More Important Topics of Cylinder

Aztec art was eclectic, drawing on the traditions of conquered areas; but under the influence of the harsh Aztec religion, it developed a unique character.

The importance of human sacrifice in the cult of the war god, Huitzilopochtli, permeated life and art, and representations of skulls, hearts, hands, and sacrificial scenes were common.

Much of the stone sculpture was huge and elaborate, a remarkable example being the statue of the earth goddess Coatlicue.

Masses of intertwined serpents dominate the statue, which bears a necklace of human hearts and hands.

Less ominous subjects, such as the plumed serpent, Quetzalcoatl, and various animals, were often beautifully carved in a smooth, compact style.

Featherwork, jade carving, goldwork, extraordinary ceremonial vases, and superb textiles were produced by the artisans of subjugated groups, especially the Mixtec Mixtec (mis`tek), Native American people of Oaxaca, Puebla, and part of Guerrero, SW Mexico, one of the most important groups in Mexico.

Although the Mixtec codices constitute the largest collection of pre-Columbian manuscripts in existence, their origin is obscure.

A feathered headdress is a piece of headgear worn by the chief of the Sioux tribe of Native Americans.

The feathered headdress sports a multitude of feathers, starting on top of the head and then cascading down the wearer's back. The feathers atop the head generally stand vertically, while the feathers down the back stand out horizontally. The feathers do not lie flat.

The feathered headdress is often considered to be a major

feature of Native American dress, and is probably the most easily recognizable. However, in reality, this hat was worn only by the Sioux tribe of the Midwestern plains.

The stone-workers would create statues from rocks and would create objects made from green jade, black obsidian, and transparent crystals.

Stone-workers were trained from an early age and the skills they learned were passed on from worker to worker. To carve a statue they would use simple tools made out of wood, rock and bone.

The scribes would draw the pictograms that would record events. First the scribe would sketch a rough outline, then they would add the details.

The Aztecs would use vegetables, insects, shells, and minerals to create colors and oil could be added to make colors brighter.

The Aztec potters didn't use a potter's wheel. They shaped the clay with their hands or carved it. The Aztecs would often design the inside of the pot and paint it. They usually only used two colors. The elaborately designed pots were for the rich or the ruler.

The feathers that were used for elaborate things such as a headdress which were made from tropical birds. The feathers were worked into designs. The Aztec feather workers would make clothing out of feathers from all sorts of tropical birds for nobility and royalty.

For years, the Aztecs were comprised of nomadic and mercenary tribes who aligned themselves with local states in order to sustain themselves. One of the greatest Aztec stories reminds us that they never forgot their destiny, that their patron and War God Huitzilopochtli would guide them in the form of a blue hummingbird.

He would take them to a prophecized island at the center of a great lake. There, a golden eagle would land upon a prickly-pear cactus, the tenochca, and that would mark where the Aztecs would settle. When the Aztecs witnessed this moment in 1325, they founded the capital of Tenochtitlan and renamed themselves the Mexica.

Felipe R. Solís Olguín has made the provocative argument that the Aztecs' monumental sculpture was used to reinforce some of the ideologies of the Empire. Certain stances, postures, and attributes in the anthropomorphic sculptures, for example, are exclusive to each gender.

These sculptures could then idealize the Aztec male and female according to the state ideology. This standing male sculpture has a smooth yet somewhat rigid expression.

Obsidian monkey

One of the finest known examples of obsidian carving in the world. The bulge in the monkey's belly may suggest that she is pregnant. The rim is circumscribed by her slender tail, which she grabs with both hands.

Obsidian was also used to make jewelry, like the two large ear spools shown in this collection from L.A. These pieces are not Aztec in the sense of the Mexica, but they come from nearby Mexico State, during the same time period as the height of the Aztec Empire. The other pieces here are a blade and a few small needles. Obsidian can be hewn into one of the sharpest natural minerals.

Mesoamerican Venus

Forget the Botticelli rendering of the young lady in the clam. This was the Mesoamerican Venus - replete with large fangs, plated eyes, sharp weapons and a skeletal body.

As with the Toltecs, the god was called Tlauixcalpantecuhtli, Lord of the House of Dawn. As the morning star, the House of Dawn carried the heart of the Feathered Serpent. As the evening star, it housed the heart of his distorted twin Xolotl.

At the time of the Spanish conquest, Aztec writing used mostly pictographs supplemented by a few ideograms.

When needed, it also used syllabic equivalences; Father Durán recorded how the tlacuilos (codex painters) could render a prayer in Latin using this system, but it was difficult to use. This writing system was adequate for

keeping such records as genealogies, astronomical information, and tribute lists, but could not represent a full vocabulary of spoken language in the way that the writing systems of the old world or of the Maya civilization could.

The Spanish introduced the Roman script, which was then utilized to record a large body of Aztec prose and poetry, a fact which somewhat mitigated the

devastating loss of the thousands of Aztec manuscripts which were burned by the Spanish. (See Nahuatl transcription.) Important lexical works (e.g. Molina's classic Vocabulario of 1571) and grammatical descriptions (of which Carochi's 1645 Arte is generally acknowledged the best) were produced using variations of this orthography.

The classical orthography was not perfect, and in fact there were many variations in how it was applied, due in part to dialectal differences and in part to differing traditions and preferences that developed. (The writing of Spanish itself was far from totally standardized at the time.)

Today, although almost all written Nahuatl uses some form of Latin-based orthography, there continue to be strong dialectal differences, and considerable debate and differing practices regarding how to write sounds even when they are the same. Major issues are

whether to follow Spanish in writing the [k] sound sometimes as c and sometimes as qu or just to use k

how to write [kw]

what to do about the [w] sound, which varies considerably from place to place and even within a single dialect

how to write the "saltillo", phonetically a glottal stop ([?]) or an [h], which has been spelled with j, h, and a straight apostrophe ('), but which traditionally was often omitted in writing.

There are a number of other issues as well, such as

whether and how to represent vowel length

how to represent sound variants [allophones] which sound like different Spanish sounds [phonemes], especially variants of o which come close to u

to what extent writing in one variant should be adapted towards what is used in other variants.

The Secretaría de Educación Pública (Ministry of Public Education) has adopted an alphabet for its bilingual education programs in rural communities in Mexico in which k is used and [w] is written as u, and this decision has been influential. The recently established (2004) "Instituto Nacional de Lenguas Indígenas" (INALI) will also be involved in these issues.

The Aztecs used two different calenders, one measured time, while the other was used to fix religious festivals. The time-measuring calender was used to fix the best time for planting crops, while the religious calender told when to consult the gods.

In the time-measuring calender, one year had 365 days divided into 18 months.

Each month had 20 days, and there were 5 extra days at the end of the year, which were thought to be bad-luck days when disasters were most likely to happen. The

fundamental Aztec calender, the religious calender, was a 260-day cycle, called the tonalpohualli, or the "count of days."

Elizabeth Hill Boone excellently described how the religious calender worked in her book, "The Aztec World." She said, "Twenty day signs ran consecutively, from crocodile through flower, repeating after the 20th day.

Beside the day signs ran 13 day numbers, 1 through 13, the numbers advancing with each day up to 13, when they repeated again with 1. Thus, the day count began with 1 Crocodile, 2 Wind, 3 House, 4 Lizard, and continued up to 13 Reed, when the numbers began again with 1: 1 Jaguar, 2 Eagle, 3 Vulture, and so forth.

The 20 day signs and the 13 numbers, advancing side by side, yielded 260 uniquely named days. "

Both calenders ran together and the same day in each fell at the same time once every 52 years.

Thus, Aztec time was divided into 52-year cycles, similar to our current 100-year cycles called centuries. Different days belonged to different gods, so days could be good or bad depending on which god's day it was. A child born on a bad day received its name on a good day, to rule out all harmful effects of the bad day.

At the center of the Aztecs' calendar stone is the sun god, Tonatiuh. He is surrounded by symbols of the five world creations. The symbols of the 20 days of the solar month are depicted on the stone. Also, eclipses of the sun were foretold by the calendar stone.

History

Aztec culture is generally grouped with the cultural complex known as the Nahua because of the common language they shared. According to legend, the various

groups who were to become the Aztecs arrived from the north into the Anahuac valley around Lake Texcoco. The location of this valley and lake of destination is clear – it is the heart of modern Mexico City – but little can be known with certainty about the origin of the Aztec.

There are different accounts of their origin. In the myth the ancestors of the Mexica/Aztec came from a place in the north called Aztlán, the last of seven nahuatlacas (Nahuatl-speaking tribes, from tlaca, "man") to make the journey southward, hence their name "Azteca". Other accounts cite their origin in Chicomostoc, "the place of the seven caves", or at Tamonachan (the legendary origin of all civilizations).

The Mexica/Aztec were said to be guided by their god Huitzilopochtli, meaning "Left-handed Hummingbird" or "Hummingbird from the South". When they arrived at an island in the lake, they saw an eagle which was perched on a nopal cactus full of its fruits (nochtli). (Due to a mistranslation of an account by Tesozomoc, it became popular to say the eagle was devouring a snake, but in the original Aztec accounts, the snake is not mentioned.

One states that it was eating a bird, another indicates that it was only perched in the cactus, and a third just says it was eating something.) This vision fulfilled a prophecy telling them that they should found their new home on that spot. The Aztecs built their city of Tenochtitlan on that site, building a great artificial island, which today is in the center of Mexico City. This legendary vision is pictured on the Coat of Arms of Mexico.

According to legend, when the Mexicas arrived in the Anahuac valley around Lake Texcoco, they were considered by the other groups as the least civilized of all, but the Mexica/Aztec decided to learn, and they took all they could from other peoples, especially from the ancient Toltec (whom they seem to have partially confused with the more ancient civilization of Teotihuacan).

To the Aztec, the Toltecs were the originators of all culture; "Toltecayotl" was a synonym for culture. Aztec legends identify the Toltecs and the cult of Quetzalcoatl with the legendary city of Tollan, which they also identified with the more ancient Teotihuacan.

Because the Aztec adopted and combined several traditions with their own earlier traditions, they had several creation myths; one of these describes four great ages preceding the present world, each of which ended in a catastrophe.

Our age – Nahui-Ollin, the fifth age, or fifth creation – escaped destruction due to the sacrifice of a god (Nanahuatl, "full of sores", the smallest and humblest of the gods) who was transformed into the Sun.

This myth is associated with the ancient city of Teotihuacan, which was already abandoned and destroyed when the Aztec arrived. Another myth describes the earth as a creation of the twin gods Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl. Tezcatlipoca lost his foot in the process of creating the world and all representations of these gods show him without a foot and with a bone exposed. Quetzalcoatl is also called "White Tezcatlipoca".

Gods

Acolmiztli - a god of the underworld, Mictlan

Acolnahuacatl (see Acolmiztli) - a god of the underworld, Mictlan

Acuecucyoticihuati (see Chalchiuhtlicue)

Amimitl - god of lakes and fishermen

Atl - god of water

Atlacamani - goddess of oceanic storms such as hurricanes

Atlacoya - goddess of drought

Atlatonan (also Atlatonin) - goddess of the coast

Atlaua - water god

Ayauhteotl - goddess of mist, fog, vanity and fame

Camaxtli - god of hunting, war, fate and fire

Centeotl (see Cinteotl)

Chalchiuhtlatonal - water

Chalchiuhtecolotl - a night owl god

Chalchiuhtlicue (also Chalciuhtlicue, or Chalchihuitlicue) (She of the Jade Skirt). (Sometimes Acuecucyoticihuati) - the goddess of lakes and streams, and also of birth; consort of Tlaloc.

Chalchiuhtotolin (Precious Night Turkey) - god of pestilence and mystery

Chalmecatecuchtli - a god of the underworld, Mictlan and sacrifices

Chalmecatl the underworld, Mictlan and the north

Chantico - the goddess of hearth fires, personal treasure, and volcanoes

Chicomecoatl (also Chalchiuhcihuatl, Chiccomeccatl, or Xilonen) - goddess of new maize and produce, wife of Cinteotl.

Chicomexochtli - a patron of artists

Chiconahui - a domestic fertility goddess

Chiconahuiehecatl - associated with creation

Cihuacoatl (also Chihucoatl or Ciucoatl) (Woman Serpent) - an aspect of Ilamatecuhtli, Toci and Tlazolteotl, as well as the title of the vice-ruler of Tenochtitlan.

Cinteotl (also Centeotl or Centeocihuatl) - the principal maize god, son of Tlazolteotl

Cipactonal - god of astrology and the calendar

Citlalatonac (see Ometeotl)

Citlalicue - a creator of the stars

Coatlicue (She of the Serpent Skirt) - legendary mother of Coyolxauhqui, the Centzon Huitzahua, and Huitzilopochtli

Cochimetl (also Coccochimetl) - god of commerce, bartering, and merchants

Coyolxauhqui - legendary sister of Huitzilopochtli, associated with the moon, possibly patroness of the milky way

Cuaxolotl - a goddess of the hearth

Ehecatl (also Ehecatl-Quetzalcoatl) - the god of the Wind and creator of the earth, heavens, and the present race of men. As god of the west, one of the skybearers

Huehuecoyotl (also Ueuecoyotl) - a trickster god of indulgence and pranks. A shapeshifter, associated with drums and the coyote

Huehueteotl (also Ueueteotl, Xiuhtecuhtli, Xiutechuhtli) - an ancient god of the hearth, the fire of life. Associated with the pole star and the north, and serves as a skybearer

Huitzilopochtli (also Mextli, Mexitl, Uitzilopochtli) - the supreme god of Tenochtitlan, patron of war, fire and the sun

Huixtocihuatl (also Uixtochihuatl) - a goddess of salt and saltwater

Ilamatecuhtli (also Cihuacoatl or Quilaztli) - aged goddess of the earth, death, and the milky way. Her roar signalled war

Itztlacoliuhqui-Ixquimilli - god of stone, obsidian, coldness hardness, and castigation. Aspect of Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli

Itzli - god of sacrifice and stone knives.

Itzpapalotl - Queen of Tomoanchan and one of the Cihuateteo (night demons) and tzitzimime (star demons)

Ixtlilton - the god of healing, dancing, festivals and games. Brother of Xochipilli.

Macuilcozcacuauhtli (five vulture) - one of the Ahuiateteo (gods of excess)

Macuilcuetzpalin (five lizard) - one of the Ahuiateteo (gods of excess)

Macuilmalinalli (five grass) - one of the Ahuiateteo (gods of excess)

Macuiltochtli (five rabbit) - one of the Ahuiateteo (gods of excess)

Macuilxochitl (five flower) - the god of games and gambling, and chief of the Ahuiateteo (gods of excess)

Malinalxochitl - sorceress and goddess of snakes, scorpions and insects of the desert

Matlalceuitl (also Matlalcueje) - goddess of rainfall and singing. Identified with Chalchiuhtlicue.

Mayahuel (also Mayahual, or Mayouel) - the goddess of maguey, and by extension, alcohol

Metztli (also Metztli, Tecuciztecatl, Tecciztecatl)- lowly god of worms who failed to sacrifice himself to become the sun, and became the moon instead, his face darkened by a rabbit.

Mextli - a god of war and storms

Mictecacihuatl (also Mictlancihuatl) - goddess of death and Lady of Mictlan, the underworld

Mictlantecuhtli (also Mictlantecuhtzi, or Tzontemoc) - the god of death and Lord of Mictlan, also as god of the south, one of the skybearers

Mixcoatl (cloud serpent) - god of hunting, war, and the milky way. An aspect of Tezcatlpoca and father of Quetzalcoatl

Nanahuatzin (also Nana, Nanautzin, or Nanauatzin) - lowly god who sacrificed himself to become sun god Tonatiuh

Omacatl (see Tezcatlipoca)

Omecihuatl (see Ometeotl)

Ometecuhtli (see Ometeotl)

Ometeotl (also Citlatonac or Ometecuhtli (male) and Omecihuatl (female)) - the god(s) of duality, pregenator(s) of souls and lord/lady of heaven

Ometotchtli (two rabbit) - drunken rabbit god, leader of the Centzon Totochtin

Opochtli - left-handed god of trapping, hunting and fishing

Oxomoco - goddess of astrology and the calendar

Patecatl - the god of medicine, husband of Mayahuel

Paynal - the messenger to Huitzilopochtli

Quetzalcoatl (also Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli) (quetzal-feathered serpent) - creator god and patron of rulership, priests and merchants. Associated with Ehecatl as the divine wind

Quilaztli (see Ilamatecuhtli)

Tecciztecatl (see Mextli)

Temazcalteci (also Temaxcaltechi) - goddess of bathing and sweatbaths

Teoyaomicqui (also Teoyaomiqui)- the god of dead warriors

Tepeyollotl - god of the heart of the mountain, associated with jaguars, echoes, and earthquakes

Tepoztecatl (also Tezcatzontecatl) - god of pulque and rabbits

Teteoinnan - mother of the gods

Tezcatlipoca (also Omacatl, Titlacauan) - omnipotent god of rulers, sorcerers and warriors; night, death, discord, conflict, temptation and change. A sinister rival to Quetzalcoatl. Can appear as Mixcoatl or, more often, as a jaguar

Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli - destructive god of the morning star (venus), dawn, and of the east. One of the skybearers

Tlaloc (also Nuhualpilli) - the great and ancient provider and god of rain, fertility and lightning

Tlaltecuhtli - goddess of earth, associated with difficult births

Tlazolteotl (also Tlaelquani, Tlazolteotli)- the goddess of purification from filth, disease or excess

Tloquenahuaque - a creator god or ruler

Toci (also Temazcalteci) - grandmother goddess, heart of the earth and mother of the gods. Associated with midwives and war

Tonacatecuhtli - the aged creator and provider of food and patron of conceptions

Tonacacihuatl - consort of Tonacatecuhtli

Tonantzin - a mother goddess

Tonatiuh - a sun god and heavenly warrior, associated with eagles and with the Maya

Tzitzmitl - aged grandmother goddess

Ueuecoyotl - god of promiscuity and wildness

Xilonen - the goddess of young maize

Xipe Totec - the god of the seasons, seed germination and renewal, considered the patron of goldworkers

Xiuhcoatl (fire serpent or turquoise serpent) - embodiment of the sun's rays and emblem of Xiuhtecuhtli

Xiuhtecuhtli -(also called Huehueteotl)

Xochipilli - the young god of feasting, painting, dancing, games, and writing. Associated with Macuilxochitl and Cinteotl

Xochiquetzal - goddess of female sexuality, prostitutes, flowers, pleasure, craft, weaving, and young mothers

Xocotl - star god associated with fire

Xolotl - canine companion of Quetzalcoatl and god of twins, sickness and deformity. Accompanies the dead to Mictlan

Yacatecuhtli (also Yactecuhtli) - the god of merchants and travelers

Serpent gods

Chicomecoatl

Cihuacoatl

Coatlicue

Mixcoatl

Quetzalcoatl

Xiuhcoatl

God groups

Ahuiateteo (also Macuiltonaleque) - five gods who personify excess

Cihuateteo (also Civatateo) - souls of women who died in childbirth who lead the setting sun in the western sky. Also night demons who steal children, and cause seizures, insanity and sexual transgression. They also accompany warriors to heaven.

Centzon huitznahua - southern stars, children of Coatlicue

Centzon Totochtin (400 rabbits) - gods of pulque

Skybearers - associated with the four directions, supported the vault of the sky.

Tzitzimime - star demons of darkness that attack the sun during eclipses and threaten the earth

Supernatural creatures

Ahuitzotl - a man-eating water-dwelling dog-monkey with a hand on its tail

Cipactli - the caiman at the foundations of the earth

Cihuateteo

Nagual - a tutelary animal or vegetable spirit

Nahual - a shapeshifting sorcerer or witch

Tlaltecuhtli - a toad goddess

Legendary heroes

Popocatepetl - legendary warrior who died in battle and was changed, along with his grief-stricken lover into mountains.

Places

Aztlán (land of the herons) - the original home of the Mexica before the peregrination and the establishment of Tenochtitlan

Iztaccihuatl

Mictlan - the underworld.

Popocatepetl

Tlalocan first paradise.

Tehuantepec place of the hill of the sacred jaguar

Tlillan-Tlapallan middle realm of the heaven (middle paradise).

Tonatiuhichan highest paradise

Tamoanchan

The symbol of the eagle standing on a cactus plant and devouring a snake comes from the times of the Aztecs.

The Aztec people were guided by their god Huitzilopochtli to seek a place where an eagle landed on a prickly-pear cactus, devouring a snake.

After hundreds of years of wandering they found the sign on a small swampy island in Lake Texcoco. Their new home they named Tenochtitlan ("Place of the Prickly Pear Cactus"). In A.D. 1325 they built a city on the site of the island in the lake; which is now Mexico City.

The eagle and the snake are symbols that pervade the mythology of the Aztecs and ancient Mexico in general. The Atl-Tlachinolli, represents an eagle with the symbol of sacred war in its beak.

Other codeces represent the eagle in opposition with the snake as in the Borgia Codex.

He was also the national god of the Aztecs. As well as being a god of war and a sun god, he was also a god of death, young men, warriors, storms, and a guide for journeys.

In the Nahua culture, many names have an esoteric meaning, known only to some. According Laurette Sejourne, in his book "Burning water" (sacred war) in Nahua maps, the South is at the left, and in the South is the paradise of the sun.

Also, the souls of the dead warriors return to the earth as butterflies and hummingbirds, so the esoteric meaning of Huitzilopochtli is "the warrior soul from the paradise."

His mother was Coatlicue, his father a ball of feathers (or, alternatively, Mixcoatl). His sister was Malinalxochi, a beautiful sorceress, who was also his rival. His messenger or impersonator was Paynal.

The legend of Huitzilopochtli is recorded in the Mexicayotl Chronicle. His sister, Coyolxauhqui, tried to kill their mother because she became pregnant in a shameful way (by a ball of feathers). Her fetus, Huitzilopochtli, sprang from her womb and killed Coyolxauhqui, along with many of his 400 brothers and sisters.

Huitzilopochtli was a tribal god, and a legendary wizard of the Aztecs, and originally was of little importance to the Nahuas, but after the rise of the Aztecs, Tlacaelel reformed their religion and put Huitzilopochtli at the same level as Quetzalcoatl, Tlaloc, and Tezcatlipoca, making him a solar god.

So he replaced Nanahuatzin, the solar god from the Nahua legend, with Huitzilopochtli. Huitzilopochtli was said to be in a constant struggle with the darkness, and he needed to replace his blood, hence the major sacrifices.

The Nahuas believed the world would end like the other previous four creations. Every fifty-two years, they feared the world would end. Under Tlacaelel, Aztecs believed that they could give strength to Huitzilopochtli with human blood and thereby postpone the end of the world, at least for another fifty-two years. Ironically, the Aztec empire fell at the end of this cycle.

The Great Temple of Tenochtitlan was dedicated to Huitzlilopochtli and Tlaloc because they were considered equals in power. Father Durán wrote, "These two gods were always meant to be together, since they were considered companions of equal power." (Diego Duran, Book of Gods and Rites)

According to Leon Portilla, in this new vision from Tlacaelel, the warriors that died in battle and women who died in childbirth would go to serve Huitzilopochtli in his palace (in the south, or left).

From a description in the Florentine Codex, Huitzilopochtli was so bright that the warrior souls had to use their shields to protect their eyes. They could only see the god through the arrow holes in their shields, so it was the bravest warrior who could see him best. From time to time, those warriors could return to earth as butterflies.

In art, Huitzilopochtli was represented as a hummingbird (or with just the feathers of such on his head and left leg), a black face, and holding a snake and a mirror. In the great temple his statue was decorated with cloths and feathers, gold and jewels, and was hidden behind a curtain to give it more reverence and veneration.

According to legend, the statue was supposed to be destroyed by the soldier Gil González de Benavides, but it was rescued by a man called Tlatolatl. The statue appeared some years later, during an investigation by Bishop Zummáraga during the 1530s, only to be lost again. There is speculation that the statue still exists in a cave somewhere in the Anahuac valley.

Father Duran gave us the description of the festivities for Huitzilopochtli. Panquetzaliztli (7 to 26 December) was the Aztec month dedicated to Huitzilopochtli. People decorated their homes and trees with paper flags; there were a ritual races, processions, dances, songs, prayers and finally human sacrifices.

According the Ramirez codex, in Tenochtitlan up to 60 prisioners were sacrificed at the end of the festivities. Sacrifices were also made in other Aztec cities, including Tlatelolco, Xochimilco and Texcoco. This was one of the more important Aztec festivals, for which the people prepared for the whole month.

People fasted, or ate very little; a statue of the god was made with amaranth (huatli) seeds and honey, and at the end of the month, it was cut into small pieces so everybody could eat a little piece of the god. The similarity with Christian rituals prompted the Spanish authorities to forbid the cultivation of amaranth. After the conquest, some aspects of these festivities were incorporated into the traditions of the Nativity.

Attributes of both Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl originally came from pre-Aztec traditions of the Olmecs and the Toltecs. The Aztecs assimilated them in their religion, and the two deities were equated and considered twin gods. They were both equal and opposed. Thus Tezcatlipoca was

called "Black Tezcatlipoca", and Quetzalcoatl "White Tezcatlipoca". Mixcoatl was sometimes added to this complex as "Red Tezcatlipoca." Omacatl, Titlacahuan and Tezcatlanextia were also considered aspects of Tezcatlipoca.

In one of the Aztec accounts of creation, Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca joined forces to create the world. Before their act there was only the sea and the monstress of earth, Cipactli.

To attract her, Tezcatlipoca used his foot as bait, and Cipactli ate it. The two gods then captured her, and distorted her to make the land from her body. After that, they created the people, and people had to offer sacrifices to comfort Cipactli of her sufferings. Because of this, Tezcatlipoca is depicted with a missing foot, and the bone of his leg exposed.

After the world had been created, Tezcatlipoca kidnapped Xochiquetzal, the goddess of flowers, because he felt that he deserved her more than her husband, Tlaloc. He was also said to be married to Xilonen. As Mixcoatl, Tezcatlipoca invented fire by rotating the heavens on its axis as a drill.

The name "Quetzalcoatl" literally means quetzal-bird snake or serpent with feathers (Amphitere) of the Resplendent Quetzal (which implies something divine or precious) in the

Nahuatl language. The meaning of his local name in other Mesoamerican languages is similar. The Maya knew him as Kukulkán; the Quiché, as Gukumatz.

The Feathered Serpent deity was important in art and religion in most of Mesoamerica for close to 2,000 years, from the Pre-Classic era until the Spanish conquest. Civilizations worshipping the Feathered Serpent included the Olmec, Mixtec, Toltec, Aztec, who adopted it from the people of Teotihuacan, and the

Maya. Quetzalcoatl, can be spelled many different ways. The cult of the serpent in Mesoamerica is very old; there are representation of snakes with bird-like characteristics as old as the Olmec preclassic (1150-500 BC). The snake represents the earth and vegetation, but it was in Teotihuacan (around 150 BC) where the snake got the precious feathers of the Quetzal, as seen in the Murals of the city.

The most elaborate representations come from the old Quetzalcoatl Temple built around 200 BC, which shows a rattlesnake with the long green feathers of the quetzal.

Teotihuacan was dedicated to Tlaloc, the water god, at the same time Quetzalcoatl, as a snake, was a representation of the fertility of the earth, and it was subordinate to Tlaloc. As the cult evolved, it became independent.

In time Quetzalcoatl was mixed with other gods, and acquired their attributes. Quetzalcoatl is often associated with Ehecatl, the wind god, and represents the forces of nature, and is also associated with the morning star (Venus).

Quetzalcoatl became a representation of the rain, the celestial water and their associated winds, while Tlaloc would be the god of earthly water, the water in lakes, caverns and rivers, and also of vegetation. Eventually Quetzalcoatl was transformed into one of the gods of the creation (Ipalnemohuani).

The Teotihuacan influence took the god to the Mayas, who adopted him as Kukulkán. The Maya regarded him as a being who would transport the gods.

In Xochicalco (700-900 AC), the political class began to claim that they ruled in the name of Quetzalcoatl, and representations of the god became more human. They influenced the Toltec, and the Toltec rulers began to use the name of Quetzalcoatl. The Toltec represented Quetzalcoatl as man, with god-like attributes, and these attributes were also associated with their rulers.

The most famous of those rulers was Topiltzin Ce Acatl Quetzalcoatl. Ce Acatl means "one reed" and is the calendaric name of the ruler (923 - 947), whose legends became almost inseparable from accounts of the god. The Toltecs would asociate Quetzalcoatl with their own god, Tezcatlipoca, and make them equals, enemies and twins.

The Nauhas would take the legends of Quetzalcoatl and mix them with their own. Quetzlcoatl would be considered the originator of the arts, poetry and all knowledge. The figure of Ce Acatl, would become inseparable from the image of the god.

The worship of Quetzalcoatl sometimes included animal sacrifices, and in other traditions Quetzalcoatl was said to oppose human sacrifice.

Mesoamerican priests and kings would sometimes take the name of a deity they were associated with, so Quetzalcoatl and Kukulcan are also the names of historical persons. The reason being that Quetzalcoatl called one man, to whom he gave his rights, privileges, and powers, to administer in his religious duties who took on the name of the Deity, to show that the power had been given to him.

The name was pronounced differently, to denote this man a mortal, in contrast to Quetzalcoatl, Kate-Zal, or Kukulcan the God of wind and waves.

One noted Post-Classic Toltec ruler was named Quetzalcoatl; he may be the same individual as the Kukulcan who invaded Yucatán at about the same time. The Mixtec also recorded a ruler named for the Feathered Serpent.

In the 10th century a ruler closely associated with Quetzalcoatl ruled the Toltecs; his name was Topiltzin Ce Acatl Quetzalcoatl. This ruler was said to be the son of either the great Chichimeca warrior, Mixcoatl and the Colhuacano woman Chimalman, or of their descendant.

The Toltecs had a dualistic belief system. Quetzalcoatl's opposite was Tezcatlipoca, who supposedly sent Quetzalcoatl into exile. Alternatively, he left willingly on a raft of snakes, promising to return.

When the Aztecs adopted the culture of the Toltecs, they made twin gods of Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl, opposite and equal; Quetzalcoatl was also called White Tezcatlipoca, to contrast him to the black Tezcatlipoca. Together, they created the world; Tezcatlipoca lost his foot in that process.

The exact significance and attributes of Quetzalcoatl varied somewhat between civilizations and through history. Quetzalcoatl was often considered the god of the morning star, and his twin brother Xolotl was the evening star (Venus).

As the morning star he was known by the title Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli, meaning "lord of the star of the dawn." He was known as the inventor of books and the calendar, the giver of maize corn to mankind, and sometimes as a symbol of death and resurrection. Quetzalcoatl was also the patron of the priests and the title of the Aztec high priest.

Most Mesoamerican beliefs included cycles of worlds. Usually, our current time was considered the fifth world, the previous four having been destroyed by flood, fire and the like. Quetzalcoatl allegedly went to Mictlan, the underworld, and created fifth-world mankind from the bones of the previous races (with the help of Cihuacoatl), using his own blood, from a wound in his phallus, to imbue the bones with new life.

His birth, along with his twin Xolotl, was unusual; it was a virgin birth, to the goddess Coatlicue. Alternatively, he was a son of Xochiquetzal and Mixcoatl.

One Aztec story claims that Quetzalcoatl was seduced by Tezcatlipoca into becoming drunk and sleeping with a celibate priestess, and then burned himself to death out of remorse. His heart became the morning star (see Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli).

n some rural parts of Mexico, there still exists a belief that in some caves, near certain towns, there lives a monster, a great feathered snake that can only be seen by special people. The monster must be placated for there to be plentiful rain. The feathered snake is also still worshipped by Huichol and Cora Indians.

Mixcoatl, meaning “cloud serpent,” was the god of the hunt and identified with the Milky Way, the stars, and the heavens in several Mesoamerican cultures.

He was the patron deity of the Otomí, the Chichimecs, and several groups that claimed decent from the Chichimecs.

While Mixcoatl was part of the Aztec pantheon, his role was less important than that of Huitzilopochtli, who was their central deity. Under the name of Camaxtli, Mixcoatl was worshipped as the cental deity of Huejotzingo and Tlaxcala.

Mixcoatl is represented with a black mask over his eyes and distinctive red and white “candy-cane stripes” painted

on his body. These features are shared with Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli, the Lord of the Dawn, god of the morning star. Unlike Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli, Mixcoatl can usually be distinguished by his hunting gear, which included a bow and arrows, and a net or basket for carrying dead game.

Mixcoatl was one of four children of Tonacatecuhtli, meaning "Lord of Our Sustenance," an aged creator god, and Cihuacoatl, a fertility goddess and the patroness of midwives. Sometimes Mixcoatl was worshipped as the "Red" aspect of the god Tezcatlipoca, the "Smoking Mirror," who was the god of

sorcerers, rulers, and warriors. In one story, Tezcatlipoca transformed himself into Mixcoatl and invented the fire drill by revolving the heavens around their axes, bringing fire to humanity. Along with this cosmic fire drill, Mixcoatl was the first to strike fire with flint. These events made Mixcoatl a god of fire, along with war, and the hunt.

Mixcoatl was the father of 400 sons, collectively known as the Centzon Huitznahua, who ended up having their hearts eaten by Huitzilopochtli. The Centzon Huitznahua met their demise when they, and their sister Coyolxauhqui, after finding their mother Coatlicue pregnant, conspired to kill her.

However, as they attacked she gave birth to a fully formed and armed Huitzilopochtli, who proceeded to kill his half-siblings. Mixcoatl was also thought of as being the father of another important deity, Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent.

Quecholli, the 14th veintena, the 20-day Aztec month, was dedicated to Mixcoatl. The celebration for this month consisted of hunting and feasting in the countryside. The hunters would take the form of Mixcoatl by dressing like him, kindling a new fire to roast the hunted game. Along with these practices, a man and woman would be sacrificed to Mixcoatl at his temple.

The female would be slaughtered as would be a wild animal -- that is, by bashing her head against a rock four times. Subsequently, her throat would be cut, and she would be decapitated. The male victim would display her head to the crowd before he, himself, would be sacrificed in the familiar Aztec way: heart extrusion.

Along with the divine Mixcoatl, some believe there was a real figure known as Mixcoatl. It is thought he was a Chichimec leader during the Toltec period. It is not clear how much of the myth is based on this person if he really did live.

In Aztec mythology, Chalchiuhtlicue (also Chalciuhtlicue, or Chalcihuitlicue) ("She of the Jade Skirt") was the goddess of lakes and streams. She is also a patroness of birth and plays a part in Aztec baptisms.

In the myth of the five suns, she had dominion over the fourth world, which was destroyed in a great flood. She also presides over the day 5 Serpent and the tricena of 1 Reed.

Her husband was Tlaloc and with him, she was the mother of Tecciztecatl and ruler over Tlalocan. In her aquatic aspect, she was known as Acuecucyoticihuati, goddess of

oceans, rivers and any other running water, as well as the patron of women in labor. She was also said to be the wife of Xiuhtecuhtli. She is sometimes associated with a rain goddess, Matlalcueitl.

In art, Chalciuhtlicue was illustrated wearing a green skirt and with short black vertical lines on the lower part of her face. In some scenes babies may be seen in a stream of water issuing from her skirts.

Sometimes she is symbolized by a river with a heavily laden prickly pear tree growing on one bank. She is depicted in several central Mexican manuscripts, including the Pre-Columbian Codex Borgia on plates 11 and 65 and in the 16th century Codex Borbonicus on page 5 and Codex R? on page 17. When sculpted, she is often carved from green stone as befits her name.

For the reconsecration of Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan in 1487, the Aztecs reported that they sacrificed about 84,400 prisoners over the course of four days, This would mean almost 15 per minute for 24 hours a day.

Tenochtitlan itself had an estimated population of 80,000 to 120,000 in that time, with as many as 700,000 in the cities immediately surrounding Lake Texcoco.

Since the Aztecs reported the number of sacrifices themselves, they could have inflated the number as a propaganda tool especially if, as reported, Ahuitzotl sacrificed them personally.

Tlaloc, also known as Nuhualpilli, was, in Aztec belief, the god of rain and fertility. He was greatly feared among the Aztecs, who drowned children to appease him.

They believed that Tlaloc was responsible for both floods and droughts, and that he had been created by the other gods. He is commonly depicted as a goggle-eyed blue being with fangs.

Tlaloc was also worshipped in pre-Aztec times, by the Teotihuacan and Toltec civilizations. The Teotihuacanos, however, did not dedicate human sacrifices to him.

Tenochtitlan or, alternatively, Mexico-Tenochtitlan, was the capital of the Aztec empire, which was built on an island in Lake Texcoco in what is now central Mexico.

The city was largely destroyed in the 1520s by Spanish conquistadores. Mexico City was erected on top of the ruins and, over the ensuing centuries, most of Lake Texcoco has gradually been drained.

Tenochtitlan was connected to the mainland by a series of wide causeways with bridges, known as calzadas.

The city was interlaced with a series of canals, so that all sections of the city could be visited either on foot or via canoe. Tenochtitlan covered an area of 8 square kilometers.

Although the lake was salty, dams built by the Aztecs kept the city surrounded by clear water from the rivers that fed the lake. Two double aqueducts provided the city with fresh water; this was intended mainly for cleaning and washing. For drinking, water from mountain springs was preferred.

City plan

The city was divided into four zones or campan, each campan was divided on 20 districts (calpullis), and each calpulli was crossed by streets or tlaxilcalli. There were three main streets that crossed the city and extended to firm land; Bernal Díaz del Castillo reported it was wide enough for ten horses.

The calpullis were divided by channels used for transportation, with wood bridges that were removed at night. It was in trying to cross these channels that the Spaniards lost most of the gold they had acquired from Moctezuma.

Each calpulli had some specialty in arts and craft. When each calpulli offered some celebration, they tried to outdo the other calpullis. Even today, in the south part of Mexico City, the community organizations in charge of church festivities are called "calpullis".

Each calpulli had its own tianquiztli (marketplace), but there was also a main marketplace in Tlatelolco. Cortés estimated it was twice the size of the city of Seville with about 60,000 people, trading daily, Sahagún give us a more conservative 20,000 daily and 40,000 on feast days.

Aztecs had no coins, so most trade was made in goods, but cacao was so appreciated, it was used as an equivalent of coins. Gold had no intrinsic value: it was considered as a raw material for crafts. Gold jewelry had value, but raw gold had little. For the Aztecs, the destruction of objects to get a few pieces of gold was incomprehensible.

There were also specialized tianquiztli in the small towns around Tenochtitlan. In Chollolan, there were jewels, fine stones, and feathers, in Texcoco there were clothes, in Aculma was the dog market. The Aztecs had three special breeds of dogs with no hair, of which only one survives.

They were the tepezcuintli, the itzcuitepotzontli and the xoloizcuintli. These hairless dogs were mainly for eating and also were offerings for sacrifice. The Aztecs also had normal dogs for company.

In the center of the city were the public buildings, temples and schools. Inside a walled square, 300 meters to a side, was the ceremonial center, there were about 45 public buildings, the main temple, the temple of Quetzalcoatl, the ball game, the tzompantli or rack of skulls, the temple of the sun, the platforms for the gladiatorial sacrifice, and some minor temples.

Outside was the palace of Moctezuma, with 100 rooms, each one with its own bath, for the lords and ambassadors of allies and conquered people. Near, also was the cuicalli or house of the songs, and the calmecac. The city had a great symmetry. All constructions had to be approved by the calmimilocatl, a functionary in charge of the city planning. No one could invade the streets and channels.

The palace of Moctezuma also had two houses or zoos, one for birds of prey and another for other birds, reptiles and mammals. About three hundred people were dedicated to the care of the animals.

There was also a botanical garden and an aquarium. The aquarium had ten ponds of salt water and ten ponds of clear water, containing fishes and aquatic birds. Places like this also existed in Texcoco, Chapultepec, Huastepec (now called Oaxtepec) and Tezcutzingo.

Inhabitants

Sahagún reports that the city also had beggars (only crippled people were allowed to beg), thieves and prostitutes. At night, in the dark alleys one could find scantily clad ladies with heavy makeup (they also painted their teeth), chewing tzicli (chicle, the original chewing gum) noisily to attract clients.

There seems to have been another kind of women, ahuianis, who had sexual relations with warriors. The Spaniards were surprised because they did not charge for their work, so perhaps they had other means of support.

Bernal was amazed to find latrines in private houses and a public latrine in the tianquiztli and main streets. Small boats went through the city collecting garbage, and excrement was collected to be sold as fertilizer. About 1,000 men were dedicated to cleaning the city's streets.

For public purposes, and to be able to set the pace of official business, trumpets were sounded from the tops of the temples six times a day: at sunrise, later on in the morning, at midday, again in the mid-afternoon, after sunset, and at midnight.

History

Many different tribes came and went from the shores of the lake without establishing a permanent, important culture. It was not until the arrival of the Aztecs, a tribe of people who came in from Aztlán, a settlement from the deserts in Northern or Western Mexico of which no modern remains have been identified, that the area acquired its importance.

The Aztecs migrated following an ancient legend that prophesied that they would find the site for their new city in a place where they would see a mythical vision fulfilled: an eagle eating a snake while perched atop a cactus. The Aztecs eventually came across this vision on what was then a small swampy island in Lake Texcoco, and the vision is now immortalized in Mexico's coat of arms, which is shown in the Mexican flag.

Not deterred by the unfavourable terrain, they invented the chinampa system to dry the land by setting up small plots in which they produced all the food they required. When enough land was dry they would begin to build there. Tenochtitlan (the Nahuatl language name for the city) was founded in 1325.

A thriving culture developed, and the Aztec empire came to dominate other tribes all around Mexico. The small natural island was perpetually enlarged as an artificial island as Tenochtitlan grew to become the largest and most powerful city in Mesoamerica. Commercial routes were developed that brought goods from places as far as the Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific Ocean and perhaps even the Inca Empire.

After a flood of Lake Texcoco, the city was rebuilt in a style that made it one of the grandest ever in Mesoamerica under Emperor Auitzotl.

Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés arrived in Tenochtitlan on November 8, 1519. At this time it is believed that the city was one of the largest in the world; in Europe, only Paris, Venice and Constantinople were larger. The most common estimates put the population at around 60,000 to 130,000 people.

Aztec ruler Moctezuma II, thinking Cortés to be the returning god Quetzalcoatl, welcomed him with great pomp. Some of the conquerers had traveled as widely as Venice and Constantinople, and many said that Tenochtitlan was as large and fine a city as any they had seen.

Cortés and his men, aided by local tribes, eventually conquered the city on August 13, 1521, after a struggle that lasted months in which much of the city was destroyed. The rest of the city was either destroyed, dismantled or buried as Mexico City was built on top of it.

Some of the remaining ruins of Tenochtitlan's main temple, the Templo Mayor, were excavated in the 1970's and are now open to visitors. Mexico City's Zócalo is located at the location of Tenochtitlan's original central plaza and market, and many of the original calzadas still correspond to modern streets in the city.

Most Ancient Mesoamerican civilisations built pyramid-shaped structures. These were also usually step pyramids, with temples on top – more akin to the ziggurats of Mesopotamia than to the pyramids of Ancient Egypt.

The Mesoamerican region's largest pyramid by volume – indeed, the largest in the world by volume – is the Great Pyramid of Cholula, in the Mexican state of Puebla.

The Aztecs, a people with a rich mythology and cultural heritage, dominated central Mexico in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. Their capital was Tenochtitlan on the shore of Lake Texcoco – the site of modern-day Mexico City. They were linguistically related to, and culturally in awe of, the Toltecs, whose building styles they adopted and adapted.

The Great Pyramid or Templo Mayor (Major Temple) was the main temple of the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan (modern Mexico City). The temple rose 60 m (197 ft) above the city's ritual precinct, surmounted by dual shrines to the deities Huitzilopochtli (god of war and sun) and Tlaloc (god of rain and fertility). It was mostly destroyed in 1521, along with the Aztec empire, by the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés.

Numerous smaller buildings and platforms associated with the temple formed a closely-situated complex around its base. A stucco relief depicting a tzompantli, or "skull rack", decorated one platform leading to the temple.

The temple was enlarged several times, and for the last time in 1497, when between 3,000 and 84,000 people were sacrificed over 4 days during its reconsecration.

Xochicalco is a Pre-Columbian archeological site in the western part of the Morelos, Mexico. The name "Xochicalco" means "House of the Flowers" in the Nahuatl language. The site is located 38 km southwest of Cuernavaca, about 76 miles by road from Mexico City, at 18°48'N 99°17'W. The site is open to visitors all week, from 10am to 5pm, although access to the observatory is only allowed after noon.

The Aztecs were a Mesoamerican people of central Mexico in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. They were a civilization with a rich mythology and cultural heritage. Their capital was Tenochtitlan, built on raised islets in Lake Texcoco – the site of modern-day Mexico City.

Terminology

Aztec is usually used as a historical term, although some

contemporary Nahuatl-speakers would consider themselves Aztecs. This article deals with the historical Aztec civilization, not with modern-day Nahuatl speakers.

In Nahuatl, the native language of the Aztec, Azteca means "someone who comes from Aztlán", a mythical place commonly believed to be located in northern Mexico (though there is great doubt about this, see current debates in Mexica scholarship), so this name was applied to other cultures of the same cultural group. However, the culture we call now Aztec referred to themselves as Mexica (IPA [me'?ihkah]) or Tenochca and Tlatelolca according their city of origin. Their use of the word azteca was like the modern use of Latino, or Mediterranean: a broad term that does not refer to a

specific culture.

Alexander von Humboldt originated the modern usage of Aztec as a collective term applied to all the people linked by trade, custom, religion , and language to the Mexica state, the Triple Alliance. The term was adopted by Mexican scholars of 19th century, as a way to distance "modern" Mexicans from pre-conquest Mexicans.

Mexica, the origin of the word Mexico, is a term of uncertain origin. Very different etymologies are proposed: the old Nahuatl word for the sun, the name of their leader Mexitli, a type of weed that grows in Lake Texcoco. The most renowned Nahuatl translator, Miguel León-Portilla, suggests that it means "navel of the moon" from Nahuatl metztli (moon) and xictli (navel) or, alternatively, it could mean navel of the maguey (Nahuatl metl).

The main deity in Aztec culture was their sun god and war god, Huitzilopochtli. He directed the Aztec to found a city on the site where they would see an eagle, in some accounts devouring a snake, perched on a fruit bearing nopal cactus. The Aztecs built their city of Tenochtitlan on that site, on an island in the middle of Lake Texcoco, modern-day Mexico City. This legendary vision is pictured on the Coat of Arms of Mexico.

According to legend, when the Aztec arrived in the Anahuac valley around Lake Texcoco, they were considered by the other groups as the least civilized of all. The Aztec decided to learn, and they took all they could from other peoples, especially from the ancient Toltec (whom they seem to have partially confused with the more ancient civilization of Teotihuacan). To the Aztec, the Toltecs were the originators of all culture; "Toltecayotl" was a synonym for culture. Aztec legends identify the Toltecs and the cult of Quetzalcoatl with the mythical city of Tollan, which they also identified with the more ancient Teotihuacan.

There were twelve rulers or tlatoque (singular: tlatoani) of Tenochtitlan:

Legendary Founder: Tenoch

1375: Acamapichtli

1395: Huitzilihuitl

1417: Chimalpopoca

1427: Itzcoatl

1440: Moctezuma I (or Motecuhzoma Ilhuicamina)

1469: Axayacatl

1481: Tizoc

1486: Auitzotl

1502: Moctezuma II (or Motecuhzoma Xocoyotzin, the famous "Montezuma", a.k.a. Motecuhzoma II)

1520: Cuitlahuac

1521: Cuauhtemoc

After the fall of Tula, in the 12th century, in the valley of Mexico and surroundings, there were several city states of Nahua-speaking people: Cholula, Huexotzingo, Tlaxcala, Atzcapotzalco, Chalco, Culhuacan, Xochimilco, Tlacopan, etc. No single one of them was powerful enough to dominate other cities, and they were somewhat united by a common Toltec background. Aztec chronicles describe this time as a golden age, when music was established, people learned arts and crafts from surviving Toltecs, and rulers held poetry contests in place of wars.

In the 13th and 14th centuries, around the Lake Texcoco in the Anahuac Valley, the most powerful of these city states were Culhuacan to the south, and Azcapotzalco to the west. Between them, they controlled the whole Lake Texcoco area.

As a result, when the Mexica arrived to the Anahuac valley as a semi-nomadic tribe, they had nowhere to go. They settled temporarily in Chapultepec, but this was under the rule of Azcapotzalco, the city of the "Tepaneca", and they were soon expelled. They then went to the area dominated by Culhuacan and, in 1299, the ruler Cocoxtli gave them permission to settle in the empty barrens of Tizapan. They assimilated to Culhuacan culture: they took and married Culhuacan women, so that those women could teach their children.

In 1323, they asked the new ruler of Culhuacan, Achicometl, for his daughter, in order to make her the goddess Yaocihuatl. Unbeknowest to the king, the Mexica actually planned to sacrifice her. As the story goes, during a festival dinner, a priest came out wearing her flayed skin as part of the ritual. Upon seeing this, the king and the people of Culhuacan were horrified and expelled the Mexica.

Forced to flee, in 1325 they went to a small islet in the center of the lake where they began to build their city "Mexico - Tenochtitlan", eventually creating a large artificial island. After a time, they elected their first tlatoani, Acamapichtli, following customs learned from the Culhuacan. Another Mexica group settled on the north shore: this would become the city of Tlatelolco. Originally, this was an independent Mexica kingdom, but eventually it was taken over by the Tenochca Mexica and treated as a "fifth" quadrent. The famous marketplace described by Cortés and Díaz was actually located in Tlatelolco.

During this period, the islet was under the jurisdiction of Azcapotzalco, and the Mexica had to pay heavy tributes to stay there.

Initially, the Mexica hired themselves out as mercenaries in wars between Nahuas, breaking the balance of power between city states. Eventually they gained enough glory to receive royal marriages. Mexica rulers Acamapichtli, Huitzilihuitl and Chimalpopoca were, in 1372–1427, vassals of Tezozomoc, a lord of the Tepanec nahua.

When Tezozomoc died, his son Maxtla assassinated Chimalpopoca, whose uncle Itzcoatl allied with the ex-ruler of Texcoco, Nezahualcoyotl, and besieged Maxtla's capital Azcapotzalco. Maxtla surrendered after 100 days and went into exile. Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan formed a "Triple Alliance" that came to dominate the Valley of Mexico, and then extended its power beyond. Tenochtitlan gradually became the dominant power in the alliance.

Itzcoatl's nephew Motecuhzoma I inherited the throne in 1449 and expanded the realm. His son Axayacatl (1469) surrounding kingdom of Tlatelolco. His sister was married to the tlatoani of Tlatelolco, but, as a pretext for war, he declared that she was mistreated. He went on to conquer Matlazinca and the cities of Tollocan, Ocuillan, and Mallinalco. He was defeated by the Tarascans in Tzintzuntzan (the first great defeat the Aztecs had ever suffered), but recovered and took control of the Huasteca region, conquering the Mixtecs and Zapotecs.

In 1481 Axayacatl's son Tizoc ruled briefly, but he was considered weak, so he was replaced (possibly through assassination by poisoning) by his younger brother Ahuitzol who had reorganized the army. The empire was at its largest during his reign. His successor was Motecuhzoma Xocoyotzin (better known as Moctezuma II), who was tlatoani when the Spaniards arrived in 1519.

The Empire

The Aztec Empire is not completely analogous to the empires of European history. Like most European empires, it was ethnically very diverse, but unlike most European empires, it was more a system of tribute than a single system of government. Arnold Toynbee in War and Civilization analogizes it to the Assyrian Empire in this respect.

Although cities under Aztec rule seem to have paid heavy tributes, excavations in the Aztec-ruled provinces show a steady increase in the welfare of common people after they were conquered.

This probably was due to an increase of trade, thanks to better roads and communications, and the tributes were extracted from a broad base. Only the upper classes seem to have suffered economically, and only at first. There appears to have been trade even in things that could be produced locally: love of novelty may have been a factor.

There was even trade with cities considered enemies. The Purepechas, the only people who defeated the Aztecs, were the main source of copper axes. The main contribution of the Aztec rule was a system of communications between the conquered cities. In Mesoamerica, they had no animals for transport, nor wheeled vehicles, so the roads were designed for travel on foot.

Usually these roads were part of the tributes, and travelers had places to rest, eat, and even latrines at regular intervals, every 10 or 15 km. They were constantly watched, so even women could travel alone. Also, couriers (Paynani) were constantly traveling along those ways, keeping the Aztecs informed of events.

The Aztec empire produced the biggest demographic explosion in Mesoamerica: the population grew from an estimated 10 million to 15 million.

The most important official of Tenochtitlan government was often called The Aztec Emperor. The Nahuatl title, Huey Tlatoani (plural huey tlatoque), translates roughly as "Great Speaker"; the tlatoque ("speakers") were an upper class. This office gradually took on more power with the rise of Tenochtitlan. By the time of Auitzotl "Emperor" is an appropriate analogy, although as in the Holy Roman Empire, the title was not hereditary.

Most of the Aztec empire was forged by one man, Tlacaelel (Nahuatl for "manly heart"), who lived from 1397 to 1487. Although he was offered the opportunity to be tlatoani, he preferred to stay behind the throne. Nephew of Tlatoani Itzcoatl, and brother of Chimalpopoca and Motecuhzoma Ilhuicamina, his title was "Cihuacoatl" (in honor of the goddess, roughly equivalent to "counselor"), but as reported in the Ramírez Codex, "what Tlacaellel ordered, was as soon done".

He gave the Aztec government a new structure, he ordered the burning of most Aztec books (his explanation being that they were full of lies) and he rewrote their history. In addition, Tlacaelel reformed Aztec religion, by putting the tribal god Huitzilopochtli at the same level as the old Nahua gods Tlaloc, Tezcatlipoca, and Quetzalcoatl. Tlacaelel thus created a common awareness of history for the Aztecs.

He also created the institution of ritual war (the flowery wars) as a way to have trained warriors, and created the necessity of constant sacrifices to keep the Sun moving. Some writers believe upper classes were aware of this forgery, which would explain the later actions of Moctezuma when he met Hernán Cortés (a.k.a. Cortez). But eventually this institution helped to cause the fall of the Aztec empire.

The people of Tlaxcala were spared conquest, at the price of participating in the flower wars. When Cortés came to know this, he approached them and they became his allies. The Tlaxcaltecas provided thousands of men to support the few hundred Spaniards. The Aztec strategy of war was based on the capture of prisoners by individual warriors, not on working as a group to kill the enemy in battle. By the time the Aztecs came to recognize what warfare meant in European terms, it was too late.

Aztec society

Class structure

The society traditionally was divided into two social classes; the macehualli (people) or peasantry and the pilli or nobility. Nobility was not originally hereditary, although the sons of pillis had access to better resources and education, so it was easier for them to become pillis. Eventually, this class system took on the aspects of a hereditary system.

The Aztec military had an equivalent to military service with a core of professional warriors; only those that had taken prisoners could become full-time warriors, and eventually the honors and spoils of war would make them pillis. Once an Aztec warrior had captured 4 or 5 captives, he would be called tequiua and could attain a rank of Eagle or Jaguar knight, sometimes translated as "captain", eventually he could reach the rank of tlacateccatl or tlachochcalli.

To be elected as tlatoani, one was required to have taken about 17 captives in war. When Aztec boys attained adult age, they stopped cutting their hair until they took their first captive; sometimes two or three youths united to get their first captive; then they would be called iyac. If after a certain time, usually three combats, they could not gain a captive, they became macehualli; their hair would still be quite long, indicating that they had not gotten a captive yet. That was rather shameful.

The abundance of tributes led to the emergence and rise of a third class that was not part of the traditional Aztec society: pochtecas or traders. Their activities were not only commercial: they also were an effective intelligence gathering force. They were scorned by the warriors - who nonetheless sent to them their spoils of war in exchange for blankets, feathers, slaves, and other presents.

In the later days of the empire, the concept of macehualli also had changed. Eduardo Noguera (Annals of Anthropology, UNAM, Vol. xi, 1974, p. 56) estimates only 20% of the population was dedicated to agriculture and food production. The chinampa system of food production was very efficient; it could provide food for about 190,000 people. Also, a significant amount of food was obtained by trade and tribute.

The Aztec were not only conquering warriors, but also skilled artisans and aggressive traders. Eventually, most of the macehuallis were dedicated to arts and crafts. Their works were an important source of income for the city (Sanders, William T., Settlement Patterns in Central Mexico. Handbook of Middle American Indians, 1971, vol. 3, p. 3-44).

Excavations of some cities under Aztec rule show that a sizeable number of luxury items were produced in Tenochtitlan. More excavations are needed to show if this was true in other Aztec provinces, but if trade was as important as it seems, this could explain the rise of the Pochteca as a powerful class.

Slavery

Slaves or tlacotin (distinct from war captives) also constituted an important class. This slavery was very different from what Europeans of the same period were to establish in their colonies, although it had much in common with the slaves of classical antiquity. (Sahagún doubts the appropriateness even of the term "slavery" for this Aztec institution.)

First, slavery was personal, not hereditary: a slave's children were free. A slave could have possessions and even own other slaves. Slaves could buy their liberty, and slaves could be set free if they were able to show they had been mistreated or if they had children with or were married to their masters.

Typically, upon the death of the master, slaves who had performed outstanding services were freed. The rest of the slaves were passed on as part of an inheritance.

Another rather remarkable method for a slave to recover liberty was described by Manuel Orozco y Berra in La civilización azteca (1860): if, at the tianquiztli (marketplace; the word has survived into modern-day Spanish as "tianguis"), a slave could escape the vigilance of his or her master, run outside the walls of the market and step on a piece of human excrement, he could then present his case to the judges, who would free him.

He or she would then be washed, provided with new clothes (so that he or she would not be wearing clothes belonging to the master), and declared free. Because, in stark contrast to the European colonies, a person could be declared a slave if he or she attempted to prevent the escape of a slave (unless that person were a relative of the master), others would not typically help the master in preventing the slave's escape.

Orozco y Berra also reports that a master could not sell a slave without the slave's consent, unless the slave had been classified as incorrigible by an authority. (Incorrigibility could be determined on the basis of repeated laziness, attempts to run away, or general bad conduct.) Incorrigible slaves were made to wear a wooden collar, affixed by rings at the back. The collar was not merely a symbol of bad conduct: it was designed to make it harder to run away through a crowd or through narrow spaces.

When buying a collared slave, one was informed of how many times that slave had been sold. A slave who was sold four times as incorrigible could be sold to be sacrificed; those slaves commanded a premium in price.

However, if a collared slave managed to present him- or herself in the royal palace or in a temple, he or she would regain liberty.

An Aztec could become a slave as a punishment. A murderer sentenced to death could instead, upon the request of the wife of his victim, be given to her as a slave. A father could sell his son into slavery if the son was declared incorrigible by an authority. Those who did not pay their debts could also be sold as slaves.

People could sell themselves as slaves. They could stay free long enough to enjoy the price of their liberty, about twenty blankets, usually enough for a year; after that time they went to their new master. Usually this was the destiny of gamblers and of old ahuini (courtesans or prostitutes).

Motolinía reports that some captives, future victims of sacrifice, were treated as slaves with all the rights of an Aztec slave until the time of their sacrifice, but it is not clear how they were kept from running away..

Recreation

Although one could drink pulque, a fermented beverage with an alcoholic content equivalent to beer, getting drunk before the age of 60 was forbidden. While the first time was punished, reincidents could get the penalty of death.

Like in modern Mexico, the Aztecs had strong passions over a ball game, but this in their case it was tlachtli, the Aztec variant of the ulama game, the ancient ball game of Mesoamerica. The game was played with a ball of solid rubber, about the size of a human head. The ball was called "olli", whence derives the Spanish word for rubber, "hule". The city had two special buildings for the ball games. The players hit the ball with their hips, knees, and elbows.

They had to pass the ball through a stone ring to automatically win. This was difficult, so they could hit markers on the walls to earn points.The fortunate player that could do this had the right to take the blankets of the public, so his victory was followed by general running of the public, with screams and laughter. People used to bet on the results of the game. Poor people could bet their food, pillis could bet their fortunes, tecutlis (lords) could bet their concubines or even their cities, and those who had nothing could bet their freedom and risk becoming slaves.

Song and poetry were highly regarded; there were presentations and poetry contests at most of the Aztec festivals. Also there was a kind of dramatic presentation that included players, musicians and acrobats.

The Aztecs also enjoyed board games, like "Patolli" and "Totoloque". Bernal Diaz coments how Cortés and Moctezuma II played totoloque.

Education

Until the age of fourteen, the education of children was in the hands of their parents, but supervised by the authorities of their calpulli. Periodically they attended their local temples, to test their progress.

Part of their education was a collection of sayings, called huehuetlatolli ("The sayings of the old"), that represented the Aztecs' ideals. It included speeches and sayings for every occasion, the words to salute the birth of children, and to say farewell at death. Fathers admonished their daughters to be very clean, but not to use makeup, because they would look like ahuianis. Mothers admonished their daughters to support their husbands, even if they turn out to be humble peasants. Boys were admonished to be humble, obedient and hard workers.

Boys and girls went to school at age 15. Probably this was one of the first societies that required education for all its members, without regard of sex or social status. There were two types of educational institutions. The telpochcalli or House of the Young, taught history, religion, military fighting arts, and a trade or craft (such as agriculture or handicrafts). Some of the telpochcalli students were chosen for the army, but most of them returned to their homes.

The calmecac, attended mostly by the sons of pillis, was focused on turning out leaders (tlatoque), priests, scholars/teachers (tlatimini), healers (tizitl) and codex painters (tlacuilos). They studied rituals, ancient and contemporary history, literacy, calendrics, some elements of geometry, songs (poetry), and, as at the telpochcalli, military arts.

Each Calpulli was specialized in some handicrafts, and this was an important part of the income of the city. So the teaching of handicraft was very apreciated.

Also, the healers or Tizitl had several specialities. Some were trained to just look and classify medicinal plants, others were training just in the preparation of medicines that were sold in special places (Tlapalli), more than a hundred preparations are known, including deodorants, remedies for smelly feet, dentifric paste etc. Also there were Tizitl specialized in surgery, digestive disease, teeth and nose, skin diseases etc.

Aztec teachers or Tlatimine, propounded a spartan regime of education – cold baths in the morning, hard work, physical punishment, bleeding with maguey thorns and endurance tests – with the purpose of forming a stoical people.

There is contradictory information about whether calmecac was reserved for the sons and daughters of the pillis; some accounts said they could choose where to study. It is possible that the common people preferred the telpochcalli, because a warrior could advance more readily by his military abilities; becoming a priest or a tlacuilo was not a way to rise rapidly from a low station.

Girls were educated in the crafts of home and child raising. They were not taught to read or write. Some of them were educated as midwives and received the full training of a healer and they were called also Tizitl. All women were taught to be involved "in the things of god", there are paintings of women presiding over religious ceremonies, but there are no references to female priests.

There were also two other opportunities for those few who had talent. Some were chosen for the house of song and dance, and others were chosen for the ball game. Both occupations had high status.

Diet

The Aztec created artificial islands or chinampas on Lake Texcoco, on which they cultivated crops. The Aztec staple foods included maize, beans and squash. Chinampas were a very efficient system and could provide up to seven crops a year, on the basis of current chinampa yields, it has been estimated that 1 hectare of chinampa would feed 20 individuals, with about 9,000 hectares of chinampa, there was food for 180,000 people.

Much has been said about a lack of proteins in the Aztec diet, to support the arguments on the existence of cannibalism (M. Harner, Am. Ethnol. 4, 117 (1977)), but there is little evidence to support it: a combination of maize and beans provides the full quota of essential amino acids, so there is no need for animal proteins.

The Aztecs had a great diversity of maize strains, with a wide range of amino acid content; also, they cultivated amaranth for its seeds, which have a high protein content. More important is that they had a wider variety of foods. They harvested acocils, a small and abundant shrimp of Lake Texcoco, also spirulina algae, which was made into a sort of cake that was rich in flavonoids, and they ate insects, such as crickets (chapulines), maguey worms, ants, larvae, etc.

Insects have a higher protein content than meat, and even now they are considered a delicacy in some parts of Mexico. Aztecs also had domestic animals, like turkey and some dog breeds that provided meat, although usually this was reserved for special occasions. Hunting was also another source of meat—deer, wild hogs, ducks etc.

A study by Montellano (Medicina, nutrición y salud aztecas, 1997) shows a mean life of 37 (±3) years for the population of Mesoamerica.

Aztecs also used maguey extensively; from it they obtained food, sugar (aguamiel–honey water), drink (pulque), and fibers for ropes and clothing. Use of cotton and jewelry were restricted to the elite. Cocoa grains were used as money but also to make a chocolate drink much like beer. Subjugated cities paid annual tribute in form of luxury goods like feathers and adorned suits.

After the Spanish conquest some foods were outlawed, like amaranth, and there was less diversity of food. This led to chronic malnutrition in the general population.

Human Sacrifice

For millennia the practice of human sacrifice was widespread in Mesoamerican and South American cultures. It was a theme in the Olmec religion, which thrived between 1200 BC and 400 BC. Later the Inca and Maya also made human sacrifices, but the Aztecs practiced it on a particularly large scale.

For the reconsecration of Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan in 1487, the Aztecs reported that they sacrificed about 84,400 prisoners over the course of four days, This would mean almost 15 per minute for 24 hours a day.

Tenochtitlan itself had an estimated population of 80,000 to 120,000 in that time, with as many as 700,000 in the cities immediately surrounding Lake Texcoco. Since the Aztecs reported the number of sacrifices themselves, they could have inflated the number as a propaganda tool especially if, as reported, Ahuitzotl sacrificed them personally.

Poetry

Poetry was the only occupation worthy of an Aztec warrior in times of peace. A remarkable amount of this poetry survives, having been collected during the era of the conquest. In some cases, we know names of individual authors, such as Netzahualcoyotl, Tolatonai of Texcoco, and Cuacuatzin, Lord of Tepechpan. Miguel León-Portilla, the most renowned translator of Nahuatl, comments that it is in this poetry where we can find the real thought of the Aztecs, independent of "official" Aztec ideology.

In the basement of the Great Temple there was the "house of the eagles", where in peacetime Aztec captains could drink a foaming chocolate, smoke good cigars, and have poetry contests. The poetry was accompanied by percussion instruments (teponaztli). Recurring themes in this poetry are whether life is real or a dream, whether there is an afterlife, and whether we can approach the giver of life.

The most important collection of these poems is Romances de los señores de la Nueva España, collected (Tezcoco 1582), probably by Juan Bautista de Pomar. This volume was later translated into Spanish by Ángel María Garibay K., teacher of León-Portilla. Bautista de Pomar was the great grandson of Netzahualcoyotl. He spoke Nahuatl, but was raised as Christian and wrote in Latin characters.

The Aztec people also enjoyed a type of dramatic presentation, although it could not be called theater. Some were comical with music and acrobats, others were staged dramas of their gods. After the conquest, the first Christian churches had open chapels reserved for these kinds of representations.

Plays in Nahuatl, written by converted Indians, were an important instrument for the conversion to Christianity, and are still found today in the form of traditional pastorelas, which are played during Christmas to show the Adoration of Baby Jesus, and other Biblical passages.

Downfall

For more on the conquest of Mexico by Spain, see also Hernán Cortés.

The Aztecs were conquered by Spain in 1521, when after long battle and a long siege where much of the population died from hunger and smallpox, Cuauhtémoc surrendered to Hernán Cortés. Cortés, with his up to 500 Spaniards, did not fight alone but with as many as 150,000 or 200,000 allies from Tlaxcala, and eventually from Texcoco, who were resisting Aztec rule. He defeated Tenochtitlan's forces on August 13, 1521.

An anonymous Aztec poet wrote:

How can we save our homes, my people

The Aztecs are deserting the city

The city is in flames and all

is darkness and destruction

Weep my people

Know that with these disasters

We have lost the Mexican nation

The water has turned bitter

Our food is bitter

These are the acts of the Giver of Life.

– From the Informantes Anónimos de Tlatelolco, compiled in 1521.

But even in this moment, most of the other Mesoamerican cultures were intact. The Tlaxcaltecas expected to get their part; the Purepechas and Mixtecs probably were happy at the defeat of their longtime enemy, and it was the same for other cultures.

It seemed that the Cortés's intention was to maintain the structure of the Aztec empire, and at first it seemed the Aztec empire could survive. The upper classes at first were considered as noblemen (to this day, the title of Duke of Moctezuma is held by a Spanish noble family), they learned Spanish, and several learned to write in European characters.

Some of their surviving writings are crucial in our knowledge of the Aztecs. Also, the first missionaries tried to learn Nahuatl and some, like Bernardino de Sahagún, decided to learn as much as they could of the Aztec culture.

A record survives of a dialog between the last tlatimine or wise men, and the missionaries, where the Aztec try to defend their ways, this reflects the sadness of their defeat:

Lords, respected lords: You have traveled much to get to this land.

Here in front of you,

we contemplate you, we ignorant people...

And now, what are we going to tell you?

What is what we must address to your ears?

Are we something indeed?

We are just vulgar people...

By means of a translator we will answer,

we will return the breath and the word

about the lord of the near and far. (ometeotl /omecihuatl)

It's by his word, that we risk ourselves,

that we put ourselves in danger...

Maybe this is our loss,

maybe is our destruction,

where are we going to be taken?

Where should we go?

We are vulgar people

we are perishable, we are mortal.

Let us die, let us perish,

since our gods are dead.

But there should be peace on your

hearts and your body,

Milords!

we will break a little,

we will show a little,

the secret, the ark of the lord, our God

You said

that we did not know

about the lord of the near and far,

about of one who created earth and sky.

you said

That our gods are not true.

This is a new word,

this that you have spoken.

This is why we are disturbed,

this is why we are annoyed.

Because our ancestors,

the ones that had been,

the ones that had lived on this earth,

they did not speak like that.

They give us the ways of life,

they take by true,

they give cult,

they honored the gods......

they teach us the ways of the cult,

all the ways to honor the gods.

That way we put the mouth on earth,

by them we bleed us,

we accomplished our votes,

we burn copal

and offered sacrifice.

(....)

Here are the ones who rule us,

the ones that take us,

the ones that have the world in charge.

Is it not enough that we are defeated?

that we are taken away?

that we are taken from our rulers?

If in this place we are to stand,

we will be prisoners.

So Do with us what you want,

This is what we have spoken,

what we answered,

to your breath,

to your word,

oh lords!

But soon all changed. Eventually, the Indians were not only forbidden to learn of their cultures, but also were forbidden to learn to read and write in Spanish, and, under the law, they had the status of minors.

The fall of Tenochtitlan usually is referred as the main episode in the process of the conquest, but this process was much more complex. It took almost 60 years of wars to conquest mesoamerica (Chichimeca wars), a process that could have taken longer, but three separate epidemics took a heavy toll on the population.

The first was from 1520-1521, smallpox (cocoliztli) decimated the population of Tenochtitlan and was decisive in the fall of the city.

The other two epidemics, of smallpox (1545-1548) and typhus (1576-1581) killed up to 75% of the population of mesoamerica. The population before the time of the conquest is estimated at 15 million; by 1550, the estimated population was 4 million and less than two millions by 1581. Whole towns disappeared, lands were deserted, roads were closed and armies were destroyed. The "New Spain" of the XVI century was an unpopulated country and most mesoamerican cultures were wiped out.

Mexico City was built on the ruins of Tenochtitlan, so it can be considered one of the oldest living cities of America.

Information about Aztecs survives in contemporary sources like Codex Mendoza collected in 1541 and in the works of Bernardino de Sahagún, who worked with the surviving Aztec wise men.

Nahuatl is still spoken by Mexican Indians (who still claim Yo hablo mexicano – "I speak Mexican"), mostly in mountainous areas in the states surrounding Mexico City.

Great leaders

Acamapichtli - 'Handful of Arrows' 1st ruler. first Aztec ruler early construction of Tenochtitlán and local conquests

Itzcoaltl - 'Obsidian Serpent' 4th Ruler. Formed a coalition with other lakeside people against the Tepanecs, brought an end to the Tepanec Domination of the basin of Mexico by sacking the city of Azcapotzalco, founded the empire of the Triple Alliance

Ahuitzotl - 'Water Beast' 8th ruler. was a fierce warrior, rebuilt the Great Temple, sacrificed 20,000 to 80,000 victims at temple's opening ceremony, empire stretched from coast to coast

Montezuma II, Moctezuma II - 'Angry Lord, The Younger' 9th Ruler. was the emperor of the Aztecs during the time of the three Spanish expeditions, the third of which was Cortés’. He was captured by Cortés when the Spaniards, after being greeted into the city, took him hostage because of the fear of an uprising. He was killed by his own people later (stoned to death) when Cortés used him to try to quell the uprising.