History Of The Aztec Calendar

The Aztecs were a remarkable civilization. Th is civilization were distrusted and disliked because they tended to push others out of their way. They ruled an empire in Tenochtitlan in the time of 1350 to 1519. They also were known for their agriculture and human sacrifices. Agriculture was a very important part of their h istory because without their farming method the Aztec couldn't have created such great civilization. According to Document A of the Aztec DBQ, states that the Aztec empire grew more than 200 miles west to east, and north to south. Th is means that with the growth of the empire the population also grew and more effective agriculture techniques were needed to feed the people. They created the method of ch inampas because they

In addition to sacrifices, religion even influenced the indigeneous peoples' geographic location. Most of us are familiar with the image that is on the Mexican flag; it is an eagle standing on a cactus, eating a snake. Huitzilopotchli, who was the leader of his people was told to leave Aztlan and travel south until he found a symbol to settle down. As he was traveling, he found an eagle on a cactus eating a snake and decided that that was the sign he was looking for; so he settled down. That now-famous image became the central symbol on the Mexican flag. This was symbolic to them because the eagle represented the sky or heaven, the cactus represented the underworld, and the snake represented the ground. In addition, the bird eating the snake on the cactus also represented duality, the coexistence of natural elements, as it fused together the bird which represented the sky, and the snake which represented the ground. Duality was important because it represented the stability and equality of everything(Covarrubias 2012). The stone of the fifth sun, also known as the “Aztec Calendar”, is a widely known symbol. However, what is not widely known is that the stone of the fifth sun is actually a religious reminder created by the Mechica/Aztecs. The four squares represent earth, fire, wind and water; and also represent the four previous suns. The two faces in the stone of the fifth sun appear

They were fearful of natural disasters, and tried to keep their gods pleased to prevent the end of the world. Similar to the Mayans, the Aztecs performed blood sacrifices for the war god of the sun, Huitzilopochtli. They believed that he was fighting the darkness, and needed blood sacrifices to rise up in the afterlife and fight with him. The Aztecs held strong value in oratory skills, and tales of their gods were taught and passed down. They also built sculptures of all different sizes depicting their gods. In terms of technical skill, the Aztecs built steep-sided pyramids similar to the Mayans. They had many temples for their gods. Like the Mayans, the Aztecs built a large calendar on which they recorded important dates - particularly religious

Obtaining the knowledge that was passed down to them from earlier Mesoamerican cultures, the Aztecs carved the calendar stone in 1479 (Smith 253). At the time, the Aztecs lived in a very civilized world filled with amazing architecture, an impressively complex government system, and they also employed intricate systems of writing and calendric systems (Taube 7). The Calendar Stone was made by basalt stone. For the Aztecs, everything was pictorial in nature around this era. The calendar stone depicted different pictograms or Codex Magliabechianoand, which was primarily written on religious documents (Aztec-History). Art was centered around religion in this era. So the pictograms of the gods on the calendar stone would correlate with that

The Aztecs are really interesting people that were alive back from 1400 - 1600 AD. They lived very different than us, because we don’t no human sacrifices because we don’t believe in any of the gods (due to science)This paper will show how the Aztecs lived, including their empire, Government and Agriculture.

Aztecs, also called Mexica, is a Mesoamerican civilization that flourished around 1350. Tenochtitlan is the capital of the Aztec empire built on the shores of Lake Texcoco. Aztecs were believed to be nomads who came from the Toltec tribe. They wandered into the valley of Mexico around 1325 and started to form villages. They dug canals, drained lakes and converted them into fertile fields. They also built the beautiful city of Tenochtitlan. The Aztecs were known for human sacrifice, which was associated to religious rituals. They believed that their gods sacrificed their own lives to sustain the earth. In return, human blood must be sacrificed to the sun, moon, earth, and vegetation gods to provide them nourishment to keep the nature and cosmos in balance (Benton & DiYanni, pg. 325-326). The Aztecs arose as the leading force in central Mexico taking the region’s city-states under their power by the 15th century. They developed a sophisticated political, social, commercial and religious organization. However, the Spaniards, led by the Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes defeated and conquered the Aztecs in 1521.

The selfless act the gods committed led to one of the major reasons for human sacrifices which was that since the gods gave up their own life for the creation of the new world, that the Aztecs had to somehow respect and honor their action. They did this by creating an eighteen month calendar, which dedicated each month to a certain god. The Aztecs used scared and solar calendars to tell time and when all the possible combinations had been used, usually every fifty-two years, the Aztecs would go through a twelve-day period before the cycle started again (Benson 506).

The Aztecs had human beings for sacrificial rituals. Aztec society was based on agriculture, and influenced by religion that encircled life of the Aztec empire. The Aztecs were polytheistic and worshipped gods that represented natural forces. These sacrifices were vital to their agricultural economy. All of the sacrifices were at a giant stone pyramids topped by temples where sacrifices were provided the gods. Human sacrifice played an important role to the indigenous tribes in the central Mexico. However, the Aztecs brought human sacrifice to excessive deaths that had never been practiced before. The Mexica Indians and other indigenous tribes believed it was necessary to constantly gratify the gods through human sacrifice. They performed this ritual spilling the blood of human beings onto the ground. The priests believed it was a way paying tribute to the gods for the weather, and good crops. If the blood flowed, then the sun would rise each morning. This would allow the crops would grow, and the gods would provide perfect weather for the

As I read Daily Life of The Aztecs on the Eve of the Spanish Conquest, I discovered the Aztecs were a truly amazing society of people. In the book, Jacques Soustelle looks into Aztec culture, religion, education, and technology, just to name a few. He looks across the Valley of Mexico during the early 1500s. These Aztec people can be compared and contrasted with that of people in today’s society.

Religion- Aztecs worshipped Tlaloc(god of rain). He had the control over nature. He can cause floods and drought. The Aztecs were afraid of him because he controlled their living. Human sacrifice was the strongest offering they gave to their gods. They heartily

The Aztecs worshipped many gods.Two of the gods were huitzilopochtli and quetzalcoatl.The Aztecs practiced human sacrifice

Religion plays an important part in the lives on Aztecs, also very complicated because they inhabited aspects

An Incan or Aztecs day consists of raising their kids, getting market goods, tending crops on terraces, construction of temples and other buildings, also depending on what type of month it is there’s usually a religious activity involving human sacrifice. Aztecs everyday life was like in most modern day cultures the father works in able to sustain his family. Woman usually cleaned, cooked, weaved and cared for their children. Men educated their sons till the age of ten; from their they were sent to a school connected to a temple which taught them about religion and military skills, girls could also attend school but other than that they usually stayed home.

The Aztecs traded and made things. Thenochtith’s traded maize, beans, insects, slaves, cacao beans, tobacco, land, tools, weapons, food, stuffs, tortillas, chile sauces, gold, greenstone, turquoise, and cotton. There is 20 weeks and that makes days on the Aztec calendar. They controlled 11 million people and had 200 thousand habits. Also, the largest city in Pre-Columbian Americas was Tenochtitlan.

The religion of the Aztecs was made up of mainly three gods: Huitzilopochtli, Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl. Below these three main gods were four creating gods. Below these four gods were many other gods, however the most important were Tlaloc, the rain god, Chalchihuitlicue, the god of growth and Xipe, the god of spring. The main thing that captures the attention of Aztec religion is their human sacrifice made to the different gods. Although human sacrifice was practiced around Mesoamerica, the Aztecs practiced human sacrifice in a large scale never seen before to date. The idea of human sacrifice was that Gods gave things to humans like food, rain, wealth, and other goods only if they were given human beings in return. The Aztecs believed that the goods liked best the living hearths of sacrificed captives. If the captive was a well skilled soldier and very brave then the Gods would return better goods to his people. This idea lead to wars were the Aztecs fought with other indians and capture their bravest men for sacrifice. As we can imagine,