AZTEC CIVILIZATION

AZTEC CIVILIZATION
(1345-1521)
(1345-1521 CE)
CONTENT:
 Location
 Hierarchy
 Human sacrifices
 Daily life of aztecs
 Religion beliefs
 Festivals
 Skull masks
 Afterlife
 Celebration of life & death
 End of aztecs
 LOCATION
• Mesoamerican civilization of pre-columbian time.
• Built in the middle of salt lake, “TEXCOCO” had dams, canals, bridges and lakes
for travelling by boat.
 NOBLES
• Being a noble was hereditary- passed down from one generation to the next.
• They were government officials, priests, & warriors.
WARRIORS
 PRIEST&PRIESTESS
• Dominant tasks of priests include
making and seen calendars,
making horoscopes for new-borns,
watching planets, and human
sacrifices .
• The priests designed the Aztec
calendar with dating system based
on Mayan calendar .It describes
days and rituals related to the
seasons.
 HUMAN SACRIFICES

• The most important role of

Aztec priests was to oversee
the offerings for the gods
that is human sacrifices.
• Majorly slaves were chosen
for human sacrifices.
• Heart was removed from
their body and then the
body was cut into pieces.
 MERCHANTS
• Merchants traveled and did
exchange of foods, colored
feathers, jade & cocoa for the
nobles.
• They wore elaborate cape,
feather fan, arm band with
feathers and gold ornaments
 COMMONERS
FISHERMAN SLAVES
. • The lowest level of aztec
society. They had committed
crimes or had repaid debts .
 FARMERS
• Floating gardens called CHINAMPAS, were human made farms that
seemed to float .
 DAILY LIFE OF AZTECS
• FOOD: corn called maze was their important food eaten in no. of
ways and was a part of their mythology too.
• DRINKS: came from cacao added with honey and chili peppers.
• CLOTHES: gold and colored feathers were prominent in their
clothing.
• MONEY EXCHANGE: large cotton clothes, copper axes & cacao beans
were used as money.
 MYTHOLOGY AND RELIGIOUS
BELIEFS
• Aztec worship nearly 1,000 gods.
• Important gods were TEOTL & TEIXIPTLA.
 MALINALCO
CHOLULA PYRAMID

TEMPLO MAYOR SANTA CECILIA ACITITLAN

 FESTIVAL
TOXCATL TZOMPANTLI
• Celebration of new year, • Public display of skull rack to show
dedicated to God of ruler ship . supremacy and terrorize people .
• A man was sacrificed and
dedicated to God of ruler ship.
 SKULL MASKS
• Skull masks of sacrificed people were preserved as offerings to aztec
gods.
• Decorated with torquoise stones, shell and were sometimes made
of wood, green or black stone & obsidian.
 AFTERLIFE
• Belief: how a person died determined what that persons afterlife
would be like .
• AFTER LIFE TRANSMISSION:
• Warriors – Butterflies and humming birds .
• Warriors believed that their afterlife would be pleasant, so this
helped in creating strong army.
 AFTERLIFE
• Believe in 13 heavens .
• Warriors went to paradise in east, women died during childbirth
went to west paradise and people with unremarkable death went to
underworld .
 CELEBRATION OF LIFE & DEATH
• One this day, people believed that their ancestor joined them. So it
is a celebration and welcome of ancestor.
 CELEBRATION OF LIFE AND DEATH
• People parade in disguise of skull and visit graveyards of their
ancestor.
 END OF AZTEC CIVILIZATION
• Aztec were overthrew by Spanish in 1521.
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