1. Mexica
Márcio Padilha
Universidad de Guanajuato
Guanajuato, Gto., México

2. The Mexica:
Basic Concepts
One of the great
Mesoamerican Civilizations.
Inhabited the Valley of Mexico
circa 1325 AD-1521 AD
Polytheistic

3. “Mesoamerica:” what is that?
It is a cultural region in the
Americas where a number
of pre-Columbian societies
flourished before the
Spanish colonization of the
Americas in the 15th and
16th centuries.

4. “Mesoamerica:” Where is that?

5. Valley of Mexico
• Roughly where
Highlands the Federal
District and
plateau in eastern half of
central Mexico the State of
Mexico are
It was a center • Teotihuacan
for several pre- • The Toltec
Columbian • The Aztec
civilizations

6. Polytheism?
Polytheistic… Polytheism
poly theos
many god

7. Terminology Interrelation
Mexica
Aztec Náhuatl

8. Terminology Interrelation
Mexica Náhuatl Aztec
• Demonym: • Language: • Origin:
• The • Group of • The
indigenous related Náhuatl
people languages word for
and "people
of the dialects of from
Valley of the Uto- Aztlán,”
Mexico, Aztecan the
who lived language mythical
in Aztlán. family, ancestral
spoken by home of
the the Mexica
Mexicas. people.

9. So, in comparison…
Aztlán/ Mexica/
USA Idahoan
Aztec/ Náhuatl/
American English

10. Uto-Aztecan Languages
Uto
Utah

11. Mexico, Land of the Mexica!
At first, “Mexico” referred to
the settlements in the valley
which became the site of
what is now Mexico City.
• Hot Summers
• Cool Winters

12. Foods
• maize
Staple
Foods: • beans
• squash
• chilis
Condiments:
• tomatoes

13. Drinks
Different • maize
alcoholic • honey
beverages were
made from • pineapple
fermented: • cactus fruit
Xocolatl
• Yes,
chocolate!

14. Cannibalism
The Aztecs practiced ritualistic cannibalism.
Victims, usually prisoners of war, were sacrificed
in public on top of temples and pyramids by
cutting out their hearts.
The bodies were then thrown down to the
ground where they were dismembered.
The pieces were then distributed to the
elite, which were mostly warriors and priests.
The meat was consumed in the form of stews
flavored only with salt and eaten with maize
tortillas, but without the otherwise ubiquitous
chili.

15. Chinampas
Often referred to as "floating
gardens"
Created by staking out the shallow
lake bed and then fencing in the
rectangle with wattle.
The fenced-off area was then layered
with mud, lake sediment, and
decaying vegetation, eventually
bringing it above the level of the lake.

16. Chinampas
Often trees were planted at the
corners to secure the chinampa.
Chinampas were separated by
channels wide enough for a canoe to
pass.
These "islands" had very high crop
yields with up to seven crops a year.

17. Aztec Empire

18. Aztec Education
Mandatory
universal education
of children until 14
yrs of age.
Parental Involved
obligation, learning the
supervised by huēhuetlàtolli
the which
authorities of embodied the
their calpōlli Aztecs' ideals.

19. Types of School
Calmecac:
Telpochcalli: Advanced Learning
in Writing,
Astronomy,
Practical and Statesmanship,
Military Studies Theology and other
areas.

20. Náhuatl System of Writing
Aztec Years had 260 days. Their weeks
had 20 days, as shown below:
The Náhuatl
System employs
glyphs instead
of letters.

21. Religion
Referred to God as “Teotl.”
Divided the world into upper and nether worlds, each
associated with a specific set of deities and
astronomical objects.
Had a large and ever increasing pantheon.
Had elements of human sacrifice in connection with a
large number of religious festivals which were held
according to patterns of the Aztec calendar.

22. Aztec Calendar Mrs. Padilha by the Aztec Calendar in the National
Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City.

23. Tezcatlipoca
Quetzalcoatl
Tlaloc
Pantheon: Cultural Gods
Mixcoatl
Huitzilopochtli

24. Tonatiuh
Metztli
Tlaltecuhtli
Chalchiuhtlicue
Pantheon: Nature Gods
Centzon
Huitznahua
Ehecatl

25. Ometeotl
Huehueteotl
Coatlicue
Pantheon: Gods of Creation

26. Tlazolteotl
Tepoztecatl
Xochiquetzal
Mayahuel
Pantheon: Gods of Pulque
Ometochtli

27. Aztec Pantheon:
Gods of Maize and Fertility
Chicomecoatl
Xipe Totec
Xochipilli
Cinteotl

28. Aztec Pantheon:
Gods of Death and the Underworld
Mictlancihuatl
Mictlantecutli
Xolotl

29. Human Sacrifices
Aztecs practiced human sacrifice on a
large scale
Offering to Huitzilopochtli; to restore
the blood he lost to create the Sun.
To prevent the end of the world that
could happen on each cycle of 52 years.
In the 1487 re-consecration of the Great
Pyramid of Tenochtitlan, some estimate
that 80,400 prisoners were sacrificed.

30. Social Stratitication
National Museum of Anthropology
in Mexico City.
Priest
Nobels
Craftsmen & Merchants
Farmers
Slaves

31. Aztec Architecture: Temples
Scaled Model of the Templo Mayor at the Mr. and Mrs.. Padilha at the entrance of the
Templo Mayor Museum in Mexico City. Templo Mayor Museum in Mexico City.

32. Aztec Architecture: Pyramids
Aztec Pyramid in Tlalnepantla Aztec Pyramid in Malinalco,
de Baz, Mexico State. Mexico State.

33. Spanish Conquest of the Aztec Empire
Hérnan Cortés Moctezuma II

34. Spanish Conquest of the Aztec Empire
In 1518, Cortéz is put in
command of an expedition to
explore and secure the interior
of Mexico for colonization.
Accompanied by about 11 ships,
500 men, 13 horses and a small
number of cannons, Cortés
landed in the Yucatan
Peninsula in Mayan territory.

35. Spanish Conquest of the Aztec Empire
In March 1519, Cortés formally claimed
the land for the Spanish crown.
Then he proceeded to Tabasco and won
a battle against the natives, who did not
want to welcome the Spaniards, during
which time he received from the
vanquished twenty young indigenous
women and he converted them all.

36. Spanish Conquest of the Aztec Empire
Among these women was La
Malinche, his future mistress
and mother of his child
Martín.
Malinche knew both the
Nahuatl language and Maya,
thus enabling Hernán Cortés
to communicate in both.