Aztec Culture Essay Research Paper Aztec Culture

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Aztec Culture

Aztec State By: DJ XTC The Aztec Nation A distant sound is heard. It sounds like a deep membranophone being hit with a heavy instrument. You hear it once more and strive your eyes in the way of the sound. All around you is heavy jungle. Snakes slither between your legs. You hear the sound one time once more. In forepart of you is a heavy base of ferns. You portion them and look down into a broad unfastened vale. The valley gets so broad and it is so green that it takes your breath off. But that is non what you are looking at. You are gazing at a immense metropolis with glistening edifices reflecting in the spring sunshine. Smoke rises up from some of the many houses. You can see and hear kids playing in the broad unfastened Fieldss in forepart of the polishing edifices. Lamas and poulets are being bought and sold. You see bags of gilded jewellery being bought and sold. Beyond the market topographic point you can watch a spiritual ceremonial. You hear the shriek of a individual being sacrificed to one of the Gods. Beyond the metropolis there are roads made of rock and canals full of walkers and canos. Who are these people and what are they making here you wonder? The above paragraph describes what an early adventurer in Mexico might hold seen between 1400 and 1500 AD. The Aztec state is one of the largest and most advanced Indian states to of all time be on Earth. Merely about every portion of the Aztec life was advance to such a province that at that clip of the universe the people were populating better than many European states. The Aztec state is alone in its history, economic system, environment, and manner of life so any other state at that clip. Possibly three to four thousand old ages ago, little sets of hunting-gathering peoples made their manner across the land span that was the frozen Bering Strait, migrated southerly through what is now Alaska, Canada, the United States, Central America, South America, and Mexico, settling along the manner. One such hunting- assemblage group settled in the Central Valley of what is now Mexico ( Nicholson 1985 ) . There is a long history of civilisations in the Central Valley of Mexico ; every bit early as several centuries before Christ agricultural folks had already settled, and by the birth of Christ had established as their great spiritual centre Teotihuac n. The history of the Central Valley after circa the 10th century A.D. is one of tribal struggle and high quality. About the clip of the autumn of this agricultural civilisation, which flourished from about the 2nd to the ten percent centuries A.D. , a new folk, who we know as the Toltecs, settled at Tula, Hidalgo. They belonged to a larger group known as the Nahua, or Nahuatl- speech production, and seem to hold entered the Central Valley from the North or northwest. The Toltec civilisation bit by bit replaced the older, agricultural civilisation, as Toltec influence was felt every bit far as the Yucat n Peninsula and other countries occupied by the Mayan peoples. Yet by the 11th century A.D. , another folk, the Chichimecs, had already begun to overshadow the Toltecs as the dominant group of the Central Valley. By about the 13th century, the Chichimecs had replaced the Toltecs ( Wolf 1998 ) . About this clip, another Nahua folk known as the Aztecs began their migration, in c. 1168. They left their fabulous cryptic fatherland called Aztl N, topographic point of the Heros, or Chicomoztoc, topographic point of the seven caves, and migrated due souths through Michoac n ( Le n-Portilla 1992 ) . The Aztecs, or & # 8220 ; Crane People, & # 8221 ; arrived in the Central Valley and obtained permission to settle at Chapultepec in c. 1248 ( Caso 1958 ) . The tradition of tribal struggle in the Central Valley was continued ; nevertheless, it seems that the Aztecs, at first, were practically enslaved by the other Nahua folks populating the Central Valley. The Aztec civilization would non be subjugated, nevertheless, and continued in its battle for power. By the 14th century the Aztecs had founded two colonies on islands in lakes: Tlaltetalco and Tenochtitl n. The traditional initiation day of the month of Tenochtitl N is 1325 ; the quest for the sacred site on which to establish Tenochtitl n is relayed to us by an Aztec myth, & # 8230 ; [ its ] beginning is found in ancient times, when a low folk was banished & # 8211 ; by the original Aztecs ( Castillo 1908 ) & # 8211 ; from a cryptic fatherland it called Aztl N ( topographic point of the Heros ) or Chicomoztoc ( topographic point of the seven caves ) . During the long expatriate the Mexicas wandered among hostile aliens while uneasily seeking for the Godhead mark, whose presence, prophesied by their God, would tag their reaching in the promised land. The narrative continues with the find of the portents and the subsequent initiation of Mexico-Tenochtitl N on the sacred site. ( Le n-Portilla 1992 ) By the 15th century Tenochtitl N had become the centre of the Aztec universe & # 8211 ; the centre of Aztec growing, conquering, and enlargement. Equally early as the 16th century Tenochtitl n dominated all other metropoliss in the Central Valley and had reached the tallness of its power and impressiveness ( Caso 1958 ) . The centre of the Aztec imperium was located near the Lerma river which is near the southern portion of the Mexican tableland. The tableland is the largest of Mexico & # 8217 ; s land parts and it is the most varied part dwelling of five subdivisions. The Volcanic Axis is located across the southern portion of the tableland. Many of the vents are still active. This country receives a batch of rain and the dirt is fertile. This country is the chief country where maize and beans were grown for the Aztec imperium. The Bajio lies North of the volcanic axis and has an mean lift of 7,000 pess. This part houses the Aztec capital of Tenochtitl n. Here there is really small rain and therefore the part is really dry. The Mesa del Norte country makes up for more so half of the tableland and has an mean lift of 9,000 pess. Since it is so high harvests are ever in danger of stop deading. The Sierra Madre Occidental is a long mountain scope that forms the western ridge of the tableland. It remained a barrier for the Aztecs and their enemies. Some of this part still has non been explored by people. The Sierra Madre Oriental is the tableland & # 8217 ; s eastern rim. The Aztecs had no usage for this country but today there is a major coal and old industry in the country ( Aschmann 1985 ) . The mean January temperatures of the tableland is from 10 to 15 grades Centigrade while in July the mean temperature is about 20 to 25 grades centigrade. Thus the conditions is much like B.C. Average precipitation is from 30 & # 8211 ; 50 centimeter at the Aztec capital to less than 30 in the Highlandss. The cardinal portion of life for any Aztec citizen, adult male or adult female, was faith. For illustration, if a babe was to go a priest, instantly after birth it was painted in black and a beaded necklace placed about its cervix, and certain rites were conducted. The necklace was so removed and placed in a temple until the kid came of age, when the kid would so continue in some type of ecclesiastical preparation. It was ne’er doubted the kid would go a priest ; the Aztecs believed that the kid & # 8217 ; s psyche was caught in the beads, and that the psyche would pull the kid to the temple inexorably without respect to the will of the kid. Similarly, if a kid was to go a great warrior, it was decided at birth and similar ceremonials were carried out. Interestingly, these determinations about a kid & # 8217 ; s hereafter were made by the parents shortly after birth. Therefore, from the minute a kid was brought into the universe she was surrounded by faith. The faith of the Aztecs was a complex one, but is by and large characterized as polytheistic, based on the worship of a battalion of personal Gods. It is interesting that the Aztecs attempted to integrate the Gods of conquered people into their faith ; this was accomplished by sing the conquered peoples & # 8217 ; Gods merely as manifestations of the Gods they already worshipped. Similarly, frequently in the lower Aztec categories people would make whole Gods out of what was by and large considered merely a manifestation of an property of a individual God ( Caso 6-9 ) . There is a double originative rule found throughout the Aztec civilization, split non surprisingly between the masculine and the feminine. This double originative rule was expressed in the signifier of two Gods, Ometecuhtli, & # 8220 ; two Godhead, & # 8221 ; and Omec huatl, & # 8220 ; two lady. & # 8221 ; Both resided in Omeyocan, intending & # 8220 ; the topographic point two & # 8221 ; ( Caso 9 ) . Aztec Gods were created when Ometecuhtli and Omec huatl had four boies, to whom they entrusted the creative activity of the other Gods, the universe, and adult male. The boies were named Red Tezcatlipoca, besides called Xipe or Camaxtle ; Black Tezcatlipoca, normally called Tezcatlipoca ; Quetzlcoatl, the God of air current and life ; and Huitzilopochtli, the Blue Tezcatlipoca. It is surmised that in ancient times Quetzlcoatl was replaced by a White Tezcatlipoca ( Moctezuma 1988 ) . One of the cardinal constructs in the Aztec faith was the grouping of all existences harmonizing to the four compass waies and the cardinal way of up and down. Ometecuhtli ( heaven ) and Omec huatl ( Earth ) represented the cardinal way of up and down ; this symbolizes the celestial spheres and the Earth. Their four boies were each associated with a different colour and a different compass point. Black Tezcatlipoca was associated with the North, Blue Tezcatlipoca with the South, Red Tezcatlipoca with the East, and Quetzlcoatl with the West. Animals, trees, yearss, and besides work forces and adult females were grouped in this mode. Work force, harmonizing to the twenty-four hours on which they were born, belonged to one of the four parts of the universe. Aztec mythology provinces that the universe has been created several times, and finally each creative activity is followed by a catastrophe that has destroyed world. This was necessary, they believed, because seldom is anything perfected on the first essay. Therefore, they could non hold a perfect creative activity after the first attempt. There are two Aztec myths that clearly illustrate two chief dogmas of Aztec civilization. The first myth centres on Quetzlcoatl. The myth says that if adult male was to populate, he must reciprocate by offering his ain blood in forfeit. This is because adult male came about from Quetzcoatl doing a forfeit. Sacrifice was indispensable in Aztec faith, for if no adult male could be except through the originative force of the Gods, the Gods in bend need adult male to prolong them with human forfeit. The 2nd myth helps explicate the militant inclinations of the Aztecs. As explained by Caso, harmonizing to legend, Coatlicue, the old goddess of the Earth, became a priestess in the temple populating a life of celibacy after holding given birth to the Moon and stars. One twenty-four hours when she was brushing, Coatlicue came across a ball of down which she tucked into her girdle. When she finished sweeping, she looked for the ball of down but realized it was gone and that she was pregnant. When her kids Coyolxauhqui, the Moon, and Centzonhuitzn huac, the stars, discovered this they became angry and decided to kill their female parent. Coatlicue wept over her at hand decease, but the presence in her uterus consoled her. When Coyolxauhqui and Centzonhuitzn huac came to murder her, Huitzilopochtli was born, and with the assistance of the snake of fire ( sun & # 8217 ; s beams ) he cut off Coyolxauhqui & # 8217 ; s caput and sent Centzonhuitzn huac flying. Therefore, when Huitzilopochtli was born he had to make combat with his brothers the stars and his sister the Moon ; armed with the snake of fire he drove them away, his triumph meaning a new a new twenty-four hours of life for work forces. When Huitzilopochtli consummated his triumph, he was carried across the sky on a litter by the liquors of warriors who have died either in combat or on the sacrificial rock. Later, in the early afternoon, Huitzilopochtli was picked up by the liquors of adult females who perished in childbearing. They so lead the Sun to its scene. Each twenty-four hours this Godhead combat is begun afresh, and therefore Huitzilopochtli must be strong if he is to get the better of all of this brothers with merely his pointers of visible radiation. To carry through this undertaking, Huitzilopochtli must be strong, nourished by human blood. Huitzilopochtli is a God, and disdains the harsh nutrient of worlds ; he desires chalch huatl, the cherished liquid. Thus the Aztecs, the people of Huitzilopochtli, are charged with the responsibility of providing him with nutrient. Thus, for the Aztecs, war was an built-in portion of their diurnal modus operandi. War became about a from of worship of Huitzilopochtli. Their belief that Huitzilopochtli depended on them for chalch huatl led the Aztecs to set up the Xochiya yotl, or & # 8220 ; flowery war. & # 8221 ; The exclusive intent of the Xochiya yotl was to take captives to give to the Sun. Therefore, each Aztec God required his ain forfeits. This led to an unusual civilization: 1 refined, yet with an recognized degree of ferociousness that is still unexcelled. The Aztecs conducted an interesting ceremonial called T xcatl in the 6th month. A immature warrior, most likely captured through Xochiya yotl, was selected for his godlike qualities: smooth tegument, good expressions, and poise among others. He was so trained for an full twelvemonth in how to carry on himself as a personage of the tribunal. He was taught how to play clay pipes, and was given an cortege to go to to him as though he were a Godhead. Dressed in the garb of the Gods, this imitator of Tezcatlipoca would saunter the streets smoking all right baccy from gilded reed pipes transporting a corsage of flowers. Any citizens who met him on the street held him in every bit high of an regard as the male monarch himself. Twenty yearss before the jubilation of the festival, his frock was changed to that of a great captain. He was married to four immature maidens, embodiments of the married womans of the God of Providence: Xochiqutzal, Xilonen, Atlatonan, and Huixtoc huatl. When the twenty-four hours of the festival eventually came, feasts, ceremonials, and dances were held in award of the young person. The full population praised him, common mans and Lords likewise. Suddenly, he was taken with his married womans and tribunal to a little, ignored temple on the shore of a lake. Here, his married womans and cortege left him. Left with but a few pages and his clay pipes, he was escorted to the base of the temple. Here, even the pages left him. He ascended the temple stairss entirely. On each of the stairss, he broke one of his flutes, typifying his passed magnificence. Finally, atop the temple he was seized by four priests and stripped of his staying finery. Each of his weaponries and legs was seized by a priest, and the immature adult male was stretched atop an communion table resembling a planate cylinder, with his thorax push high in the air. A 5th priest, in a plunging gesture, thrust an obsidian knife into the immature adult male & # 8217 ; s thorax. The priest so reached in through the lesion and torus out the immature adult male & # 8217 ; s bosom. T xcatl had a moral: it was to teach people that those who enjoy wealth and pleasances in this life will stop in poorness and sorrow ( Caso 69 ) . T xcatl is merely one illustration of Aztec forfeit. Captured warriors were painted with ruddy and white chevrons, in imitation of the stellar Gods, and sacrificed in the same manner. The emptied cadavers were so taken to the capturers houses & # 8220 ; for taking apart and distribution: flesh scraped from the skulls and femurs ; fragments of flesh cooked and eaten ; human teguments, dripping with lubricating oil and blood, stretched over life flesh ; coagulums of blood scooped up to smear the temple walls & # 8221 ; ( Clendinnen 261 ) . For the Aztecs, nevertheless, these were more than merely monstrous rites. The flesh was eaten atop whole dried maize meats ; to them, the flesh but was a different signifier of affair in the vegetable rhythm ( Clendinnen 209 ) . To the Aztecs, the victims were the embodiment of the God whose garb they wore ; therefore, the feeding of the flesh was a most sacred Communion ( Caso 75 ) . The teguments of the victims were frequently worn until decomposition occurred ; the remotion of the tegument was a happy event. This served to remind the Aztecs of the resentment of the experience of vitamin D

eath. In general, however, human skins were worn to this extreme only after one occasion: The Feast of the Flaying of Men. Other sacrificial methods were practiced as well: some men were tethered to a framework and riddled with arrow until they no longer could stand; some men were burned in sacrifices to the gods of fire; some men were flayed alive and the priest dressed in his skin; some men were decapitated; and some fought in gladiator matches. In these matches, the prisoner was bound and armed with a wooden sword, its usual blades of obsidian replaced with feathers. The prisoner was also given four cudgels of pine. Four expert Aztec warriors, two each from the Jaguar and Eagle clans, would come fight the prisoner one at a time. Should these four fail to vanquish their foe, a fifth man was brought out, always left-handed and thus extremely powerful to slay the prisoner. This cycle continued until the prisoner was finally exterminated (Bray 1968). To the Aztecs family was very important. The family was an important part of survival. The man was a house builder and a farmer or craftsman while the woman prepared food, cared for the children, made clothes, and looked after the livestock. Aztecs thought that marriage without children was incomplete and thus barren women were looked down upon and scorned. The aims of an average Aztec was to have a respected position in the community, a happy family life, and a marriage with children. The birth of a child was an important event. Every important event was always accompanied with speeches in Aztec life. As soon as the baby was born, the midwife would give the baby a speech while she cut the umbilical cord. In the speech she explained to the baby what its duties would be in life. If the infant was a boy he would be told that he would be a warrior whose mission was to feed the Sun with the blood of enemies and if the infant was a girl she was to spend her days doing household chores and help the family. In about four days the father would call an astrologer to read the child’s horoscope and determine the appropriate day for the naming ceremony. After a naming ceremony, the name was announced and the news was spread by little boys who ran through the streets shouting. Each child had a calendrical name taken from the day of birth and also a personal name which belonged to him alone(Bray 1969). Education was considered extremely important. Even from an infant to age four the child was taught with ‘quite words’. At age four, practical instruction was given under the watchful eyes of the elders. For example the child was taught all the words of the things he would carry in a basket. He would learn to carry things for his mother and go with his father to the local markets. For girls education was really training for marriage. She would be shown how to make thread and use it. At age 14 she would learn to weave a loom. She was also thought how to make cloth to support the family. Self control and obedience was taught at home and punishments were severe. Boys were beaten, pricked with maguey spines, then tied hand and foot and laid naked on the wet ground for a whole day, or else were held over a fire of chili peppers and made to inhale the bitter smoke. Girls were too pricked or held over the fire, being forced to rise before dawn and to spend the whole day cleaning the home and sweeping the street outside (Bray 1968). In many other ways children were made to feel inferior. A ruler’s daughter was made to walk around and never look up from the ground. She was to never talk while eating and must keep absolute silence. Maidens could not go outside the house without guards. Young unmarried women could never see their father without permission and every time the saw him they would give him presents and gifts they had made. None laughed in his presence and all acted very soberly and modestly(Bray 1969). The choice of who to marry was left up to the man alone. Women had no choice of who they could marry. The two families would arrange and organize the marriage ceremony. The man who was going to get married was released from school and the school gave him many gifts. Now the young youth was considered a man. The girl who was usually 16, spent most of her time in preparing food for the big event. Marriage ceremonies were held in a house during the night with many people present (usually about 150). The marriage rite took place and the couple were perfumed with incense and were then presented with traditional gifts. Then they were joined by a match-maker by the young mans cloak and then they were man and wife. The party continued until the young people were tired and the old people were drunk. Then on the fifth day after the marriage ceremony, there was another party in celebration of the married couple (Bray 1969). Polygamy was very common among the Aztecs. This was very important in the survival of the nation because so many males were killed in wars and in sacrifices. Also alliances were made in this way for diplomatic reasons. If you committed adultery the punishment was death by stoning or strangulation. The person accused had the choice between the two types of punishment. The social structure of the Aztecs is very interesting. A person called the Great Speaker was the supreme ruler. The son of the Great Speaker not always was the heir. It was a Council of Wise Men- very similar to the Roman Senate- that decided in a democratic way who would be the next ruler of Tenochtitl n. In a way, the election of the Great Speaker was very similar to the election of the Byzantine Emperor (coincidentally, these two cultures are contemporary, the Byzantine ending years before the discovery of America). Once the Great Speaker was elected, he was obeyed in everything, since he was the represented of the god Huitzilopochtli on the Earth. The Great Speaker was also head of the government, and the main priest of the Great Temple. This curious selection process is due, according to several investigators basing themselves in legends and Aztec tales, to the fact that the first Aztec Ruler Acamapichtli (1376), had for a main wife a woman called Ilancueitl, daughter of the lord of a nearby town. This girl was sterile, which caused that the Aztec Lords offered their daughters to him and he also took his women slaves as companions. Logically, this caused that more than one resulted pregnant of the Aztec King and each one claimed the right of carrying the future heir in their wombs. When the majority of the sons of Acamapichtli were old enough, the Emperor ordered a group of priests and great warriors to gather to decide who would the next Great Speaker be. This originated the birth of the Council of Wise Men, whose members would be the greatest warriors and the wisest priests. Their selection was also democratic since these were also elected by their own Calpullis – we will talk about these later -. This selection process lasted all the time the Aztec Empire lasted. This way never did a dynasty exist (sometimes the Great Speaker was a close relative of the one before, as Moctezuma was Ahuizotl’s nephew) of Aztec families, preventing with this the aging of the civilization, just like it happened with the Czars in Russia and the kings in France. The heart of the Mexica Empire was the Calpulli. Even before the empire existed, the Calpulli existed already. This was generally formed by relatives or people of the same profession, in this manner there were Calpullis for priests, warriors, carpenters, clay workers, etc… Each Calpulli was a form of autonomous government, with its own Speaker or governor, who was elected by the oldest men living in the Calpulli. Just to give us an idea, we will say that each Calpulli had its own school, its own temple, and if the Calpulli was important sometimes it had its own garrison. In the Aztec society there were no closed societies. Anyone could get to be a member of the Council of Wise Men. Though, only the men belonging to the nobility could be Great Speakers. There is an Aztec story that narrates how a Tlaxcalteca, Najahuatzin- called the same way as the god who gave life to the Fifth Sun-, was caught by Moctezuma stealing wood from his private forest. When Nanahuatzin answered honestly, Moctezuma awarded him by naming him Main Voice. This story shows how even the poorest people could reach the highest levels in the Aztec society. This was the reason why the Aztecs were able to control and dominate the largest empire in all of North America and one of the largest worldwide. An Aztec custom consisted in that the Great Speaker, once elected, was no longer human and was a god from then on. In fact, each Aztec Great Speaker was worshiped in the Temple Mayor. The Aztec protocol was that nobody could look directly to the emperor, nor talk or hear him. That is why there was a spokesman who relayed what his lord had said to the subjects and what these would respond to the emperor. Though, in cases of emergency, the king talked directly to his Council (Le n-Portilla 1992, & Hassig 1988). The Aztecs’ main food was corn. The corn was generally ground into flour and then made into masa or dough, which they made into tortillas, drinks, tamales, among other foods. Other foods in the Aztecs’ diet were the seeds from the sage plant which were used as cereal; spicy peppers, eggs, turkey, rabbit, dog, lizards, locusts, snails, fish eggs, and as a delicacy, green slime which was scooped off the top of lake Texcoco. That was said to taste like cheese. For drink the Aztecs usually drank water and on special occasions they drank beer and nobles drank chocolate sweetened with honey. Foods today in Mexico have some basic components of the Aztec fare such as corn, which is still at the heart of the meal. That is, today corn products are still widely eaten. This can be seen in the tortilla, a round flat sheet of corn that you find in almost every meal in a present day Mexican table; or the tamale, a lump of corn masa containing meat, wrapped in corn husks, and steamed. Both are Aztec foods. Hence, the blend of the Aztec and Spanish cultures can be seen very clearly in food. For instance, it is a common rural Mexican tradition to make tamales, an Aztec food for Christmas, a Catholic holiday. Another example is the fact that tamales are often filled with beef, a product unknown to the Aztecs until the arrival of the Spanish. Even the method in which the meals were prepared: the corn is ground on a metate, made into masa, which is rolled into a ball and flattened, then placed on a comal cooking sheet and cooked, is still being practiced in remote country locations. In the city people eat much as they do here in the United States (Baumann 1995. And Nicholson 1985). Cultivating the soil was the main way of life. In the Aztec society farmers were generally field workers who prepared the earth, breaking up clumps, hoeing with the coa digging stick, leveling, planting, weeding, and irrigating. They understood the rotations and had to read almanacs so they could determine when it was time for planting. They made the construction of canals to bring water from mountain springS to the towns and fields of the piedmont and foothills. Calculations have shown that the flow of water through this system was insufficient to have maintained farming throughout the year (Bray 1968). The amount of decoration on a garment indicated wealth and social rank of the wearer. Rich people had clothes made of cotton while poorer people had clothes made from maguey fibers. Aztec men wore a cloth around their hips and a cloak that was knotted around one shoulder. The women wore a sleeveless blouse and a wraparound skirt. The amount of decoration around the garment indicated the wealth and social rank of the wearer. Most of the Aztec homes were simple and designed for usefulness rather than for looks. In the upper mountain regions the houses were adobe but in the lowlands they had thatched roofs and walls made of branches and leaves. Usually in the same yard around the house a family had other buildings suck as a place to put their tools and a place for their animals. Wealthy Aztecs had large adobe or stone houses with a large patio built around the house. The yard was usually large and the servants were housed in a separate building (Weaver, 1972). The art of speaking was interwoven with teaching, as the learning of technical skills. Historical accounts, the reciting of stories and poetry, the conduct of law suits, and matters of trade were conducted orally. To be educated was to be a master of oral expression, for people were expected to present artful speeches on all sorts of occasions, both public and private. With all the etiquette required by the highest formalized pattern of Aztec life. Aztec hieroglyphic writing served to communicate names, places, dates, and tallies in association by a system of dots. The language spoken by the Aztecs was called Nahuatl. This language was one of the must popular ones before the Spanish Conquest because it was the spoken language of the most important race in the prehispanic world: the Mexica or Azteca. Some of the peculiar characteristics of this language, was that it had 23 different sounds: 5 vowels and 18 consonants, divided into 9 primaries and 9 secondaries. For some strange reason our ancestry of the Aztec basically used only the 9 primary consonants, that were considered as sacred sounds; The other 9 secondary consonants appeared only in the regular language of this Mexicatl country (the country around the Aztec empire). An example of this is the poetry Nezahualcoyotl lord and philosopher of Texcoco. The Nahuatl alphabet is described briefly below. The Aztec have always been warriors, since their time as the Mexica to the time of their demise. The Aztecs at first were known as dirty barbarians so they were not allowed to settle with the present tribes of Central Mexico. Why did the Aztecs need to have a great military? To answer this question you must understand Aztec religion and way of life. The Aztecs whole beginning is based on war and their main god Huitlilopochi was based on war. The Aztecs had no head army or standing army but it was organized for war. War was used to capture prisoners for sacrifice, punish tributary tribes, and gain new territory. The soldiers were trained at a young age by nobles in special schools. In these schools they taught the warriors their goals in war. The goals were to capture prisoners for sacrifice, and depending on the amount captured gave that warrior prowess. Failure in battle was a disgrace for those who could not accomplish their task and usually led to their sacrifice. The overview of the Aztec military, is that their is no separation of armies, but the whole empire was set on war. The military had specific goals, but if not accomplished meant shame and death. The Aztecs had a very powerful military and only lost to the Spanish due to the myth that the white people were gods (Bray 1968). Agriculture formed the backbone of the Aztec economy. Corn was the most important crop alone with beans, avocados, squashes, potatoes, and tomatoes. The lowlands provided crops such as cotton, papayas, rubber, and cacao. The main agricultural tool was a pointed stick which was used for digging. In the tropical jungle the Aztecs used the slash and burn agriculture which is still used today. They chopped down the trees and burns them along with the shrubs and the ashes fertilized the soil. Terraces were cut in the mountains up in the highlands to increase the amount of farmland. Huge irrigation systems were made and the farmers used the mud from the bottom of the irrigation systems to help their crops. As a result the Aztecs yielded huge crops which is the main reason why their civilization was so successful (Hodge & Smith 1

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