Download The Aztec Empire

Early Civilizations of Latin
America
Aztecs
• Started in Northern Mexico living in the desert
regions
• Moved into the Central Plateau
• 1325 the god Uitzilopochtli told them where to
settle
– “An eagle perched atop a cactus holding a snake in its
beak.”
• Settled on an island in the middle of Lake Texcoco
• Called the city Tenochtitlan (current site of Mexico
City)
• Eagle, Snake and Cactus are national symbols for
Mexico
The Aztec Empire
• Built and started an advanced civilization in the
Central Plateau of Mexico
• Pyramid temples for their religious beliefs and
practices
• Aztecs had only one ruler or king
• Chosen by the priests, nobles and warriors
• Conquered and maintained a large empire
• Defeated peoples and kingdoms had to pay
tribute to the Aztecs
Aztec Conquest and Prisoners
• Prisoners of war were
either used as slaves or as
sacrificial victims
• Aztecs believed that the
god of war needed to be
pleased
• To be successful in battles
meant that they had to
kill many people
• Made the Aztecs feared
and hated by other
peoples.
Aztec Religion
• Worshipped many gods (polytheistic)
• Priests were powerful people in society and
controlled the large temple pyramids
• Recorded knowledge of science, math and
medicine into written books
• Chief God was – Quetzalcoatl (keht suh koh aht l)
– Believed that he brought maize to the Earth
– Sailed off into the Eastern Sea according to legand
and would return one day
• Connection to the arrival of Cortes and the
Spanish
Success of Tenochtitlan
• By 1500 it was home to
150,000 people
• Largest city in the world
at that time
• Farming invention to use
swampy land
• Chinampas- small
floating islands to plant
crops on
• Large markets that sold
many different goods
Aztec Society
• Education
– Aztecs were among the first people to educate boys
and girls
– Boys were trained in war and strategy
– Girls were trained in homecoming skills
• Women in Society
– Could own property and remarry if her husband died
– Priestesses, weavers, musicians and midwives
– Mostly concerned with making food and clothing
• Class Activity
– What are the boys
learning and from
whom?
– What are the girls
learning and from
whom?
– Why would it be
important to educate
both boys and girls?
– Look at picture on
page 451 for more
examples
Mayans
• Ancient Mayans lived in the lowland rainforests
of Central America
• Between 300 and 900 A.D the Mayans were at
their height of power
• Road network allowed the major cities to
communicate and trade with one another
– Tikal and Palenque for example
• Merchants traded:
– Cotton, gold jewelry, etc..
Mayan Lifestyles
• Farming
– Complex farming methods
due to environment
– Built raised fields for
crops
– Caught the rain and used it
as irrigation
– Able to drain water by
using channels
– Able to support a city of
20,000 people
• Government/Society
– Organized into city-states
and not one large empire
– King, nobles, priests,
artisans, merchants,
peasants and laborers,
finally slaves
– Merchants- sold fine cloth,
ornaments, feathered
cloaks
– Peasants/Laborers- grew
the food and built temples
Mayan Religion
• Believed that Gods controlled the universe of
nature
• Priests performed rituals to please the gods
• Pyramid temples were at the center of the cities
– See Page 449 for Mural Picture
• Played a ball game called pok-a-tok
– Ordinary people played for fun
– Nobles played for the gods so that the priests could
tell what would happen in the future
Mayan Achievements
• Great skill in architecture with all the buildings
• Developed a system of writing (called Glyphs)
– Covered temple wall and stone pillars
– Dealt with religious and historical events
• Made a calendar that was 365 ¼ days long
– Very similar to the same calendar system we use
• Developed the concept (idea) of the number zero
– If you don’t like math blame the Mayans !
Incans in Peru
• Built a very big empire in
the valleys of the Andes
Mountains
• Covered Peru, Ecuador,
Chile and Bolivia
• Please Read pages 452453
• Up Close “The Efficient
Incas”
Incan Lifestyles
• Farming
– Able to feed a population
of 9 million people
– Complex irrigation systems
were designed
• Channeled water from the
mountain streams into the
fields
– Terrace Farming- carving
fields out of the sides of
mountains
– Used fertilizer on their
crops
• Corn, potatoes and beans
• Religion
– Worshipped many
different gods
– Sun God was the chief god
– Inca- means children of
the sun
– Temple of the Sun in
Cuzco
– Covered the temple walls
in sheets in gold
– Gold was considered the
sweat of the Gods
– Priests performed rituals
at the site of the Temple
Incan Government
• Believed that the Incan Emperor owned all the
land, mines and fields of the empire
• Ruled with the help of priests and nobles
• People of the empire were told:
– Where to live
– What jobs they would perform
• Collected taxes on the crops that the peasants
grew
• Set up a road system that allowed for better
communication
• Quipi- knotted string that carried messages