The Aztec
by Olivia Koza
Empire
The Aztec's had one government and also one ruler. They were successful because of war, tribute, and trade. The merchants traded with each other such as cotton. They raged from 1325 - 1521 AD.
Religion
The Aztec's were polytheistic which means they believed in more than one god (ex. sun god and moon god). They believed that they had to please the gods so they sacrificed as many of 10,000 people per year. In the ritual ceremonies priests would feed the gods human hearts and blood by slashing the victims chest open.
Achievement #1
One of the Aztec's achievement's was building temples. They used them to sacrifice and religious ceremonies.
Achievement #2
The Aztec's also developed two calendars, the solar and sacred calendar. They used the sacred calendar for dividing segments to determine what god rules for that time. The Aztec's rituals and sacrifices were governed by the solar calendar. Also the solar calendar had 365 days divided into 18 months of 20 days and the sacred calendar had 260 days divided into 20 months.
http://www.class.uh.edu/courses/engl3396/jtchris2/calendar.htm
Achievement #3
Another achievement was masks. The masks were a turquoise - greenish color. They were usually worn to show power. Also they were worn in ceremonies.
Houses
The average Aztec house was one story with one main room and the usual shape is a rectangle. The most common houses were made of adobe (a kind of clay used as a building material). There were no chimneys or windows and the floor was made of earth or sometimes stone. The lighting was by torches or fire and the main room was used for eating and sleeping.
The Aztec's Get Conquered
From 1325 to 1521 the Aztec empire raged. In 1519 Cortes headed over to Mexico to find gold, claim land, and to spread Christianity. Moctezuma II trusted Cortes and welcomed him, he thought he was a god because he did not look like his kind (different skin color). Moctezuma gave Cortes gold and other gifts, but he wanted more so he held him hostage he later died but the Aztecs managed to drive the conquistadors out. Later they came back with more advanced weapons and horses. In addition, Cortes brought over diseases (small pox) which wiped most of them out. Then, eventually in 1521 the Aztec empire died out.