Aztec Notes & Questions
December 12, 2006
Where did the Aztecs originally live? What prompted them to relocate?Where did they end up and why?
Atzlan, somewhere in North West Mexico. Aztecs left homeland in search of new home. They came to the Valley of Mexico named Anahuac, led by their chieftain Tenoch. Tenoch had a vision, Huitzilopochtli told him to lead his people to a swampy island in the middle of Lake Texcoco. He was told to look for an eagle perched on a cactus, growing from a rock or cave surrounded by water.
The Aztecs ended up in the middle of a lake and built their new capital Tenochtitlan. What were the pros and cons of settling in the middle of a lake?
Tenochtitlán was located on a marshy island with limited resources, they built a few thatch and mud huts, and some small temples. The Aztecs would have to work constantly to maintain a city on swampy land. There was also continuing tensions between the Aztecs and the neighboring peoples on the mainland who despised them. Despite these obstacles, the Aztecs worked hard to improve the quality of their lives. They adopted an agricultural system of farming called the Chinampas. and in a short period of time, the land was transformed into a fertile and highly productive island.
Which gods were worshiped? The pyramids were built for what purpose?
Who are the different members of Aztec society? What are their roles?
The Aztec society was divided into 3 classes- slaves, commoners, and nobility.
Slaves:
The children of poor parents could be sold, usually for only a certain time period. Slaves could buy back their freedom.
The slaves that escaped and reached the royal palace without being caught were given their freedom instantly.
Commoners:
The most numerous social group was known as the macehualtin; these people were engaged in agriculture and the common trades. Although they worked the land in family units and were allowed to kept their produce, the land itself was collectively owned by the inhabitants of the neighborhood or calpulli.
Commoners were given lifetime ownership of an area of land. The lowest group of commoners were not allowed to own property. They were tenant farmers, they just got to use the land and never be owners.
The lower social orders were made up by peasants, who like the European serfs, were attached to the lands owned by the nobility and were obliged to cultivate them in exchange for part of the harvest.
Nobility:
The nobilities were the people who were nobles by birth, priests, and those who earned their rank.
The very highest social sphere was occupied by a minority of families known as the pipiltin. These people were members of the hereditary nobility and occupied the top positions in the government, the army and the priesthood. The nobles chose a supreme leader known as the tlatoani from within their own group; in Nahuatl this name means he that speaks. This leader was greatly revered and ruled until his death.
In Aztec society, warriors, priests, and the nobility were considered to be among the most respected in the Aztecan social hierarchy Because of the Aztecs’ emphasis on warfare, the warrior class was highly valued, and often warriors would volunteer for the most important Aztec sacrificial rituals.
The long distance traders also enjoyed considerable privileges and often served the government as ambassadors and spies. The most outstanding artisans, physicians and truly wise teachers were also highly respected.
The Aztecs have a spoken language. What was it called? Did they use any other forms of communication?
The Aztec spoke a language called Nahuatl (pronounced NAH waht l). It belongs to a large group of Indian languages which also include the languages spoken by the Comanche, Pima, Shoshone and other tribes of western North America. The Aztec used pictographs to communicate through writing. Some of the pictures symbolized ideas and other represented the sounds of the syllables.
How did the Aztecs grow food and what was their main crop? Did they trade and with whom? Did they have a currency (money)?
Corn was the most important crop. Farmers also grew avocados, beans, squashes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and many other crops. The lowlands provided such tropical products as cotton, papayas, rubber, and cacao beans, from which chocolate is made.
The Aztecs produced a variety of goods, some for the ruler and his noblemen, and some that were sold in markets. Gold ornaments, brightly colored woven cloth and salt harvested from the lake bed were luxury items that were traded with distant peoples to the south. The Aztec had no system of money as we know it. They usually traded goods and services for other goods and services. But the Aztec used cacao beans and other widely acceptable goods somewhat as we use money.
Discuss the Impact of Spanish Contact 1519 from both the Aztec point of view and the Spanish point of view.
According to the Aztec chronicles recorded by Sahagún, the Aztec ruler Moctezuma II, thinking Cortés to be the returning god Quetzalcoatl, welcomed him with great pomp. Sahagún reports that Moctezuma welcomed Cortés to Tenochtitlan on the Great Causeway into the “Venice of the West”, probably the largest city on earth.
A fragment of the greetings of Moctezuma say: “My lord, you have become fatigued, you have become tired: to the land you have arrived. You have come to your city: México, here you have come to sit on your place, on your throne. Oh, it has been reserved to you for a small time, it was conserved by those who have gone, your substitutes…This is what has been told by our rulers, those of whom governed this city, ruled this city. That you would come to ask for your throne, your place, that you would come here. Come to the land, come and rest: take possession of your royal houses, give food to your body.”
Hoping that a sizeable gift would make the Spaniards go away, he presented Cortez with gold and jewels. Unfortunately for Moctezuma, his gift had the reverse effect. Not only did the gift fail to achieve its intended purpose, but it served to incite the Spaniards’ greed. Cortez seized Moctezuma as a hostage, hoping for a twofold effect: to gain wealth from a large ransom, and to forestall an Aztec attack.
Discuss La Malinche or Dona Marina. Debate her positive/negative impact on Mexico past and present. What does the term Mestizo refer to? What influences remain today from Aztec culture of the past?
La Malinche.” Slave, interpreter, secretary, mistress, mother of the first “Mexican.” her very name still stirs up controversy.Many Mexicans continue to revile the woman called Doña Marina by the Spaniards and La Malinche by the Aztecs, labeling her a traitor and harlot for her role as the alter-ego of Cortes as he conquered Mexico. As for the charge of “harlotry,” it is equally flawed. She was totally loyal to Cortes, a one-man woman, who loved her master. Cortes reciprocated her feelings. Time after time he was offered other women but always refused them. Bernal Diaz frequently commented on the nobility of her character and her concern for her fellow “Mexicans.”
In more recent times, the term “Malinchista” has been used by some to describe those who dislike Mexicans. But Doña Marina deserves better. A fearless, loyal and determined woman, she was a heroine who helped save Mexico from its brutal, blood-thirsty rulers–and in doing so she played a major role in fashioning what is today one of the most dynamic societies in all of Latin America.
In truth, many who call themselves Aztecs today have Spanish blood in them, much like the mestizo (mixed-blood) majority of Mexico’s population. But that hasn’t stopped a significant minority from clinging to their indigenous roots, Aztec or otherwise.
Nahuatl is spoken by Mexican Indians (many of whom call their language “Mexicano”), mostly in mountainous areas in the states surrounding Mexico City. Moreover, Nahuatl survives among the entire Mexican population, comprising a significant part of the Mexican Spanish dialect, some of which has even come into American English (e.g. the word Coyote, who comes from the Nahuatl word ‘Coyotl’).
Mexico City was built on the ruins of Tenochtitlan, making it one of the oldest living cities of America. Many of its districts and natural landmarks retain their original Nahuatl names. Many other cities and towns in Central Mexico were also originally Mexica towns, also often retaining their original Nahuatl names, or combining them with Spanish.
Mexican cuisine continues to be based on and flavored by agricultural products contributed by the Mexicas/Aztecs and Mesoamerica, most of which retain some form of their original Nahuatl names. The cuisine has also become a popular part of the cuisine of the United States and other countries around the world, typically altered to suit various national tastes.
The modern Mexican flag bears the emblem of the Mexica’s migration legend.
Mexico’s premier religious icon, the Virgin of Guadalupe has certain similarities to the Mexica earth mother goddess Tonantzin.
For the 1986 FIFA World Cup Adidas designed the official match ball showing in its “triades” aztecs architect and mural designs and called “Azteca Mexico”
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