The World Of The Aztecs: A Captivating History Of Mexico City

The ruins of the magnificent capital of the Aztecs today lie near the cathedral of Mexico City. In the 15th and 16th centuries, this great temple was the seat of both religion and politics of the mighty warlike Aztec people. Subjects and allied cities would visit the temple regularly. The Aztecs god Huitzilopochtli had promised his people a place where they would be the masters of a huge empire. In order to recognize this place, they had to find an eagle perched on a cactus holding a serpent in its beak. They would then know that this was to be the special place where they would be lords and where their great capital, Tenochtitlan, would be built. Today, this site is known as Mexico City. The Mexico of the modern world looks with pride upon the symbols of its ancient past. The colors of the Mexican flag, green, white, and red, display at the center the eagle perched upon a cactus. The great temple of the Aztecs was originally a humble temple built in honor of both their god, Huitzilopochtli, and Chaloc, god of rain. But as the Aztec nation grew in importance and wealth, the building became more impressive, painted in bright colors, erected in what was considered to be the center of the mighty Aztec empire. The roots of Aztec civilization reach deep into the past. Long before the birth of Christ, an Aztec culture was already emerging. A hieroglyphic writing had been developed, and their astronomers had begun to use the 52-year calendric cycle, which formed the basis of Aztec religion. Even at this early date, the ritual ball game, which became infamous throughout Mesoamerica, was being played. Long before the Aztecs appeared, the central part of Mexico was dominated by the city of Teotihuacan, only 45 kilometers away from the site which was later to become the Aztec capital. Teotihuacan was a great city, the sixth largest city in the world at that time, 600 AD. It remains one of the most impressive sites of the ancient world. It covered more than 13 square kilometers. At its center was an area of palaces and flat-topped pyramids, of which the so-called pyramids of the sun and moon are particularly outstanding. Extending the length of the city was the road known now as the street of the dead, which was more than five kilometers long. As Francisco Zepeda Alvarez explains, The thing which it does was the most important avenue here at Teotihuacan, because a lot of people from other areas, the Totonacos possible, the Zapotecs, and some Aztecs, came to this area to offer presents to the gods. The first constructions, the monumental constructions, the thing which was built during the first century after Jesus Christ, see, we think which the first temple built was the temple of the sun, then the temple of the moon, and they built the street of the dead. The population here, we think, which was around 120,000 people. Various buildings depict gods and goddesses who would later be worshipped in Aztec times. Floral paintings of Teotihuacan illustrate the importance of religion. Water, earth, and sea life are often represented. Ruben Cabrera, a Mexican archaeologist who has worked at Teotihuacan since 1980, explains the paintings in a palace built close to the site. And it represents the complex of three temples characteristic of Teotihuacan in its urban layout, in its planning, since these are located to the north, to the east, and to the south, according to the four cardinal points. They represent two themes fundamentally. They allude to human sacrifice, and they also speak of war, of the warlike aspect. As we see, there is a procession of two deities, jaguars and coyotes, but both, both, both characters symbolically carry a bleeding heart, and on this side are the, is the procession only of coyotes, but they also carry the tongue, the comma of the word, and there are a series of other motifs that are alluding to projectile tips, macanas, that are speaking of war. These are the most important themes. A remarkable stylistic feature of the Teotihuacan murals is their symbolistic complexity. What is interesting is the repetition of images throughout the temples, giving us an insight into religious practices and thoughts. In about 650 A.D., Teotihuacan was overthrown, but remained as an important religious center, as it was believed that the gods had assembled there to create the sun. Moctezuma, the last Aztec ruler, made frequent pilgrimages to this site. The Aztecs also held dear to themselves the traditions passed down to them by their predecessors, the Toltecs, whose achievements were attributed to Quetzalcoatl, their great priest ruler. Shortly before 1200 A.D., the Toltec state collapsed, and the Valley of Mexico became home to a succession of half-civilized tribes known collectively as Chichimex. The last of the barbarian tribes to enter the Valley of Mexico was the Nahuatl-speaking group which we now know as the Aztecs, although they refer to themselves as the Mexica or the Tenocha. Today, all that we know about the early days of the Aztecs has been passed down to us in the form of legends. It is rumored that the early Aztecs discovered the god Huitzilopochtli in a cave on a hillside. They then began a journey on his command to his birthplace at Coatepec, building temples in his honor whenever they stopped. The birth of Huitzilopochtli, the war god, is important as he was considered to be a manifestation of the sun. To them, he represented the sun's eternal fight against the powers of darkness, a never-ending struggle reenacted daily. Just as Huitzilopochtli was born to combat his brother and sister, so the sun rises each morning to do fresh battle with the stars and moon and put them to flight. To help Huitzilopochtli as the sun in his daily struggle, it was necessary for man to provide the god with the most precious food that he can offer, his own blood. As Dr. Elizabeth Bacuadano explains, we know about human sacrifice thanks to the descriptions of the 16th century friars who kept very meticulously records about human sacrifice. The most important friar who recorded everything he saw in terms of religion was Bernardino de Sahagún who came to Mexico in 1539. We know that human sacrifice was important to keep the universe in equilibrium, but also we know that human sacrifice was the most precious offer we had to give to the gods. Children were also sacrificed. There were three paradises to which the souls of the victims went to, so the god of rain had special sacrifices as well, but the method of disposal of the body varied. So on the left hand side we find decapitation, we have several offerings containing decapitated heads, we find decapitated individuals both male, female and children, but on the side of Tlaloc we usually have children. The children cried before human sacrifice took place and the more they cried the better the omen for rain, the more rains the better the season would be. Sacrifice was of paramount importance to the Aztecs, for without the nourishment of human hearts and blood it was thought that the sun would stop moving. The heads of the sacrificial victims were displayed in skull racks. These were architectural platforms carved on all sides, seen here at the great temple of the Aztecs where 240 different skulls are painted with stucco. They were horrific monuments which celebrated success in battle and intimidated their enemies. The tradition of having skull racks dates to about 700 or 800 AD in Mexico in the state of Oaxaca at the site called La Coyotera, but the actually made it their own. You find skull racks depicted in the chroniclers of the 16th century, they even the heads of the Spaniards were displayed and we have manuscripts showing the heads, the severed heads of the Spaniards, including horse heads because the natives had not seen horses before. This particular example conveys ideas of fame, glory, prestige and power. Although this example is a sculpted one, real skull racks were placed next to the temples. The temples had real heads, the flesh decayed and the skull actually stayed behind. The hearts of the sacrificial victims were placed in vessels called kuaoshikali, eagle vessels. The great temple of the Aztecs was considered to be the center of their universe and a bustling city soon grew around its steps. Avenues were built in a highly planned grid formation and at its heyday the city of Tenochtitlan was known to have over 200,000 inhabitants. Until recently most of the great temple was known to us only through documentary sources. In 1978 a Mexican archaeologist and his colleagues unearthed the remains of the temple itself and caused a massive resurgence of interest in the Aztec civilization. The first has disappeared but the second dates back to 1390 which is the one we see today virtually complete. The later constructions were enclosed within successively larger buildings. These pyramids are dedicated to both the tribal god Huitzilopochtli, the sun god, and to the rain god Chalak. The temple represented the mythical place of Huitzilopochtli's birth, Coatepec, a serpent mountain which is why the site is surrounded by walls representing snakes. The great temple was as tall as the present-day cathedral of Mexico City and it was here that thousands of human sacrifices were made. Behind us is the great temple of the Aztecs. The left hand side is the temple of Huitzilopochtli, the tribal god of the Aztecs, the god of war. On the right hand side you have the temple of Chalak, the god of rain. Both are of equal importance, of same size, of same dimensions. Both share the main precinct at the great temple. The temple of Huitzilopochtli is recognized by the sacrificial stone called Texcatl in Nahuatl, the language spoken by the Aztecs. The sacrificial stone here is important because at major festivals and rituals human sacrifice took place. On the other side at the entrance to the temple dedicated to Chalak, god of rain, is a sculpture of a reclining man holding a vessel on his stomach. The sculpture is known as Shakmul, a divine messenger between the priests and the gods. It was here that human hearts and blood were placed as offerings. Both shrines were originally decorated inside and out. We can still see pillars with paintings symbolizing the god of rain. A band of goggle eyes typical of Chalak painted in black on a white background. Below these eyes is a horizontal band painted in blue followed by two red bands. According to archaeologists the lower part of the pillars area was painted with black and white vertical bands which may represent rain. Little can be said about the third construction stage of the great temple except that during the excavations archaeologists found eight life-size sculptures representing standard bearers leaning against the steps leading to the temple of Huitzilopochtli. A staggering 6,000 objects were excavated at the temple. Many of the tribute objects came from different parts of the empire. These offerings include a large number of objects associated with Chalak such as fish, shell and coral. There are also several skeletal remains of children and adults dedicated to their warrior god. Offerings containing fish from the gulf coast, coral and shells can still be seen along with effigies of the god of fire Chutacutli, incense and artifacts of many sorts from all over Mesoamerica. The Aztecs and the ancient Mexican peoples wrote their books in bark paper. We find this type of material still being produced in the state of Guerrero in Mexico. It's very much painted in the traditional style, hand painted. These manuscripts were called codices and we have 14 pre-Colombian codices nowadays. We have another excellent example called Codex Mendocino or Codex Mendoza. This manuscript was first put together by the first viceroy of New Spain, Don Antonio de Mendoza, in the colonial period. It's particularly important because it illustrates three aspects of Mexican history. The first section deals with the history of the Aztec rulers, from the first Aztec ruler to the last. The second section deals with the tribute, how tribute was paid to the Aztecs, how much, how often and in what form. The third section of the manuscript deals with aspects of education for the children. You will find that the parents were scolding the children, sometimes bringing them close to a fire of chilies so that the children inhale the chili smell and got a bit of a cough. Sometimes the Aztecs forced the children to sleep outside, to sleep in mud, in wet mud. There are other aspects as well as, for instance, how many tortillas were children allowed to eat a day, depending on the age. The boys were usually trained the arts or the crafts of the father, while the girls stayed with mother at home. Sometimes the girls were taught how to cook, how to weave and this codex is particularly useful to reconstruct how the Aztecs lived, how they brought the new babies home, the function of the midwife, what they did when a baby was born, how they announced the birth of a baby boy or a baby girl. The Aztec rulers of Tenochtitlan became part of a triple alliance with rulers of nearby states. Nezahualcótl was a great ruler of neighboring Texcoco, who ruled from 1418 to 1472. He was contemporary with the Aztec ruler Moctezuma. He favored law, engineering and the arts and made Texcoco the seat of the highest court and the center of artistic activity. He encouraged the construction of an extensive system of aqueducts to bring water from mountain springs to the towns and agricultural terraces of the foothills. Nezahualcótl's great palace is not visible nowadays, but his pleasure gardens on the nearby hill of Texcotzingo offer traces from the past. The hill once stood within the view of the lake, and though the water has retreated, the view remains impressive. Here in the 1430s, Nezahualcótl collected a zoo of strange animals, perhaps the first in the new world, and a garden of unusual plants. An aqueduct carried water from the mountains into a reservoir ornamented with bar reliefs, and from there it flowed by streams and canals all over the garden, filling the lakes and the bathing pool cut into the living rock. He built elaborate stairways in rock. Sitting in Nezahualcótl's stone throne on the hilltop, one gets a magnificent view of his royal vantage. The king must have watched the traffic of the fishing boats below him. Though now the lake has given way to farms, as he listened to the sounds of crowing roosters and birdsong, the remains of the basins can be seen, but there are no waterfalls, bird cages, and flowerbeds, which gave the king such delight. An Aztec water system can still be seen at Xochimilco, which in T'huatl means place of the fields of flowers. Today it is a bustling tourist attraction, where vendors display their goods from brightly colored barges, much as they did in yesteryears. One of the most important forms of cultivation in the Valley of Mexico was chinampa agriculture, a form of intensive cultivation on segments of land artificially constructed in lakes. Properly maintained, they can produce several crops a year and will remain fertile for centuries without having to lie fallow. Xochimilco is the area called the floating gardens by tourists. Xochimilco is known because of the Aztec canals. The Aztecs used to travel and used to sell their products alongside the canals. The canals went as far as Tenochtitlan. The present great temple of the Aztecs was part of the lake shore of Texcoco. This area had two types of water, fresh water as well as salt water. During Moctezuma's reign, during the rulership of Moctezuma and Nezahualcóyotl, they decided to build a dam to divide the salt water from the fresh water. This was a very important aqueduct which divided water for people to drink as well as to cultivate the land. The land is very fertile. People used to get three crops and it even yielded as far as four crops sometimes a year. They cultivated maize, amaranth and they also cultivated different flowers. It's still the richest area in Mexico City where people buy and sell flowers. The area is rich because people can live on water as well as in Aztec times people depended on hunting as well as fishing. People tracked birds and fish with their nets and harpoons but they could also get frogs, eggs, larvae and all kinds of insects that were edible. People depended upon maize cultivation and maize was and is still the staple food in Mexico. Many dishes were derived from maize such as tortillas, tamales, envelopes of steamed maize stuffed with savory vegetables or meat and atole, a sort of porridge. Canoe traffic linked the entire lake system of the Valley of Mexico. The flow was predominantly into Tenochtitlan and consisted largely of foodstuffs and other provisions. Not only was canoe transport more efficient but in many instances the water route was shorter than the land routes. Another important crop is the agave or mague cactus. The plant was a source of fiber for clothing, netting, ropes and bags. The spines were used as needles as Tomaso Antonio explains. The popular name of the plant is maguey and its botanical name is agave. At this age we must cut the leaves from the middle of the plant because when the dies. So before the blooming we'll cut the leaves and then with this kind of round knife we'll scratch the heart of the plant every day to irritate it and then the maguey will produce a liquid which is very sweet and so we call it honey water. Then the honey water is taken off by soaking out with this kind of gourd. It's a local gourd which we call acocote. With this acocote we soak out the juice the honey water so the honey water see then this honey water will drink it so or we'll put it into wood barrels and we let it ferment for 24 hours. 24 hours later the honey water will turn to a liqueur a pre-columbian liqueur which is called pulque. The pulque will contain a six percent of alcohol like beer for instance and the maguey produces the honey water during six months. It produces a gallon a day, half gallon in the morning and a half in the afternoon. And out of the leaves out of the maguey leaves the ancient cultures they got also the first paper that they used to write on they got a parchment paper. I should write I write something or you will see it is a writing paper. Look from each leaf the ancient cultures they got two parchment paper they got one sheet inside look it was the first paper that the ancient culture used to make the the codices and the parchment is strong. There is one inside and another outside. You obtain two sheets from each leaf and under the outside parchment paper they discover also the first soap the first soap that the ancient cultures used for washing is the pre-columbian soap and the point of the leaf was also very useful either as a narrowhead or they discover also the first needle and thread. The first needle already threaded because out of the fibers they weave they make clothing out of these fibers. They got the needle and thread in one piece look at it needle and thread together and for the dyeing to put color on the fibers they use it also natural colors for instance with a rose leaf they got instant permanent dyeing. And the color won't wash out the color stays. When the first Spanish moored off the coast of Mexico in 1517 their initial intentions had been to secure further lands for the Spanish crown and to spread the word of God. It was Cortez one of the early conquistadors who fueled by tales of riches and gold embarked on an arduous journey to the interior to find the legendary Aztec capital controlled at the time by the mighty ruler Moctezuma. Cortez was an educated man who was trained as a lawyer in Salamanca so he was not an ignorant person like Pizarro was for the case of South America. Cortez was also a he was the perfect Machiavellian who could play tricks on politicians. En route their treatment of the local tribes was often brutal and suppressive but to the Spanish their actions were justified with the secure knowledge that God Almighty was on their side and that conversions to the Christian faith were being made with religious fervor. Cortez met with the enemies of Moctezuma and convinced them to join him in his move on Tenochtitlan. The most powerful of these were the Tlaxcalans who had reached a peaceful agreement with the Spanish following a series of standstill battles and had agreed to help the Spanish defeat the mighty Aztec rulers. The two leaders finally met face to face for the first time. Moctezuma however believing Cortez and his party to be gods welcomed the Spaniards into his city accommodating them in great palaces and treating them with the reverence reserved for the most important guests. When Cortez arrived in Mexico in 1519 the Mexicans thought that Quetzalcoatl was coming back to claim his seat. He had left Tula on a year one breed which was exactly the same date when Cortez arrived in the gulf coast of Mexico in 1519. The natives were familiar with this myth of Quetzalcoatl a bearded man who was coming back. When he arrived he found some Spaniards who were familiar with this myth and in fact he was helped by Spaniards to conquer Mexico. He was also very much aware of the fact that the natives weren't familiar with horses so he scared the population with horses with gun power. The Mexicans weren't familiar with these particular fire weapons and they were petrified. Relationships were soon to sour when the Spaniards true intentions of seizing gold became apparent. Cortez had shocked the watching Aztecs when he ordered his troops to throw figures representing gods down the steps of the great temple. Moctezuma perhaps convinced by the omens of evil believed that the newcomers would be triumphant and he was soon taken prisoner. Moctezuma himself in a way defeated his own people because he was a prisoner of his own beliefs. He realized that the Europeans were human beings but he was still stubborn thinking that perhaps it was Quetzalcoatl. The Mexicans were upset about the fact that he was still fighting with the idea and it was his own people who actually killed him. There is one description in which he comes out his balcony and he's stoned by his own people. The formal attack on the capital of the Aztec empire began on April 28, 1521 and for the desperate Aztec defenders there could never be any real match against the attacking army. With more than 900 Spaniards, thousands of Indian allies, 86 horses, 15 cannons and 13 ships, the once great city soon fell and the mighty empire soon crumbled. For the few survivors who remained any hopes of retaliation were destroyed when European diseases such as cholera and smallpox against which they had no resilience took hold and the once bursting population of the city became a subdued dwindling few. The conquest was successful also because they had fire weapons, they had horses and they knew the tactics of war. The Indians were not playing a war, they were not familiar with the kind of war the Spaniards were familiar with. The ancient Mexicans were used to conquer and find people to sacrifice to their gods but they weren't used to just kill people for the sake of killing people. They had two different and opposing ideas as to what war was. This marked the end of the Tenochtitlan and the beginning of New Spain. Fortunately, the language is still spoken in certain parts of Mexico. The vocabulary has not all gone. In fact, Nahuatl words have been blended with the Spanish and the influence of the Aztecs continues today. Mexican Spanish is sprinkled with words of Nahuatl origin some of which especially those for foods tomato, chili, chocolate have entered English and other languages as well. Aztec life is far from dead, it's still alive. The language is spoken, Nahuatl is spoken in several modern states of Mexico. The clothing in several states is still very much the same, long skirts, a belt holding the skirt, triangular item called keskemetl over the shoulders which was worn without a blouse in pre-Hispanic times but nowadays is worn with a blouse. The male have changed their clothing but the female are still keeping ancient traditions in certain villages in Mexico. The food is very much still pre-Colombian. We can trace recipes such as mole, the chicken cooked in chocolate sauce and chilies that is still part of the Mexican tradition. Tortillas are eaten every day and the way of life in certain villages is still pre-Colombian in orientation. There are certain rituals which were carried out in Aztec times such as beheading quail and dropping the blood onto the earth to feed the earth. That's still being carried out in the state of Puebla, particularly in San Pablito. So there are many rituals which still are kept. The use of the hummingbird as a charm object is still carried out. Aztec dance is thriving, keeping alive the traditions of yesteryear. The great temple today lies in ruins but remains a reminder to the times when it represented one of the greatest powers on earth. As the Aztec poem has it, for as long as the world endures, the power and glory of Tenochtitlan will survive.