The Aztec EmpireA GUIDE TO THE EXHIBITION FOR TEACHERS

The Aztec Empire is organized by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in collaboration with the ConsejoNacional para la Cultura y las Artes (CONACULTA) and the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia(INAH) of Mexico.

Major sponsors of this exhibition are

Additional support provided by

This exhibition has also been made possible in part by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities, togetherwith the generous support of the Leadership Committee for The Aztec Empire, GRUMA, ALFA, and Con Edison.

Transportation assistance provided by

Media support provided by Thirteen/WNET

Special thanks to the Embassy of Mexico in the U.S., the Embassy of the United States in Mexico, and the Consulate General ofMexico in New York.

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TIMELINE

USING THIS GUIDE

INTRODUCTION

MEXICO-TENOCHTITLAN, AXIS MUNDI OF THE UNIVERSE

TEMPLO MAYOR

LEGENDARY CULTURES – AZTEC ANCESTORS

MEXICAN BESTIARY

PEOPLES AND SOCIETIES OF THE AZTEC WORLD

NOBLE LIFE AND EVERYDAY LIFE

GODS AND RITUALS

MANUSCRIPTS AND CALENDARS

CULTURES SUBJUGATED BY THE AZTECS

THE TARASCAN EMPIRE

THE TWILIGHT OF THE EMPIRE

VOCABULARY

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND SUGGESTED RESOURCES

CREDITS AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

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AZTEC EMPIRE

TENOCHTITLAN(MEXICO CITY)

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GULF OF MEXICO

VERACRUZ

This guide, which accompanies the Solomon R. Guggenheim exhibitionThe Aztec Empire, is designed to provide ideas, activities, and resourcesthat explore issues raised by this exhibition. The exhibition and guidefocus on the varied historical and cultural influences that havecontributed to Aztec art and its development as culturally rich, visuallyengaging, and emotionally compelling.

For Aztecs, art was a material manifestation of their vision of the universe;its symbols were the reflection of their religious, economic, political andsocial concepts. The objects that they created were designed to be usedand integrated into daily life. Although visitors can appreciate theseworks for their beauty, expressive qualities, and workmanship, they arefragments dislocated from their past.

The Aztec Empire at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, on viewOctober 15, 2004 – February 13, 2005, represents the largest survey ofAztec art ever to have been staged outside Mexico. It brings togethermore than 430 works drawn from public and private collections, includingarchaeological finds of the last decade never before seen outsideMexico. Organized thematically, the exhibition explores all aspects ofAztec religious, social, and economic life through the sheer diversity andrange of artifacts on display: from monumental stone sculpture tominiature gold objects, and from intricate turquoise mosaics to rarepictorial manuscripts (or codices).

This guide is not intended as a comprehensive overview of Aztec art orhistory; rather it focuses on an important work selected from each of themajor themes in the exhibition, and provides suggestions for discussionquestions and classroom activities (Further Explorations) intended toencourage students to speculate and develop hypotheses both aboutAztec society and the objects they left behind. It is hoped that studentswill be able to relate much of the material to their own lives – citing both

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similarities and differences. The back of the guide includes vocabularyand phonetic spellings for selected Aztec words, as well as a list ofadditional resources. The guide is available in printed form and onthe museum’s Website at www.guggenheim.org.

The design and content of these materials have a three-fold purpose:• To assist educators in developing classroom units focusing onThe Aztec Empire, and aspects of Precolumbian North America

• To provide educators with the tools to conduct a self-guidedmuseum visit

• To expand upon, themes and ideas imbedded in the exhibition

By examining these representative works, a cultural context emergesto highlight the modes of expression that are the hallmarks of Aztecculture. Although the guide is designed to support the exhibition andwill be most useful in conjunction with a trip to the museum, it is alsointended to serve as a resource long after the exhibition has closed.Before bringing a class to the museum, teachers are invited to visit theexhibition, read the guide, and decide which aspects are most relevantfor their students.

The exhibition has been organized by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in collaboration with the ConsejoNacional para la Cultura y las Artes (CONACULTA) and the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH).Guest curator is Felipe Solís, Director of the Museo Nacional de Antropología in Mexico City, co-curator of thelarge-scale survey Aztecs at the Royal Academy in London in 2003, and one of the world's foremost authoritieson Aztec art and culture. Exhibition design is by Enrique Norten of TEN Arquitectos + J. Meejin Yoon.

1Introduction

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The Aztecs were a mightycivilization that flourished inCentral America between 1325and 1521, when they were forcedto surrender to an invadingSpanish army led by HernánCortés. From their magnificentcapital, Tenochtitlan, theygoverned a vast empire thatstretched from present-dayMexico to Guatemala, and from theAtlantic to the Pacific oceans (seemap). They are often rememberedas a fierce and bloodthirsty race,aggressive in battle and engagingin human sacrifice to appeasetheir various gods. However, asthis exhibition shows, the Aztecswere also extremely civilized andsophisticated. They producedhighly skilled and sensitive art,conceived perhaps the mostadvanced calendar of their time,and built extraordinary templesin clean and well-organized cities.

The Aztecs or Mexica (as theycalled themselves and are referredto by historians), migrated throughMexico in search of land to settle.According to the myth, the Aztecs’tribal leader, Huitzilopochtli

foretold that his people shouldsettle where they saw an eagleon a cactus with a snake in itsbeak. After a long journey, theAztecs arrived at a lake, calledLake Tetzcoco, in Mexico’s centralhighland basin. In the middle ofthe lake was an island, and on thisisland they saw the strange sightthat Huitzilopochtli had predicted.

Having arrived at their promisedland, the Aztecs claimed the islandand its surrounding fertile land,and, in 1325, founded a city theynamed Tenochtitlan, “the placeof the stone cactus.” They builta temple in the center of the city(later called the Templo Mayor,or Great Temple, by the Spanish),which they dedicated toHuitzilopochtli, their patron god.In time, Tenochtitlan would growto become a beautiful andprosperous city of about 250,000inhabitants, the heart of a vastAztec empire. When the Spanisharrived to conquer the Aztecs in1519, they were awestruck bythe great pyramids towering overthe sacred center, the dazzlingpalaces and colorful markets

With such wonderful sights to gaze on we did not know what to say, or ifthis was real that we saw before our eyes.

Bernal Diaz, a 26-year-old conquistador (Spanish conqueror),who fought in Cortés’s army. The Conquest of New Spain, 1580s.

selling a bewildering varietyof food and luxuries.

Fearless warriors and pragmaticbuilders, the Aztecs created anempire during the 15th centurythat was surpassed in size in theAmericas only by that of the Incasin Peru. As early texts and modernarchaeology continue to reveal,beyond their conquests, therewere many positive achievements:• the formation of a highly

specialized and stratified societyand an imperial administration

• the expansion of a tradingnetwork as well as a tributesystem

• the development andmaintenance of a sophisticatedagricultural economy, carefullyadjusted to the ecology

• and the creation of anintellectual and religious outlookthat held society to be anintegral part of the cosmos.

The yearly round of rites andceremonies in the cities ofTenochtitlan and neighboringTetzcoco, and their symbolic artand architecture, gave expression

to an awareness of theinterdependence of natureand humanity.

When the Spanish defeatedthe Aztecs they destroyed muchof Tenochtitlan and rebuilt it asMexico City, the capital of modern-day Mexico. The legacy of theAztecs remains, however, in theform of archaeological ruins suchas the Templo Mayor, the heartof Aztec religious activity andthe symbolic center of the empire.

Today’s Mexicans are very proudof their Aztec past and continueto remember the traditions andpractice the art forms of theirancestors. More than two millionpeople still speak the indigenouslanguage of the Aztecs, Nahuatl.However, perhaps the mostpoignant reminder of the Aztecsis the Mexican national flag, whichfeatures the legendary eagle,cactus, and snake emblem of thelong-buried heart of the mightyAztec empire, Tenochtitlan.

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121Fragment of ananthropomorphic brazierAztec,ca. 1300Fired clay and pigment,18 x 22 x 9 cm MuseoUniversitario de Ciencias yArte, UNAM, Mexico City08-741814Photo: Michel Zabé, assistantEnrique Macías

2The great temple known asthe Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlansymbolizes the axis mundi, theAztec center of the world, wherethe sky, the earth, and theunderworld met. According toAztec worldview, the universeconsisted of three layers. Themiddle layer was the earthly one,inhabited by humans. Above thatworld, the Aztecs imaged thirteenlevels or heavens, Omeyocan,the “place of duality,” being theuppermost. Below the earthlylayer, there were the nine levelsof the underworld. The lowestof these was the realm ofMictlantecuhtli, the Lord ofthe Land of the Dead.

Each of the four cardinal directionsradiated out from the TemploMayor and was associated witha deity, a bird, a color, and a glyph.The dual temple rose above allother buildings in the SacredPrecinct. The southern half wasdedicated to Huitzilopochtli, solarand war god, while the northernhalf was dedicated to Tlaloc, thegod of rain, water, and the earth’sfertility. Together Tlaloc and

Huitzilopochtli, encompass thenatural and social universe ofthe Aztec empire. While Tlalocwas a god of earth and rain,Huitzilopochtli stood for the sunand the sky. Tlaloc marked thetime of rains; Huitzilopochtliscorched the earth, with sunand war, in the dry months. Tlalocand Huitzilopochtli togetherrepresent the cycle of life andfertility, and mark the geographic,ritual, and symbolic heart of theuniverse, uniting old and new,center and periphery, in the sacredartificial mountain looming overthe Aztec capital.

Mexico-Tenochtitlan, AxisMundi

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FRAGMENT OF ANANTHROPOMORPHIC BRAZIERThe Aztec were known not onlyfor their sculpture, but also fortheir expressive and sensitivepoetry. The sculpture and poembelow provide a glimpse intoways that the cycles of life wereportrayed. Look carefully at thesculpture. The three facesrepresent the cycle of life. In themiddle we can see the face of ayoung man, with all his teeth andwearing an ornament betweenthe nose and upper lip. On eitherside are two halves of the faceof an old, toothless man; thesetwo faces are framed by thesymmetrically divided face ofa corpse with its eyes closed.The thirteen decorative rings (fouron the young man’s head, nine onthe corpse’s) represent the partsof a calendar cycle.

Nezahualcoyotl, the poet-king ofTexcoco writes:

I, Nezahualcoyotl, ask this:Is it true one really lives onthe earth?Not forever on earth, only a littlewhile here.Though it be jade it falls apart,though it be gold it wears away,Not forever on earth, only a littlewhile here.

Michael D. Coe, Mexico: Fromthe Olmecs to the Aztecs,

(New York: Thames and Hudson,2002), fifth edition, p. 223.

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Discussion Questions• After reading the poem, describe

its meaning in your own words.

• What similarities can you findin the poem and the sculpture.What differences?

Further Explorations• The artist who made the Mask

with Three Faces chose torepresent the life cycle in threestages. How would you chooseto portray the cycle of life?What phases of life would youinclude? Why?

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154Eagle warriorAztec,ca. 1440–69Fired clay, stucco, and paint,170 x 118 x 55 cmMuseo del Templo Mayor,INAH, Mexico City 10-220366Photo: Michel Zabé, assistantEnrique Macías

3This part of the exhibition isdevoted to the wealth ofextraordinary artifacts excavatedfrom the most significant religiousbuilding in Tenochtitlan, the greatTemplo Mayor. When the Aztecsfounded their capital, they builta temple. Between 1325 and 1521,each Aztec ruler added a newoutermost layer to the temple outof respect to the gods and toensure that his reign would beimmortalized within the great stonestructure. This imposing structurelay at the ritual heart of the city.It was here that public rituals,including human sacrifice, tookplace. Like most buildings of thetime, the Templo Mayor wascovered in stucco, a type ofplaster, and painted. Largesculptures further decoratedthe building.

Recognizing its importance to theAztec people, after the conquestthe Spanish quickly dismantled theTemplo Mayor, and reused some ofthe stone in their construction ofa cathedral, which still occupiesone side of Mexico City’s mainsquare (or zócalo) today. They also

recorded their awe uponseeing this amazing building.

In 1978 workers carrying outroutine maintenance workon electric-lighting equipmentuncovered a large circularsculpture that was identified byarchaeologists as a representationof the dismembered body ofCoyolxauhqui, goddess of themoon. This find led to the eventualunearthing of the Templo Mayor’slong-buried foundations. Duringthe excavation, it was discoveredthat the preceding versions of thepyramid complex had beenpreserved intact with eachsubsequent ruler’s rebuilding,and so archaeologists were ableto identify seven different layers,peeling each away like an onionskin. Over 100 sacrificial depositsor offerings containing more than6,000 objects have beendiscovered built into the structure.

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Templo Mayor and itsSymbolism

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The excavations of the TemploMayor also yielded objects fromolder Mesoamerican cultures thatthe Aztecs had held in high regard.The exhaustive range of offeringssuggests that the Aztecs createdthe Templo Mayor as a model ofeverything that could be found inthe universe, both past andpresent. The organization of thefour-sided temple structure is alsothought to reflect the Aztecworldview, in which the earth isunderstood to be a disk,surrounded by water and dividedinto four quarters.

EAGLE WARRIORThe most prestigious militarysocieties or orders were thoseof the eagle and the jaguar.These warriors wore either eagleor jaguar costumes. This life-sizesculpture represents an eaglewarrior. It is one of a pair that wasfound flanking a doorway to thechamber where the eagle warriorsmet, next to the Temple Mayor.The eagle was the symbol of thesun, to whom all sacrifices wereoffered. This is one of the finestexamples of large, hollow ceramicsculptures ever found in the Valleyof Mexico.

Discussion Questions• The eagle is one of the greatest

predators in the skies. To theAztec it represented the strengthand bravery essential to awarrior. What characteristicsdo you associate with eagles?

• How do you imagine the jaguarwarrior costumes looked? Whatcharacteristics would a jaguarwarrior possess?

Further Explorations• Choose another animal and

design a costume that utilizesits characteristics. What traitswould this costume lend toits wearer?

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86MaskTeotihuacan,ca. 450,Stone, turquoise, obsidian,and shell,21.5 x 20 cmMuseo Nacional deAntropología, INAH,Mexico City.Photo: Michel Zabé

4The Aztecs were not the firstpeople to settle in Mexico.For 2,500 years before their arrival,the area had been home to manycivilizations, including the Olmecs,Toltecs, and the people ofTeotihuacan. The Aztecs werethe last of these great cultures tosettle there, and, as a result, wereheavily influenced by the alreadyestablished groups. In order tointegrate themselves into the area,they adopted the native language,Nahuatl, and copied artistic stylesand techniques from otherMesoamerican cultures.(Mesoamerica is the term used todescribe the central region of theAmericas inhabited by nativecivilizations before the arrival ofthe Spanish.) The warlike Aztecsalso formed alliances with nearbycommunities to consolidate theirmilitary strength and expandtheir empire.

Perhaps the two greatestinfluences on Aztec art and culturecame from the ancient cities ofTeotihuacan and Tula. Before itsdecline in A.D. 700, Teotihuacanhad been a wondrous city of about

200,000 people, with extensivetemple complexes and specializedcraft districts. Historically, it wasa site of vital importance to theAztecs, who revered it as theCity of the Gods (“Teotihuacan”).They also incorporated a numberof Teotihuacano gods into theirpantheon (family of gods),including Tlaloc, the rain god, andChalchiuhtlicue (“she of the jadeskirt”), the goddess of lakes andstreams. A principal deity, theruler-priest known as Quetzalcoatl(“feathered serpent”), wasadopted from the Toltecs.

Tula (“place of reeds”) andhome to the Toltecs, thrived a fewhundred years after Teotihuacan,and left a similarly influentiallegacy to later Mesoamericancultures. The Aztecs believedthe Toltecs were the foundersof civilization and credited themwith the invention of painting andsculpture. Aztec craftsmen helda privileged position in society,working for the nobility. Althoughthey were extremely important,artists never signed their work,which was considered collective.

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Legendary Cultures –Aztec Ancestors

The Aztecs took their inspirationfrom Teotihuacan, Tula, Mixtec,Olmec, and other ancientMesoamerican cultures, adoptingeverything from stone-cuttingtechniques to calendar systems.The discovery of objects fromother Mesoamerican culturesduring the excavation of theTemplo Mayor suggests that, Aztecrulers brought artists from otherareas, including goldsmiths fromthe Mixteca (near present-dayOaxaca), to work in Tenochtitlan.Over time they would developtheir own original style andiconography, which sprang froma uniquely Aztec perspective onwarfare, religion and cosmology.

MASKThis burial mask is fromTeotihuacan, a distinctivecivilization that reached its peakaround the sixth century, fivehundred years before the Aztecsmigrated from northwesternMexico. The skilled craftsmanshipand the exquisite mosaicpatterning would have beengreatly admired by the Aztecs,as it is by people today. This maskis acknowledged as one of thegreat treasures of Pre-Hispanicart in Mesoamerica. Masks werecommonly placed over mummybundles to protect the deceasedfrom the dangers of the afterlife.Made of stone, its surface iscovered in bits of turquoise,obsidian, and shell.

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Discussion Questions• Experts have determined

that this mask was probablynot meant to be worn by aliving person, but was attachedto a funerary bundle. Whatattributes of this mask lead tothat conclusion?

• In Aztec society craftsmenpassed their skills on totheir sons, who took up theirtrade upon reaching manhood.What tools and skills andmaterials would have beenrequired to make this mask?In contemporary society whatskills are passed from parentto child?

• For hundreds of years, masksmade from many differentmaterials, have been fashionedby people in the Americas.Precolumbian people were knownto use clay, gold, stone, obsidian,wood, bone, shell, turquoise, jade,hair, cloth, emerald, alabaster,coral, greenstone, diorite, onyx,and leather for masks.Where would they have foundeach of these materials?

• The technique of mosaic hasbeen used for decoration inmany cultures and continuesto be popular today. Where haveyou seen the mosaic technique?

Further Explorations• Mosaics can be executed

in a wide range of materialsfrom paper to marble. Somereadily available and inexpensivechoices include seeds, pebbles,small shells, buttons and beads.There are many excellent booksthat provide step-by-stepinstructions on the design andexecution of this decorativeart form.

80FleaAztec,ca. 1500Stone, 22 x 21.5 x 36.5 cmMuseo Nacional deAntropología, INAHMexico City,10-594039

5The great variety of sculptedanimal forms, from minuscule fleasto large coiled serpents, highlightthe importance of the naturalworld in both daily life and, moreprofoundly, in Aztec religious andcosmological beliefs. The Aztecscreated carefully observedsculptures of domesticatedanimals such as turkeys and dogs,as well as wild coyotes, snakes,and jaguars. The intensity of theirobservations and their ability tocreate naturalistic forms areexemplified by the stone sculptureof an insect thought to be a flea.The Aztec artist has magnifiedthis tiny creature many hundredsof times, so that features barelyvisible to the naked eye arefully discernible.

The Aztecs explained thedistinguishing features and rolesof different animals throughelaborate and often entertainingmyths. One such story tells how,when the moon was born, it wasso bright that one of the godsthrew a rabbit at its face to dull itsglow. This is why, for the Aztecs,a full moon appears to contain thesilhouette of a rabbit.

There are many examples inAztec art in which gods suchas Quetzalcoatl, the “featheredserpent,” take a hybrid form, in hiscase a snake-bird, combining thefeatures or qualities of two animalsto emphasize aspects of the deity’smythical or supernatural powers.

AGRICULTUREIn addition to the animals that theycoexisted with, the Aztecs werealso reliant on the plant world toprovide food for sustenance andfibers from which to weave cloth,baskets, and mats. As Aztecsociety was largely agricultural, itwas reliant on the weather, whichwas sometimes unpredictable orharsh. When the Aztecs firstsettled around Lake Tetzcoco,farmland was relatively scarceand so they created floating fieldscalled chinampas, which werearranged in a grid pattern withcanals between each block.Here they cultivated pumpkins,avocados, and tomatoes (from theNahuatl aguacatl, tomatl), sweetpotatoes, chillies, and beans, aswell as corn, which they used to

Mexican Bestiary

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make pancakes known as tortillas.The market – a bustling, vibrant,and noisy place central to Aztecdaily life – was where farmers,traders, and craftsmen came toexchange their produce. OneSpanish conquistador latercommented: “We were astoundedat the number of people andthe quantity of merchandise itcontained” (Bernal Díaz, TheConquest of New Spain, 1580s).Valuable items such as gold dust,quetzal feathers, and cacao beanswere used to barter for goods ofequal value: turkeys, quail, rabbits,and deer; ducks and other waterbirds; maguey (cactus) syrup, andhoney. Cacao beans were alsoused by the Aztecs to make aspecial chocolate drink, whichonly nobles could afford. Untilthe arrival of the Spanish in 1519,chocolate was unknown beyondthe Americas.

Discussion Questions• As a class, generate a list of

things you know about fleas.Look carefully at the sculpture.What other information aboutfleas can you learn from carefulobservation?

• Why might someone focus onsomething as tiny as a flea andcreate a sculpture of it magnifiedhundreds of times? Why mightthis theme have been importantto Aztec artists? What animalsare important in contemporarysociety? What artifacts mightlater explorers find from the 21stcentury that include referencesto animals?

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Further Explorations• This sculpted flea, on a

monumental scale, reflects theskill of Aztec stone carvers andtheir ability to capture minutedetails of insect anatomy usingonly stone tools. Both artistsand scientists learn about thenatural world through closeobservation. Select a small,complex natural object. A deadinsect is best for this exercise,but a small flower or seed canalso serve as a model. Closelyobserve your subject, using amagnifying glass if you haveone. Then make a detaileddrawing on a piece of paper thatis at least 9 x 12 inches (larger isbetter). Your drawing should fillthe entire page. Once you aredone, make a list of the thingsyou learned about your subjectby drawing it.

• Students can experience theprocess of carving by usinga soft material like a bar of soapor a potato. A butter knife, plasticor wooden clay tools, andtoothpicks can be used asimplements. Choose simple formssuch as vegetables and fruits tomodel. The Aztecs createdexcellent examples in the formof pumpkins, squashes, and cacticarved from stone. This projectis best done outdoors underadult supervision.

• Aztec gods such asQuetzalcoatl, the “featheredserpent,” frequently take ahybrid form, in his case a snake-bird, combining the features orqualities of two animals toemphasize aspects of the deity’smythical or supernaturalpowers. What two animalswould you combine to createa supernatural being? Sketchyour creation and write adescription of the qualities thatthis new creature would possess.

6By examining Aztec sculpturesdepicting the human form, wesee a vivid and immediatelyrecognizable portrait of daily lifein a thriving metropolis. In stoneand clay sculptors have depictedan urbane people in an ascendantsociety in a variety of poses:standing, seated, kneeling,crouching, or wearing anelaborate headdress. Some arestylized such as fertility figures orfigures of warriors; other like thestone sculpture of a hunchback(ca. 1500) are more naturalistic,savoring the particular.

Aztec artists rarely, if ever,created realistic portraits ofindividuals, instead they reliedon a standard repertoire of figuretypes and poses: seated malefigure, kneeling woman, standingnude. Since the primary functionof Aztec art was to conveymeaning, the imagery wasconventionalized. Standardizedtypes of human figuresrepresented rulers, warriors,priests, and a kind of everyman forcommoner figures. Deities wereidentified by their dress and other

accoutrements. Because Aztecsculpture was standardized, it issometimes interpreted as beingrigid, expressionless, stylized,conforming to a set artisticformula and established “rules”of representation.

At the same time, the Aztecs hadan extensive and highly scientificunderstanding of the human body,and some Aztec sculptures arevery naturalistic, displayingwrinkled foreheads, hunchedbacks, and gap-toothed grimacesas evidence that Aztec artistscarefully observed their subjects.

Aztec artists did represent thehuman form in a wide variety ofmedia and in a surprising rangeof styles. Among the most commonrepresentations in this exhibitionare three-dimensional sculpturesof the human form in stone andclay. These sculptures in the roundrepresent commoners, warriors,gods, and goddesses.

Peoples and Societies of theAztec World

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13HunchbackAztec,ca. 1500Stone, 33 x 17 x 12 cmMuseo Nacional deAntropología, INAH,Mexico City 10-97Photo: Michel Zabé, assistantEnrique Macías

For the Aztecs, the human bodyand spirit were intimately linkedto the natural and supernaturalworld around them, so the stateof their own being could havea direct impact on theirsurroundings. The aim, in allaspects of Aztec life, was tomaintain natural harmony.A balanced body and life ultimatelyled to a balanced society anduniverse. Therefore moderationwas advised in everything andexcesses avoided for fear ofupsetting the cosmic equilibrium.

HUNCHBACKThis old stone hunchback with hisbony rib cage and short limbs is aparticularly good example of thehonest and often humorous realismfor which Aztec artists are todayadmired. He wears a loincloth andsports the hairstyle characteristicof warriors, with a lock of hair tiedwith cotton tassels on the rightside of his head.

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Discussion Questions• What is meant by the wordsstylized and naturalistic? Arethere aspects of this work thatseem stylized? What are they?Which aspects seem morenaturalistic? Explain.

• Compare this human figure withsculptural images of Aztec godsincluded in this guide. How dothey differ? What are somereasons that they might be sodifferent in appearance?

Further Explorations• Look through a magazine or

newspaper and find examplesof both naturalistic and stylizedimages. Discuss what attributesyou considered in putting themin each category.

• Choose a single subject. It canbe a person, but it can also beany other natural form, a flower,fruit, leaf, or animal. Create twoworks based on this subject,one stylized and the othernaturalistic. The work can bethree-dimensional or it can bea drawing. Which approach didyou prefer? Why?

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401Pendent in the shape ofa warriorAztec,after 1325Cast gold-silver-copper alloy,11.2 x 6.1 cmThe Cleveland Museum of Art,Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund1984.37Photo © The ClevelandMuseum of Art

7Like many civilizations, Aztecsociety was hierarchical anda person’s social position, andtherefore one’s way of life, waslargely determined by birthright.Commoners worked as farmers,fishermen, or craftsmen. Noblemenserved as government officials,scribes, and teachers. Althoughthe class structure was reasonablyrigid, some social mobility waspossible through entry into thepriesthood, achievement inwarfare, or success in trade. TheAztec ruler, however, had to havebeen born into the right family.As the only figure allowed to wearthe precious color turquoise, helived in a sumptuous palace withspectacular gardens, a banquetinghall, a large zoo, and gold cutlery.Attended by an abundance ofbodyguards and beautiful women(who had to approach him withdowncast eyes and bare feet), theruler possessed an almost godlikestatus. The ruler at the time of theSpanish invasion was the ninthAztec emperor, Motecuhzoma II,who could trace his ancestry backto the first ruler, Acamapichtli.To maintain his luxurious lifestyle,

the great Motecuhzoma demandedone-third of everything his peopleproduced in taxes. He alsodemanded regular payments,known as tribute, from the subjectsof conquered provinces.

At the opposite end of the socialhierarchy were peasant farmers,landless commoners, and slaves.They had few rights or luxuriesand spent their lives growing cropsfor food and tribute. A privilegedupper class was formed by noblesand priests, both of whom playedan important role in governmentand lawmaking. The higher classeswere distinguished by their finedecorated textiles and sandals,which were important symbolsof rank. They lived in palatialcomplexes and enjoyed objects ofthe finest quality. Only nobles wereallowed to wear clothes made ofcotton, and they frequently adornedthemselves with intricateornaments – pendants, lip plugs,and earspools. Commoners woreclothes woven from the muchcoarser fiber of the maguey plant.Below the nobles were themerchants and skilled craftsmen.

Noble Life and EverydayLife

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It was to this middle class thatprofessional warriors belonged.Young boys would be educated athome by their parents until the ageof 15, at which point they wouldeither be trained in warfare or sentfor priestly instruction in writing,philosophy, and astronomy. (Girlswere educated at home until 15 aswell, but then married.) Althoughalready respected members ofsociety, warriors could improvetheir rank by capturing an ever-greater number of victims, andwere rewarded with increasinglyimpressive costumes and precioustribute items.

Although we tend to think of goldas the most precious of materials,as did the Spanish conquistadors,the Aztecs did not. They workedthe gold into exquisite pieces ofjewelry, but referred to it as theexcrement of the gods. Perhapssurprisingly to us, the mostvenerated material was feathers.Brightly colored plumes weregathered, often from farmed birds,and sent to Tenochtitlan as taxpayment or tribute. They werefashioned into objects of great

beauty, such as fans, shields, andheaddresses. Featherworks wereinsignia of wealth and power, andan important element of the ritualoutfit of warriors. Mosaics madeof shell, turquoise, and otherstones were also highly prized.

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Discussion Questions• This figure represents a warrior

who holds a serpent-headedspear-thrower in one hand anda shield, darts, and banner inthe other. Experts believe thathe represents someone of elitestatus. How can you tell that thiswarrior is part of a respectedgroup within his society?

• Stone figures, clay pots, andjade ornaments are some ofthe objects that preserve ourknowledge of Aztec civilization.What objects or images wouldyou select to represent lifetoday? Why do these objectsserve as a valid representationof contemporary society?

• Although only nobles hadobjects made from preciousmetals and stones, all Aztechomes had small shrines to thegods that might help to protectthe family. Do you have religiousobjects in your home? Describewhat they are, where they areplaced, and how they are used.

Further Explorations• Within Aztec society a person’s

status and social class wereclearly delineated. Look throughmagazines and newspapers forindications of how people fromvarious levels of contemporarysociety are depicted. Cut outyour examples and have a classdiscussion about currentindicators of status. What arecontemporary “status symbols”?

• Read over the section aboveand write a parallel essayabout social class and statusin contemporary society.

311Dead warrior brazierAztec, ca. 1500Fired clay and paint,91 x 76 x 57.5 cmMuseo Nacional delVirreinato, INAH,Tepotzotlán 10-133646Photo: Michel Zabé, assistantEnrique Macías

8The Aztecs had hundreds ofdifferent gods and goddesses –one for every aspect of their lives.The various deities were believedto exert immense power andinfluence over everything peopledid and, as a result, wereworshipped devoutly by all levelsof society, both at domestic shrinesand also in elaborate public rituals.These ceremonies, led by priestswho often “became” gods duringthe ceremony, were highlytheatrical and dramatic affairs,integrating festive dancing infantastic costumes with bloodyhuman sacrifice, which wasthought to be necessary tocontinue and keep in balancethe cycle of life and death.

Underlying Aztec religious beliefswas the Legend of the Suns, theexplanation of the origin of theuniverse. According to legend, theuniverse had been created anddestroyed four previous times, andeach creation formed an age calleda “sun.” The fifth epoch began indarkness. The gods gathered atTeotihuacan, and two of themsacrificed themselves by jumping

into a fire and rising as the sun andthe moon. The remaining gods thensacrificed themselves, their bloodsetting the sun and moon in motion.From then on, the daily movementof the sun, and therefore thecontinuation of life itself, dependedon the nourishment of the godswith human blood.

Although Aztec deities can bebroadly divided into male andfemale, those of life and death, andthose of creation and destruction,they were far more complex thanbeing either purely good or evil.Many were dual in nature,incorporating a particular quality,gender or role, with its opposite.This duality (double nature)reflected one of the dominantprinciples of Aztec religion andthought: that the cosmos wasorganized into binary opposites,such as night and day, fire andwater, cold and heat.

In many ways, Aztec gods andgoddesses were just like ordinarymen and women. They each hadtheir own personality and well-defined role. Humans impersonated

Gods and Rituals

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the gods at religious ceremonies,becoming them for that time.Because the gods could transformthemselves into earthly forms,almost everything was considereddivine, from the lowliest insect tothe largest mountain. Among theAztec gods and goddesses wasa supreme deity called Ometeotl(“two god”), who, as both femaleand male, was the embodiment ofthe Aztec idea of duality and wasresponsible for creating bothhumans and gods.

The Aztecs had no concept ofheaven and hell as places ofreward and punishment. Instead,they envisioned the cosmos asdivided into layers, both above andbelow the earth, each of whichreceived people who had died aparticular death. If you had diedby drowning or been struck bylightning, for example, you endedup on the celestial (heavenly)plane governed by Tlaloc, the raingod. The nine levels beneath theearth, collectively known asMictlan (the underworld), wereless welcoming and were wherethe majority of Aztecs went when

they died. Although it wasn’t quiteas grim as the Christian conceptof hell, the people banished herehad to brave such hazards asclashing mountains and flyingknives made from obsidian, a blackvolcanic glass that is so hard andsharp that the Aztecs used it tomake swords.

In Aztec art, deities can beidentified through a standard setof accoutrements, including dress,headwear, face markings, jewelry,or ornamentation, and otheraccessories such as weapons.Tezcatlipoca, for example, anancient Mexican sorcerer andthe god of night and destiny, isgenerally depicted with a blackband across his nose and faceand a withered foot that ends ina mirror made of obsidian.Tezcatlipoca’s name actuallymeans “smoking mirror” andit was said that, with thisinstrument, he could see andcontrol what was happeningthroughout the universe.

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DEIFIED WARRIOR BRAZIERThis ceremonial brazier, orfire pot, was discovered duringthe construction of the Metroin Mexico City, near where theTemplo Mayor had previouslystood. It depicts the fiercelyexpressive form of a warriorcrossing the threshold of death,either killed in battle or sacrificedto the gods. Such a death washonorable and the souls of deadwarriors went to their owncelestial plane, where they werethought to accompany the sun onits daily path across the sky. Thefigure wears an enormous eaglehelmet with an open beak,identified with eagle warriors, oneof the most distinguished militaryorders that could be awarded to abrave Aztec fighter. The black, red,and yellow decoration and facialpaint identify him as a patron ofyouthful energy and militaryvictory, while the “halo of ninefeathers” around the upper part ofhis face evokes the planes of theunderworld. Like many other Aztecsculptures (and many buildings),this brazier would have been litduring religious ceremonies.

Discussion Questions• Which characteristics of this

sculpture seem warrior-like?How would you depict a bravewarrior who had been killed ina battle?

• Compare this figure with theother eagle warrior picturedin this guide. In what ways dopeople today honor the memoryof those who have been killedin war?

Further Explorations• The exhibition contains many

examples of vessels decoratedwith images of gods and people.With self-hardening clay createa vessel adorned with apersonage. When dry, paint canbe applied. Remember that self-hardening clay can never beused as a container for food.

335Xiuhmolpilli (1 Death)Aztec,ca. 1500Stone,l. 61 cm, diam. 26 cm,Museo Nacional deAntropología, INAH,Mexico City 10-220917Photo: Michel Zabé, assistantEnrique Macías

9Aztecs were greatly concernedwith the passage of time anddevised sophisticated calendarsand elaborate counting systemsthat regulated their religious,economic, political, and sociallives. Two interrelated calendarswere used to measure time.The 365-day solar or yearlycalendar was closely linked tothe seasons and to agriculturalactivities such as harvesting.It was made up of 18 “months” of20 days (360). The remaining fivedays were tacked onto the end ofeach year and considered veryunlucky. Each ‘month’ wasdedicated to a particular deityand was distinguished by adifferent feast. Although it alsoregulated human activities, the260-day ritual calendar was morereligious in nature, particularlyconcerned with fate and destiny.This calendar consisted of twowheels, or rounds. One round had13 numbered positions. The otherhad 20 positions, each with anamed sign, such as rabbit, house,or crocodile. The interlockingof these two rounds produceda number-name for each day,

such as “1 Rabbi,” “2 Water,” or“3 Jaguar,” each of which wasassociated with a different fate.Aztec people were named after theday of the ritual calendar on whichthey were born. It was thought thatthe fate of this day would affecttheir personal destiny.

When the various numbersand signs of these two differentcalendars were integrated,they produced a combinationthat would occur once every52 years and might be consideredequivalent to our century. This wasa time of terrifying uncertainty forthe Aztecs. It was marked witha New Fire Ceremony. All fireswere extinguished and householdpots smashed, ready for renewal.Priests waited on the outskirtsof Tenochtitlan. At midnight theylit a new fire in the chest cavityof a captive warrior, and its flamewas distributed to temples andeventually to households. Thisceremony epitomized the conceptthat out of human sacrifice camelife, a sacred aspect of the dualityof death and rebirth.

Manuscripts andCalendars

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XIUHMOLPILLIThe xiuhmolpilli, meaning “yearbundle,” is a stone monumentcreated to commemorate a NewFire Ceremony. As its namesuggests, it represents a bundleof 52 reeds, tied with rope andcovered with a symbol of the finalyear. During the ceremony, 52 ofthese bundles were burned.

The Aztecs believed that the worldhad already been created anddestroyed four times before, andthat their Fifth World was alsodoomed. It was thought that thisritual of renewal would prevent thedestruction of the world a fifthtime. The last New Fire Ceremonybefore the arrival of the Spanishtook place in 1507.

Discussion Questions• When the millennium year 2000

was approaching, there werespeculations about possiblecatastrophes, as well as majorcelebrations. Research bothaspects of the commemorationof the recent millennium. Howdid contemporary observancesparallel or differ from Aztectraditions?

• In many ways the descriptionof Aztec beliefs about the fateof people being determinedby the calendar seems similarto astrology. Do you believethat the month, day, and timewhen a person is born affectstheir fate? Do you think thereare lucky and unlucky days?Explain your answer.

• This stone monumentcommemorated a specialceremonial event in the lives ofthe Aztecs. What special eventshave occurred during yourlifetime? How have they beencommemorated?

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Further Explorations• The end of each 52-year Aztec

“century” was considered aperiod of terrible danger whenthe world could come to an end.No one was sure if the sunwould rise again. Although todaywe may view such beliefs asirrational, superstition continuesto pervade, even in contemporaryculture. With your class,brainstorm a list of superstitions.Some examples include,“Friday the thirteenth,” and“the curse of the Bambino.”Research and report on thehistory behind these ideas andwhy they continue.

526Life-Death figure (Apotheosis)Huaxtec,ca. 900 – 1250Stone,158 x 67 x 22.9 cmBrooklyn Museum of Art,Henry L. Batterman Fund andthe Frank Sherman BensonFund, 37.2897PAPhoto © Brooklyn Museumof Art

10From the 14th through 16thcenturies Aztecs dominatedcentral and southern Mexicoand established an elaborateand wide-ranging empire.As the Aztecs grew in number,they developed superior militaryand civil organizations.

The Aztecs formed militaryalliances with other groups,creating an empire that extendedfrom central Mexico to theGuatemalan border. By the endof the reign of Motecuhzoma II in1520, 38 tributary provinces hadbeen established; however, someof the tribes at the fringes of theAztec empire remained fiercelyindependent.

Aztec rulers approached warsomewhat differently than we dotoday. There were varied reasonsfor warfare. An insult, a tribute thathad not been paid or an attack onAztec traders could trigger amilitary response. The Aztecsdid not launch surprise attacks,nor did they fight during certainseasons or at night. Declarationsof war began by sending

ambassadors to the city theyplanned to attack. They would askthe city leaders to become alliesby paying tribute, trading withthe Aztecs, and putting a statueof their god Huitzilopochtli in theirtemple. They had twenty days todecide whether they wouldcomply. If the city refused, moreambassadors arrived. This timethe talk was tougher, less aboutthe advantages of joining theAztecs and more about thedestruction and death, whichcame to any city that did notsubmit. To show how confidentthey were about the outcome ofany future war, the Aztecs gavethe enemy chief weapons, andmore warnings. If this did notwork, a third embassy arrivedtwenty days later. Polite talk wasreplaced by bloodcurdling threatsabout what would happen afterthe city lost the war. This includeddestruction of the city’s temple,enslavement of population, anda promise that crippling tributewould be demanded for years tocome. If the city still refused tojoin the Aztecs, the war began.Through all of these negotiations,

Cultures Subjugated By theAztecs

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the Aztecs had time to gaininformation and plan how to bestattack the city. Priests decided onthe luckiest day to start the battle,soldiers prepared for war, the armyset out, and the battles began.Usually the Aztecs won quickly.They took as many prisoners aspossible for sacrifice, destroyedthe local temples and decided onthe tribute to be paid. Then theymade the local people worshipHuitzilopochtli and respect theAztec emperor. Tribute was paidregularly, or else another battlewould occur.

Discussion Questions• How do Aztec war tactics and

strategies differ from thoseused today? Are there partsthat seem effective? Ineffective?If you were counseling theAztecs on military strategy, whatsuggestions would you make?

• If you were part of a neighboringgroup what tactics wouldyou suggest to avoid beingconquered?

LIFE – DEATH FIGUREThis Life – Death figure wascreated by the Huaxtec, a peoplewho were defeated by the Aztecarmies around 1450 and henceforthpaid tribute to the Aztec empire.It is an excellent embodiment ofa concept that ran throughMesoamerican cultures; theconcept of duality. This life-sizesculpture represents a youthfulmale wearing ornaments and acloth knotted around his waist, butwhen we examine the other sideof this figure we find a skeletalfigure with its rib cage and internalorgans exposed.

The Huaxtec language is stillspoken in Mexico today, especiallyin rural areas, and the peopleretain characteristic traditionsin their music and dance.It is estimated that the Huaxtecpopulation in Mexico numbersapproximately 80,000 people.

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Discussion Questions• Divide the class into two groups.

Each group should compose alist of words that describe oneside of the sculpture. Whencomplete, post both lists. Arethere words in each list that canbe combined to demonstrate theconcept of duality? Are thereother combinations that suggestother qualities in this sculpture?

• Are some dualities still part ofour contemporary life? Do youfeel this concept is stillimportant or has it been replacedby other ideas. Explain.

Further Explorations• Although we see the front and

back of this work in thephotograph, make a drawingthat shows how it might lookfrom theside – in profile. If youare visiting the museum duringthe exhibition, bring the drawingwith you, so that you cancompare your conception withyour observations in the gallery.

• Consider the concept of dualityand create a drawing, poem,essay, sculpture, or otherpersonal expression of thispervasive theme.

11To the west, the Purepecha people,called Tarascan by the Spanish,flourished from 1100 to 1530.The center of the TarascanEmpire was their capital city ofTzintzuntzan. From this religiousand administrative center, theTarascans waged war againsttheir enemies, the Aztecs.

Products such as honey, cotton,feathers, salt, gold, and copperwere highly prized by theTarascans. Neighboring regionsthat possessed these commoditiesquickly became a primary target oftheir military expansion. Whenconquered, the peoples of theseregions were expected to paytributes of material goods to theTarascan lord.

The Aztecs attempted more thanonce to conquer the Tarascanlands, but never succeeded. Thisleft the Aztecs with a major rival ontheir western border. In combatthey repeatedly suffered grievouslosses to the Tarascan armies. Forexample, in 1478 the ruling Azteclord, Axayacatl, marched againstthe Tarascans. He found his army

of 24,000 confronted by anopposing force of more than 40,000Tarascan warriors. A ferociousbattle went on all day. Many ofthe Aztec warriors were badlywounded by arrows, stones,spears, and sword thrusts. Thefollowing day, the Aztecs wereforced to retreat, having sufferedthe loss of more than half of theirelite warriors.

The arrival of the Spanish captainHernán Cortés and his men on theeast coast of Mexico in April 1519led to the end of both the Aztecand the Tarascan Empires.Knowing that the Spaniards wereon their way to the Aztec capitalof Tenochtitlan, the Aztecs sentemissaries to the Tarascans to askfor help. Instead of providingassistance, they sacrificed theAztec messengers. Tenochtitlan fellin 1521 after a bloody siege.The Tarascans’ turn came in 1522.The last Tarascan king, TangaxoanII, offered little resistance. Once hesubmitted, all the other Tarascanrealms surrendered peacefully.After the conquest, Spanishmissionaries organized the

The Tarascan Empire

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625ChacmoolTarascan,ca. 1250–1521Stone,84 x 150 x 48 cmMuseo Nacional deAntropología, INAH,Mexico City 10-1609Photo: Michel Zabé, assistantEnrique Macías

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Tarascan Empire into a series ofcraft-oriented villages, and todaythe area abounds withcraftspeople skilled in wood,copper, cloth, and clay.

Why isn’t the Tarascan empirebetter known? Unlike the Aztecs,the Tarascans left no personaldocumentary histories. Without theassistance of Spanish missionary-historians dedicated to writingdown their story, much of theirhistory was lost. However,archaeological excavations and asignificant body of pottery, copper,and stone objects affords us aglimpse into the lives of this strongand highly developed civilization.

Discussion Question• With new technologies there

are many ways to preservehistory. Name some of theinstitutions and technologiesthat help preserve historyfor future generations. Alsoconsider ways that even todayimportant histories can be lostor obliterated.

CHACMOOLThe term chacmool refers to astyle of sculpture, representinga male figure in a specific pose:seated on the ground with itsupper back raised, the head isturned to a near right angle, thelegs are drawn up, elbows rest onthe ground. The receptacle held onthe stomach is thought to be forsacrificial offerings. Chacmoolfigures have been found at templesthroughout Mesoamericasuggesting that this sculpturalform was important to severalcivilizations, including Mayan,Toltec, Aztec, and Tarascan.

Discussion Question• The style of this Tarascan figure

differs from those of the Aztecs.Choose another figure in thisguide and compare and contrastthe style of the two works.

• Take the pose of the chacmoolfigure. Describe how it feels toassume this pose. What areasof your body are in tension? Eventhough you are reclining, do youfeel relaxed? What words canyou find to describe yourassociations with this pose?

Further Explorations• Although they display a similarpose, chacmool figures in differentstyles have been found in manyMesoamerican cultures. Researchother chacmool figures and, usingthat information, design one thatyou think might be discovered infuture archaeological excavations.

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12On November 8, 1519, the Aztecworld changed forever when agroup of Spanish conquistadores,led by Hernán Cortés, arrived atTenochtitlan to meet MotecuhzomaII. The ninth Aztec ruler had knownof the impending arrival of whitemen from the east for a number ofyears and had sent messengersto the Gulf Coast to bring newsof these strangers, whoseapproaching ships appeared tothe Aztecs as houses floatingon the sea. Upon his arrival,Motecuhzoma invited Cortés toTenochtitlan, perhaps in the beliefthat he was Quetzalcoatl, the ruler-priest and god who had beenbanished and who, according tolegend, would return from the east.

Cortés and Motecuhzoma met onone of the causeways that linkedTenochtitlan to the mainland.Here they exchanged words andgifts. Treated like gods, the Spanishwere welcomed in Tenochtitlan,a city whose beauty andsophistication overwhelmedthem. They were uncertain ofMotecuhzoma’s intentions however,and, aware that they were

outnumbered, they soon betrayedthe Aztec ruler and took himhostage. In response, the Aztecsattacked the Spaniards, resultingin a war in which both sidessustained heavy casualties.Motecuhzoma died during thefighting, possibly killed by his ownpeople as they threw stones at theconquistadores. In desperation,the Spanish finally fled the city bymoonlight on late June 1520, anoccasion that has come to beknown as the Noche Triste (SadNight) by the Spanish.

The following year a 900-strongSpanish army returned, beginninga nearly 3-month-long siegethat claimed many Aztec livesthrough intense fighting, starvation,and disease. After fierceresistance, the Aztec capitalTenochtitlan finally fell to Cortéson August 13, 1521.

The Spanish conquest can beattributed to several factors, amongthem were their superior weapons,which included firearms and steelswords, and their military tactics,which, unlike Aztec warfare,

The Twilight of theEmpire

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598Lienzo de QuetzpalanColonial-Puebla,late 16th centuryCotton and pigments,154 x 183 x 53 cmFundación Cultural Televisa,Mexico City REG 21 PJ 403Photo: Michel Zabé, assistantEnrique Macías

focused on actually killing theenemy (rather than capturing themalive to be sacrificed to the godslater). Cortés also exploitedunderlying tensions betweenTenochtitlan and other cities.He was helped in his negotiationswith the Aztecs by an interpreter,an indigenous woman, Malintzin,whom the Spaniards renamedMarina and is known today inMexico as La Malinche.

As might be expected consideringthe conviction with which they hadpracticed their own religionpreviously, the Aztecs’ conversionto Christianity was a slow andgradual process. For a while, thetwo religions existed somewhatuneasily together as the Aztecswere forced to relinquish theirmany gods and goddesses in favorof one supreme deity. Despite theeventual success of the Christianmission, some Aztec idols werestill being worshipped more than300 years later.

Further Explorations• The meeting between Cortés

and Motecuhzoma II markedthe encounter between twodifferent civilizations who knewlittle of each other. Divide theclass in half: one half willrepresent how Motecuhzoma IIand his armies saw the invaders;the rest should imaginethemselves as the Spanishexpedition. Write scripts thatdemonstrate disparate pointsof view, and then stage ameeting envisioning what tookplace in November 1519, alongthe causeway leading to theAztec capitol.

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CODICESMuch of what we know about theAztecs comes from their beautiful,hand-painted manuscripts, orcodices (singular: codex).

In their codices, Aztec painter-scribes used a form of picturewriting, which resembled theancient Egyptians’ hieroglyphicsor the modern-day comic. This“writing” included pictograms,phonetic signs, religious emblems,and even mathematical symbols.

During the initial years of Spanishrule, many codices weredestroyed, especially those thatdocumented Aztec rituals. Todayonly a few pre-Hispanic paintedbooks from Mexico survive.

This codex, known as the Lienzo ofQuetzpalan, was produced as partof a large-scale geographic surveyof Mexico ordered by the Spanishgovernment in the 1570s.

Discussion Questions• Examine the page from the

codex, Lienzo of Quetzpalan.How many symbols (glyphs) canyou decipher? Which symbolsare difficult to equate witha meaning? Try to constructa narrative that describes whatis being depicted.

Further Explorations• To practice communicating using

glyphs, try a game of Pictionary®(picture charades). Divide theclass in half. Each team shouldwrite a set of secret words thatthe other team will try to guess.Movie, play, and song titles aresome possible categories.A player tries to draw symbolsthat will get their team to guesscorrectly. No talking or writtenwords allowed.

• Many codices documenthistorical information and events.Choose a subject and createa set of graphic symbols (glyphs)to illustrate your codex.

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CACAO Chocolate.

CALPULLI (cal-PUL-li) A formof kin-based communal livingpracticed in Tenochtitlan.

CAUSEWAYS Raised roads orpathways across water.

CHINAMPAS (chi-NAM-pahs)Aztec floating gardens made fromreclaimed swampland.

CODEX An Aztec book of picturesymbols. The plural is codices.

EMPIRE A group of countries orstates, ruled by a singlegovernment or emperor.

GLYPH A picture symbol standingfor a word or idea.

HUITZILPOCHTLI (huit-zi-lo-POCHT-li) Sun god and god of war.

MAGUEY (MA-guey) A type ofcactus plant that provided clothand food for the Aztecs.

MESOAMERICA Term used todescribe the central region ofthe Americas inhabited by nativecivilizations before the arrival ofthe Spanish.

MEXICAS (Mah-SHEE-kahs)People of the Aztec empire.

MICTLANTECUHTLI (mict-lan-te-CUH-tli) Lord of Mictlan, theunderworld.

MOSAIC A design make from smallpieces of stone or colored glass.

MOTECUHZOMA II (mo-te-cuh-ZO-ma) The ninth Aztec ruler at thetime of the Conquest.

NOBLE A person of high birth,such as a lord.

NAHUATL (NAH-hua-tl)The language spoken by theAztecs and still spoken today bysome groups of Central HighlandMexico. Avocado (aguacatl) andtomato (tomatl) are Nahuatl words.

Voca

bulary

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NATURALISTIC The suggestion,in a work of art, of the directobservation of a scene or figure.

OBSIDIAN Hard volcanic glassthat the Aztecs used for weaponblades.

PRECOLUMBIAN The periodof time before the arrival ofChristopher Columbus to theNew World in 1492.

QUETZALCOATL (quet-zal-CO-a-tl)“Feathered serpent,” importantpan-Mesoamerican deity.

SACRIFICE To kill an animal orperson as an offering to the gods.

SCRIBE A person who writesdocuments and books by hand.

STYLIZED The simplification orgeneralization of forms foundin nature.

TEMPLO MAYOR (TEM-plo may-OR) The Great Temple ofTenochtitlan.

TENOCHTITLAN (Te-noch-TIT-lan)The capital city of the Aztecempire.

TLALOC (TLA-loc) God of rain.

TRIBUTE A type of tax paid in foodand other goods.

UNDERWORLD The place wherethe Aztecs believed people wentwhen they died.

XIPE TOTEC (Shee-pe TOH-tec)God of renewal and rebirth.

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In the interest of simplifying thetext of this guide, footnotes havebeen eliminated. Gratefulacknowledgment is made to theauthors of the following works fortheir contributions to the contentof this guide.

Nina Miall. Aztecs: An Introductionto the Exhibition. London: RoyalAcademy of Arts, 2002.

Eduardo Matos Moctezuma andFelipe Solís. Aztecs. New York:Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2002.

Richard F. Townsend. The Aztecs.London: Thames and Hudson, 2000.

For AdultsGordon Brotherston. PaintedBooks from Mexico. London:British Museum Press, 1995.

Davíd Carrasco. Daily Life of theAztecs: People of the Sun andEarth. Westport, Conn.: GreenwoodPress, 1998.

Michael D. Coe. Mexico: From theOlmecs to the Aztecs. New York:Thames and Hudson, 2002.

Miguel León-Portilla. AztecThought and Culture. Translatedby Jack Emory Davis. Norman:University of Oklahoma Press,1990.

Eduardo Matos Moctezuma.The Great Temple of the Aztecs:Treasures of Tenochtitlan. London:Thames and Hudson, 1994.

Mary Ellen Miller. The Art ofMesoamerica from Olmec toAztec. London: Thames andHudson, 1996.

Bib

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aphyand

Sugg

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dRes

ourc

es

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Mary Ellen Miller and Karl Taube.An Illustrated Dictionary of theGods and Symbols of AncientMexico and the Maya. London:Thames and Hudson, 1997.

Esther Pasztory. Aztec Art.New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc.,1998.

Patricia Rieff Anawalt and FrancesF. Berdan. The Essential CodexMendoza. Berkeley: University ofCalifornia Press, 1997.

Felipe Solís. The Aztec Empire.New York: Guggenheim Museumand Mexico City: LanducciEditores, 2004.

Thelma D. Sullivan and T. J. Knab.A Scattering of Jades: Stories,Poems and Prayers of the Aztecs.New York: Simon &Schuster/Touchstone, 1994.

For ChildrenElizabeth Baquedano. Aztec,Inca & Maya. London: DorlingKindersley, 1993.

Peter Hicks. The Aztecs. New York:Thomson Learning, 1993.

Fiona Macdonald. How Would YouSurvive as an Aztec? Danbury,Conn.: Franklin Watts, 1997.

Neil Morris. Uncovering HistoryEveryday Life of The Aztec, Incas,& Maya. Florence, Italy: McRaeBooks Srl, 2003.

Philip Steele. Aztec-News: TheGreatest Newspaper in Civilization.Cambridge, Mass.: CandlewickPress, 1997.

Tim Wood. The Aztecs. New York:Viking Penguin,1992.

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Websiteshttp://anthro.amnh.orgDepartment of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History

www.famsi.orgFoundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies

www.archaeology.orgArchaeology Magazine, Archaeological Association of America

http://copan.bioz.unibas.ch/mesolinks.html

http://www.atlanticava.org/WebandCamSites/AztecsIncasMyans.htm

Precolumbian Archaeology Related Linkshttp://library.thinkquest.org/27981/god.html

http://www.mexicolore.co.uk/azt_pron.htmProvides audio pronunciation for selected Aztec gods and Nahuatl words

VideosIn Search of History: The Aztec EmpireNew York: A&E Television Networks , 1997Color, 50 min

Empires of the Americas: A Journey Back in TimeNew Jersey: Kultur, 2000Color, 50 min

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The Sackler Center for ArtsEducation is an interactive-mediafacility dedicated to exploringthe museum’s collections andexhibitions and modern andcontemporary art in general.

The Sackler Center for ArtsEducation is a gift of the MortimerD. Sackler Family.

Educational activities are madepossible by The Edith and FrancesMulhall Achilles Memorial Fund,The Engelberg Foundation, WilliamRandolph Hearst Foundation, andThe Peter Jay Sharp Foundation.

Project ManagementSharon Vatsky, Senior Education

ManagerEdited by Stephen Hoban and

Elizabeth FranzenDesigned by Janice Lee

Special ThanksWe are grateful to Nina Miall,Public Programs Manager atthe Royal Academy of Arts, forgranting permission to adapteducational materials writtenfor the exhibition Aztecs.

For curatorial insights and review:Marion Kocot, Project Manager,The Aztec Empire.

For educational insights and review:Kim Kanatani, Gail Engelberg,

Director of EducationRebecca Herz, Education ManagerJessica Wright, Education ManagerSarah Selvidge, Education InternDr. George Rappaport, Professor

Emeritus, Wagner College

Cre

ditsand

Honorary Trustees in PerpetuitySolomon R. GuggenheimJustin K. ThannhauserPeggy Guggenheim

Honorary ChairmanPeter Lawson-Johnston

ChairmanPeter B. Lewis

Vice-PresidentsWendy L-J. McNeilStephen C. SwidJohn S. Wadsworth, Jr.

DirectorThomas Krens

SecretaryEdward F. Rover

Honorary TrusteeClaude Pompidou

Trustees Ex OfficioDavid GallagherDakis Joannou

Director EmeritusThomas M. Messer

TrusteesJon Imanol AzuaPeter M. BrantMary Sharp CronsonGail May EngelbergDaniel FilipacchiMartin D. GrussFrederick B. HenryDavid H. KochThomas KrensPeter Lawson-JohnstonPeter Lawson-Johnston IIPeter B. LewisHoward LutnickWilliam L. MackWendy L-J. McNeilEdward H. MeyerVladimir O. PotaninFrederick W. ReidStephen M. RossMortimer D.A. SacklerDenise SaulTerry SemelJames B. SherwoodRaja W. SidawiSeymour SliveJennifer StockmanStephen C. SwidJohn S. Wadsworth, Jr.Mark R. WalterJohn Wilmerding

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THE SOLOMON R. GUGGENHEIMFOUNDATION

ChairGail May Engelberg

MembersElizabeth BaderAnna Deveare SmithLesley M. FriedmanRebecca GrafsteinAlan C. GreenbergRoslalind G. JacobsMaureen LeeWynton MarsalisWendy L-J. McNeilElihu H. ModlinPaloma PicassoSuzanne PlotchKathe A. SacklerGabriela SernaVivian SerotaElizabeth R. VaretPeter Yarrow

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SOLOMON R. GUGGENHEIMEDUCATION COMMITTEE 2004