Aztec world history

1. SSWH8 The students will demonstrate an understanding
of the development of societies in Central and South
America.

2.  The geography of the Aztecs is constantly varying because
they live in such a strange spot. The Aztecs lived in the central
Mexican valley. Almost everything they did or built was
because of the way their environment was. The area they lived
in was swampy in some areas but they were surrounded by
jagged mountains. At the start of their civilization they moved
to many different places. The place they lived in was the
mostly dry Mexican valley Aztec people built many things to
interact with the environment. A couple of those things were
dams, barriers and aqueducts to keep the lakes salt water
away from their fresh water.

3.  Aztec arts were very detailed and reflected their many beliefs.
Many Aztecs couldn’t read or write so they expressed themselves
through art. Artists got their skills from the gods and were
admired by everyone. They called themselves Mexica. The
Republic of Mexico and its capital, Mexico City, derive their
names from the word Mexica. Aztec clothing was generally loose
fitting and did not completely cover the body. When the
Spanish arrived in Mexico, the people were surprised to see them
in their full armor, with only their faces exposed. Women would
weave the fibers into clothing, a task girls were taught as young
teenagers. Aztec clothes were generally made of cotton

4.  The Aztecs were ruled by an emperor, who lived in the
palace in the capital city. There were many cities in the
Aztec empire. The emperor placed one noble in charge of
each city. The nobles were supposed to report to the
emperor and run their city as the emperor directed. But in
truth, most nobles ran their cities any way they wanted.
Like the Mayas, the Aztecs developed city-states, cities with
their own way of running things day by day. However, the
laws of the Aztec people were for all people, in all cities.
These laws were written down. If you broke the law, your
punishment was listed, along with the law. Everybody
knew what would happen to you if you broke a particular
law. Many of the laws included a punishment of death if
you broke the law. The laws were very harsh.

5.  A part of the religious Aztec legends is the belief in a
hierarchy of gods. According to Aztec mythology, the top
three gods were Huitzilopochtli or hummingbird Tezcatlipoca
smoking mirror and Quetzalcoatl sovereign plumed serpent.
Below these three gods, those who practiced the Aztec
religion believed there were four sub-gods and an infinite
number of gods were below these four. Among them were the
god of rain and the god of growth. The Aztec gods and
goddesses also required the living hearts of humans for
nourishment. All hearts were good, but the bravest captives
were considered to be particularly nourishing to the Aztec
gods. As a result, widespread warring took place as the Aztec
people sought to bring captives back to the Aztec temples for
sacrifice.

6.  prophecies were a part of the ancient Aztec religion. Many
scholars today believe that the Aztec people thought that the
conquerer Hernan Cortes was their god-hero Quetzalcoatl,
who had been banished. Whether or not the more educated
upper class shared this belief is questionable. The afterlife of a
person was based mostly on how they died. Some, such as
those sacrificed to Huitzilopochtli, would join the battle
against the darkness. In ancient Aztec religion, some would
eventually be reincarnated as birds or butterflies, or
eventually humans. Some would be, for a time, disembodied
spirits roaming the earth. Most at some point would have to
make the long journey through the 9 levels of the
underworld. People would be buried in a squatting position,
with items that would help them in their journey. In the end
they would live in darkness.