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AZTEC, the name of the peoples who inhabited the Valley of Mexico shortly before the Spanish conquest of Mexico in 1521. This ethnonym unites many tribal groups that spoke the Nahuatl language and showed features of a cultural community, although they had their own city-states and royal dynasties. Among these tribes, the tenochki dominated, and only this last people was sometimes called "Aztecs". The Aztecs also mean the mighty tripartite alliance created by the tenochs of Tenochtitlan, the Acolua Texcoco and the Tepanecs of Tlacopan, who established their dominance in Central and Southern Mexico in the period from 1430 to 1521.

The Aztec city-states arose on a vast mountain plateau called the Valley of Mexico, where the capital of Mexico is now located. This fertile valley with an area of ​​approx. 6500 sq. km extends approximately 50 km in length and width. It lies at an altitude of 2300 m above sea level. and is surrounded on all sides by mountains of volcanic origin, reaching a height of 5000 m. In the time of the Aztecs, the landscape was given originality by a chain of connecting lakes with the most extensive of them, Lake Texcoco. The lakes were fed by mountain runoff and streams, and periodic floods created constant problems for the population living on their shores. At the same time, lakes provided drinking water, created a habitat for fish, waterfowl and mammals, and boats served as a convenient means of transportation.

The Triple Alliance subjugated to its power a huge territory from the northern regions of present-day Mexico to the borders of Guatemala, which included a variety of landscapes and natural areas - the relatively arid regions of the north of the Mexico Valley, the mountain gorges of the current states of Oaxaca and Guerrero, the Pacific mountain ranges, coastal plains of the Gulf of Mexico, lush rainforests of the Yucatan Peninsula. Thus, the Aztecs gained access to a variety of natural resources that were not in their places of original residence.

The inhabitants of the Valley of Mexico and some other areas (for example, the Tlaxcalans who lived in the territory of the current states of Puebla and Tlaxcala) spoke dialects of the Nahuatl language (literally, "harmony", "folding speech"). It was adopted as a second language by Aztec tributaries and became the intermediary language of almost all of Mexico during the colonial period (1521–1821). Traces of this language are found in numerous toponyms such as Acapulco or Oaxaca. According to some estimates, approx. 1.3 million people still speak Nahuatl or its variant Nahuat, more commonly referred to as "Mexicano". This language is part of the Macro-Naua family of the Uto-Aztecan branch, which is distributed from Canada to Central America and includes about 30 related languages.

The Aztecs were great lovers of literature and collected libraries of pictographic books (the so-called codes) with descriptions of religious rites and historical events, or representing registers of tribute collection. Paper for codices was made from the bark. The vast majority of these books were destroyed during the conquest or immediately after it. In general, throughout Mesoamerica (this is the name of the territory from the north of the Mexico Valley to the southern borders of Honduras and El Salvador), no more than two dozen Indian codices have survived. Some scholars argue that not a single Aztec code of the pre-Hispanic era has survived to this day, others believe that there are two of them - the Bourbon Code and the Register of Taxes. Be that as it may, even after the conquest, the Aztec written tradition did not die and was used for various purposes. Aztec scribes recorded hereditary titles and possessions, compiled reports to the Spanish king, and more often described the life and beliefs of fellow tribesmen for the Spanish monks in order to make it easier for them to Christianize the Indians.

Europeans received the first information about the Aztecs during the period of the conquest, when Hernan Cortes sent five letters of reports to the Spanish king about the progress of the conquest of Mexico. Approximately 40 years later, a member of the Cortes expedition, soldier Bernal Diaz del Castillo, compiled true story conquest of New Spain(Historia verdadera de la conquista de Nueva España), where he vividly and thoroughly described tenochkov and neighboring peoples. Information about various aspects of Aztec culture was received in the 16th and early 17th centuries. from chronicles and ethnographic descriptions created by the Aztec nobility and Spanish monks. Of the works of this kind, the most valuable is the multi-volume General History of the Things of New Spain (Historia general de las cosas de Nueva España) of the Franciscan monk Bernardino de Sahagun, containing a variety of information - from stories about the Aztec gods and rulers to descriptions of flora and fauna.

The capital of the Aztecs, Tenochtitlan, was destroyed by the conquistadors to the ground. The remains of ancient structures did not attract attention until in 1790, during earthworks, the so-called. Stone of the Sun and a 17-ton statue of the goddess Coatlicue. Archaeological interest in Aztec culture arose after a corner of the main temple was discovered in 1900, but large-scale archaeological excavations of the temple were undertaken only in 1978–1982. Then archaeologists managed to expose seven separate segments of the temple and extract more than 7,000 items of Aztec art and everyday life from hundreds of burials. Later archaeological excavations revealed a number of large and small ancient structures under the Mexican capital.

STORY

Historical background.

Aztec culture was the last link in a long chain advanced civilizations that flourished and declined in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. The most ancient of them, the Olmec culture, developed on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico in the 14th-3rd centuries. BC. The Olmecs paved the way for the formation of subsequent civilizations, so the era of their existence is called preclassical. They had a developed mythology with an extensive pantheon of gods, erected massive stone structures were skilled in stone carving and pottery. Their society was hierarchical and narrowly professionalized; the latter manifested itself, in particular, in the fact that specially trained people dealt with religious, administrative and economic issues.

These features of Olmec society were further developed in subsequent civilizations. In wet tropical forests In the south of Mesoamerica, the Maya civilization flourished for a relatively short historical period, leaving behind vast cities and many magnificent works of art. At about the same time, a similar civilization of the classical era arose in the Valley of Mexico, in Teotihuacan - big city area of ​​26-28 sq. km and with a population of up to 100 thousand people.

At the beginning of the 7th c. Teotihuacan was destroyed during the war. It was replaced by the Toltec culture, which flourished in the 9th-12th centuries. The Toltec and other late classical civilizations (including the Aztec) continued the trends laid down in the preclassical and classical eras. Agricultural surpluses contributed to the growth of population and cities, wealth and power were increasingly concentrated in the upper strata of society, which led to the formation of hereditary dynasties of rulers of city-states. Religious ceremonies based on polytheism became more complicated. Extensive professional strata of people engaged in intellectual labor and trade arose, and trade and conquests spread this culture over a vast territory and led to the formation of empires. The dominant position of individual cultural centers did not interfere with the existence of other cities and settlements. Such a complex system of social relationships was already firmly established throughout Mesoamerica by the time the Aztecs arrived here.

The wanderings of the Aztecs.

The name "Aztecs" (lit. "people of Aztlan") recalls the legendary ancestral home of the Tenochki tribe, from where they made a difficult journey to the Mexico Valley. The Aztecs were one of the many nomadic or semi-sedentary Chichimec tribes that migrated from the desert regions of northern Mexico (or even more remote) to the fertile agricultural regions of Central Mexico.

Mythological and historical sources indicate that the wandering tenochki took more than 200 years from the beginning or middle of the 12th century. until 1325. Leaving the island of Astlan (“Place of the Herons”), the tenochki reached Chicomostok (“Seven Caves”), the mythical starting point of the wanderings of many wandering tribes, including the Tlaxcalans, Tepanecs, Xochimilcos and Chalcos, each of which once set off from Chicomostok on the long journey south into the Mexico Valley and nearby valleys.

The Tenochki were the last to leave the Seven Caves, led by the chief deity of their tribe, Huitzilopochtli ("Hummingbird of the Left Side"). Their journey was not smooth and uninterrupted, as from time to time they stopped for a long time to build a temple or resolve intra-tribal strife with weapons. The related tribes of the Tenochs, already settled in the Valley of Mexico, greeted them with mixed feelings. On the one hand, they were desirable as brave warriors that warring city-states could use as mercenaries. On the other hand, they were condemned for cruel rites and customs. The first sanctuary was erected on the hill of Chapultepec (“Grasshopper Hill”), then they moved from one city to another, until in 1325 they chose two islets on Lake Texcoco for settlement.

This choice, due to practical expediency, had a mythical background. In the densely populated lake basin, the islands were the only free place. They could be expanded with bulk artificial islands (chinampa), and boats served as an easy and convenient mode of transport. There is a legend according to which Huitzilopochtli ordered the tenochki to settle where they saw an eagle sitting on a cactus with a snake in its claws (this symbol was included in National emblem Mexico). In that place, the city of tenochkov, Tenochtitlan, was founded.

From 1325 to 1430 tenochki were in the service, including as military mercenaries, near the most powerful city-state in the Mexico Valley, Azcapotzalco. As a reward for their service, they received land and access to natural resources. With extraordinary diligence, they rebuilt the city and expanded their possessions with the help of artificial chinampa islands. They entered into alliances, most often through marriages, with the ruling dynasties of neighboring peoples, dating back to the Toltecs.

Creation of an empire.

In 1428, the Tenochki entered into an alliance with the Acolua of the city-state of Texcoco, located east of Tenochtitlan, rebelled against the Tepaneks of Azcapotzalco and defeated them in 1430. After that, the Tepaneks of nearby Tlacopan joined the military alliance of the Tenochki and Acolua. Thus, a powerful military-political force was created - a tripartite alliance aimed at wars of conquest and control over the economic resources of a vast territory.

The ruler of the tenochki, Itzcoatl, who was the first to lead the tripartite alliance, subjugated the other city-states of the Mexico Valley. Each of the five subsequent rulers expanded the territory of the empire. However, the last of the Aztec emperors, Motekusoma Shokoyotzin (Montezuma II), was engaged not so much in capturing new territories as in consolidating the empire and suppressing uprisings. But Montezuma, like his predecessors, failed to subdue the Tarascans on the western borders of the empire and the Tlaxcalans in the east. The latter provided enormous military assistance to the Spanish conquistadors led by Cortes in the conquest of the Aztec empire.

AZTEC LIFESTYLE

Economy.

The basis of the Aztec diet was corn, beans, pumpkin, numerous varieties of chilli peppers, tomatoes and other vegetables, as well as chia and amaranth seeds, a variety of fruits from the tropical zone, and a prickly pear-shaped nopal cactus growing in semi-deserts. Vegetable food was supplemented by the meat of domesticated turkeys and dogs, game, and fish. From all these components, the Aztecs were able to prepare very nutritious and healthy stews, cereals, sauces. From cocoa beans they prepared a fragrant foamy drink intended for the nobility. Pulque was made from agave juice.

Agave also gave wood fiber for making coarse clothes, ropes, nets, bags and sandals. A finer fiber was obtained from cotton, which was cultivated outside the Valley of Mexico and imported into the Aztec capital. Only noble people had the right to wear clothes made of cotton fabrics. Men's hats and loincloths, women's skirts and blouses were often covered with intricate patterns.

Located on the island of Tenochtitlan, the chinampa expanded with "floating gardens". Aztec farmers built them in shallow water from tied baskets of silt and algae and strengthened them by planting willows around the edges. Between artificial islands a network of interconnected canals was formed, which served for irrigation and transportation of goods and supported the habitat of fish and waterfowl. Farming on the chinampa was possible only in the vicinity of Tenochtitlan and in the southern lakes, near the cities of Xochimilco and Chalco, since the springs here kept the water fresh, while in the central part of Lake Texcoco it was more salty and therefore unsuitable for agriculture. In the middle of the 15th century The Aztecs built a powerful dam across the lake to save fresh water for Tenochtitlan and protect the city from floods. The engineering and architectural achievements of the Aztecs, who did not know pack animals, wheels and metal tools, were based solely on the efficient organization of labor.

However, the chinampa and the lands of the Mexico Valley could not feed the growing urban population. By 1519, from 150 to 200 thousand people lived in Tenochtitlan, the population of the second largest city, Texcoco, reached 30 thousand, and in other cities, from 10 to 25 thousand people lived. The proportion of the aristocracy increased, and among other urban strata, a significant proportion were those who consumed, but did not produce food: artisans, merchants, scribes, teachers, priests and military leaders.

Food was delivered to the cities as tribute levied on conquered peoples, or brought in by merchants and local farmers to be sold in the market. IN major cities markets functioned daily, and in small ones they opened every five or twenty days. The largest market in the Aztec state was organized in the satellite city of Tenochtitlan - Tlatelolco: according to the estimates of the Spanish conquistador, from 20 to 25 thousand people gathered here daily. Here you could buy anything - from tortillas and feathers to precious stones and slaves. At the service of visitors there were always barbers, porters and judges who monitored the order and honesty of transactions.

The conquered peoples regularly, once every three months or every six months, paid tribute to the Aztecs. They delivered food, clothes, military vestments, polished jadeite beads and bright feathers of tropical birds to the cities of the triple alliance, and also provided various services, including escorting captives who were appointed to be sacrificed.

Traders undertook long and dangerous journeys to bring valuable goods to the Aztec cities, and many amassed considerable wealth. Merchants often served as informants and ambassadors in lands outside the empire.

social organization.

Aztec society was strictly hierarchical and was divided into two main classes - the hereditary aristocracy and the plebs. The Aztec nobility lived in luxury in opulent palaces and had many privileges, including the wearing of special robes and insignia, and polygamy, through which alliances were established with the aristocracy of other city-states. The nobility were destined for high positions and the most prestigious activities, it was made up of military leaders, judges, priests, teachers and scribes.

The lower class consisted of farmers, fishermen, artisans, merchants. in Tenochtitlan and neighboring cities they lived in special quarters called "kalpulli" - a kind of community. Each kalpulli had its own allotment of land and its own patron god, its own school, paid the community tax and exhibited warriors. Many kalpulli were formed by professional affiliation. So, for example, craftsmen in the dressing of bird feathers, stone carvers or merchants lived in special areas. Some farmers were assigned to the possessions of aristocrats, who were paid more labor and taxes than the state.

However, for all its strength, class barriers could be overcome. Most often, the path to the top was opened by military prowess and the capture of prisoners on the battlefield. Sometimes the son of a commoner, dedicated to a temple, eventually became a priest. Skillful artisans who made luxury goods, or merchants, could, despite the lack of hereditary rights, earn the favor of the ruler and get rich.

Slavery was widespread in the Aztec society. As a punishment for theft or non-payment of a debt, the guilty person could be temporarily enslaved to the victim. It often happened when a person, on agreed terms, sold himself or his family members into slavery. Sometimes slaves were bought in the markets for human sacrifice.

Education and lifestyle.

Until about the age of 15, children were educated at home. The boys mastered military affairs and learned how to manage the household, and the girls, who were often given in marriage at this age, knew how to cook, spin and manage the household. In addition, both of them received professional skills in pottery and the art of dressing bird feathers.

Most teenagers went to school at 15, although some started schooling at 8. The children of the nobility were sent to kalmekak, where, under the guidance of priests, they studied military affairs, history, astronomy, administration, social institutions, and rituals. Their duties were also charged with collecting firewood, cleanliness in temples, participating in various public works, and donating blood during religious rites. The children of commoners attended the telpochkalli of their city quarter, where they studied mainly military affairs. Both boys and girls also went to schools called "kuikakalli" ("house of song"), designed to teach liturgical chants and dances.

Women, as a rule, were engaged in raising children and housekeeping. Some were trained in crafts and midwifery, or initiated into religious mysteries, after which they became priestesses. Upon reaching the age of 70, men and women were surrounded by honor and received a number of privileges, including permission to drink pulque without restrictions.

Belief in life after death was accompanied by certain ideas about what awaits the deceased. A warrior who died in battle or was sacrificed was expected to be honored to accompany the Sun on its path from sunrise to zenith. Women who died in childbirth - on their battlefield, so to speak - accompanied the Sun from zenith to sunset. The drowned and those killed by lightning fell into a blooming paradise, the abode of the rain god Tlalocan. Most of the dead Aztecs, it was believed, did not go beyond the lower underworld, Mictlan, where the god and goddess of death ruled.

Conquest wars and empire management.

Each Aztec city-state had one or more rulers called "tlatoani" ("orator"). Power was hereditary and passed from brother to brother or from father to son. However, the inheritance of honorary titles did not occur automatically, but required the approval of the highest circles of the city nobility. Thus, the legitimacy of the power of each new ruler was ensured both by the divine right of succession and by the public recognition of his merits. The rulers lived in luxury, but not in idleness, as they were obliged to exercise control, pass verdicts in difficult legal cases, oversee the proper execution of religious rituals, and protect subjects. Since some city-states fell under the rule of others, some rulers were considered higher than others, and the ruler of Tenochtitlan was recognized as the main one.

In the service of the rulers were advisers, commanders, priests, judges, scribes and other officials. Imperial conquests required an expansion of the bureaucracy with tribute collectors, governors, and garrison commanders. The conquered peoples enjoyed relative freedom. City-states were generally allowed to maintain ruling dynasties on the condition that tributes were carefully paid. New territories were included in the empire in various ways - some peoples conquered tenochki and forced them to pay regular tribute, others were persuaded to an alliance by negotiations, marriage ties and gifts. The city-states conquered by the triple alliance in the early era of its existence, by the beginning of the 16th century. were already deeply integrated into the imperial structure. Their rulers participated in tenochki wars of conquest, receiving rewards in the form of titles and lands.

War was the most important sphere of life of the Aztecs. Successful wars enriched the empire and provided an opportunity for individual warriors to move up the social ladder. The main virtue was the capture of a prisoner for sacrifice; a warrior who captured four enemy soldiers rose in rank.

Religion.

The Aztec polytheistic pantheon included many gods and goddesses. The demiurge gods are represented by the mysterious unpredictable Tezcatlipoca ("Smoking Mirror"), the god of fire Xiuhtecutli and the famous Quetzalcoatl ("Feathered Serpent"), "who gave people maize". Since the life of the Aztecs largely depended on agriculture, they worshiped the gods of rain, fertility, maize, etc. The gods of war, such as the Huitzilopochtli of the Tenochki, were associated with the Sun.

The Aztecs erected temples for each deity, where priests and priestesses worshiped him. main temple Tenochtitlan (46 m high) was crowned with two sanctuaries dedicated to Huitzilopochtli and the rain god Tlaloc. This temple rose in the middle of a vast enclosed area containing other temples, warriors' chambers, a priestly school, and a ritual ball court. Sophisticated religious rituals included festivities, fasting, chants, dances, burning incense and rubber, as well as ritual dramatic performances, often with human sacrifices.

According to Aztec mythology, the universe was divided into thirteen heavens and nine underworlds. The created world went through four epochs of development, each of which ended with the death of the human race: the first - from jaguars, the second - from hurricanes, the third - from the universal fire, the fourth - from the flood. The modern Aztec era of the "Fifth Sun" was supposed to end with terrible earthquakes.

Human sacrifice, which was an essential part of the Aztec religious rites, was practiced in order to supply the gods with energy and thereby delay the inevitable death of the human race. Sacrifices, the Aztecs believed, were necessary to maintain a sustainable life cycle; human blood nourished the Sun, caused rains and ensured the earthly existence of man. Some forms of sacrifice were limited to bloodletting through the thorns of the maguey plant, but often the priests killed the victim by ripping open the chest with a knife and tearing out the heart. In some rites, a chosen one was sacrificed, who had the honor of embodying a deity, while in others many captives were killed.

Achievements of science and art.

The Aztecs had a cyclic account of time. They combined the solar 365-day calendar with the ritual 260-day calendar. According to the first, the year was divided into 18 months of 20 days each, to which 5 so-called. unlucky days. The solar calendar was applied to the agricultural cycle and major religious rites. The ritual calendar used for prophecies and predictions of human fate contained 20 names of the days of the month (“rabbit”, “rain”, etc.) in combination with numbers from 1 to 13. A newborn, along with the name of his birthday (like “Two Deer "or" Ten Eagle ") also received a prediction of his fate. So, it was believed that Two Rabbits would be a drunkard, and One Snake would earn fame and fortune. Both calendars were combined into a 52-year cycle, at the end of which the lived years disappeared, just as the wind carries away a bundle of 52 reeds, and a new cycle began. The end of each 52-year cycle threatened the death of the universe.

The Aztecs created an extensive body of oral literature, represented by the genres of epic, hymn and lyric poetry, religious chants, drama, legends and tales. In terms of tone and subject matter, this literature is also very diverse and varies from chanting of military prowess and the exploits of ancestors to contemplation and reflection on the essence of life and the destiny of man. Poetic exercises and disputes were constantly practiced among the nobility.

The Aztecs showed themselves as the most skillful builders, sculptors, stone carvers, potters, jewelers, weavers. The art of making products from the bright feathers of tropical birds enjoyed special honor. Feathers were used to decorate warriors' shields, clothes, standards, and headdresses. Jewelers worked on gold, jadeite, rock crystal and turquoise, showing extraordinary skill in creating mosaics and ornaments.

The Aztecs are an Indian people who lived in the center and partly in the south of the American continent before the capture of Mexico in 1521 by the Spanish conquistadors. Their ancient history is the search for a permanent home for many years. They wandered with a group of other tribes through the territories of many modern states Latin America. Until they stopped near the current capital of Mexico. The concept of the Aztecs also includes the military-political community of the tribes and city-states of Tenochtitlan, Texcoco and Tlacopan.

Aztec civilization, brief description

This "troika" established a rigid, and sometimes barbaric domination from the northern borders of modern Mexico to Guatemala in the period 1400-1521. At the same time, skillful management of the economy made it possible to create one of the oldest and even almost “capitalist” civilizations.

When the concept of "civilization" is written or pronounced, for many it is associated with some unique achievement in the life of the people. In fact, this term refers to a certain period, stage, in the development of a particular society: savagery - barbarism - civilization. Each period must meet certain scientific criteria.

Among the important criteria of civilization is the existence of a class society in relation to ownership of the means of production, the social division of labor. Further, there should not be huts, but stone cities, the presence of their own language and writing, other important phenomena of life.

Among the Aztecs, in addition to their own means of communication, the second were several Indian languages. The Aztecs used them in communication with other peoples. The Aztecs still use their variations in everyday life.

The Aztec people were considered admirers of creativity expressed in words. Books were written in pictograms; tree bark served as paper. Basically, they outlined the life of power, priests, a list of tribute collections, various registers. If the Spanish conquistadors had not destroyed most of the books, then mankind would have known the Aztecs better.

The information of one navigator and invader of Mexico, B. Castillo, about the history of the country is invaluable. In particular, about the peoples of this group. In it, for the first time, Europeans learn information about tenochki (named after the leader Tenoch). That was the name of the tribe that lived in the city of Texcoco, while the neighboring tribes called it the Aztecs. The slave system flourished in the cities. But local slavery was different from European.

The slave had property and even his slaves, could redeem himself and become a free citizen of the city. Not only prisoners of war fell into slavery, but also Aztec debtors, as well as the poor who sold themselves and their families. Slaves wore collars and shackles.

The bloodlust of the Aztecs

In the empire of these tribes, barbaric sacrifices continued to be massively cultivated. This relic of a previous period of life is inherent in almost all Latin American civilizations. But the Aztecs in bloodlust surpassed other Indians. Obviously, the neighboring tribes knew about this, so they did not want the Aztecs to settle nearby.

Sacrifices were justified by the religion of the Indians. According to myths, the god spent his blood for the benefit of those who believed in him. Therefore, the Aztecs performed sacrificial rites regularly: they killed both slaves and free people. Blood flowed like a river at mass rituals, because thousands of people lost their lives at the same time. The Aztec chronicles preserved information about these cruel acts. So, in honor of the construction of a high pyramid, 80 thousand people were sacrificed at the same time. While they were still alive, their hearts were taken out and all the blood was drained. Then the priests burned the corpses.