Aztecs Essay Research Paper AztecsAn example of free essay sample

Aztecs Essay, Research Paper AztecsAn illustration of monumental archetecture within the Aztec society is the great pyramid ofTenochtitlan. It was created by the august talker Montecuzoma I, who was the swayer ofthe Aztecs in 1466. The pyramid was non finished until the regulation of Montecuzoma II, around 1508. ( Carrasco, Moctezumas Mexico, Pg 49. ) The pyramid was known to the Aztecs as the # 8220 ; icpac tlamanacali, # 8221 ; or The Great Pyramid. It # 8217 ; s base was square, and 150 paces to a side. It rose toa tallness of 70 paces, and hadsmooth sides. The stairway go uping the forepart was really two stairwaies, one for peoplegoing up and one for people traveling down. The stairwaies were separated by an ornamentalgutter for blood to flux down. The pyramid was used as an sacrificial communion table on whichpeople were sacrificed to the Gods, known to the Aztecs as the # 8220 ; Flowery Death. # 8221 ; ( Jenning # 8217 ; s, Aztec, Pg 92. ) The temporal and religious bosom of the Aztec imperium was t he island capital ofTenochtitlan, and more specifically, it # 8217 ; s ceremonial precinct and the Great Pyramid. We will write a custom essay sample on Aztecs Essay Research Paper AztecsAn example of or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Crisscrossed by canals paralleled by streets, it was described by the conquistadors as # 8221 ; another Venice. # 8221 ; Like that state, the ready entree to H2O conveyance made heavycommerce a world. It is said that 200,000 canoes could be found on the lake in the early16th century. ( Coe, Atlas of Ancient America, pg 125. ) It is hard to gauge the size of the metropolis when Cortes foremost arrived but it is estimated at 100,000 with the Aztec imperium incorporating more so 10 million. ( Coe, Atlas of Ancient America, pg 128. ) Unlike European states, Aztec metropoliss and towns had working imbibing H2O andwaste intervention systems. An intricate plumbing system utilizing clay pipes ran down from themountains around Mexico vale to all of the towns and metropoliss in the vale. As the waterran into each town or metropolis it was the dispersed to 10 or 12 topographic points around town were itflowed into a pool for imbibing H2O or was piped into public baths and lavatories. Onlynobl es had working imbibing and bathing systems with running H2O in thier places. Thesewage system worked much like today, holding human wastes carried to a aggregation poolwere solid # 8217 ; s were collected, and so holding liquids run off into a series of patios whichfiltered the H2O. Solid wastes were allowed to sit in a aggregation pool for about sixmonths and so were brought to the lake gardens to be used as fertiliser. Some of thewaste direction patterns used by the Aztecs are stil used today. ( Jenning # 8217 ; s, Aztec, Pg220. ) Social Structure- Uey-Tlatoani Pipiltin Macehaultin Tlacotli The Aztec societal construction contained four good defined categories. At the underside of the heapwere slaves and helot, or the Tlacotli, who worked the private lands of the aristocracy. Nextcame the Macehualtin, # 8220 ; the fortunate, # 8221 ; as they were called because they were every bit freeof the heavy duty of the aristocracy and of the slaves liability to being meanly used. They were the merchandisers, tradesmans and craftsmans that made up the majority of thepopulation. The Macehualtin belonged to place blood-related groups known as calpulli or # 8220 ; bighouses, # 8221 ; each of which had it # 8217 ; s ain lands, kin leaders, and temple. ( Jenning # 8217 ; s, Aztec, Pg354. ) After that came the familial aristocracy or Pipiltin, who supplied the top administrative officials in theAztec imperial system, and from whose ranks was a formed a council which advised theemperor and elected his replacement from the opinion line of descent. Besides all of the aristocracy had thesound # 8220 ; ztin # 8221 ; added to the terminal of their name. At the really top of the ladder was the Uey-Tlatoani, or revered talker. He had absolutecontrol over civil personal businesss and it was his occupation to increase the size of the Aztec imperium everyyear and if he didn # 8217 ; t pay adequate wars within a period of clip he would be impeached andreplaced by the Pipilti n. ( Oliphant, Atlas of the Ancient World. Pg 268 ) The Aztec authorities consisted of chiefly of the leading of the royal house andthe huge bureaucratism backed by it. The Uey-Tlatoani dealed chiefly with external personal businesss ofthe Aztec empire such as get downing wars and doing peace pacts. Besides there was aparallel swayer, another member of the royal line of descent, known as the Cihuacoatl. He dealtmainly with the internal personal businesss of Tenochtitlan such as the H2O system and the justicesystem. The bureaucratism was set into topographic point by the Lords and performed the same functionthat civil retainers execute today. ( Oliphant, Atlas of the Ancient World, 195. ) To keep the imperium the Aztec authorities made the districts it conquered tributetwice annually. Taxs were collected from the districts besides and careful histories were keptof what districts had to pay. The heavy revenue enhancement and forced testimonial dissatisfied manyterritories. When Hernan Cortes arrived in the early 1500 # 8217 ; s they were happy to assist him asspies and sources. ( Blacker, Cortez and The Aztec Conquest, 143. ) Aztec faith was based on the worship of many Gods, but the most of import was the Sun God. Aztec preists werenot allowed to bathe or rinse of all time during thier clip as a priest. This resu lted in the priestsbecoming encrusted with blood and excretements over time. The Great Pyramid was built as a sacrificeing platform to the gods. At the very top was aaltar and a statue of the sun god, which had a hollow body in which the preists placedthere victims heart. (Oliphant, Atlas of the Ancient World, Pg 197.) Every year Tenochtitlan launched a â€Å"Flowery War,† in which mock battle’s would takeplace for the sole purpose of taking prisoners. Usually the wars were small betweenprovinces in the empire but one year a large war with an overwhelming defeat by theprovince of Tenochtitlan took place and it is estimated that between 10 and 80THOUSAND prisoners were taken. (Jenning’s, Aztec, Pg 436.) After a â€Å"Flowery War,† prisoners were marched back to a provinces capital and put to a†Flowery Death.† That is, being sacrificed to the gods. In theds, but the most importantwas the sun god. Aztec preists werenot allowed to bathe or wash e ver during thier time as a priest. This resulted in the priestsbecoming encrusted with blood and excretements over time. The Great Pyramid was built as a sacrificeing platform to the gods. At the very top was aaltar and a statue of the sun god, which had a hollow body in which the preists placedthere victims heart. (Oliphant, Atlas of the Ancient World, Pg 197.) Every year Tenochtitlan launched a â€Å"Flowery War,† in which mock battle’s would takeplace for the sole purpose of taking prisoners. Usually the wars were small betweenprovinces in the empire but one year a large war with an overwhelming defeat by theprovince of Tenochtitlan took place and it is estimated that between 10 and 80THOUSAND prisoners were taken. (Jenning’s, Aztec, Pg 436.) After a â€Å"Flowery War,† prisoners were marched back to a provinces capital and put to a†Flowery Death.† That is, being sacrificed to the gods. In the year that Tenochtitlan tookall those prisoners it took the preists one full week to put to death all the prisoners withoutstopping. It is said that the area around The great pyramid â€Å"turned into a lake of blood andthe piles of bodies were taller then the building’s.† (Jenning’s, Aztec, Pg 328.) The center of the Aztec empire is the City of Tenochtitlan, an island on the five lakes inthe Mexican valley. The Mixteca, the Aztecs ancestors, believed in a prophecy that theregreat capital and the future center of the world was to be established on a swampy island,were there would be an eagle seated on a prickly-pair cactus holding a serpent in it’s beak. The Mixteca acted as mercenaries for one power or another until they fulfilled theprophecy and settled on what would become â€Å"the center of the one world.† The Mixtecathen changed there name to the Aztec’s and started conquering other powers around thegreat lake, which is actually divided into six separate lakes. After conquering the otherpowers it rewrote there texts making the Aztecs glorified and seem as if they had alwaysbeen the dominant power in the area.(Coe, Atlas of Ancient America, Pg 130.) The Aztec empire relied heavily on the six lakes. The lakes provided food by irrigatingthe floating crops and by the fish and fowl that the hunters could collect, providedtransportation for heavy loads and people, and alsofortified Tenochtitlan from invaders. The mountains surrounding the valley provided clean drinking water, snow for merchantsto sell in the city, and also made another barrier for invaders. The next geographic feature is the desert to the north. Without hard times in the desert,the Mixteca would never have had emigrated to the valley and formed the Aztec empire. The oceans to either side of the empire brought precious dyes and paints to the Pohteca,Aztec traders. It also brought about the end of the Aztec empire by bringing the Spanish. These different elements show how the Aztec culture flourished for so long, but also theyalso show how it brought about the Aztecs end. Without these characteristics, the Aztecswould have never developed into the huge empire and culture that they became. The Aztec empire is now gone, along with almost all of the excellent works that theculture created, the great lake, the center of the one world, and most of the Aztecmonuments have been buried under the slums of what is now known as Mexico city. Thefew artifacts that did survive, only did so because they were placed in a museum or buriedand dug up recently. What a sad ending for what was once the most prosperous nation inLatin America. One thing has survived though, the Aztec language, Nahuatl. May it lastforever in defiance of the ones who tried to wipe it from the face of the earth. References: Blacker, Irwan R. Cortes and the Aztec conquest. New York: American Heritage, 1978. Carrasco, David, Eduardo Moctezuma, Scott Sessions. Niwot Colorado: Univesity pressof Colorado, 1992. Pg 49. Coe, Mic heal, Elizibeth Benson. Atlas of Ancient America. New York: Equinox, 1986. Pg 125, 128, 130, 146. Jennings, Gary. Aztec. Avon, 1980. Pg 92, 220, 329, 354, 436. Oliphant, Margaret. Atlas of the Ancient World. Simon Shuster, 1992. Pg 195, 197,268.