Alyssa Rim

8th Period

The Aztecs: What Should History Say?

In a small basin in the 14th century, in the location of modern-day Mexico city, the

Aztecs thrived and farmed in economic prosperity. The Aztecs’ society supported a

plethora of citizens including agricultural workers, scribes, artisans, and urban workers.

This group of commoners supported the upper class that were made up of merchants,

warriors, and priests. At the top, the nobles, high-level warriors, artists, and noble

priests served the ruler who managed the community of the Aztecs. The community

were able to create and accomplish many things, including a tracker of time, beautiful

buildings, and a vast agricultural system. This civilization had a particularly rich culture,

including that of 128 major deities. From their gods, they received the name of their

capital: Tenochititlan. The Aztecs were generally disliked for their militaristic ideals that

they imposed on others. They also began to pick up an image around the world that

they were merciless and blood hungry people. The reason for this was because of their

rather gory sacrifice rituals. They sliced the people they kidnapped from their previous

flower wars, and they offered the hearts of these sacrifices to their gods in their shrines.

It was a bloodbath, and it raised fear in people outside of the Aztecs’ community.

Despite their gained reputation due to the barbaric, brutal portrayal of the Aztecs

and their religious rituals, the Aztecs should not be remembered as an insignificant

civilization and barbarians, but rather known in history as rich cultured, innovative, and

organized people because of their unique time system, magnificent architecture, and

clever irrigation systems.

 First of all, their special time-taking system used to worship their gods and

partake in religious festivals. In Document B, from Richard Townsend (a noted expert

and researcher on pre-Columbian culture who conducted extensive field research within

Aztec locations), The Aztecs, 1992, “The second division of the calendrical system

was the 365-day solar count, known as the xiuhpohualli, ‘counting of the years,’

which regulated the recurrent cycle of annual seasonal festivals.” This 365-day

solar calendar is very similar to our modern year. This shows that the solar year we rely

on today was derived from the Aztecs, and has only been further developed over time.

The Aztecs took part in impacting the version of our modern time system, considering

they used it so much in their own lives and occupations. From the same document,

“These two counts(tonalpohualli and xiuhpohualli) were simultaneously in

operation. They have often been explained as two engaged, rotating gears, in

which the beginning of the larger 365-day wheel would align with the beginning

day of the smaller 260-day cycle every fifty-two year years. This fifty-two year

period constituted a Mesoamerican “century.” The change from one fifty-two year

period into the next was always the occasion of an important religious festival.”

With their time system, the Aztecs would also keep track of their important religious

days of the year. They were an extremely religious civilization, even including symbols

and drawings of their gods on their calendar stone. This is shown in an illustration of

the Aztec Calendar Stone from a 1954 booklet titled Estudios Sobre la Piedra del

Sol(Studies on the Sunstone) by the Mexican scholar Raul Noriega(Document B).

The Sun god was particularly important to the Aztecs, as their calendar stone was used

as a plate to offer sacrifices to their Sun god. The calendar stone was excavated in
1790 during the repaving of Mexico City, a primary source from the times when the

ancient Aztec civilization still lived. Similar to the Mongols who are also painted as

barbarians, the Aztecs were devoted peoples who worshipped what they believed in.

They listened to their gods and did what was right according to the deities. They not

only created a genius time and day system, but also a sacred and holy offering plate to

their precious gods.

Secondly, their amazingly complex construction for the architecture that they

used to worship, eat, and work. In Document F, from the National Museum of

Anthropology and History, a model reconstruction of the Great Temple and the

ceremonial precinct of Tenochititlan is shown. Although not a picture of the original

temple and structure, the National Museum of Anthropology and History is highly

credited for being able to piece together the broken parts of ancient civilization, and in

this case, the Aztecs’ home. The Great Temple was humongous compared to the

Aztecs themselves, which made it all the more impressive that the community was able

to construct it together. Thousands of laborers were organized for the process of

constructing the city of Tenochititlan, reminiscent of the Mayans’ hard work. It takes a

very advanced civilization to be able to come together like this and focus on one large

goal. The Aztecs were most likely influenced by the Mayans because of the similarities

between the styles of their architecture. The Great Temple resembled a pyramid with a

smaller building at the very top. Grand stairs were placed at the front of the structure for

the people to make their way up. This temple served as a place of worship for the

Aztecs and their several gods. Aztecs clearly had skill in the craft of constructing quite

large buildings, as well as smaller ones(shown with their ceremonial precinct). This
civilization was organized and tactful enough to gather the necessary materials and

manpower to achieve the city they dreamed of. They were strong and calculated to

execute their blueprints the right way, even following civilizations of the pasts’ footsteps.

Finally, their efficient irrigation systems. In Document K, from Peter N. Stearns,

a highly renowned history professor, in World Civilizations: The Global Experience,

Third Edition, 2001, “In and around Lake Texcoco, the Aztecs developed an

ingenious system for irrigating agriculture called chinampas. These were floating

islands approximately seventeen feet long and one hundred to three hundred

thirty feet wide that rested in reed frames that were anchored to the bottom of the

lake. Willow trees were planted at intervals to provide shade. Approximately

twenty thousand acres of chinampas were constructed and the yield from them

was high: four corn crops per year were possible.” As mentioned before, the Aztecs

were exceedingly talented in food production and agriculture in general. In an

illustration from the Aztec manuscript Matricula de Tributos, circa 1542, it is shown

how important agriculture was to the lower classes. Farmers lived in houses right next

to the water canals and the rows of vegetables that grew. This system of irrigation

demonstrated its efficiency from the Aztecs’ rate of food production. It skyrocketed far

past other civilizations in the same region of the Aztecs, and they were well-known for it.

In a mural by Mexican artist Diego Rivera, circa 1929(Document L), several Aztecs

are seen working hard together in harmony at a row of crops. The men in the mural

harvest the maize plants while the women grind and roll them into tortillas. Standing

beside them, a person dressed as a corn goddess watches over them, symbolizing the

success of the Aztecs’ farming and agriculture. As a result of the positive trends in their
crops, the Aztecs were able to fill their marketplaces with bundles upon bundles of food.

In Document N, from the journal of Bernal Diaz del Castillo, circa 1520(firsthand

perspective, a primary source from the time of the Aztecs), “After having examined

and considered all that we had seen we turned to look at the great market place

and crowds of people that were in it, some buying and others selling so that the

murmur and burn of their voice and words that they used could be heard more

than a league [three miles] off. Some of the soldiers among us who had been in

many parts of the world, in Constantinople, and all over Italy and in Rome, said

that so large a market place and so full of people, and so well regulated and

arranged, they had never beheld before.” Despite the large amount of people

shopping and selling, the marketplace was still organized and easy to navigate.

Customers could find what they were looking for easily, and thus the Aztec marketplace

gained traction from travelers from all over the world. Their great minds not only gained

more tourism and consumers from outside of their region, but they also developed a

cunning farming method and system that provided them with an abundance of crops.

Other civilizations around the world feared the Aztecs for their brutal sacrifices

and demanding attitudes. They sliced out the hearts of their kidnapees and offered them

to their gods. From the outside, it seemed unreasonable, horrifying, and cruel. However,

if one learned more about the Aztecs’ true intentions, the barbaric image they gained

starts to subside. They treated the ones they were going to sacrifice with utmost respect

and royalty. The sacrifices were given scrumptious food, noble luxuries, women, and

everything they could possibly desire before they died. They were treated as a living

god by the Aztecs, and oftentimes, a great cloud of sadness came over the community
once the living god was offered up. The Aztecs were compassionate and genius people.

They were one of the many influential Native American civilizations, and it is shown in

our lives every single day. They invented and created marvelous things, solved a

multitude of seemingly impossible problems, and formed a tight-knit community among

themselves. Due to the twisted narrative of the Aztecs as well as other Native American

civilizations, people often give an exaggerated prestige and credibility to the Europeans

who arrived in and “discovered” the New World. History often brushes over the fact that

the Aztecs created one of the most powerful empires in the Western Hemisphere before

the arrival of the Europeans. The Aztecs deserve the credit of being one of the most

profound civilizations ever created, and the recognition of the impact they made on later

generations. Therefore, history should remember the Aztecs as an intelligent, creative,

and cultured civilization because of their time system, their architecture, and their

irrigation systems.