The Aztec of Meso AmericaBy Ari

Diddams

Aztec Religion

• To the Aztec, religion was very important.• We have recently found an Aztec temple buried

under a Spanish cathedral in Mexico City.• The Aztec sacrificed twenty-thousand to fifty-

thousand people to the gods yearly.• They had many different gods for every day

objects.• The Aztec had a religious calendar too.

Huitzilopochtli• The Aztec’s main god was the sun god Huitzilopochtli.• We know of him through sculptures and glyphs that were

telling about him.• They believed that he carried the sun every morning.

They thought that he needed strength to carry the sun.• They mainly sacrificed soldiers for him because they

thought he needed strong souls.• They sacrificed people for him by putting them on a flat

rock then cutting their heart out. Finally they let the dead body roll down the steps. They repeated this process until the top steps were stained in blood.

Other Aztec Gods• One Aztec god was

called Tlazolteotl • Tlazolteotl was the

mother of gods.• Another Aztec god

was Tlaloc.• Tlaloc was the god of

rain.• Coatlicue was the

Aztec god of death.

• Xipe Totec was the Aztec god of vegetation.

Tenochtitlan• One of the Aztec’s great architectural achievements was the

great city Tenochtitlan.• Tenochtitlan was built on an island.• It was divided up into five sections.• The middle section was where religious temples were made.• The other sections each had a central plaza.• Nobles lived close to the middle while the normal people lived to

the outside of the plaza.• Tenochtitlan is present day Mexico City.• Buried children were recently found while digging a subway

tunnel in Mexico City

Aztec Pyramids

• the Aztecs had many different types of pyramids.• One type of pyramid was called the double stair

pyramid. The double stair pyramid had two rows of stairs leading to the top. At the top there was a temple.

• Normal Aztec pyramids had one set of stairs leading to the top where there was a temple.

• There were also round pyramids dedicated to the wind god so they would not act as a barrier to the wind.

Aztec Sports

• One of the Aztecs main sports was called Tlachtli.• The field they played on was shaped as an H.• The goal of the game was to get a eight –ten

pound rubber ball through a stone hoop on the wall.

• The game was made harder by the fact that you could only use your hands and hips.

• There are remains of these ball courts in Aztec cities.

Daily Life

• The husband supported the family while the wife would provide food and clothing.

• Most men would either be farmers or a craftsman of some kind.

• An average house not only had one family but a lot of their relatives too.

• Everyone had to do some kind of work.• The father had to teach his boys as well.• Girls learned household skills.• We know about Aztec daily life from surviving painted

books, ruins, and written accounts.

Aztec Government

• The Aztec government was almost only the emperor.• The emperor was supposed to run by old traditions.• In the meeting room to one side of the emperor, sat

the generals, to the other side sat his advisers.• Another very important person was a man called the

Snake Woman. The Snake woman looked after daily affairs.

• We have found written records supporting these ideas about the government.

Bibliography

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/aztec• http://www.msu.edu/emuseum/cultural/me

soamerica/aztec.html• http://www.aztec-indians.com/aztec-daily-lif

e-html• http://www.courses.psu.edu/anth/anth008_

cmg149/aztec.html• Mathematics of the Americas• Encyclopedia Britannica Academic Edition

Bibliography continued

• http://library.thinkquest.org/279811• http://www.wikipedia.org/• http://www.aztec-history.net/aztec_pyramids• http://newsantaana.com/• http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/S1CDSlsw

FNTY8melEEV9JQ• http://www.transparent.com/spanish/archaeologi

cal-discovery-in-mexico-city/• http://www.history.com/topics/mexico-city-subw

ay-aztecs• Daily life of the Aztecs: people of the sun and

earth, by David Carrasco