How Did Tenochtitlans Build The Aztecs

The second interesting thing about the Aztecs is their empire. Many years after the Mexica people first built their proud city, Tenochtitlan (later to become Mexico City), they formed an alliance with two other cities - Texcoco (Tetzcoco) and Tlacopan. This Triple Alliance was to rule the Valley of Mexico until the

Legend has it the Aztec people fled their home city of Aztlan, no one knows the exact location of Aztlan, but we do know that the Mexica founded Tenochtitlan in 1325. The exact reason for the Aztecs building the new city of Tenochtitlan was for Huitzilopochtli, god of war, he ordered the higher-ranking priests to look for “prickly pear cactus and build a temple in his honor.” The Aztecs followed the order and found a place on an island in the middle of lake Texcoca. In the early years times were tough for the people, they lived in huts and harsh conditions, they

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

Through the reading of Temples and Ceremonies we are informed that all people engage in sacrifice. In fact “All people engaged in auto sacrifice at some point in their lives, usually to petition the gods for agricultural or human fertility” (MAI Reader, 77). This connects to the theme in the myth of people committing acts of sacrifice in order to fill obligations for their well being we can deduce that since “all people engaged in...sacrifice”(MAI, 77) that people within the Aztec society viewed sacrifice as a duty and the norm . Carassaco’s text elaborates on the concept of the reasoning and act of sacrifice. “Ancestors carrying out sky watching, prayer, ceremonies, and ritual sacrifices to their gods. (Carrasco, 26)” This imposes that the Aztecs sacrifices were solely for their gods and their benefit. When the Spanish came to conquer the Aztecs they too realized the sacrifice occurring within the society. Bernal de Castillo one of Hernan Cortez’s men recorded in a journal his personal experience with asking about sacrifice. “Then Diaz del Castillo added a provocative and enigmatic passage about human sacrifice and cannibalism in relation to the feast” (Carrasco, 6). This shows that people (even outsiders) were well aware of the significance of sacrifice within the Aztec society. We also see record from another first hand account of the Aztecs and their relationship to sacrifice. Bernardino de Sahagun writings states that “the Aztecs carried out human sacrifice within a large, more complex ceremonial system in which a tremendous amount of energy, wealth and time was spent” (Carrasco, 63). This shows how crucial sacrifice was within the Aztec

The Aztecs had many different believes and theories. This included gods, practices, and culture. This paragraph is going to be focused on the Aztec gods. There were many gods that the Aztecs believe in. There are 10 main gods. They were, Huitzilopochtli who was the main god for the Aztecs. He is the one who lead them during the migration for directions of where they should build their capital city Tenochtitlan. He is the god of the sun and war. Tlaloc who is the god of rain is associated with agriculture and fertility. Tonatiuh was the god of nourishing who provided warmth to the people. Tezcatlipoca whose name means: “smoking mirror”. He is the god of evil power, death, and cold. Chalchiuhtlicue who was the goddess of running water and aquatic

1.Aztecs believed in sacrificing humans. They believed that if they did not provide enough blood to the gods, the world would end. It is said that the gods when the world was being created that they cut parts of themselves in order to nourish the earth. Aztecs believed that because of their loss of blood they needed to be regiven it through sacrifices dedicated to them. They would sacrifice people every 20 days, which was an Aztec month. Aztecs thought everything is tonacayotl(spiritual flesh hood), which means everything in this world was created from the gods blood, limbs, and fingers. They would perform different sacrifices for different gods. For instance, the god Tezcatlipoca would have a young impersonator sacrificed to him in the month of Toxcatl, this impersonation was given food, women, and was treated like a celebrity. On the day he was killed he would run in the town playing the flute, then he would climb the temple and let the priests sacrifice him.

When the Spaniards came to conquer the Aztecs in central Mexico, it was not their first encounter with civilization living in the American Continent. They meet before other indigenous groups with lees degree of development. We have to remember that the Aztecs Empire was on its majestic years. "Tenochtitlan", was the capital of the empire with economic, religious power like no other, the conquerors were impressed by the city’s cleanliness and organization. Bernals was perhaps most impressed by its system of public latrines, the city and its people were immaculately clean, the paths and squares swept regularly; as he described on The True History of the Conquest of New Spain. Bernal is our best source of information about the Spanish an Aztec

The Aztecs believed in many gods. First of all it took the gods 5 tries to make the world. On the other hand the Aztecs fear the end of the world. While the lowly humble god became the sun. Then, they praised Quetzalcoatl

Aztecs sacrificed a lot of people. Gods needed it in massive quantities or else the world will come to an end. There were sacrificed 20,000

The Aztecs were considered an empire and ruled land along the Valley of Mexico. Their land stretched coast to coast between the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico and was continually expanding (Tangen). They had a powerful army and alliances with fellow tribes. They ruled more than 500 small states, and were populated with about five or 6 million people. In the middle of it all was their beloved capital city, Tenochtitlan. The city alone was home to 140,000 of the Aztec people and so popular that it was the densest city that has existed in Mesoamerica. The people of the Aztec Civilization were advanced socially. Their society was structured in classes of nobles, indentured servants and slaves, in descending order of social status. Each class had an important role to creating a fully developed society (History.com). The Aztecs valued art, and spent a large amount of time and expensive resources to make it. The art was so special that only the upper class Aztecs were allowed to own it. They made things like jewelry, pottery, statues, and painted walls (Ancient Aztec Art). The economy of the Aztecs had to be successful to supply their whole civilization. Trade was a main part of their economy that made most of their money. In addition, trade was important for them to have a way to receive materials they would not be able to obtain in their own land. The Aztecs were also skilled farmers and were able to sell all of their crops also. The main marketplaces were also located in the main and busy cities to make sure everyone could have access to it (Aztec Economy Trade and Currency). The Aztec’s religion was important among the people and they built temples, palaces, and statues for worship towards their gods. Another notable aspect of their religion is their practice of human sacrifice

“Proud of itself / is the city of Mexico-Tenochtitlan. / Here no one fears to die in war. This is our glory…” (Joseph and Henderson, 61). The Aztec mythology claims their god Huitzilopochtli ordered them to leave the seven caves to find new land they would call home. They traveled many years until they found the eagle with a serpent on his mouth standing on top of a cactus. There the Aztecs were to build a temple for the god of war and of the sun, Huitzilopochtli. The Aztecs were tried by many but they learned to become skillful warriors, which allowed them to survive for many years. They were not afraid to die and their warriors were skillful, tactical, and one of the best in its time. They were landscapers, amazing architects, mathematicians, poets, but most importantly skillful warriors. The Aztecs were religious people, which also made them very superstitious. They believed they lived in a cyclical world and the world would come to end if their sun god was not satisfied, which meant performing many human sacrifices. They believed their god Quetzalcoatl would return one day to take back what belonged to him. The Aztecs were rich in culture, they had a great civilization, and were survivors. They built an empire in a swampy island others refused to claim. The Aztecs are viewed by many people as violent and to sometimes an inhumane culture; however, they were simply trying to survive. Amongst many other aspects of their culture the battlefield was very important and a great

The most important part of the Aztec religious life was human sacrifice. It was practiced in all of Aztec history. The god provided needs for human, so in return a sacrifice was to be made. The Mayan priest had many ways of nourishing there gods. This was done through blood caused by piercing of the tongue, ears or genitals. Other sacrificial practices was through prayer, food offering, sports and even drama. The relationship between the religion and its society was a strong believe in life after death. Aztecs believed death was more important than life, the way they lived their life would determine where they would end up after death. There was two determining factor and it was whether they would go to the sun god or the dark underworld. If

When the Aztec arrived, there were already groups living around Lake Texcoco. Therefore, they had to settle on an island in the middle of the lake. Since the Aztecs were surrounded by water, they were protected and ended up building the most powerful city in the Valley of Mexico - Tenochtitlan. To connect the Aztecs to the shore, they

The Aztec civilisation was one of the greatest, largest and most advanced in the Americas during 14th to the 16th century. The Aztec people arrived in what is now Mexico in the late 1100’s. It was found by a wandering tribe of hunters and gatherers on islands in Lake Texcoco, near the present site of Mexico City. The Aztecs had started building their new city Tenochtitlan in 1325. In only one century, this civilization grew into the Aztec empire, largely because of its progressive and advanced system of agriculture.

The Aztecs controlled a huge trade network; every town had a market where local farmers and artisans traded their goods. The market near the capital attracted people from all over the empire. Because Tenochtitlan’s location limited the amount of farming land, they built chinampas, or floating gardens.