THE AZTECS

ORIGINS• Migrants from the north “Aztlan” • One of seven Chichimecan tribes• Mexica vs. Aztec• Looking for eagle with serpent (legend

has it…)• “People without faces” • Took on culture of previous cultures

(Toltecs)

LANGUAGENahuatlMany Spanish words derive from Nahuatl• Tomate/tomatl• Milpa/ milpa• Atole/atolli• Camote/comotli• Tecolote/tecolotlOver a million speakers today in Central Mexico (rural)Place names abound (Xochimilco, Acapulco, Chapultepec, etc.)

TENOCHTITLAN1325Lake TexcocoVision of/from Huitzilopochtli (patron god) in form of an eagle, with serpent on cactus (Mexican Flag)Swampy, marshy setting

TEMPLO MAYOR

TRIPLE ALLIANCEMexica of Tenochtitlan were most powerful group. Allied with two other city-states to control most of current-day Mexico: Texcoco, Tenochtitlan, and Tlacopan

HUITZILOPOCHTLI

• Aztec God of War

• Often represented like a hummingbird

• Warrior spirits said to come back as hummingbirds

AZTEC EAGLE WARRIOR

HUMAN SACRIFICE• Debt: Return for gods sacrificing selves for creation of

sun, moon, earth. • Human blood needed to keep the light, the sun, life• Enemy captives• Victims placed on special stones atop temple pyramids• Hearts cut out by special priests, offered up to gods• Form of intimidation vs. enemies• One part of larger religious practices, including domestic

altars, non-human sacrifices, music and dance • exaggerated by Spaniards for own purposes

QUETZALCOATL• God of learning and

patron of priests• Plumed serpent• Was tricked by jealous

gods, drunken, fornicated with his sister, and fled to the east in horror, promising to return

• Aztecs initially thought Hernan Cortes was Queztalcoatl returning

AZTEC TIMEFive Suns: Each ends in a cataclysmic eventWe are in fifth sun Must keep it going to survive

Two calendars: 365 day xiuhpohualli (year count)120 day tonalpohualli (day count) sacred calendar (13 x 20)

AZTEC GOVERNMENT: NOBILITY• King (tlotoani)

• Ruled the city-state; selected by council of nobles

• Lords with titles (tecuhtli) • War heroes appointed to beGenerals, judges,

governors

• Lesser nobles (pilli)• Warriors (tequiua)

AZTEC SOCIAL ORGANIZATION

Nobility vs. commonersNobles (hereditary)

10% (gov’t and economic control)

Commoners (90%)

Macehualtin (workers, taxpayers, backbone of Aztec society)

Tlalmaitl (serfs) no land, no taxes

Tlacotin (slaves)

AZTEC STUDENTS BEING DISCIPLINED BY THEIR TEACHERS AT SCHOOL (CODEX MENDOZA)

ARTS AND SCIENCESPictographic written languagePoetryStone sculpturesObsidian toolsAstronomical observationsHealth and medicine