wizards to cast spells. In war conditions, human sacrifice played a big role because the Aztecs would not fight to kill,...
A major element of Aztec life was religion, as often is in the case in ancient civilizations. The Aztecs were a polytheistic people, and they often made use of human sacrifice to please their gods. Diaz often makes reference to the blood-stained walls of the Aztec temples in his account of the conquest. In reference to the success of Cortes and his soldiers, an anci...
The Aztecs came from Azatlan which is the mythical place of origin(Aztecs of Lost Civilization). Huizilopochtli, the god of war, told the Aztecs to leave Azatlan and wander until they saw an eagle perched on a cactus growing out of a rock and eating a snake(Los Aztecas). The Aztecs traveled many years to find the legend and finally found it while at Lake Texcoco. Lake Texcoco was ruled by the Toltecs between the 10th and 11th centuries(Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia). Since many other tribes also migrated to Lake Texcoco at the same time, the Aztecs were pushed out to the westside of the lake to a swampy area. The only piece of dry land they had was a little island surrounded by marshes. Over a long period of time they built their empire with chinapas. Chinapas were formed by piling up mud from the lake bottom to make little islands(Aztec Empire History). Tenochtitlan (currently Mexico City), which means "Place of the Cactus", became the capital in 1325 and soon there came many islands in which bridges were built to connect the mainland (Los Aztecas). They also dug canals and constructed aqueducts. There were many religious structures, and they built temples and pyramids. By 1502 the Aztec Empire expanded from Guatemala to San Luis Potosi which is in Central and Southern Mexico and extended 800 miles along a northwest-southeast axis. The Aztecs conquered many cities and all became part of the empire which was wedged between high mountains and surrounded by lakes(Aztecs of Lost Civilization/ Azetc Empire History).
According to the legend, the Aztecs, who referred to themselves as the Mexica, spent years wandering through central Mexico in search of a homeland. In AD 1325, the Aztecs founded their new capital Tenochtitlan (Moctezuma, 9). Years later, the Aztecs started to build their renowned empire. The Aztec Empire was made up of the Triple Alliance: Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan (Moctezuma, 55). Agriculture was the basis of the Aztec’s economy, but conquest and warfare lead to economic expansion and the accumulation of tributes from conquered towns (Moctezuma, 21). War was vital, for it maintained and expanded the economic and religious basis (Moctezuma, 55). The Aztec warriors were the driving force of much of the Aztec empires success because of their training, weaponry, wardress, sacrificing, and combat.