AZTEC
EMPIRE
Foods
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Mostly maize (corn) tortillas, and beans
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Chocolate- was a gift and was eaten on special occasions was treasured by aztecs, even used as money
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Vegetables: Squash, tomatoes, chillies.
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Fruits: avocados, chillies, pears, cactus sap, honey, mushrooms, pineapple, papaya, sweet potatoes, vanilla and coco.
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Meats- Turkey, dogs, and ducks.
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Medical services to the sick and ill
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Provided farmers with jobs
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Jobs to build public works
Belief System
Games
Cultural Mosaic
Trade
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Ullamaliztli- a game that involved just a ball and two stone circles, a Ullamaliztli court was one of the first things built when aztecs settled in a new area very similar to modern day basketball
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Patolli- a board game where the dice were red beans and was purely based on luck, the goal was to get to the center of the board.
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Games brought all the social classes together and people of all ages. since aztecs were highly religious, many games taught a lesson.
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Aztecs did not have metal currency, so they used cacao beans and cotton to trade for tools, clothes, and jewelry.
many merchants walked around the big city of Tenochtitlan to sell their cheaper goods for less.
Language
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Nahuan- was what they spoke in the beginning as early as 600 AD
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Nahuatl- started gaining power as the Aztec empire started coming together.
Services
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There is a strong emphasis on how humans gods and nature are connected.
Much focus was on praying to their gods (polytheistic) have about 1000 gods and pray to the sun god the most.
Aztec warriors helped unify the nation by religion.
Sacrifice was a big part of aztec religion- believed that the sun had to be nourished with the hearts of victims. many of the hearts that they sacrificed were their enemy’s
Art and calendars were also a big part of their religions.
