he great empire of the Aztecs and its capital city of Tenochtitlan flourished in the central valley of Mexico just before the arrival of the Spanish in 1519. This last great civilization of Precolumbian Mesoamerica has vanished but it has left with us languages, traditions, and a way of life that still influence modern Mexico today. Descendants of the Aztecs still relate to their indigenous past through foods they consume (corn, beans, squash); the weaving of fine cloth on backstrap looms; an incredibly rich market system; and religious practices that incorporate elements of ancient beliefs.

While sources for the history of other New World cultures are sparse, we have abundant written records for the Aztecs. These include: codices (painted indigenous manuscripts), chronicles written by the Spanish conquistadors and early priests, and works written by the Aztecs themselves in the period directly after the Conquest. We also have the archaeological record, but often thereis more archaeological evidence from earlier New World cultures than from the Aztecs. This is because the great capital of Tenochtitlan was almost completely demolished in the final seige of the city in 1521. In addition, the conquering Spanish and the Catholic church made every effort to destroy the remnants of what they considered a heathern society dominated by a blood thirsty tradition. The great capital of Tenochtitlan was the sacred and secular center of the expanding Aztec empire. This beautiful island city, built at the edges of the lake, was located where Mexico City stands today. It was constructed on a series of artificial islands with canals for streets, towering pyramids and slendid public buildings. Ruled by the semi­divine king, Moctezuma II, it had a population of 250,000 people making it one of the largest urban centers in the world. The city could be approached by three great causeways which connected it to the mainland. Along these causeways ran aqueducts carrying fresh water to the pools and public fountains of the town. The Spanish described Tenochtitlan as the most beautiful city they had ever seen and compared it to Venice. In both cities canals were the basis of transportation and boats carried goods and people through the city and to surrounding villages on the lake shore. For the Aztecs this method of transport was particularly important as, like all the prehispanic cultures of the Americas, they lacked draft animals and the wheel.

The Aztecs were late comers to the Valley of Mexico, recent emigrants from the desert frontiers of northern Mesoamerica. Legend says they left their original homeland of Aztlan (hence the name Aztec) around A.D.1100. Led by their tribal god, Huitzilopochtli, they arrived in the Central Plateau around 1200. Tenochtitlan, founded in 1325, was built on a rocky island in Lake Texcoco where the Aztecs discovered an eagle perched on a cactus with a serpent in its mouth. They had been told by Huitzilopochtli that this symbol, still the emblem of modern Mexico, would mark the spot for their capital city. So there, in the swampy edge of the lake, construction of Tenochtitlan was begun and a temple built for their patron god.

As empire builders the Aztecs were the cultural heirs of other civilizations that had preceded them in Mesoamerica. Ancient concepts concerning religion, agriculture, trade, markets, and the need for human sacrifice were adopted by the Aztecs from earlier peoples. An important Mesoamerican tradition was urbanism. For at least 1500 years before the Aztecs, civilizations had been built around cities with large populations. This established urban tradition became a strong feature of Aztec culture.

The Aztecs considered themselves the people of the sun. In this role they were responsible for providing the blood of sacrificial victims to sustain the sun in its journey each day across the sky. While human sacrifices were also offered to other gods in the Aztec pantheon, it was this need to maintain the sunthat was the basis for the warrior cult of the Aztec state. This cult promoted warfare as the means for taking prisoners to be offered on the sacrificial stone of the great pyramid. Their blood provided sustenance for the sun and another day of life and light for the world. MORE click here