Transcript Aztec Legacy

Aztec
“Uic athan”
Contrasting views and confusion
Quetzalcoatl : Feathered Serpent
Sources
► Accounts
of the Spanish
 Conquistadores
 Priests
► Accounts
of the Aztec
 Codex Mendoza
 Codex Florentine
► Archaeology
Modern reenactment.
Recent resurgence in
Aztec “identity” within
descendant communities.
Route taken by Cortez
Moctezuma I
Great military
leader who
expanded the
empire. Emperor
1440-1469
Moctezuma II
Very religious and
philosophical
leader. Emperor
1502-1520
II
Codex Mendoza depicting different warrior classes.
Eagle Knight. Lifesize statue.
Nezahualcoyotl
of the Tetzcoco
Major origin story portrayed in post
conquest codex.
Capital of Aztec Empire; Tenochitlan
Virtual model of Templo Major
Religion
► Bloody
by modern standards.
 Some rituals gruesome (Xoce Totec ritual of
renewal)
► Sacrifice
meant to exhibit power and elicit fear and
feed the dieties.
► Political purposes: Fear of Aztec helped reduce
resistance.
Warrior
Priest
King
Note
earplugs
as signs
of rank.
Priest
Water deity
► The
Texcocoans erected a temple for the
one almighty god (Tloque Nahuague) which
did not include a sacrificial altar. He is said
to have resided at the highest point of
heaven and did not interfere in human lives.
► Mexica resolved to include pantheon of
gods.
► As
with Maya, gods often had many forms
and responsibilities. Quetzacoatl could be a
wind god, god of life, represent Venus, a
reincarnated king…
► Everyone feared the gods and priestly
predictions affected behavior.
Sacrifice
► Blood
sacrifice was an important feature of
Aztec religion.
► Thousands were sacrificed each year.
► Bloodletting
was thought necessary to
ensure the Sun was fed, to maintain the
cycle of life.
► Priests formed a special class.
► During 1300’s rivals within Aztec religious
authorities debated over pantheistic or
monotheistic system.
Flint knife with mosaic
handle.
Anthropohagi in perspective
►
The word cannibal was first used by Columbus to equate
anthropophagi to the tribes of the Khan (Kublai Khan in
China) based on misinterpretation of Arawak accounts.
► Survival
► Ritual/sacrificial
► Subsistence
The Arts
Aztec flute.
Craft specialization
► Obsidian
workers
► feather crafters
► stone workers
► weavers
► architects
► physicians
► painters
► Gold
workers
► traders
► merchants
► Pochteca
► materials
scientists
► teachers
► civil
servants
► pharmacists
Musical instruments
brazier
Legal Structure
► Laws
applied to all.
► Strict laws according to class distinctions.
► Serious offences were punishable by death.
Excavation of mass burial. Possible Aztec resistance fighters.
Social Roles
► Women
and men had distinct social
obligations and status
► Much of what we know comes from postconquest manuscripts of the Aztec.
► Separate Schools for boys and girls.
The game
Patolli. Players
use beans with
numbers like
dice to gamble
on outcome.
Invoke the
name of
Maculixochtli.
Four directions
divided in 13
equal sacred 52
Midwife.
Diet. Household kitchen duties.
Insignia and heraldry.
Marriage
ceremony;
commoners
Farming tasks. Maize
to feed the multitudes.
Eggs and insects
Invasion and Conquest
► Cortez
arrives at Vera Cruz in 1519.
► Aztec population at time of invasion over 2 million.
► Three years later population reduced to 70,000.
► Many contemporary critics of Cortez.
► His cousin Pizarro will invade Peru.