The Aztec group is a tribe that originated from Aztlan in the north of modern Mexico. The tribe gained their name from the Western historians who named them after Aztlan. In the 12th century, the Aztec group began wandering in search of settlement. The Aztec tribe later settled in the area that is currently Mexico City after a long period of migration and warfare. The tribe decided to take up an uninhabited island in Lake Texcoco. In this area, the Aztec group created a town known as Tenochtitlan. The town later developed into the current Mexico City. The Aztec tribe comprised Native American people, who lived in the northern Mexico during the 16th century. During this period, the Aztec group was a small nomadic group that spoke the Nahuatl language. The Aztec tribe believed that their god sent them on a pilgrimage that took close to a century. They were told that they would locate an island in a lake that had a rock with a grown cactus plant (Barroqueir, 4). On the plant of cactus, they would locate a god that was in the form of a golden eagle gripping a serpent amid his talons. They were promised that that would be their land of settlement where they build their empire.
Initially, the Aztec tribe was a small group but was later joined by other group. Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan groups joined together and filled the valley of Mexico as a big community. The tribe had fearless warriors and strong builders, who built their empire. The Aztec tribe had many achievements after their final settlement. They developed a particular and stratified society. In their society, the tribe created an imperial administration that governed them. They expanded their marketing network and developed a tribute system. The Aztec tribe also developed and implemented an agricultural sector that boosted their economy. They highly maintained their land through effective cultivation methods. Moreover, the tribe also put efforts to develop the intellectual and religion sectors in order to be an essential part of the universe. The tribe developed into a well-established society. The Aztec group held annual rites and ceremonies in the cities of Tenochtitlan and Tetzcoco. They embraced the significance of art and architecture. They highly responded to ancient knowledge of the interdependence of humanity and nature. The new formed alliance of the three groups was still known as Aztecs. It grew larger and became capable of fighting other tribes in the area. They had created a large arm that fought other tribes and grabbed their lands. Aztec tribe had become the most significant group in the valley of Mexico, because of its numerous achievements. As earlier mentioned, they had developed a stable government, successful trading activities, and a strong army (Schwartz, 6).
Generally, the life of the Aztec group was worthwhile compared to other tribes. The Aztec group also had a developed religious system. Principally, the tribe was polytheistic because they worshipped more than a single god. The Aztec tribe believed that they had a god for the rain, maize, sun, and everything. They religiously worshipped their gods especially for the provision and thanksgiving (Schwartz, 9). The Aztec tribe also held human sacrifice. Clearly, they offered human beings to their gods as a form of sacrifice. Sacrifice was a form of thanksgiving and appeasing to their gods. The prophets such as Tizoc alleged that human blood strengthened the foundations of redeveloping the ancient temple. Therefore, people of Aztec tribe collected in the temple of the sun and watched the priests performing the sacrifice. They would place a human heart in a bowl, and the mob would scream in praise of their gods. The Aztec tribe embraced human sacrifice as part of their religion. (Clendinnen, 2). They offered human body parts especially from the prisoners to their gods. Human sacrifices were also performed during various ceremonies in the community. They would sacrifice a number of captives during the ceremonies than other times. It is alleged that the priests performed a sacrifice of an enormous number of captives after the ancient temple was completed and dedicated. The Aztec tribe had some recreational activities that brought them together. In an instance, they played a ball game that required an individual to throw the ball through a stone ring with a body part in order to win. Their highly trained warriors commonly participated in the game. The teams that lost in the game were usually sacrificed to their gods (Schwartz, 5).
Culturally, the Aztec tribe derived their custom of cremating corpses from their ancestors. The archaeology finds it challenging to collect the items that belonged to the Aztec community. The Aztec people were small scale farmers, who grew produce for domestic consumption. They used animal products such as milk to cater for their needs. The Aztec tribe also grew cotton that was used for making clothing. According to their religion, people needed to propitiate the spirits of vegetation, rain, and mother earth in order to receive a harvest. Traditions and beliefs promoted unity among the people of Aztec (Schwartz, 3). The Aztec tribe highly regarded their deities with affection and fear. In their land, the maize plant had many spirits that symbolized the god of the maize. As a form of sacrifice, the primary green ears of the maize plant would be picked by a young girl and taken to the temple, and then she would be beheaded. The great priests in the tribe would perform magic at the end of maize harvesting in order to prevent the future maize plants from natural calamities. The priests of the Aztec community performed many different types of human sacrifices. The Aztec tribe significantly regarded the maize plant. It was perceived as life and the pattern of planting and harvesting was taken as a form of passing time in Mexico
In the Aztec society, the priests were the most significant individuals. Commonly, the task of priesthood belonged to the male gender. The warriors were also highly regarded especially when they portrayed great bravery. The social priests were usually selected from any social class. The young people who trained to become priests were well interrogated by the priests because the task of a priest was challenging. The young candidates were expected to hold a deep interest in learning. The training was equal among the young people who came from both the noble and poor family backgrounds. In the temples, the young boys were exposed to hardships such as lying on the ground in the night and attending night ceremonies. There became accustomed prolonged periods of chanting poetic theology and history. They were also introduced to the knowledge of medicine and the stars. According to the Aztec community, a junior priest was expected to consume limited food and should not cut or clean his hair and nails. His responsibility was interpreting magical symbols. Later on, the junior priest would be promoted to a sacrificing priest who would sacrifice human beings. In this tribe, the life of a priest was strange and involved intense learning and meditation. It was a form of personal sacrifice. The priests are headed by the high priests of the winds and rains. They are obligated to the worship of gods that maintain life and land fertility. (Clendinnen, 6).
In the Aztec religious society, the religious women are obligated to creating vestments of weaving and feather work that are presented to the servants of the deities. The women are also expected to clean the temples and cleanse people from ailments. Religious women in the Aztec society had a wide range of knowledge concerning herbal medicines. They believed that their knowledge was also facilitated by spiritual purification, which was performed through steam bathing. The priestesses in Aztec community were also usually promoted to human sacrificers. They would take the human hearts in order to present them to their gods. There were other religious groups in the society that were also used by the gods. The prophets were believed to be seized by the gods and used to utter prophecies. The tribe of Aztec believed that the prophets could see visions, hear the voices of the spirits of dead people and the gods. Evidently, the prophets portrayed a strange mental condition that was perceived as a divine inspiration. The Aztec community encountered war with the Spaniards, and they acted bravely in the leadership of their war leaders. The last war leader of the Aztec community surrendered because the buildings in the city of Cactus rock were brought down. In his struggle to freedom, he was killed but became a national hero in Mexico. The Nahuatl language is used as a language of poetry in modern Mexico (Barroqueir, 4).
