Question_1_The_Aztecs (1)
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Question 1: The Aztecs Empire (Origin, Society, Culture and Religion)
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Question 1: The Aztecs Empire (Origin, Society, Culture and Religion)
At the bottom of the Valley of Mexico lies a large lake that attracted several tribal
groups. Life was sustainable in this region. Empires and cities such as Teotihuacan and Tula
were built and destroyed between the fourth and sixth, and tenth and twelfth centuries. From
the Gulf of California, the Aztecs arrived at the valley of Mexico around 1300 A.D. as
wanderers (Townsend, 2019). The Aztecs were instructed by their shaman to “wander until
they found an eagle sitting on a cactus eating a snake” (Townsend, 2019). On seeing the
valley of Mexico, they believed it was their described destination. Historical sources describe
the Aztec community as double Aliens because they reached the Valley of Mexico as
descendants of two different migrations.
The Aztecs trace their origins to Aztlan in what is modern-day Mexico.
Changing
climatic conditions forced the Aztlans to move south to Central and South America, around
15000 BCE. The second migration phase was a result of the melting of North America’s
glaciers, which drove the Aztec population to Canada (Townsend, 2019). This occurred about
12,000 BCE. Thousands of years later, the third migration occurs bringing Athabascan
ancestors and the Apaches and Navajos tribes to the South of the Rocky Mountains, where
they settled in North-Western Mexico, and South-West of the United States (Townsend,
2019). The final migration involved the movement of Eskimoes, Inuits’ ancestors, into Arctic
North America about six thousand BCE.
The Aztecs and the Ute Amerindians share a common language. The Aztecs allied
themselves with a few of the most powerful tribes in the region. The Aztecs being a poor
community lived in one of the most undesirable locations in Mexico’s valley, a marshy island.
The Aztecs constructed canals from enclosures by using stakes. The canals were a form of
transport system used in ferrying materials in and out of the area. Around 1325 A.D., the
Aztecs founded Tenochtitlan City (Townsend, 2019). As an independent community, the
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Aztecs joined forces with the Texcoco and Tlacopan forming a triple alliance. Years later,
Tlacopan lost its power leaving the ruling to Tenochtitlan and Texcoco. Montezuma II, the
Tenochtitlan leader, fought Cortez, won, and dominated the entire triple alliance empire as its
only ruler.
The Aztec religion was polytheistic. This implies that it was an amalgamation of many
deities.
The Aztecs absorbed religious elements from many different meso American cultures.
Common Aztec pantheons include Huitzilopochtli who was the god of war and Tonatiuh the
god of the sun(National Geographic, 2023).
These gods were worshipped through human
sacrifice. Bloodletting and gifting of a victim's heart to the gods were common. The Aztec
calendar on which the religion was based comprised a 365 days solar calendar and a sacred
year of 260 days. This 2600 days calendar is what was used for divination purposes
A noble
priest system was also a definitive character of the Aztec religion(Townsend, 2019). These
priests were responsible for the collection of tributes and ensuring that there were enough
goods for the sacrifices.
To conclude, Aztecs are fundamentally a nomadic tribe that traces its origins to northern
Mexico.
The Aztec empire rapidly grew over time and became one of the dominant forces in
Meso-America.
Great similarities exist between the Aztecs and other communities with
whom they co-existed, notably the Ute Amerindians. Great similarities have been reported in
language, culture, and religion. The fall of this great empire is credited to the European
invasion.
References
National Geographic. (2023).
Aztec Civilization
. Retrieved April 28, 2023 from
https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/aztec-civilization/
Townsend, C.(2019).
Fifth sun : a new history of the Aztecs
. New York, NY : Oxford
University Press
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