...130 Individual Research Paper The Aztecs and the role of Human Sacrifice The Aztec was a culture that dominated the Valley of Mexico in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. All the Nahua-speaking peoples in the Valley of Mexico were Aztecs, while the culture that dominated the area was Tenochca. At the time of the European conquest, they called themselves either "Tenochca" or "Toltec," which was the name assumed by the bearers of the Classic Mesoamerican culture, stated in Manuel Aguilar-Moreno’s book, Handbook to Life in the Aztec World. Sadly, many of the Aztec didn't survive after the arrival of the Europeans. But during the earlier years, the Aztec became one of the most advanced civilizations because of their religion, war, and agriculture. The Aztecs gained an infamous reputation for their bloodthirsty human sacrifices with explicit tales of the beating heart being ripped from the still-conscious victims, decapitation, skinning and dismemberment. All of these things did happen but it is important to remember that for the Aztecs the act of sacrifice was a strictly ritualized process that gave the highest possible honor to the gods and was regarded as a necessity to ensure mankind’s continued prosperity. The Aztecs were not the first civilization in Mesoamerica to practice human sacrifice; human sacrifice was practiced to some extent by many peoples in Mesoamerica and around the world for many centuries. But it was the Aztec empire that really took the ritual to...
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...The Aztecs originated from a place called Aztlan or “the seven caves”. According to legend, there were seven tribes that came together and lived in Aztlan, each in their own cave. They left Aztlan in 1111 and were sent to wander until they received a sign from their gods, directing them to settle down permanently. During the migration priests carried a huge idol of the god Huitzilopochtli, who whispered directions and eventually directed them to settle where they found an eagle sitting on a prickly-pear cactus, devouring a snake. They saw themselves as a chosen people searching for their promised land. They settled on an island in Lake Texcoco in 1325 and called it Tenochtitlan. The name of the city comes from tetl meaning rock, nochtli,...
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...Ahmad Nourzaie Hist 2b Response #1 Aztec Awe The Aztec Empire is regarded as the greatest Mesoamerican empire of all time. Their Empire stretched for more than 80,000 square miles through what is now central and southern Mexico. Tenochtitlán was the capital city of this great Empire; and the location of the eventual fall of the Empire. Hernán Cortés was the Spanish conquistador that conquered the Aztecs during the period of 1519-1521. One of Cortés’ foot soldiers was a man by the name of Bernal Díaz del Castillo, who later wrote of his experience upon entering Tenochtitlán. Díaz wrote his account many years after the events he described; in order to create a much more honest description of the conquest in response to the contemporary reiteration of the historians of his day. In his account, Díaz seemed to be very taken aback by the Aztecs; in regards to their fighting, their city, and their rituals. Díaz who although was a very firm believer in Spain’s conquest of Aztecs; had a level of respect and admiration for the Aztec. Díaz was first and foremost a soldier; he never seemed to have any second thoughts in regards to his role as a soldier, he always fought, and believed he was fighting for the right cause. Throughout Díaz’s war account; he mentions God, which illuminates the fact that beyond the monetary goal of this conquest; there was a sense of doing God’s work. “In that small platform were many more diabolical objects, trumpets great and small...
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...In Aztec times, their self made weapons changed dramatically after the arrival of the Spanish. The Spanish gave The Aztecs stronger and more reliable weapons which intern made hunting, sacrificing and protecting themselves more efficient. There are a few long and short term effects between the Aztecs and the Spanish. This essay will explain the short and long term effects of the arrival of the Spanish, the weapons, gold and Aztec warfare. The Aztecs worshiped many gods, one of these gods, was Quetzacotl. The Aztecs believed that on his birthday, he would appear before them on their Island of Mesoamerica in the flesh. Consequently when Hernando Cortez and his ships arrived on shore on the birthday of Quetzacotl, the Aztecs believed, “Quetzacotl”...
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...Aztecs and Conquistadors The Role and Importance of Warfare in Aztec Society: The Aztecs had two different main reasons why they would go into warfare, the first reason was purely political, as they attempted to conquer the territory of their enemies to expand their empires as well as they’re political power and hegemony. The second reason was to do with the Aztec religion, the Aztec’s would search for worthy sacrifices and held them captive the religious ceremonies where they would then be sacrificed to the Aztec Gods. The warfare that was practiced by the Aztecs was largely impacted by these objectives in warfare. But of the two objectives in Aztec warfare, it was mainly driven by the desire of political expansion and was powered by their...
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...Negative statements Positive statements When the era of Aztecs first began, life for them was very miserable, as all the best land had already been claimed and they were forced to work as slaves for other, much bigger tribes. Q1) In the Aztec society there was a hierarchy. This included the emperor, which had all the power. In theory the emperor was chosen by the gods, but was actually chosen by a group of high ranking officials. Next came the warriors, state officials and the priests. The warriors were high ranking because fighting in a war was a very celebrated activity. The state officials controlled their chosen state and they were elected by the ruling emperor. The priests were considered very important, they would perform the ritual to rip out their sacrifices hearts and recorded all of the religious events. Below them were the merchants and craftsmen; the...
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...The Aztecs where very interesting people. They came to Central Mexico around 1200 A.D. They believed that the gods would send signs to tell them where the new settlement would be. The sign would be an eagle with a serpent in its mouth sitting on a large cactus. Around 1332, the eagle was spotted in what is now known as Central Mexico. The Aztecs used different building Techniques from other cultures to build their buildings and temples. Some of the temples where built to represent the two most important gods, the sun god and the rain god. The City was built in the middle of a lake called Texcoco. The rest of the town was on five islands connected to the island by land or raised roads. Instead of building roads or streets they had creeks and...
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...Peter Nichlas Soetaniman Professor Valery Taylor Fall15 Art 007 1 November 2015 Should Aztec Society be understood as (A) Civilized or (B) Barbaric? 1. Aztec society displayed many attributes that displayed intelligence and sophistication. Yet at the same time, they also portray a rather barbaric behavior that made me question my opinion. However, Del Castillo describes that upon entering the city of Coyoacan, they spotted tower-like buildings (which were their shrines); they met by many Caciques and dignitaries wearing very rich cloaks (Del Castillo, 216). These alone already describes a little of their sophistication. Moving over towards the great Montezuma, he had with him, fine gold jewels of various shapes. In sign of respect, he gave, to each of the four captains, small gold objects and three loads of cloaks of rich feather work; and to the soldiers he gave two loads of cloaks each, with a princely hair. These demonstrate skilled workmanship and knowledge of how to properly provide proper gifts. It is also a sign of politeness and good manners, which even some civilizations do not have with them (De Castillo, 221). Moreover, Cortes and Montezuma exchanged bows, and clasped hands. These simple gestures are a simple signs of sophistication in due to each other’s presence as different ranks. Both showed respect to each other (Del Castillo, 221). At this point in time, Montezuma is about 40 years old, and he was very neat and clean, and took a bath every afternoon....
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...Central and South America. They were the Inca and the Aztec. Although neither Empire would last long after Europeans came into the picture they were still the dominating powers in Mesoamerica. These two empires shared a number of similarities in many aspects of their life, culture and politics. However one must know about each group separately before similarities are noticeable. First, the Aztec civilization grew out of the Valley of Mexico. After the fall of the Toltec Empire the center of political power and population changed to the Valley of Mexico which contained a number of lakes in which settlements were built around. Many groups...
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...The Aztecs, also known as Mexicas, dominated northern Mexico all the way to the early 16th century until Hernan Cortes invaded during a Spanish conquest. Legends reveal they originated in Aztlan, somewhere in northern Mexico. In the 12th century they extended their wandering to new boundaries and settled in the central basin of Mexico roughly a century later. Refuge was found in 1325 on the islands in Lake Texcoco where the major city Tenochtitlan was founded. What is now modern-day Mexico, this city quickly flourished and was inferior to only Paris and Constantinople in population size. The fall of the Aztec empire created ripples throughout history. What was once the most prominent and powerful empire, suddenly ceased to exist, in only two years time. The tactics of Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes, the religious affiliation with the invasion, cultural sacrifices, and the disease and natural disaster that was brought upon the Aztecs, contributed greatly to the rapid downfall of a major world superpower. Sacrifice It is widely believed that the religious rituals of sacrifice the Aztecs participated in contributed to the decline, in multiple ways. The killing of thousands of people is detrimental to society, never beneficial. The population took a drastic hit and the civilizations established around the Aztec empire never allied because of the violent measures they took. Tlaxcala is a prime example. Many of their people had been killed and they inevitably joined the...
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...American Empires There are many civilizations existed in the early American world, but the biggest and greatest were the Aztec and Inca civilizations. The Aztecs and Incas had many similarities in their religion and also both civilizations conquered by the Spanish ended in the 1500’s, but the difference were the agriculture and the geography of the areas that they settled in. The religion were very similar in Aztec and Inca. They both believed in essentially the same gods and they also believed in human sacrifice, but the Incans did not think it is necessary to have human sacrifice more than a few times a year. Inca’s religion could say was more peaceful religion where the Aztec was more violent. The reason for human sacrifice was they believed...
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...Aztecs 1.The name of the ethnic group I chose were the Aztecs. 2.The Aztecs were located in Mexico City in Mexico. 3.The population in 1519 was 5 million and now it is two hundred thousand. Food The Aztec women would wear sleeveless blouses and skirts that wrap around your waist. The women would also decorate their clothes with gold and feathers. They would do this for attention. The warriors would dress much differently than the normal people. They would dress with metal clothing to go into battle. Homes The Aztecs would use bricks that dried in the sun to build their houses. The Aztecs homes were one big room that is split into four parts. The family that would live...
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...The Aztecs The religion of the Aztecs was a dynamic factor that transformed other aspects of the culture. The state religion of the Aztecs gave them powerful advantages over other groups in central Mexico, and encouraged them to capture vast territories in a very short amount of time. War was seen as a religious duty, were the people would honor their gods, gain prestige, and acquire wealth. Constant warfare was required for two reasons: to meet god’s needs for human sacrifice, and acquire warriors for the next phase of imperial expansion. The Aztecs worshipped many deities, many being gods or goddesses with some having dual natures. However, with as many deities as they worshipped the real conflict was between order and disorder. Disorder was associated with uncleanliness or filth; while order was associated with cleanliness. The sun was thought to be the source of all life, and had to be kept moving in its orbit to protect the Aztecs...
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...Ancient Aztec Religion: A complex interaction of gods, dates, directions and color that dealt mainly with fear of nature, and of the world. The Aztecs are famous for their sacrificial rituals that were held in order to repay the gods for the sacrifices they had made in order to bring humans life. For instance the sun god Huitzilopochtil, who gave up movement to be the sun will stop if he is not appeased bringing the world to an end, something the Aztec people feared would occur every 52 years if they made one wrong step. The main city of the Aztec Empire was Tenochtitlan(Mexico City) where they ruled and were the military power until the Spaniards came in 1519. They formed alliances with the two other major cities Texcoco and Tlacopan. Government: .The family unit was the basic unit of the Aztec government .Nobles and priest had a large amount of power, and although nobility provided leadership, they weren’t automatically placed into government. .The true power belonged to the city councils. Each council had an executive council that consisted of four individuals. Of those four there would be a Hatcani or Leader of the city. (The city council of Tenochtitlan has been compared to the Roman senate) .The Huey Tlatcanin (emperor) was worshipped as a god who’s rule is supported by city councils, priests, judges, governers , etc. He has absolute power in a sense –could be removed by a democratic system. The Fall: .The last Aztec Emperor Cuitlahuac surrendered to...
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...When Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés reached Tenochtitlan in 1519, he discovered a glorious empire that stretched for thousands of miles and contained millions of people. With his eyes set on the empire’s magnificent stone temples, illustrious royal palaces, and grand houses dwarfed by the sacrosanct pyramid, the determined conquistador invested all his efforts in conquering the great Aztec civilization. Fierce Aztec warriors drove Cortés and his army away from Tenochtitlan only to have him return and utterly demolish the empire, taking the city in his own hands only two years after he initially stepped on the Aztec soil. How was it that a motley bunch of Spanish adventurers, never numbering more than four hundred or so, was able to defeat an Amerindian military power on its home ground in the space of two...
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