When people think of the ancient Aztec empire, they believe of monumental temples, ferocious warriors, and ritual sacrifices. Of course, all these elements were essential to the ancient civilization, but there was something else. Written evidence and archaeological findings have shown that when the Spanish conquistadors first met with the ruler of Montezuma, the Aztecs were a complex society with impressive achievements in science, art, and economics.
The origin of the Aztecs
Modern Mexico is a region with a thousand—year history and several cultures that flourished long before contact with Spain. Perhaps the most famous of these is the Aztec culture. There are myths related to the origin of the Aztecs; it is believed that their culture split off from the Azcapotzalca people in the thirteenth century AD, moving to modern Central Mexico and Guatemala.
This newly independent nation formed a coalition with the Texcoco and the Tacuba, launching a campaign of expansion into most of Mesoamerica. By the time the Spanish arrived in the sixteenth century AD, the Aztecs controlled more than 370 city-states. Their society was complex and socially divided, with a certain nobility, including the ruler, priests, and military. While the population was forced to work, they attended schools and received training to improve their skills. All citizens were taught religion, cultural history, and Nahuatl, their written language.
First contact with Spaniards
In his letters to Emperor Charles V, Spanish explorer Hernan Cortez wrote in detail about Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztecs. At the time of contact with Spain, about two hundred thousand people lived in this city, one of the world’s largest cities. Visit. A F R I NI I K . C O M . For the full article. Cortez wrote about the enormous bridges leading to the town, the antique local and imported goods market, specialized exhibitions, pharmacies, hairdressers, and restaurants.
Hernan also wrote about the hospitality and diplomacy he and his people experienced when they first visited Tenochtitlan and met Montezuma, the Aztec chieftain. According to these letters, Montezuma put much effort into making Cortez and his men comfortable during their first visit to Tenochtitlan. Unfortunately, despite the laudatory odes, Cortez was one of those who defeated the Aztecs and almost destroyed the great city. But thanks to archaeologists, historians, and other researchers, it is possible to conclude how magnificent the Aztec empire was under Montezuma.
The great architecture of the Aztecs
According to legend, the Aztec god of war, Huitzilopochtli, ordered people to build their capital there, where they saw an eagle sitting on a cactus and eating a snake. At the beginning of the fourteenth century AD, the Aztecs saw this image on an island in Lake Texcoco. Building a five-square-mile city on the island was not easy and required the knowledge of hydrologists and architects. During contact with Spain, the city was divided into four sectors, each with its purpose, plus a central square where the main temples and palaces were located. Each industry was divided by dams that formed channels to control the water level.
Thanks to water control from the surrounding lake, Aztec engineers and architects could now build housing, temples, pyramids, and public areas despite the soft and muddy soil, which caused buildings to sag over time. Adapting to this environment, builders eventually added layers to buildings, creating multi-level structures and monumental pyramids associated with the Aztecs. Using local materials, Aztec builders applied various architectural styles.
At that time, their territory was occupied by private houses and palaces, public squares, ball courts, temples, and pyramids. Homes for the population were usually built of adobe bricks and lumber, while more monumental palaces, temples, and pyramids were constructed from carefully crafted and stacked stone blocks.
Templo Mayor was the main temple of the Aztec people, and its ruins can still be seen in modern Mexico City. Construction began between 1427 and 1440 AD and continued until the Spanish conquest.
Various stages of construction can be seen in the ruins, and it seems that each ruler aspired to build a pyramid surpassing what their predecessors had built. Over the years, more and more layers were added to the stone pyramid, culminating in the twin temples at its top. This pyramid was built on an east-west axis with such precise geometry that from the top of the western staircase, one could see the sacred Tlaloc Mountain between the twin temples. During the equinox, you can even see the sunrise between the temples.
Agriculture in difficult conditions
The Aztecs faced several challenges regarding agriculture, especially in their capital city. Since this city was on an island, a flood must be controlled to prevent erosion. The lands surrounding the island city were too steep to support agriculture, so the locals had to develop an innovative way to grow food—floating gardens or chinampas.
These floating gardens were rectangular plots built on the bottom of the lake from wood, soil, and plant material. The soil and plant material were laid in layers until the site was above the water level, and the garden was secured with planted trees. To cope with the tides and the inevitable flooding from the lake, Aztec farmers built irrigation systems and aqueducts to control water levels in gardens.
Thanks to this innovative and methodical planting method, they built floating gardens with diverse and alternating crops to conserve nutrients in the thirty thousand acres of soil. Such gardens could generally produce up to seven harvests per year, which was quite suitable for supporting the vast Aztec population in the area.
Chinampas exist today, serving the residents of Mexico City, one of the most densely populated cities in the world. In today’s floating gardens, farmers still grow some of the main crops used by the Aztecs: corn, beans, pumpkin, and the ancient cereal plant amaranth. The United Nations Agricultural Heritage System of Global Importance has recognized these impressive floating gardens.
The art of the Aztecs
In their stratified society, artists represented ordinary people or those who did not belong to the elite class and were taught the appropriate crafts. Metalworkers, sculptors, and ceramicists studied the techniques and styles inherited from their predecessors and absorbed new knowledge from their contemporaries. During Montezuma’s reign, impressive pieces of gold and silver were created throughout the empire.
Many of these metal products were brought to Spain, where the great Renaissance artists celebrated their fantastic craftsmanship. While many of these beautiful metal pieces have been melted down and reused as currency, a few jewelry pieces still exist today.
Aztec metalworkers created necklaces, rings, and pendants using wax casting and filigree work. Following the established Mesoamerican tradition of natural stone carving, Aztec artists created objects and sculptures from basalt, jade, and everything else. The sculptures represented elements important to the Aztec way of life and religion, including the gods. Some of the statues of the deities were monumental in size and painted in bright colors during the time of contact with Spain.
Specially trained ceramicists created works depicting plants and animals important to their culture. While there were several styles in different periods of the Aztec Empire, the artists preferred a naturalistic style during the reign of Montezuma. At this time, ceramic sculptures of jaguars, eagles, and turtles could be found throughout the empire. Some of these works were utilitarian, and some of them still exist today.
During the reign of Montezuma, the Aztec poet was called Tlamatine, which translates as “the one who knows.”These poets were well-versed in the science of the Aztec calendar, ancient songs, and the recorded history of their culture. They conferred with each other to perfect their works, which would later be recited at ceremonies, banquets, and parties. Although most of their recorded works were destroyed during the Spanish conquest, some surviving poets recited their works to Spanish monks, who copied them. Some of the transcripts, known as codices, still exist today and include descriptions of the Aztec religion, cultural history, and society.
The Aztecs relied on trade
From the reports Hernan sent home and his descriptions of their bustling markets, Emperor Charles V learned that the Aztecs had a diverse economy based on trade. Archaeologists have confirmed this with widespread evidence of black-and-orange-style Aztec pottery throughout northern and central Mesoamerica. The characteristic green obsidian of Pachuca, widespread throughout north and central Mesoamerica, was also discovered.
Archaeologists have discovered objects imported from Aztec sites, such as jade, mezcal sculptures from southwestern Mexico, and Mixtec sculptures from southern Mexico. Many of the imported goods were discovered during the excavation of the Templo Mayor in Tenochtitlan as part of the caches and offerings buried inside the temple.
