Through thousands of years of Central American history, great civilizations such as the Olmec, Teotihuacan, Maya, Toltec, Aztec, and other peoples have left us with over eleven thousand archaeological sites as their legacy.
Emerging from uncertain beginnings, which we only learn about from ancient myths, they achieved astonishing cultural accomplishments along their journey. The flame of civilization was continuously maintained and passed on to the next waves of peoples, from the dawn of the Olmec culture to the downfall of the Aztec empire. As a result, many shared values of the unique original tradition were preserved – similar religious symbols and an almost identical pantheon of gods, a complex calendar system and writing, while the identical and strategically planned orientation of cities with strong ceremonial centers and pyramid-shaped buildings repeated itself in countless variations.
As direct or indirect inheritors of the civilizations that flourished before them, the Aztecs developed an exceptionally original and rich culture. Their creative spirit and deep spiritual nature The religiosity and philosophy have not weakened or shown a tendency to imitate, but have resulted in a strong synthesis during the Aztec Empire.
The Quetzalcoatl Pyramid
This pyramid is an example of the most beautiful facade of Teotihuacan, alternating representations of Quetzalcoatl and Tlaloc, two important divine principles adopted by the Nahuatl pantheon.
The facade has remained preserved because, just before the mysterious fall of this magnificent city, the priests covered it with a more rustic structure.
The pyramid is located within the Citadel complex, which, like the pyramid itself, represents a scaled-down model of the Earth. The square base of the Citadel’s wall is approximately one-hundred-thousandth of the Earth’s circumference, and the base of the pyramid is one-hundred-thousandth of the Earth’s radius.
Teotihuacan – City of the Gods
View from the Moon Pyramid of the Avenue of the Dead and the Sun Pyramid.
Teotihuacan was a mythical homeland and the birthplace of a new, Fifth Age, where the Aztecs were supposed to fulfill their historical role.
Although they were surrounded by the grandeur and symbolism of the city, the Aztecs also had a deep understanding of the natural world. arrived in this city almost five centuries after its abandonment, it remained a place of pilgrimage and inspiration even during the time of the last Aztec ruler, Motecuhzoma II.
Arrival of the Aztecs
A small, unknown people, not mentioned in the oldest records, “a people whose face no one knew,” appeared on the historical stage in the 12th century, wandering unaccepted by everyone, with nothing but a small statue of the god protector Huitzilopochtli and an unbreakable will.
According to legend, the goal of their long search was to find the symbol given by the High Priest of the Sun, Huitzilopochtli – in the middle of the lake, a white eagle holding a snake in its beak on a nopal cactus. The nopal cactus with its red flower represents the human heart – the center where the encounter of spiritual and earthly forces personified by the symbols of the eagle and the snake is possible. At this mythical place, the bird of heavenly light will overcome the transient forces represented by the snake.
From the place where the eagles descend,
From the place where they stand upright,
I arrived. Dear reader,
The sun is setting.
Like a shield descending,
So the sun sets…
Proud of itself,
Rises the city of Mexico-Tenochtitlán.
Here, no one fears death in war.
This is our glory.
This is your command,
Oh, Giver of life!…
Collection of Mexican Songs.
The priests discovered a sign on a small stone island in Lake Texcoco in 1325. By learning the warrior skills from their neighbors, adopting their culture and the living tradition of many peoples who came before them, the Aztecs began laying the foundations for their city “near the cactus,” the proud Tenochtitlán, celebrated in song as the “foundations of heaven.” Shortly thereafter, what is known as the “hundred years of the Sun people” began – the expansion of a mighty empire, the construction of temples, round sanctuaries, schools, palaces, markets, floating gardens, the cultivation of a hundred species of flowers, work in stone, work with metals and minerals, the creation of shield-mosaics made of feathers, the production of thousands of illuminated codices preserving tradition, and above all, their poetry…
Ometecuhtli (Lord of our body) is the male aspect of the double god Ometeotl.
Traces of divine footsteps
Religion permeated all aspects of Aztec life, adapting its deep content to the understanding of those it reached. The common world had a religion of simple agriculture, the aristocracy had a religion of hierarchy and moral responsibility, and the wise men and priests had a religion of mysteries.
It was in the field of religion that the spirit of the Aztecs and their willingness to accept the cultural values of the peoples they encountered, whom they later conquered and annexed to the Aztec empire, became most evident. Thus, Aztec tribal deities and the much richer pantheon of older civilizations formed a great and harmonious system. The Toltecs, who belonged to the same Nahuatl language group, had the most influence on the Aztec pantheon, and the Aztecs considered themselves their direct descendants.
All these multitude of gods had for them the significance of multiple incarnations. a unique cosmic principle known as Tloque Nahuaque, “Master of proximity and unity”, “The one through whom we live”. Like their predecessors, they did not portray it, except sometimes through footprints and handprints. This unimaginable Spirit of the Universe operates through the dual deity Ometeotl, the Lord of duality, who also represents the first divine couple, Ometecuhtli and Omecíhuatl.
The creation of other gods, the world, and mankind was entrusted to their four sons: Quetzalcoatl, Huitzilopochtli, Xipe Totec, and Tezcatlipoca.
Quetzalcoatl (Feathered Serpent)
God of the west, wind, and Venus’ wisdom
As Ehecatl, the wind god, Quetzalcoatl represents the omnipresent Spirit that cleanses and opens paths for other gods and human beings to pass through. Quetzalcoatl, like Venus in the grip of a feathered serpent, is a symbol of human potential and possibilities. It represents the soul that soars towards the sky and the material that descends to the earth; it is the virtue that ascends and the blind force that pulls. The man below; he is both waking and dreaming, daylight and the night when he travels to the underworld.
Tezcatlipoca (Smoky Mirror)
The Underworld Sun, Lord of the Flower War
The smoky mirror is connected to the Moon. It is made of crystals torn from the primordial earth “that has never been touched by the Sun.”
Tezcatlipoca is the brother of Quetzalcoatl and his enemy, the Lord of eclipses and darkness.
As the Lord of the Flower War, he is associated with the cult of sacrificing lower desires. The sacrificial knife is directed against the enemy within the man, who has captured the power of the Sun flowing through his heart.
Coatlicue (Snake Skirt)
Mother of the gods, goddess of the earth, life and death
Mexican art critic J. Fernandez describes her as follows: “She vibrates and lives as a whole, inside and outside, her entire life is life and death, her meaning expands in all directions… The dramatic beauty of Coatlicue ultimately has a warrior meaning, life and death, and that is why her beauty is supreme, tragic, and moving.”
Xipe Totec (Our torn master)
The god of liberation and renewal
Xipe Totec rules spring and the reawakening of nature. His torn skin is a symbol of the transformation of a seed that, by tearing its own shell, releases the energy of life to enable the growth of the future plant.
Huitzilopochtli
The god of the hummingbird
Huitzilopochtli announces a new era of humanity connected to the awakening of human consciousness. He symbolizes the final transformation of the soul, which changes from a butterfly into a hummingbird. According to the Aztec myth, his long beak is a ray of light that draws its energy directly from the sun.
He was also the protector of learning in the calmecac schools, which trained future priests and rulers.
Tlaloc (Fiery water)
The god of celestial water
He represents the vapor that rises above the ground heated by the sun after rain and the mist that hovers over the valleys at dawn. Tlaloc sends down the vapors that persist in their ascent and therefore symbolizes the struggle against the current, the battle that a hero faces against the flood…
C halchiutlicue (She with a cloak full of jewels)
Chalchiutlicue is the power of earthly waters that flow with time, carrying people unable to resist, towards their inevitable end. It is associated with ceremonies similar to baptism rituals in which a child is purified with water.
An obsidian mask depicting the god Ixtilton, who according to legend visited children at night and brought them peaceful sleep.
Flower and Song
If life is a dream,
there is one word in it,
one meaning –
flower and song.
Tecayeuatzin
Continuing the earlier Toltec tradition, Aztec sages believed that there is a magical world of symbols surrounding us, which true artists can penetrate, but only if they persistently and correctly seek it.
For Aztec sages and artists, it was not possible to directly answer fundamental human questions about the knowledge of God and the search for truth here on earth. Therefore, there is another, intuitive path by which humans walk using “flower and song” (in xochitl, in cuicatl), which is an Aztec metaphor. And for art and poetry.
The architecture of the Pyramid of ancient Mexico is characterized by a double staircase and the construction of the last, almost vertical layer. The Acatitlan Temple in the picture is one of the few preserved Aztec temples.
Xochipilli (Child or Prince of Flowers) is a young god of spring, flowers, birth, love, dance, and happiness. He is associated with poetry and artistic inspiration. He wears a feathered crown on his head, a mask on his face, jaguar-shaped ornaments around his neck, and symbols of the sun and flowers on his body.
Clumsy artist:
deals with randomness,
mocks the world,
obscures things,
skips over the essence of things,
works without care,
cheats people, he is a thief.
Through his works, the artist had the role of humanizing the human heart and making their faces wiser. He had to be aware of his responsibility towards others in order not to create like a bad artist who deals with randomness, mocks the world, obscures things, cheats…
Coiled green granite snake, a symbol present in artistic representations.
Sculpture
The stone sculpture depicts a warrior of the eagle order. The facial features are extremely clean and realistic, which is uncommon in Aztec art.
Feather ornament making art
A feather fan of the quetzal bird, which was worn by dancers at ceremonies.
Ceremonies, rituals, and sacred games
Ceremonies played an important role in Aztec society and were carefully prepared. Ceremonies, rituals, and sacred games combined various artistic disciplines intertwined with a fundamental mythical and religious message.
This beautiful teponaztli, a type of Aztec drum, is made from a hollowed log and has a stylized owl carving.
1. Depiction of details from a ceremony in which an Aztec nobleman dances and sings. He holds a luxurious fan made of quetzal feathers in his hand and has small percussion instruments around his legs. He is dressed in typical attire of Aztec nobility.
2. The painting shows a group of Aztec musicians accompanied by dancers. The musicians play percussion instruments, Probably drums made of deer skin, while dancers hold fans and flowers.
3. The popular ball game or pelota game was primarily a ritual through which the movement of celestial bodies was imitated.
The celebrations were prepared in the House of Music and Dance, Mixcoacalli, where new dances and songs were constantly rehearsed and old ones were repeated. About this, Garibay says, “Learning and mastering song and dance was understood as an order given by God. They danced to the accompaniment of various instruments: talambas, drums, rattles, flutes… Participants changed their clothes depending on the region from which the song originated, even the pronunciation of words. They often wore masks…”
An artistic masterpiece, this Aztec instrument is a type of flute in the shape of a parrot. The whistle is at the end of a long tail, while the sound is shaped through a hole on its back and comes out of its beak.
One of the significant Aztec rituals was dedicated to Xochpipilli, the god of spring, the protector of art and artistic inspiration. During the twenty-day celebration, which lasted the holiday, singing and dancing occurred daily, and the participants brought two tall poles adorned with flowers into the ruler’s house. They were a symbol of the celebration dedicated to flowers, spring, and dance. Awards were given to the best performers, singers, musicians, and dancers, as well as to those who composed songs and dances.
The second significant ceremony was held in honor of the god Huitzilopochtli. During this time, a house made of roses was constructed in the enclosed area of his temple, surrounded by trees adorned with fragrant flowers. Inside the house, they placed the statue of the goddess Xochiquetzal, the goddess of flowers, songs, and dance. Young men dressed as birds and others as butterflies, adorned with precious feathers of various colors, climbed the trees, moved from branch to branch, and sucked the dew from roses and other flowers. Finally, the “gods” with the attributes of the deities they represented would emerge from the temple. The symbolism of this ceremony corresponded to the Aztec belief that warriors who died on the battlefield deserved rewards and after death, ascending to heaven to become companions to the Sun on its journey to the zenith.
1. Borgia Codex
Quetzalcoatl, shown here as the god of wind Éhecatl, breathes life into the skeleton representing the god of death, Mictlantecuhtli.
2. Cospi Codex
Depiction of the symbols of the sacred calendar, Tonalpohualli, which has 260 days.
3. Fejervary-Mayer Codex
Depiction of four aspects of nature associated with corresponding pairs of complementary deities, colors, birds, and trees. The entire depiction is framed by a cross with 260 dots representing the cycle of the sacred calendar.
Borgia Codex
Depiction of a precious vessel in which the ashes of Quetzalcoatl in the Land of the Dead transform into a new source of life and ascend in the form of birds with rich feathers.
Well-known codices:
1. Tira de peregrinacion or Boturini Codex describes the pilgrimage of the Aztecs.
2. Borbonico Codex contains information about religion and the calendar.
3. Mendoza Codex speaks about cultural events. 1. The Nahuatl world establishments.
2. The Borgia Codex depicts the Aztec calendar, gods, and their attributes.
3. The Vatican and Ramirez codices contain information of a religious and mythological nature.
4. The Fejérváry-Mayer Codex describes the connection between gods and the calendar.
5. The Cospi Codex, also known as the Bolognese Codex, speaks of prophecies.
6. After the successful “New Fire” ceremony, priests would light torches as symbols of renewal and hope, which messengers would then take to temples and households in Tenochtitlán.
7. The first Mexican archbishop, Zumáraga, collected codices from all parts of Mexico, especially from Texcoco, and ordered them to be burned in the Tlatelolco square. Other Spaniards followed his example. They were rarely preserved, as much as they could, and Bernardino de Sahagún attempted to explain them based on the living tradition transmitted to him by surviving wise men from the entire Aztec Empire. De Sahagún says: “All the things I write about were transmitted to me by the elders through images, for images were the writing they used.” “Tarot cards were used a long time ago.”
“The circular sanctuary of the knightly orders of the eagle and jaguar in Malinalco is carved into the living rock.”
“This terracotta sculpture from Tenochtitlán depicts a member of the knightly order of the eagle.”
“Knights of the eagle and jaguar”
“Military skills played a dominant role in the education of Aztec men, who began training and subjecting themselves to strict discipline from the age of fifteen. Once they reached maturity, they were included in military campaigns. Aztec rulers established various warrior orders that had their own specific roles and insignias. Among them, a knightly relationship prevailed, and the most famous were the Knights of the eagle and the Knights of the jaguar.”
“In Aztec institutions, warriors were raised, and both domestic education and public honors were equally guided by the warrior spirit. A warrior, like a priest, received the highest social respect, and even the king himself had to prove himself as an experienced warrior.”
“According to Aztec belief, a soldier who died in battle went to the moon.” of the indescribable bliss, into the bright palaces of the Sun. Therefore, their warriors, imbued with religious inspiration, despised danger and bravely faced death. There were also professional warriors, known as quachictin – “shaven”, who always found themselves in the most dangerous positions in battles, and they enjoyed great privileges. p>
The knights carried an empty, unadorned crest and shield without a motto until they performed some heroic deed, like medieval European knights, and the reward for their bravery was the right to their own emblem. This law also applied to members of the royal family. p>
1. The Aztecs were skilled in the art of working with feathers, which they combined with noble metals to create true mosaics. It is assumed that this Aztec warrior shield depicts a coyote. p>
2. Rank insignias of Aztec warriors according to the Mendoza Codex. p>
3. Descendants of once glorious and powerful Aztec warriors are now just a tourist attraction. p>
Display of clothing and equipment was that of a noble warrior. The army was divided into corps of eight thousand people, and they were further divided into detachments of three to four hundred, each having its own commander. The flag, comparable to the ancient Roman one, bore the markings of the national coat of arms embroidered in gold and feathers. Detachments and great leaders had their own special flags and mottos.
The ritual knife, with a handle in the shape of an eagle knight, was made as a mosaic of mother-of-pearl, turquoise, pyrite, and obsidian.
A stone sculpture of a warrior with a jaguar mask in a ritual position. Before going to war, Aztec warriors subjected themselves to strict fasting and meditations to ensure that their actions were righteous and just.
Their discipline was admirable, as acknowledged by the Spanish conquerors: “It was wonderful to see them in motion, stepping brightly and in such perfect order!” In battle, they were more inclined to capture rather than kill their opponents, as the valor of a warrior was measured by the number of captives.
The true meaning of war among the Aztecs It is located within the idea of the War of Flowers, whose deep significance is connected to the struggle between eternal and transitory forces within a person’s inner self. If the spirit prevails in this battle, the body blossoms, transforming into a “new light” that joins the forces of the Sun.
Everyday Life
Aztec Society
The basic unit of Aztec social organization was the calpolli, a community of families linked by blood relations through several generations. The majority of the population in cities consisted of commoners or macehualtin, and at the top of the social ladder were the nobility or pipiltin, from whom state officials were selected. At the pinnacle of the social pyramid were the teteuctin, city rulers, to whom the ruler himself belonged, and at the bottom of the pyramid were the mayeque or slaves, who worked the noble’s lands.
However, the Aztec social hierarchy was not rigid and provided opportunities for advancement.
A special role in Aztec society was held by the pochtece or long-distance traders, who supplied luxury goods. They also carried out a number of other strategically important tasks while doing so.
Becoming an Aztec
In 1519, the Aztecs were probably the only people in the world who had mandatory general education for both sexes. This education, for both girls and boys, started at the age of fifteen and lasted until marriage.
There were two types of schools: calmecac and telpochcalli. Calmecac schools were usually associated with a temple and were attended by the sons and daughters of nobles and some of the children of commoners. Attending this school was a prerequisite for obtaining high positions in Aztec society. Telpochcalli schools, or “houses of the young,” were a type of military academy.
Marriage
Marriages were usually arranged by families around the age of twenty. The ceremony took place at night and ended with the bride’s shirt and the groom’s cloak being tied together.
Tlatelolco Market
The main market of the Aztec Empire was Tlatelolco, a twin city to the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlán. According to Spanish sources.
Food and agriculture
Astečka agriculture was based on the cultivation of corn, beans, pumpkins, chili peppers, tomatoes, bananas, and cocoa, whose fruit was used for making chocolate. Thanks to the chinampe technique – floating gardens, yields were extremely high. The diet of ordinary citizens consisted mainly of tortillas dipped in molli, i.e. a sauce made from ground peppers and water. Meat and fish were eaten by the higher echelons of society or were reserved exclusively for special occasions, while the poorer class mainly relied on vegetables for sustenance.
TENOCHTITLÁN – island city
Tenochtitlán, the capital of the Aztec Empire, was founded in In the 14th century, it was located on an artificially constructed island surrounded by salty waters of Lake Texcoco. The island was connected to the mainland by three causeways. Along one of them, there was a large masonry aqueduct that allowed regular supply of drinking water to the city. Tenochtitlán and its satellite city, Tlatelolco, covered an estimated area of 8 km² and had around two hundred thousand inhabitants, which was five times more than London at that time. Today, Mexico City is located on its remains.