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Transcript
26 22 EDUCATION school T he Aztec civilisation still holds a fascination centuries after the empire fell. At their peak from the 15th to the 16th century the Aztecs controlled most of what is today Mexico. They built huge stone pyramid temples and large cities, creating beautiful and sometimes macabre works of art in stone, wood, clay and precious metals. When the Spanish invaded their lands in the 16th century the empire crumbled but the people lived on. Their descendants can still be found in Mexico today keeping alive the memory of their forebears. Aztecs, an exhibition of priceless artefacts and multimedia exploring the rise and fall of the kingdom, opens this week at Australian Museum. THE ORIGINS The Aztecs had several legends of their origins. One claimed their ancestors came from Aztlan, a legendary island whose location is unknown. Another legend said they came from Chicomoztoc, seven caves near Aztlan, from which seven tribes emerged to populate the Valley of Mexico. In reality, studies of the Aztec language and archaeological finds show the Aztecs probably came from somewhere north of modern-day Mexico. Aztec legend describes a long period of wandering before they founded their city of Tenochtitlan in about 1325AD. INFLUENCES The Aztec culture did not materialise out of nothing, it absorbed influences from many of the cultures that existed across Mexico before them. One of these was the Toltecs, whose civilisation peaked between the 10th and 13th centuries. The Aztecs considered the Toltecs to be a model of perfection in their arts, sciences and philosophy. The Aztecs copied structures such as Toltec pyramids and built on their knowledge of tools such as calendars. The Aztecs also admired the people, who built the city they named Teotihuacan, which is thought to mean something close to “city of the gods.” work28 news TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 9 2014 DAILYTELEGRAPH.COM.AU TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 16 2014 FOUNDATION According to legend, after wandering for centuries and being driven away from various locations by hostile armies, the Aztecs received a prophecy through priests from their war god Huitzilopochtli. He told them to settle in a place where they saw an eagle perched on a prickly pear cactus. They saw this sign on swampy land in Lake Texcoco and founded the city of Tenochtitlan in 1325. In 1337 a group of Aztecs split from Tenochtitlan to form the city of Tlatelolco. Both cities competed with each other for dominance. A KINGDOM EMERGES In 1375 the Aztecs of Tenochtitlan married one of their nobles to a princess from Culhuacan, a city founded by the Toltecs, so she could give birth to an Aztec king who could trace his line back to the Toltecs. She gave birth to a son, Acamapichtli, who became their first huey tlatoani (great leader). The Aztecs sent mercenaries to fight for the Tepanec kingdom, for which they were granted captured lands in 1428, expanding the Aztec kingdom. Under the leader Itzcoatl a series of alliances was forged, trade networks established and battles won, that saw the empire grow. In 1473 Tenochtitlan conquered Tlatelolco. At its peak it would stretch over 200,000 sq km, with as many as six million people. Series 14 with TROY LENNON SOCIAL STRUCTURE CALENDARS The Aztecs had two interlocking calendars. The xiuhpohualli covered the days of the solar year broken into 18 months of 20 days each, with an extra five days to bring it up to 365 days. The extra days were thought to be very unlucky and people fasted and tried not to do anything that would bring them bad luck. The xiuhpohualli also determined when festivals were held and sacrifices made. The other calendar was the tonalpohualli (day count), a sacred calendar made up of 20 signs and 13 numbers and consisting of 260 days. This calendar moved across the year reaching the same point in the solar calendar every 52 years. The end of the cycle was celebrated in a ceremony known as the “binding up of the years”. All domestic fires were allowed to burn out and a new fire was lit on the chest of a sacrificial victim, from which new house fires could be lit. Pictured above is a calendar stone circa 1500. Aztec society was founded on extended family groupings, or districts, known as calpulli. These were usually a cluster of people sharing a profession such as farming (below). A calpulli was run by a lord called a teuctli, who met with other teuctli at an altepetl, a kind of parliament. The altepetl consulted with the great leader, the huey tlatoani. Helping to run the state was a large, wellordered civil service of judges, tax collectors, accountants and administrators who saw to public works, sanitation, justice and generally kept the city and the empire running. Priests ensured religious observances were made, including sacrifices. Only nobles, or pipiltin, could hold high office, while the free commoners (macehualtin) or slaves (tlacotin) did most of the work. The merchants, or pochteca, imported and exported goods and also acted as spies. A large army of warriors kept order, defended the state and fought wars of conquest. THE EMPIRE FALLS The Aztec empire came head to head with the Spanish empire in 1519. Spanish conquistador (a term for an explorer and conqueror) Hernan Cortes (pictured below) invaded Aztec territory. Although he was only commissioned to establish trade with the people of Mexico, Cortes marched his army across the Aztec empire toward Tenochtitlan. His progress was made easier by a combination of the superiority of Spanish weapons and armour and the collaboration of conquered people, who were dissatisfied with Aztec rule. Cortez took huey tlatoani Moctezuma (Montezuma) II (pictured, top) hostage. When another Spanish army arrived under Panfilo Narvaez in 1520 to arrest Cortes for treason, Cortes left Technochtitlan with most of his army to defeat Narvaez in battle. Cortes returned to Tenochtitlan to find the Aztecs had rebelled against the Spanish. Moctezuma died in custody and his nephew, Cuauhtemoc, took up the leadership to continue resisting the Spanish. The Spanish finally defeated the Aztecs in 1521. Aztec ceremonial dress and (main) pyramids in the ancient city of Teotihuacan. TELE01Z01MA - V1 NTNE01Z01MA - V1