Aztec Civilization Essay -- essays research papers

The Aztec Indians peed a great civilization in Central Mexico, reaching its dot in the 1500&8217s. Being late arrivals to the area, and because of their strong neighboring nations, they were forced to blend in in the swampy western areas of the Lake Texcoco. Because of the swampy surroundings, the Aztecs used mud to create miniature islands in the swamps. These islands are called chinampas, or &8220floating gardens, and were used as farming lands. On these fertile islands they grew corn, squash, vegetables, and flowers. Being an agriculturally dependant empire, the Aztec&8217s organized religion was based highly on the forces of nature and worshipped them as beau ideals. The god of war, Huitzilopochtli, was the most important deity. They had more other important gods, such as Tlaloc, the god of rain, Quetzalcoatl, the god of wind and of learning, and Tenochtitlan, the sun god. The Aztecs believed in order to mollify these and many other gods that they needed to perform human sa crifices. The main persona of the great Aztec pyramids was, in fact, human sacrifices. They also believed that there were &8220lucky and &8220unlucky days for baptism and to affirm war on, which were decided by a priest. Most art and computer architecture in the Aztec civilization was based on their religion. There are many brightly colored murals and paintings on walls and on bark which depict spiritual ceremonies, along with large idols of gods. One of the most amazing and famous of the...