Aztec

Quetzalcoatl

The Aztecs were Native American people who lived in Mexico. The Aztec Empire lasted from the 14th to the 16th century. They called themselves Mexicans or Nahua. The Aztecs spoke the language of Náhuatl. Some parts of the Aztec culture used human sacrifices and the belief in mythical creatures. The Aztecs had an extremely accurate calendar which consisted of 365 days. They also had a religious calendar which was made up of 260 days. They played 1 main sport which was called Tlachtili; a game played using rubber balls and vertical hoops on opposite walls in the middle of the court. The objective of the game was to shoot the ball into the hoop using your knees and the first team to score, won the match.

Tenochtitlan

The Aztec capital was Tenochtitlan, built on an island in ancient Lake Texcoco. Tenochtitlan was one of the greatest cities of the world in that time.

Religion

The Aztecs believed in several gods. Quetzalcoatl (feathered snake), Huitzilopochtli (hummingbird of the south) and Tezcatlipoca (smoking mirror) were the most important ones. The Aztecs believed that the gods had created them and sacrifice was the most powerful way of giving back the gift of life. The Aztecs also believed that the gods were in an almost eternal struggle. The hearts and blood from the sacrifice fed the good gods to give them strength to fight the evil gods. Sometimes the Aztecs killed humans because they wanted to please their gods. Between 1519 and 1521 the Spanish leader, Hernán Cortés, defeated the Aztecs and took their empire. Some Aztecs did not want to fight against the soldiers of Cortés, because they thought they were gods.

Food

The Aztecs ate a lot of plants and vegetables that could be grown easily on the Mexican area. The main food that they ate was corn, which they called maize. Another food that they ate was squash. In the Aztecs market they sold fruit, vegetable, spices, flowers, dogs, birds and cocoa beans.

Social structure

Aztec social structure was a hierarchy divided into five levels. At the top was the Emperor, also known as the leader of the Aztecs. Underneath that level were the nobility and the priests. These people made up about 15 percent of the population and had most of the power and riches. All of these people were in the noble class. The rest of the people were the merchants, artisans, soldiers, farmers, fishers, women, and slaves. They were also known as the commoners. Merchants traded goods for the Empire. Farmers grew crops, artisans made craftworks, with feathers, such as headdresses, tunics, and fans. Slaves did what they were told to do by their owners. People of the Aztec group were allowed to move into a higher level in the social structure with their own work and effort.

Aztecs also had a lot of harsh punishments for crimes that seem simple to us now. For the following crimes the punishment was death: adultery, wearing cotton clothes (if you were a commoner), cutting down a living tree, moving a field boundary making your land bigger, making someone else's smaller, major theft and treason. They also created chocolate, but their version was just a strong liquid that today you would not call tasty.

Aztecs today

Today many Mexicans have Aztec and other Native American forefathers. People still use Aztec symbols in Mexico. On the Mexican flag there is a picture of an eagle on a cactus with a snake in its mouth. This was an Aztec symbol. Also the name Mexico is an Aztec word.