1. The Aztecs www.artzia.com

2. Background Originally named Mexica Located in what is now central Mexico The empire lasted during the 14 th, 15 th, and 16 th centuries CE http://www.geocities.com/kimmykim7072003/aztec_empire.jpg

3. Background Tenochtitlan was the capital city and is located in what is now present day Mexico city The Aztec empire caused the biggest demographic explosion in Mesoamerican history http://www.mte.asd103.org/art/images/Aztec.jpg

4. Government The Aztecs where ruled by a single emperor called the Huey Tlatoani which roughly translates to “The Great Speaker” and was located in the capitol city of Tenochtitlan There was also a ruling counsel comprised of the wisest and most powerful leaders from the Calpulli Calpulli is a group of extended families that controlled the use of local lands and preformed other territorial and social functions

5. Government Each urban settlement had a calpulli and four main leaders would be selected to a governing board the most powerful being named Tlatoani The Tlatoani from the all over the emperor would then comprise the main ruling counsel in the capital city The Aztecs grew rapidly by conquering nearby cities and would force them to pay tributes These tributes would eventually result in the increased welfare of the common people

6. Characteristics of the Nahuatl Language It is an agglutinant language. Words and phrases are constructed by joining prefixes, root words and suffixes to form an idea. It is a flexive language. The morphology of words may change (flex) according to their function in a phrase. It uses mostly reverential forms of speech that gives a respectful frame to human relations.

7. Social Structure The Aztec society was divided into three socal classes: the macehualli (people) or peasantry, the pochteca or merchants and traders, and the pilli or nobility Slaves or tlacotin consisted as a large part of the Aztec society Though people were born into a certain class it was possible to move up the ranks within a life time

8. Religion Main deity in the Aztec religion was Huitzilopochtli and was known as both the sun god and war god Human sacrifice was practiced heavily in the Aztec religion The Aztecs believed that by performing these sacrifices that it gave power to the gods which in turn would insure the survival of the Aztec universe

9. Religion War captives were used in the sacrifices and in times of peace the Aztec would have to resort to ritualistic warfare or flower war In the year 1487 the Aztecs reported killing 84,400 war prisoners in four days at the great pyramid of Tenochitlan After a town was conquered the inhabitants where no longer eligible of sacrifice and became Aztec citizens

10. Art The favored form of art in the Aztec empire was sculpture Most Sculptures were made from limestone, which is still abundant in Mexico today Aztec sculpture was like most other Mesoamerican cultures and was mostly directly related to religion http://library.thinkquest.org/16325/y-art.html

11. Art The Aztecs also made other religious and non-religious artifacts such as jade masks Clothing was also a popular art form and women from around the empire would use bead, flower, and metal decorations These artifacts were sold in markets by visiting merchants www.latinamericanstudies.org/.../aztec-mask.gif

12. Architecture There where four main types of architecture in the Aztec society: sacrificial temples, emperors temple, and shines of the gods http://library.thinkquest.org/10098/aztec.html

13. Sacrificial Temple http://www.chipotletx.com/assets/images/aztectemple.jpg

14. Emperor Palace http://library.thinkquest.org/10098/aztec.html

15. Homes http://www.sylviastuurman.nl/stories/four corners/english.php

16. Tenochtitlan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aztec

17. Resources http://www.mte.asd103.org/art/images/Aztec.jpg www.artzia.com http://www.geocities.com/kimmykim7072003/aztec_empir e.jpghttp://www.geocities.com/kimmykim7072003/aztec_empir e.jpg http://library.thinkquest.org/16325/y-art.html www.latinamericanstudies.org/.../aztec-mask.gif http://library.thinkquest.org/10098/aztec.html http://www.chipotletx.com/assets/images/aztectemple.jpg http://www.sylviastuurman.nl/stories/four corners/english.phphttp://www.sylviastuurman.nl/stories/four corners/english.php http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aztec