Write An Essay On The Aztecs

GEOGRAPHY-

The Aztecs lived in the Valley of Mexico in modern day Mexico. They were sort of isolated from other civilization by the mountains, but they still knew about other civilizations that existed at the same time as them and before that. As the empire expanded, the less isolated the civilization became. Due to the different altitudes, there was some areas of the Aztec Empire that experienced frost. The area that the Aztecs were located in also experienced some earthquakes, but none of which caused any serious damage to the Aztec civilization. Since it was the Aztec Empire, the Aztec civilization was made up of city-state, like Greece. The areas surrounding the capital, Tenochtitlán would have most likely been places that the Empire took over. The Aztecs did have access to large bodies of water, especially after the

Empire expanded. The Empire was not that far from the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. The capital, Tenochtitlán, sat on Lake Texcoco. Since they were not that far from water, most of the soil around the Empire was fertile, but farther inland, farmers who did not have a direct access to a large body of water would suffer if there was a drought. The geography definitely influenced the type of plants that were grow. The Aztecs grew beans, vanilla, chili, and especially tobacco, which was loved by the rich. All the crops that were grown became very important for trade with the Spanish newcomers. In order to have multiple harvest seasons, the Aztecs built chinampas and farm reeds. Chinampas were made of dirt from underneath the water, and similar creations still exists today. Farm rafts that were made of reeds also allowed the Aztecs that have multiple harvest seasons. The climate was similar to what it is today in region, which is hot and humid. The capital did have to deal with a little bit of flooding, but that was mostly due to the opening of canals by other cities in the Empire. Canals provided easy transportation just like the Nile did in Ancient Egypt. The water provided fishing opportunities for the Aztecs, and fish and shrimp became a food that the Empire could acquire. Fish was not the only game species that the Aztecs could get. Rabbit, snakes, and deer were also available. A past famine caused the government to develop a storage system for goods, and the Empire started to take over areas that could provide food to the Empire all year, in many different weather conditions. The geography of the Aztec Empire influenced the types of food that the they produced, and the everyday life of the Aztecs.

ART AND ARCHITECTURE-
In the Aztec Empire, they had many different forms of art including literature, poetry music, and visual arts. Poetry was important to the Aztec culture because it was used mostly for religious purposes, but some pieces were made that described the lives of the Aztecs. The Aztec name for poetry is translated to flower and song. Most of the poetry was recorded verbally, and it was after the Spanish came to the Aztec Empire when first started to write the poetry down. Poetry contests existed in the Aztec civilization. Just like the poetry, music was used for religious purposes. Some of the musical instruments that the Aztecs had access were flutes, whistles, and drums. Sculptures were usually sculptures of gods, and each piece looked similar to each other, but there were symbols, which made each sculpture identifiable. Female and male sculptures were different. The male sculptures usually had their legs up, and female sculptures were on their knees. The arm positions were different between the sculptures. Males were shown crossing their arms, and females were shown kneeling down and their hands sitting on top of their knees. Pottery was another form of art that the Aztecs produced. Pottery was highly valued by other Mesoamerican civilization. They made simple and complex pieces of pottery. Pottery was also produced in shops like would be produced in a factory today. They also had access to potter’s wheel. Many luxury items were pieces of art, such as jewelry and feather creations. Feather working was very important to the Aztec civilization. They made shields, headdresses, and cloaks. Jewelry was made of raw materials from the Mesoamerica area. Both, feather creations and jewellery, were only worn by the rich in the Aztec society. Art can teach us that they valued their religious a lot because most of their art was based around their religion. Their art also provides us with proof that they traded with other civilizations. Art was important with in the Aztec society.

The architecture that was in the Aztec Empire is now mostly buried underneath cities in Mexico. Expert architecture was mostly shown through the many temples that the Aztecs built. Stone was the primary resource that the temples were made of. The temples looked like pyramids with stairways on the sides that connect the top to the bottom of the pyramid. Nobles’ homes were often two stories, and commoners’ homes were often only one story. The homes were usually made of a type of sun-dried clay bricks or wooden poles. There is not a lot of records of Aztec architecture because the Spanish only ever described the architecture for it’s looks, not for the building techniques.

TECHNOLOGY-
Aztec technology was varied. The most famous piece of technology was the calendar stone. See the postcard named “Cuauhxicalli Eagle Bowl- Aztec Calendar Stone”. There were two calendars that were used. The Tonalpohualli was the calendar that was used for religious reasons. They years were 260 days long, and each day had day signs. The second calendar had a more practical use. It was used for keeping track of time. The years were 365 days long, which broke down into 18 months with 20 days in each month. The extra five days were unlucky days. The calendars matched up every 52 years, which made the Aztecs fear that their world was going to end. The New Fire Ceremony occurred on the day that the calendars matched up. That was how the Aztec calmed their fear. The ceremony included destroying all of their household possessions. Bones, stones, and obsidian were the only materials that Aztec tools were made out of. The Aztecs hunted an animals with bows and arrows, snares, and other traps.
Farming and Agriculture innovations were quite big in the Aztec Empire. Previously stated in the geography section, the Aztecs built Chinampas, which were islands that the Aztecs built in order to produce the best harvest ever. They grew many different crops including beans, squash, cacao, and cotton. Each city had to pay tribute to the current emperor, which provided the capital with food, and that is why it was so important to conquer areas that could provide many different crops. The Aztecs’ method of cultivating their crops was called swidden farming/fallowing. That is when a field that started with vegetation no longer had any vegetation in it. That field would then be cultivated for a few years, then the field would be left alone so it could become fertile again. The Aztecs also built canals, causeways, and aqueducts. The aqueducts allowed fresh water to get into Tenochtitlán. They did have an irrigation system. Like the Ancient Egyptians, the Aztecs used boats, particularly canoes, to travel around. The Aztecs just mostly used the canoes to travel around the chinampas.
The medicine in the Aztec Empire was pretty good.

The doctors were able to diagnosis people properly, and they managed to fix broken bones using splints. The Aztecs believed in science, but to a point. They thought you could get sick because of natural reasons, or you got sick because of their gods. They used natural medicine to cure illnesses, but a common treatment was steam baths because people would supposedly sweat out all the toxins that caused the illness. Medicine was still closely tied to religion. Aztecs invented antispasmodic medication, which came from the passion flower. The medication helps calm muscles, which would help during surgery. The Aztecs were the first civilizations to force everybody, whether they were rich, poor, girl, or boy, they had to go to school. The Aztecs did not invent popcorn, but they did make popcorn a common food that people ate, and use, since the Aztecs used popcorn as decoration. Hot chocolate and mochachinos also came from the Aztecs. Aztec innovations were mostly connected to many of the civilization in Mesoamerica, but there was a few advancements made in medicine and education solely by the

Aztecs.

RISE AND FALL-
The Aztecs started in Aztlan, but migrated to get to where the capital of the Aztec Empire would be. In 1200 CE, the Aztecs get to the Valley of Mexico. They never conquered Chapultepec, but they did settle there first. The were forced to leave Chapultepec by the Culhuacan tribe that lived in that area. In 1325 CE, Tenochtitlán was built. Years later, in 1428 CE, the Triple Alliance was formed that created the Aztec Empire. The three groups of people to create the Triple Alliance are the Aztecs, the Texcocans, and the Tacubans. The Tepanecs was the first group to fall to the Aztecs. The Aztecs conquered many different tribes and cities to form the Empire. Numerous city-states made the Empire. The Aztecs fall came when a Spanish man, by the name of Hernan Cortes, was welcomed into the city of Tenochtitlán. Hernan Cortes first went after the current emperor Montezuma II. Although the Aztecs pushed Hernan Cortes out of the city, Montezuma II died in the process. After a while, Hernan Cortes came back to Tenochtitlán, but this time he was not alone. The Spanish created an alliance with the Tlaxcala, and they eventually conquered Tenochtitlán in 1521 CE. Hernan Cortes forms the capital of New Spain over top of what was left of Tenochtitlán. The capital was named Mexico City. The Aztecs were only conquered once, but it was final. The Empire ended once the Spanish took over. The Aztecs still would have been conquered if their geography was different. The Aztecs would have had to be in a completely different area because other civilizations within Mesoamerica were also conquered by the Spanish. The Aztecs made the mistake to welcome Hernan Cortes to the capital, and that had nothing to do with the geography of the Empire. The Aztecs were conquerors, but they were conquered by a bigger force.

WRITING-
There were libraries that had many different forms of literary works, including books, which were called codices, alamacs, ritual records, maps, legal records, and manuscripts. The paper that was used was made of bark from fig trees. Paint was used to record information. Since they didn’t have an alphabet, they used their own form of hieroglyphs that were in many different colours. The hieroglyphs were mostly pictures that meant what they looked like. For example, a picture of an apple would translate to an apple. Names were the only words that are not ideographic. Names would work under a system of rebuses, or they were spelt phonetically. The picture’s meaning was also determined by the size and colour. Those images are called logograms. The taller the person was drawn, the more important they were, and directions were colour coded. Their language was called Nahuatl, which still exists today, so we are able to understand the language, just not most of their texts because they were destroyed. The Florentine Codex was partly written in Nahuatl. The language was spoken by other civilizations in Mesoamerica. Nahuatl finds in origin in past languages of civilizations that existed in the area of the Aztecs. There is no exact reason why it was developed because it stems off from languages that existed before that. Writing was used to create tax records and family records. Writing was an important feature of the Aztec empire because it helps us now figure out what the Aztecs lives were like.