Teotihuacan
We are facing a civilization that has incorporated architecture, calculation, writing, and religion into its day-to-day. The Aztec confederation, in cultural terms, was a degeneration of preexisting civilizations, they absorbed aspects of that culture by incorporating their own.
The Aztecs were one of the most civilized and powerful peoples in pre-Columbian America. They occupied what the inhabitants of the Valley of Mexico called themselves (on an island in Lake Texcoco), came to this region after a long and slow migration. They arrived from a place called Aztlán, located in the southwest of what is now the United States, where they lived as nomadic warrior tribes. Since the Christian Era, there were urban, sedentary and agricultural civilizations in the region like the Toltecs.
The last to arrive in the refined world of the Mexican plateau were the Aztecs, they settled down and mixed with the Toltecs and from the alliance made between the cities of Texcoco and Tlacopan, the "Aztec Empire" emerged, with the Aztec city as its center from Tenochtitlan. Each of the city-states had its own king, but the Aztecs had the military command at the time of the Spanish occupation, the immense empire only recognized one chief:Montezuma, the Aztec emperor.
From its capital, Tenochtitlán (today Mexico City, had a population of 400,000, at the time the largest of any European city, it was a vast metropolis surrounded by water, as in Venice, with a labyrinth of canals that crossed in directions), the Aztecs controlled a large empire that included almost all of central and southern Mexico. They were famous warriors, with a highly developed military organization.
They were strong, dark-skinned, with short, thick hair, and round faces. They resembled some indigenous groups that today live in small villages near Mexico City.
* Curiosity:Almost all of them spoke the Nahuatl language, which in certain words is similar to Portuguese, for example; tomato and chocolate, which in Nahuatl is tomatl, chocolate.
Teotihuacán
This Aztec city featured a gigantic architectural ensemble, in which the "pyramid of the Sun" stood out (60m high, 225m on a square base, resulting in 1 million cubic meters covered with stone) and the "Pyramid of the Moon" (42m high, 1600m² at the base).
The Aztecs built the Pyramid of the Ninches of El Tajin, with 365 niches, one for each day of the year, and the famous "Sun Stone", an immense solar calendar.
The Conquest of Mexico
The Aztecs believed that a great God would come across the sea. When the Spaniards then arrived with their caravels, they thought they were Gods. So, at first, Montezuma, the Aztec emperor, offered various gifts to Hernán Cortés.
It was common in the Aztec civilization to sacrifice humans to celebrate their gods, so several were sacrificed, and although this attitude seems barbaric today, at the time it was common, and people went happily to their sacrifices (below).
Then, the Aztecs realized the real interest of the Spaniards and so, they swore to their gods not to let the invaders leave alive. A long battle then took place over days and nights that was responsible for the death of several people (below).
The Spaniards joined the Tlaxcalas Indians (a people dominated by the Aztecs), but suffered a devastating opposition. Cortés still asked for peace, but it was denied by the Aztecs. With gunpowder and supplies running low, the Spaniards retreated.
However, the whites counted on reinforcements and reorganized the troops with another 600 Spaniards, 40 horses and 1000 Tlaxcala warriors eager to definitively destroy their usual enemies. Among the supplies was material to build 13 vessels to support troops on Lake Tenochitlán. This time the war was long and bloody.
A smallpox epidemic, brought as usual by Europeans, was causing very high mortality in Tenochtitlán. In addition, starving ones, whom Diaz described as "so thin and yellow and dirty it was a pity to see them," had to crawl along the ground in search of roots and tore bark from trees for food. Afterwards, the resistance of the Aztecs had weakened to the point that they were able to enter the center of the city. They captured Cualhtemoc, Montezuma's successor; To the Spaniards, Mexico belonged to them.
Legend
The Aztecs, according to their own legendary history, emerged from seven caves northwest of Mexico City. In fact, this legend only concerns the Tenochca, one of the Aztec groups. This tribe dominated the Valley of Mexico and founded Tenochtitlán, which would become the capital of the Aztec empire, around 1325 AD. Legend has it that the god Huitzilopochtli led the people to an island in Lake Texcoco. There they saw an eagle, perched on a cactus, eating a snake. According to a prophecy, this would be the divine sign for the construction site of his city.
The Tenochca started with a small temple and soon became the leaders of the great Aztec nation. The first part of Aztec history is legendary. But the results of archaeological excavations and Aztec books serve as the basis for a true historical account. History has a very authentic record of the lineage of the Aztec kings, from Acamapichtli in 1375 to Montezuma II, who was emperor when Hernán Cortés entered the Aztec capital in 1519.
Aztec Civilization
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