• The Aztec Civilization, really an alliance between three powerful city-states, flourished in "Mesoamerica," mainly in an area now labeled central Mexico, in the 15th and 16th Centuries, until being conquered by the Spanish. Most of what is now known of the Aztecs comes from archaeological evidence and first-hand accounts from Spanish conquistadors and missionaries.

• Fast Facts:

  1. Region: Mexico, Central America
  2. Duration: 1428 - 1521
  3. Capital: Tenochtitlan
  4. Language: Nahutl
  5. Population: ~20,000,000
  6. Government: Autocracy
  7. Aztecs also referred to as as "Mexica"

• Key Events:

  • 1248: "Mexica" people arrive in Chapultepec

  • 1325: City of Tenochtitlan founded

  • 1428: Aztec Triple Alliance formed, collecting three city-states into the Aztec Empire

  • November 8, 1519: Cortes arrives at Tenochtitlan

  • August 13, 1521: Tenochtitlan destroyed

• Aztec Religion

  Many of the specifics of Aztec religion or mythology were borrowed or adopted from other Mesoamerican cultures, including the adoption of specific gods and the central significance of solar and lunar cycles.

  The Aztecs believed that the universe was locked into a 52-year cycle, and feared that if they did not please the gods, the world would cease to exist when the present cycle came to an end.

  Famously, human sacrifice played a role in Aztec religion, and was reported on by Spanish explorers and writers who witnessed some of these ceremonies first-hand. Animal sacrifice and self-sacrifice (sometimes involving bloodletting) were also common.

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