The tlatoani of the capital city of Tenochtitlan served as the Emperor (Huey Tlatoani) of the Aztec empire. New emperors were elected by a high council of four nobles who were related to the previous ruler. Emperors were usually chosen from among the brothers or sons of the deceased ruler.
The Aztecs (/ˈæzt?ks/) were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521.
Aztec technology was so advanced that they even made drills, which were made of reed or bone. The Aztecs also made a variety of weapons. One weapon, the atlatl, made it easier to throw a spear. In addition, this weapon was used to aid in fishing.
Lacking food and ravaged by smallpox disease earlier introduced by one of the Spaniards, the Aztecs, now led by Cuauhtemoc, finally collapsed after 93 days of resistance on the fateful day of 13th of August, 1521 CE. Tenochtitlan was sacked and its monuments destroyed.
However, there are a few inventions that people of Aztec descent can claim as their own.
- Mandatory Education. The Aztec empire was one of the few in the world to implement mandatory education.
- Chocolate. The Aztecs and Mayans take credit for introducing chocolate to the world.
- Medicine.
- The Calendar.
- Gum.
Invaders led by the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés overthrew the Aztec Empire by force and captured Tenochtitlan in 1521, bringing an end to Mesoamerica's last great native civilization.
Aztecs. The Aztec economy was based on agriculture and trade. Agriculture provided a great variety of fruits and vegetables, such as tomatoes, chili peppers, pumpkins, and beans, necessary to feed the high number of inhabitants in the empire.
For the Aztecs, deities of particular importance are the rain god Tlaloc; Huitzilopochtli, patron of the Mexica tribe; Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent and god of wind and learning; and Tezcatlipoca, the shrewd, elusive god of destiny and fortune.
The Maya were native people of Mexico and Central America, while Aztec covered most of northern Mesoamerica between c. 1345 and 1521 CE, whereas Inca flourished in ancient Peru between c. 1400 and 1533 CE and extended across western South America. The Maya used two calendars.
Aztec, self name Culhua-Mexica, Nahuatl-speaking people who in the 15th and early 16th centuries ruled a large empire in what is now central and southern Mexico. The Aztecs are so called from Aztlán (“White Land”), an allusion to their origins, probably in northern Mexico.
The Aztecs expanded their empire through military conquest and sustained it through tributes imposed on the conquered regions. Every 80 days, the new subjects of the Aztecs had to pay tributes to Tenochtitlan. As for the Aztec society, it was very complex. It was socially divided between the nobility and the populace.
Aztec civilization is remembered today for its elaborate religious life, complex social organization, elegant literature, and monumental works of sculpture.
The Aztecs didn't start out as a powerful people, however. The Nahuatl speaking peoples began as poor hunter-gatherers in northern Mexico, in a place known to them as Aztlan. Sometime around A.D. 1111, they left Aztlan, told by their war god Huitzilopochtli that they would have to find a new home.
The Aztecs, who should be more properly called Mexica, were one of the most important and famous civilizations of the Americas. They arrived in central Mexico as immigrants during the Postclassic period and established their capital at what is today Mexico City.
The Aztecs gained the majority of their wealth through trade and taxation. Each land conquered by the Aztecs were charged taxes in the form of goods
With the arrival of the Spaniards the Aztec Empire had come to an end. Aztecs were forced to change their name to "Nahuas" from the Nahuatl-speaking peoples which comprised the bulk of the indigenous population in the central valleys of Mexico during the first century of Spanish rule.
Commoners' homes were often built outside the city, nearer to the fields and chinampas where the men worked. Often, an interrelated group of families lived together in a unit called a calpulli. They would build their houses in a square with a common, central courtyard.
The Aztecs, like other Mesoamerican societies, had a wide pantheon of gods. As such they were a polytheistic society, which means they had many gods and each god represented different important parts of the world for Aztec people. Whereas a monotheistic religion, such as Christianity, only has one god.
At any rate, perhaps as early as 300 BCE, the Mayans had sophisticated kilns to reduce limestone to cement. Both Mayans and Aztecs then developed a technique that used thinner, mortared block walls filled with cast-in-place concrete, using a coarse limestone aggregate (basically, big gravel).
The Aztecs created a rich variety of art works from massive stone sculptures to miniature, exquisitely carved gemstone insects. They made stylized hand crafted pottery, fine gold and silver jewelry and breathtaking feather work garments.
According to Aztec tradition, the sun and the moon, as well as the rest of the universe, traced their origins to Teotihuacán. More temples have been discovered there than in any other Mesoamerican city. The Teotihuacán built the Pyramids of the Sun and of the Moon between A.D. 1 and 250.
: a member of a people that dominated central and southern Mexico prior to the Aztecs.
One of the notable attributes of Aztec cities is the prevalence of small platforms or altars throughout the urban epicenter (Fig. 4). These were often located within the public plazas, and some altars were adjacent to large pyramids. Row of small altars at Teopanzolco.
Today the descendants of the Aztecs are referred to as the Nahua. More than one-and-a-half million Nahua live in small communities dotted across large areas of rural Mexico, earning a living as farmers and sometimes selling craft work. The Nahua are just one of nearly 60 indigenous peoples still living in Mexico.
“As I mentioned in my letter on January 3, 2003, the Aztecs are not a Native American or American Indian culture,” Weber wrote. “However, the Aztecs are central to the cultural heritage of Mexico.” The Aztecs ruled a large empire in 15th and 16th century Mexico.
Unique Facts about Mexico: The Aztec. The Aztecs were a Mesoamerican people of central Mexico in the 14th, 15th and 16th century. They were a civilization with a rich mythology and cultural heritage. Their capital was Tenochtitlan on the shore of Lake Texcoco – the site of modern-day Mexico City.
The Aztecs additionally had landless serfs and slaves. Serfs worked land that was owned by nobles and did not live in the calpulli. Individuals became slaves (tlacotin) as a form of punishment for certain crimes or for failure to pay tribute. Prisoners of war who were not used as human sacrifices became slaves.
Yes, the Aztecs had kings and queens. There were nine kings. The king was known as Tlahtoani which means 'He who Speaks' in Nahuatl, the language spoken by the Aztecs. One of them called Atotoztli (“Water-Bird”) became a queen and Ilancueitl (“Old Woman Skirt”) was the wife of the first Aztec king.
