Aztec culture - SHORT SUMMARY !!

The Aztecs was one of the prehispanic civilizations and in this case pre-Columbian who settled in the central and southern area of ​​what is currently Mexico back in the year 1325 to 1521 in which Mexico was conquered by the Spanish under the command of Hernán Cuts. Next, in this lesson from a TEACHER we offer you a brief summary of aztec culture so that you know better how they were organized at a socio-political level, since it was one of the most advanced civilizations.

Index

1. Origin of the Aztec empire
2. Political organization of the Aztecs
3. Social organization and religion of the Aztec empire
4. Customs of the most outstanding Aztecs

We begin with this summary of the Aztec culture talking about its origin. Political control around the year 1100 in the Valley of Mexico was somewhat confused, the Aztecs who at that time were a nomadic people belonging to North America, they emigrated towards the valley assuming the power and settling at first in an islet of the great Texcoco lake.

Starting from this base, they began to form alliances with other cities such as Tlacopan, conquering new towns until thus truly forming the Aztec Empire or also known as Mexica Empire around the year 1481 with capital Tenochtitlan and whose economy was based on the tributes of the manors of which they were owners, and among other things they imposed their language, known as Nahuatl.

Here you have a short summary of the Aztec Empire so that you know better the history of this civilization.

The Aztecs managed to form a robust empire by political and warrior organization that far surpassed other civilizations also belonging to Mesoamerica.

His form of government was monarchical and elective empire, that is, it was not hereditary, so that when an emperor died, his successor was chosen through a Supreme Council, which was called Tlatocan, whose representatives belonged to the Aztec nobility and in general it used to be some of the members that made up this council who nominated for the throne.

Once elected the emperor (Tlatoani) this was considered his origin was divine and for that reason it had to possess unlimited powers and attributions of the Aztec society. Under his command, he was in charge of a whole bureaucratic network, made up of priests, tax collectors. (tecutli) and trade inspectors.

Although the Aztecs formed a totalitarian empire, this was in turn formed by cities States with local rulers who were also elected by the same superior council in charge of electing the supreme chief. His responsibility was none other than to maintain control of these small cities to successfully ensure the absolute dominance of the empire,

A total of eleven emperors ruled throughout the empire and among them we highlight Axayacatl (1469-1481), because it was with him that they were consolidated the Aztecs as an empire, Ahuizotl (1486-1502) for achieving the greatest territorial expansion, Moctezuma II (1502-1520) because although he was a just and peaceful ruler, his Political decisions were so weak that little by little the Spaniards were entering their dominions until with Cuauhtémoc (1520-1521) the conquest.

In this other lesson from a TEACHER we discover a summary of the end of the Aztec empire so you know what happened for a civilization like this to come to an end.

We continue with this summary of the Aztec culture talking about the way in which they were socially organized. Aztec society was disciplined divided into various social groups: on the one hand, we find the nobility, to which the same royal family belonged, the heads of the warrior groups (Tlacatécatl), as well as the heads of the different city-states (Tlatoque) and the priests. The rest of the society was made up of artisans and farmers. There were also slaves, who distinguished themselves from the rest of the people by wearing a wooden necklace around their necks.

Based on religion, the Aztecs were polytheists, that is, they worshiped various gods. In addition, the subject of sacrifices was very important to them, whether they were humans or animals since they believed that blood was the primordial food of the gods and those who helped him to continue living and not die, among the sacrifices we highlight that of cardiectomy - manducation, which consisted of taking the sacrificed man and placing him on a stone to extract the heart with a knife and eat it. To carry out these sacrifices, what is known as the flowery wars, in which they got prisoners and with them make the sacrifices.

Most of the gods that made up the Aztec pantheon were related to the solar cycle and in turn all the agricultural activities that depended on it. Between the most important gods we have to highlight first of all Huitzilopochtli, God of War, Tlaloc that she was the goddess of rain, for this many children were sacrificed annually in the highest of the mountains and the more they cried, the more rain would be provided for that year, Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent and Coatlicue, the mother goddess.

In this other lesson we discover a list of the most important Aztec gods.

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To finish with this summary of the Aztec culture we believe that it is also important to mention some of the most interesting Aztec customs. Here is a list of some of the most surprising ones that will allow you to get closer to the essence of this pre-Columbian town. They are as follows:

• Obligatory education: Aztec children went to schools to study and cultivate.
• Militarization: The Aztecs were a very combative people and, therefore, from a very young age children received military education to be prepared for war.
• Women at home: Aztec society was patriarchal and, therefore, the woman was limited to staying at home to take care of housework while the man was the one in charge of working and making relationships commercial.
• Importance of religion: The Aztecs were closely linked to the spiritual and religious world, therefore, among their customs, the practice of a large number of rituals and prayers stands out. In the homes a place was reserved that was considered a sanctuary and to which the family went to pray.
• Fast: fasting was something very important in the life of the Aztecs and was carried out by the vast majority of the population, even by the emperors themselves.
• Human sacrifices: It is one of the customs of the Aztecs most criticized and worst viewed at the present time. However, the sacrifices that the Aztecs made were to offer to the gods and the sacrificed felt fortunate to be the means to honor the gods.

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