Humanities Essay: The Aztecs
The Aztecs or Mexica as they called themselves, weren’t originally from the Valley of Mexico, many people migrated from the north. As history states the people migrated because of a great drought in northern Mexico and southwestern United States. After two centuries of migration, around 1200 AD the Aztecs started to form their foundation in the Valley of Mexico, and that was the start of one of the most mightest civilization. The Valley of Mexico attracted many more people as it was full of rich resources. The Valley was surrounded by high mountains protecting them from any enemies, freshwater from the mountains, marshy lakes that provided them with food, plants, salt and also water for cultivation and agriculture (Nicoletta Maestri, “Aztec Origins and the Founding of Tenochtitlán - Aztec Tenochtitlan”). About 1250 AD when the Aztecs finally settled and created Teotihuacan, the great city started to grow. It gained so much power that it was the most powerful city in the whole empire. The Aztecs were racing to the height of their success and knowledge. They developed new concepts and number systems. They advanced in Math, Humanities, Science, Compulsory education and Agriculture. Although having all that knowledge and developing so quickly (Unknown, “Teotihuacan”). To keep such a big empire under control they had to follow strict laws. God meant a lot to them although
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They weren’t only very strict but also they let commoners have a word. Their laws were extremely strict, but they also let they be honest and give they a second try. They created such a stable and efficient empire with the help of laws and order. The punishments that the Aztecs give to the criminal scared other, so they won’t commit a crime. Having no jails put a huge impact peoples think about crime and punishment. To something like stealing there was no second chance. So they had to be careful and not be
How should the ancient Aztecs and Incas be remembered? Although the ancient Incas and Aztecs did bad things,they also did many things during their reign to outwit the bad that they’ve done. These ancient civilizations should be remembered for the things they did within their community. There has been many good things done within these civilizations and i believe they should be remembered by something good, rather than something bad.
The Aztecs lived in the Valley of Mexico, in Tlaltecuhtli, and their peak of civilization was around 1350-1519 CE (Feder). They ruled under the socio-political system, which means everything was ruled by an Emperor, but each city-state was was also ruled by the local nobles. The city had a population of more than 1 million citizens and more in the hinterlands.
The Aztec tribe is incredible in how they lived and thrived between the 14th century and the 16th century. They were very advanced for their time and had cities that were just as large as some in Europe. The Aztecs had enormous temples, remarkable ceremonies that included human sacrifice, and gigantic monuments, all to worship their gods. All within a 200 year span the Aztecs became an empire unlike any other. It seemed as though they were unstoppable.
Their religion was mainly polytheistic and believed in multiple gods. The Aztecs built wonderful cities with complex structures of canals, causeways, and floating gardens known as chinampas in terms of engineering and urban
Most importantly, the Aztecs should be remembered though, by their complex and interesting culture. One aspect of their culture that was important to the Aztecs was their immense amount of land and their farming techniques. They were able to obtain so much land due to them defeating and conquering land from other people. “Aztec warriors had the reputation
The Aztecs seemed to be very modernized and clever when it came to living. The Aztecs created ideas and inventions to make living better. While all of this was happening they still managed to be very religious. Some people might think their religion made them a bit evil but the Aztecs had their reasons. When it came to farming they figured out ways to get more food.
While many may be aware of the Aztec civilization, their accomplishments can often be overshadowed by the time period when they were conquered by Spanish explorers, such as Hernan Cortez. However, the Aztecs were a prospering society before their downfall to the Spaniards. The Aztec’s demise is not the only characteristic to remember about one of the most commonly recognized civilizations of the fifteen hundreds. As an ancient Mesoamerican civilization displaced by powerful explorers, the Aztecs can still be seen as an organized society driven by their spirituality and traditions. The Aztecs used an organized system of chinampas and documents surveying what conquered peoples owed them, ensuring that they would be productive on a daily basis.
They did beautiful monuments and pyramids and temples that till this day it is hard to explain how they did all of that by hand “Inca Empire for Kids”. Incas were intelligent they created plazas which made it a lot more helpful for their military to keep an eye on things. They also made sure that only people that lived in the Inca community were allowed to go in and out of the empire. Incas loved shiny things they would put most of the valuables hanging in their homes and or government offices. Only the best had the highest quality of
The Aztec people dominated the 14th through 16th century Mesoamerica. They are one of the most noted cultures recognized in history books today and they deserve as much recognition for their accomplishments and errors as much as any other civilization because their works were much the same. Their religious practices were similar to that of the ancient civilizations throughout the entire world. The magnificent capital, Tenochtitlan, displays accomplishments other cities had achieved thousands of years before the Aztecs marched through what is now Mexico. Even the fall of their empire was like that of the far away Celtic civilization and countless others.
They built extraordinary pyramids and even built artificial islands to add more land for the citizens and crop growers. There are two turning points in Aztec civilization. One turning point is when they truly became a great society through
They mostly relied on pictures of animals and tools to be able to keep information that would help them in future projects. Along with this, the Aztecs had very good hygiene compared to other people of its time and the conditions that they were in. “The conquistador Andres de Tapia reported, in a tone of wonder, that Montezuma bathed twice a day”(Ashenburg, 2013).
Another reason why the Mayan cities were great is the amount of them discovered- Today, over 2,500 cities have been found, and all of them were built by people who worked with little rest to complete each building in 2-3 months. (Doc B) This shows the scale of this achievement- building all these temples and homes must have taken a large amount of time. The Mayans were also very intelligent people.
It was very genius for Aztecs as well as Incas to have generated an agricultural structure. The Aztecs and the Mayas both also had numerical logic. A general math system was formed through their cleverness. The mathematical formulation was based on the unit 20. Art and Craftsmen took part as well in all the Mayas, the Aztecs, and the Incas.
The Aztecs, Mayans, and the Inca all have very remarkable governments, That affects us in some ways even today. They also have technologies and, economies that, also affects us today, even though they lived many years ago, they still affect us today. The Inca, Mayans, and the Aztecs all had a hierarchical government, and they all had a godlike emperor that ruled them. This can affect us today because, It shows us what is a hierarchical government and, how it could have affected us if we were a hierarchical government, with a godlike emperor instead of a fair government that we know of today. The Inca, Mayans, and the Aztecs, all demanded taxes from their people, even then that was not enough from the people.
They were located on the Yucatan Peninsula, which is today’s eastern Mexico. In addition, the Mayans lived there from 300 CE to 900 CE. Most Mayan cities had populations of about 10,000 people but their major city Tikal had over 70,000 people. The Mayans was known for building temples, pyramids, studying astronomy, mathematics, and creating a complex writing system. In addition, they were outstanding sculptors in stone, stucco and wood, they were also prodigious painters of murals and pottery.