The Aztec
The Aztec was a great civilization who lived in
Mesoamerica and developed a culture that included
masterpieces in art, spectacular cities, and agricultural
practices that remain today.
By
Nishan Barua, and Edwin Grande
Who and Where

The Aztec began as a poor,
wandering tribe and
eventually settled in the
Central Valley of Mexico.

They were a powerful group
who ruled close to 3 million
people for about 200 years.

War was important for their survival.

Boys became warriors when they were seventeen.

They believed a short, brave life was better than one of defeat.

They were always ready for battle.
When
Timeline

1200-they came to a valley in Mexico

1325- they built a large city state called
Tenochtitlan.

1438- they build a huge empire.

1502 – Montezuma II becomes the tlatoani.

1519- Hernando de Cortez, a Spanish explorer, arrived in Mexico

1521-The empire ended after the Spanish conquered.
How we know about the Aztecs?
 We
know something about how the Aztec
people lived from ruins of buildings, and
remains of pottery, jewelry, and artifacts
which have been found.
 Archaeologists
are people who piece together
history from evidence and tell us about
ancient peoples.
Aztec’s
Crops
Aztecs crops
 The
major crop of the Aztec was corn,
known as maize, along with chilly peppers,
onions and tomatoes.
 They
thought corn was a gift from the gods.
by Adalin and Boutaina

What Did The Aztec Grow?
They cut terraces to mark flat
fields so they could grew maize.


chinampas
The Aztec built chinampas,
or raised garden beds, in swamp
land and shallow water to
surround the crops they grew.
What The Aztec Eat
 The Aztec ate rabbits, bees, beans,
squash and maize.
 The
Aztec made tortillas
from corn.
 The
Aztec made tamales
from maize.
Shelter
By
Jocelyn A.
and
Ammara
 The
Aztecs built Tenochtitlan a large city.
 They
built pyramids to honor the gods.
Shelter

The houses were made out
of wood, and mud bricks.

They built palaces that had
more than 50 rooms.
Cities of the Aztec

The Aztec built their cities in the highlands of
what is now the country of Mexico.
Tenochtitlan
was the greatest
city of the Aztec . It is on an
island in Lake Texcoco.
Tenochtitlan had four main
sections. Each clan had it’s own
section.

Each
section had houses, a
temple, a school ,and a garden.
By Lupita and Pamela
Fun Facts of the Aztec Plaza
The plaza was a central
area where there were
sometimes as many as 60
buildings.

The Aztec built pyramids in the
plaza for the god of war and sun.

The great pyramid was
located in the plaza and it was
over 200 feet tall. It was a
step pyramid that was made
of many layers of stone.

Aztec Religion
war god

The Aztec made temples and pyramids.
They
They
The
believed in many nature gods.
thought the gods lived in the sky.
main gods were Huitzilopochtli, the war god and
Tlaloc the rain god.
By Rodrigo Maldonado and Ananda Poudel
Religion

The Great Temple was the most important
religious building in the city Tenochitilan.

The Aztec made statues and
painting of their gods to
make them happy.
Religion

People still climb the pyramid of the sun.

The Aztec believed that they had to please
the gods or bad things would happen.
The Government

The Aztec government was called
Monarchy. Monarchy is a system of passing
royalty to their sons.
 Aztec
had small city states and each had a
leader to speak for them.
 The
Aztec cared about power and wanted to
conquer other lands. By Misoon Mousa and Melat Tarekegan
The Government

The nobles were rich leaders of the provinces and
they owned a lot of land.

The commoners were divided into family groups
called clans. People had to pay taxes.

The ruler or king was called tlatoani or the Great
Speaker!
The Kings

The Aztec government had 11 rulers known
as kings.

The most famous ruler was called
Montezuma. He ruled from
1440-1469 and he helped
the empire grow.

The 10th ruler died after only 80 days.
By Misoon and Melat
Aztec Numbers &
Counting
by Melanie Martinez and
Gresia Galicia Flores

The Mesoamericans
were obsessed with
counting and the
passage of time.

They invented a
counting system
based on the unit
20.
Aztec Numbers & Counting

They counted in 20s
and used pictures to
represent numbers. A
flag stood for 20 and a
feather stood for 400.

The number 8,000 was
shown by a pouch for
carrying incense.
The Aztec Calendar
The Aztec Calendar had 18 months and 20 days.
All together it equals 365 days.
By Temuulen Uranbayar and
Zanab Farooq

The months of the year were named like “Fall
of the Fruit” or “Growth”.

They used calendars to see if people were lucky
or not, but only priests and astrologist could
read the calendar.
Fun Facts About the Aztec Calendar
The Aztec had 2 kinds of calendars: Solar and
Sacred calendars.
Aztec thought that six extra days were
unlucky. They wouldn’t go out or do
anything on those days, but would sit inside.
Sacred
Calendar
Solar
Calendar
Picture Writing
by Flavia & Furdus

The Aztecs had a picture writing system
and kept details of their history and administration.
•
The pictures or glyphs were of objects like a tree or knife.
Some glyphs were pictures of war or motion. They drew in
black first and then colored it in.
•
The Aztec made paper from the bark of trees.
They folded the paper together and made books
called codex.

The writing was also kept on walls and
pottery and carved objects from stone or jade.
Examples of Aztec Picture Writing
= a jar of honey
= a dead body
= war
Aztec Art
by: Minjin Uranbayar and Leticia Galicia
The
Aztec made clay pots by hand.
The finest pottery came from Cholula.
They made pots that had pictures on
them.
Jewelry
was made out of stone
and most people had pierced ears
and wore earrings made out of shells.
How They Made Pottery

The pottery was made out of rocks
and minerals.

Stone working is one of the oldest
of the Mesoamerican crafts.
Aztec Sports
Temuulen Uranbayar
Tlachtli

One of the most popular Aztec games was called Tlachtli.

The goal of the game was to get an 8-10 pound rubber ball
to the other team’s side.

Two teams played on a field shaped like an H between two
walls. To add to the challenge, only the hips and the feet
could be used to move the ball. A stone ring was located at
each side of the field.
Fun Facts
About Tlachtli

This was one of the roughest sports, players wore
leather belts in order to protect themselves from
being hurt.

Nearly everyone, however, was allowed to watch
and betting was very common. Bets included gold,
fine clothing, slaves and even their own freedom or
the freedom of their family.
Aztec and Health
by Jocelyn, Zina and Ms. Anna

The Aztec understood that keeping clean was one
way to stay healthy. They bathed often and even
took steam baths.

They had knowledge about plants
and how to use herbs as medicine
to heal their sick.

They cleaned their teeth with
charcoals and salt, an early form
of toothpaste.
Aztec and Health

Their skilled doctors tried to heal
the Spanish who brought disease and
death to this culture.

Outbreaks of disease weakened the Aztec
and may have been one of the reasons
their civilization came to an end.
The Arrival Of The Spanish
By: Zina and Jocelyn

The explorers were surprised when
they saw Tenochtitlan, the capital
of the Aztec Empire.

The Spanish leader Hernando
Cortes and his army invaded the
Aztec and destroyed the city and
killed most of the people.
End of The Aztec

The Spanish Conquistadors not only conquered the
Aztecs through war, they brought diseases to this
civilization and that is how the Aztec Empire Civilization
ended.