The Aztecs

The Growth of a culture• The study of the

Aztecs is the study of bended cultures, beliefs, languages and customs.

Geography: The Valley of Mexico

• Home to what is now Mexico City• Roughly 7800 km 2 it covered by

several shallow lakes.

Tenochtitlan

• Situated on an island in Lake Texcoc• Surrounded by floating gardens called

Chinampas• The Chief crop was corn or maize.

Religious Beliefs• The Aztec faith is full

of contradiction. The Speak about the beauty of the natural world but believe it must be paid for with blood.• In addtion to being

very warlike, they also practice human sacrifice.

Tlacaelel’s Reforms• A counsellor to the

king, Tlacaelel convinced the king in 1430 to conquer their domain to ensure a continuous supply of human sacrifices.

A Spanish account of the sacrifice:

• …the men or women who were to be sacrificed to their gods were thrown on their backs and remained perfectly still. A priest then came out with a stone knife…and with this knife, he opened the part where the heart is and took out the heart, without the person who was being sacrificed uttering a word..”

Tenochtitlan sacrifices

• Estimates are that each temple sacrificed 50 people a year. At it’s peak, there were 4000 temples. • Tenochtitlan was the site of most of the

bloodshed. Sometimes 800 people were killed during the course of one festival.

Bias• Many of theses

accounts come from the Spanish explorer, Hernan Cortez, who may have exaggerated the brutality to paint the Aztecs in a more uncivilized light.

The Gods• The idea for sacrifice

comes from the legends of creator gods sacrificing themselves to create the earth and heavens. • Death on the

battlefield or childbirth meant immortality.

Gods• Tezcatlipoca - The all

powerful shown with two mirrors and a shield.• Huehueteotl – the

fire god who demanded a sacrifice every 52 years. • Huitzilopochtli – The

god of Sun.