Aztec Flashcards
Codices
Priest recorded literature in books that refer to as codices
Quetzalcoatl
A Sun god
Montezuma I
An Aztec ruler. He governed from 1440 to 1469. He used his armies to expand the empire
Tenochtitlan
A city that had bridges to the mainland with soil dug from the lake bottom. He built temples, aqueduct and roads
-largest city in Mesoamerica
From whom did the Aztec borrow their ideas?
Maya and Toltec
Where did the Aztec settle in 1325?
Lake Texcoco
How did an Aztec king become ruler?
To be descended from the gods. A council of priests, nobles, and warriors named a new emperor from a ruling family. They wanted someone skilled in warrior.
Why were captives sacrificed?
They believed it would please the gods and prevent the universe from collapsing.
What responsibilities did the priests have in Aztec society
They sacrificed captives. They also worked to preserve religion, history, and literature of their people
Aztecs
-1100 left homeland
-around 1325 arrived lake Texcoco
-built Tenochtitlan
Merchants
-Traded feathers, jade, cocoa
-irrigation, fertilizations, drained water from swamps
Chinampas
Floating gardens
Priests
-codices
-Calendar
-two (260 days +
-365 days
King were chose by…
-Council
-four classes nobles
-nobles
-commoners (largest
-unskilled laborers
-enslaved people
Conquered people
-Kept own language and religion
-paid tribute
-Aztec needed more land and boys for army
