Transcript The Aztecs used a Calendar similar to The Mayans. It had a 365 day

Aztec map
Aztec
13th & 14th Centuries –
• One of several ethnic
groups, living on the
edge of Lake Texcoco,
the site of present day
Mexico City
• Mexicas,
Government
• Triple Alliance - 15th
century
• Tribute empire
• Emperor
– Codified laws
• Conquered people had
relative independence
and paid taxes as
“tribute”
Tenochtitlan
• By 1473, after subjugating neighboring tribes, they ruled the
largest empire Mexico had ever seen. Their capital of
Tenochtitlan, set in the lake, was a picturesque city of
pyramids, mile-long floating roads, aqueducts, animated
marketplaces, and one hundred thousand residents.
Tenochtitlan
Since the land wasn’t fertile the Aztec people used irrigation, fertilizers, and
chinampas. Chinampas were floating gardens built on swamps.
.
No work animals or machines to help them work the land, but the rich had
the choice of eating turkeys, ducks, or geese.
Social Structure
• Two classes:
– Nobility – special
status
– Commoners –
everyone else
• Gender roles
• Education –
MANDATORY FOR
EVERYONE!!
Aztec Calendar
-The Aztecs used a Calendar similar to
The Mayans. It had a 365 day a year
Calendar.
Aztec mythology:
•The first age of mankind ended with the
animals devouring humans.
•The second age was finished by wind
•The third by fire, and the fourth by water.
•The present fifth epoch is called
Nahui-Olin (Sun of Earthquake), which
began in 3113 BC and was supposed to end on
December 24, 2011. It was to be the last
destruction of human existence on Earth.
Aztec Writing
• The Aztec Language was
based on symbols
representing writing.
• They would combine
symbols to create
sentences.
Mythology
• According to an Aztec
myth, the white-faced
Quetzacuatl - their most
important god.
• He is the god of
intelligence and the god
of creation.
Decline
• 1519 – arrival
of Hernán
Cortés
• Military and
political losses
• Small pox (5075% loss of
population)