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The Aztecs [a] (/ ˈ æ z t ɛ k s / AZ-teks) were a Mesoamerican civilization that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica from the 14th to the 16th centuries.
It is said that the Aztec god, Huitzilopochtli, instructed the Aztecs to found their city at the location where they saw an eagle, on a cactus, with a snake in its talons (which is on the current Mexican flag). The Aztecs, apparently, saw this vision on the small island where Tenochtitlan was founded.
The Aztecs believed that ascension was the process of preparing oneself to please the gods. At the top was the main temple where sacrifices took place, since that was considered to be closest to the gods. [citation needed] Aztec households were simple and uniform to the rest of the civilization. Houses could be one to two stories tall. [21]
[3] [5] The Aztec main god, Huitzilopochtli, is associated with the hummingbird. His origin is from ball of fine feathers that fell on his mother, Coatlicue, and impregnated her. He was born fully armed with an eagle feather shield, fine plumage in his head and on his left sandal. [6] Feathers were valued similarly to jade and turquoise in ...
Codex Azcatitlan, a pictorial history of the Aztec empire, including images of the conquest; Codex Aubin is a pictorial history or annal of the Aztecs from their departure from Aztlán, through the Spanish conquest, to the early Spanish colonial period, ending in 1608. Consisting of 81 leaves, it is two independent manuscripts, now bound together.
Coiled Serpent, unknown Aztec artist, 15th–early 16th century CE, Stone, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, United States [1] The use of serpents in Aztec art ranges greatly from being an inclusion in the iconography of important religious figures such as Quetzalcoatl and Cōātlīcue, [2] to being used as symbols on Aztec ritual objects, [3] and decorative stand-alone representations ...
The first pre-Columbian art to be widely known in modern times was that of the empires flourishing at the time of European conquest, the Inca and Aztec, some of which was taken back to Europe intact. Gradually art of earlier civilizations that had already collapsed, especially Maya art and Olmec art , became widely known, mostly for their large ...
Skull art is found in various cultures of the world. Indigenous Mexican art celebrates the skeleton and uses it as a regular motif. The use of skulls and skeletons in art originated before the Conquest : The Aztecs excelled in stone sculptures and created striking carvings of their Gods. [ 1 ]