Incas and Aztecs

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Incas and Aztecs

Like the Athenians and Spartans of ancient Greece, the Inca and the Aztec bear resemblance to the two other ancient cultures. The Athenians and Incas were both more interested in developing their Arts as well as their military, but both the Spartans and the Aztecs were highly interested more so in warfare than religion. Although the Aztec and Inca never had to face each other, it is interesting to compare them because of their dominant positions of extremely large and powerful tribes. I am going to compare and contrast religion and the social system along with their system of government, which can be put together.

The Inca and Aztec were both extremely religious. Their entire lives revolved around religion. They both also had different ways of interpreting their faith. They both believed in gods, festivals, and afterlife. The Aztec had many gods that they believed in, for example, Huitzilopotchli, the war god, and Tlaloc, the rain god. This showed significance in the dualism of belief because one deals with war and the other is with agriculture, two major occupations of the Aztec. Their worshipping is also similar to modern day North American Indians. They worship corn because it was food and was associated with fertility. Similar to the Inca, the Aztec believed in a god that controlled from the heavens. It was a god which beared the characteristics of both males and females and was called Omelecuhtli. His temple was the universe and he sat alone. In his hands, he held a drop of water that contained a green seed and the seed was actually the Earth submerged into the ocean. There were no temples for him because he was so important; he was in the hearth of every family's home.

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The Aztec had a very simple society. Slaves, commoners, and nobility. Even still, the Aztec gave the poor people chances at achieving high society status. This fairness and practice of not judging someone on their financial status was beneficial for the Aztec. Highly qualified people were able to show what they could do and the overall efficiency improved. Even in religion, the Aztec had determined who would continue into the afterlife and what they did on Earth had an impact on what decision would be made. The Inca automatically assumed that all nobility would go to the sky regardless of what they did on Earth.

All things considered, I think the Inca contributed more to the modern day culture because it seems as though the Inca society of then is more like Latin America culture now minus the technology.*/textarea**/form**/center**/body**/html*

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