Aztec Empire
The Aztecs, who referred to themselves as Mexica, were a powerful tribe of people speaking the Nahuatl language. They founded one of the biggest empires in Central America which is believed to have lasted from the 1300s to the 1500s. One of the most renowned cities of the Aztec empire was Tenochtitlan; this city was located in the middle of a lake where the present-day capital of Mexico, Mexico City, now stands (Johnson, 2015).
The Aztec empire was begun in the Valley of Mexico. When the Aztecs came upon the valley, they found that other tribes were already there. These tribes had occupied the best land for agriculture in the region. The Aztecs moved on to the swampy and less attractive lands on the shores of Lake Texcoco. Despite not having much to begin with, the Aztec were not bothered. The Aztecs were not only a very ingenious tribe, but they were also of the belief that their god had sent them to this location, so without a doubt they thought the location was ideal for them. The Aztecs believed they would find an eagle with a snake in its mouth as an 'omen', and this would occur at the place they would occupy for the rest of their lives. They did find this "prophesized" eagle, and called that city Tenochtitlan. This city was one of the biggest of the 14 and 15th centuries (Pohl, 2002).
The organization and structure of the Aztec Empire
In 1430, three city states joined to form a powerful alliance in the Basin of Mexico, with the aims of achieving economic, political, and most importantly military control of their neighbours. Almost a century later in 1519, the year Hernando Cortes first set foot on the coast of mainland Mexico, the alliance had grown in power and controlled most of the lowlands and highlands of southern and central Mexico. Also by the early 16th century the Mexica (Aztecs) of Tenochtitlan had established themselves as the military leaders of the local alliance, with support from the Tepaneca of Tlacopan, and the Acolhua of Texcoco (Smith & Berdan, 1992; Pisani & LeMaster, 2000).
During the ninety-plus year history of the Aztec Empire, the capitals grew in size, opulence, and political importance. The largest of them all, Tenochtitlan, is estimated to have housed over 150,000-200,000 inhabitants. The largest market place in the Basin of Mexico was the neighbouring city of Tlatelolco. Many of the cities in the empire had expansive, opulent, multi-room palace complexes that served as the administration complexes and the residences of nobles.
The social structure of the Aztecs was largely hierarchical, with the ruling hereditary nobility having the prerogative of power and privilege. In the capital Tenochtitlan, which was at the centre of the empire, there were many specialists, ranging from sculptors, weavers, jewellers, blacksmiths, and dealers in fine stones, valuable metals, and others who mostly served the luxury needs of the many nobles (Smith & Berdan, 1992; Atwood, 2014).
There were also many scribers in the capitals of the empire who chronicled accounts concerning the rulers' perspectives of the economic, infrastructural, and political activities of the empire. Early researchers of the empire such as Duran (1967) found information about the Aztec Empire from the many hieroglyphics in manuscripts, tablets, wall engravings, and paintings that detailed the perspectives of the rulers of the Aztecs on their conquests and tributes to their gods and other socio-cultural practices of the empire (Duran, 1967; Pl. 1). Most of the information known about this great new world empire is derived from such sources and from similar ethno-historic sources (Hassig, 1990). Present day archaeological sources are recently also making invaluable contributions to the information already known (Smith & Berdan, 1992).
Most of the recent research into the Aztec Empire has focused on determination of the relationship(s) between the conqueror and the conquered, focusing on smaller political entities that resided in the Basin of Mexico (e.g. Gibson, 1971). A recent reconstruction of the Aztec empire as a whole was done by a team of researchers who combined approaches including art history, archaeology, and ethno-history (Willey, 2011; Smith & Berdan, 1992).
Religion
Religion was the main activity of the Aztec socio-cultural life. The Aztecs, like other powerful tribes such as the Romans and Egyptians, had...
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