Aztecs are American Indians. History of Ancient America

Maya Restless and active. Sociable and capable of much. The character is usually temperamental. Without much worry, he will enter into conflict in order to defend his own

Maya We lived, and still live, in an illusory world in which no one knows who is who, and when talking with a certain person, we cannot be sure whether we are talking with him, the real one, or with someone who doesn't exist at all. Today, the mystery of copying

Maya This Sanskrit word has many meanings. One of its meanings is “energy”. Yoga-maya is the spiritual energy that supports the transcendental manifestation of Vaikuntha, the spiritual world, while its reflection, maha-maya, is the energy of the material world.

A people who inhabited Central and South America shortly before the Spanish conquest of Mexican lands in 1521. The history of the Aztecs is the history of multiple associations of tribal groups that had their own city-states and royal dynasties. “Aztec” also refers to the powerful alliance of the majestic city-states of Tenochtitlan, Texcoco and Tlacopan, cities that established their dominance in what is now Mexico between 1400 and 1521.

Aztec civilization, Indian cities and their life.

City-states and settlements Aztec civilization were built on the vast mountain plateaus of the Mexican valley, on which the capital of Mexico is located today. These are fertile lands with a total area of ​​6.5 thousand square meters. km, - lands extending approximately 50 km in length and width. “Valley of Mexico” lies at an altitude of 2500 meters above sea level and is surrounded on all sides by volcanic mountains 5 thousand meters high.

The Aztec civilization came to these lands because of Lake Texcoco, which could supply thousands of people with fresh water and food. The lake was fed by streams and mountain runoff, periodically overflowing its edges and overflowing hundreds of meters. However, the lake supplied local residents drinking water, created a habitat for fish, mammals and birds. The Triple Alliance of city-states subjugated vast territories from the borders of Guatemala to what is now northern Mexico. Coastal Plains of the Gulf of Mexico, mountain gorges Oaxaca and Guerrero, the tropical forests of Yucatan - all this belonged to the Aztec civilization. Thus, the Indians had at their disposal all kinds of Natural resources, which were not observed in their original locations.

The languages ​​of the Nahuatl group were dominant in the Aztec civilization. Nahuatl dialects were adopted as a second language and played the role of intermediary language in almost all territories of South America during the period of Spanish colonization. The linguistic heritage of the Aztecs is found in multiple toponyms - Acapulco, Oaxaca. Historians estimate that about 1.5 million people still use the Nahuatl language or its variants in daily communication. The Aztec civilization spoke exclusively Nahuatl languages. The languages ​​of this group have spread from Central America to Canada and include about 30 related dialects. The Aztec civilization, the Indians of this empire, were great experts and lovers of literature. They collected entire libraries of pictographic books with various descriptions of religious rites and ceremonies, historical events, tribute collections, and simple registers. The Aztecs used bark as paper. Unfortunately, most of the books belonging to the ancient Aztecs were destroyed by the Spanish during the conquest. Nowadays, scientists studying the ancient Aztec people have to work with grains of surviving written information. The first information about the Aztec Indians was received, not surprisingly, during the conquest.

Five letters, reports, to the king from Cortes contained primary information about the Indians of America. 40 years later, a soldier, a participant in one of the Spaniards’ expeditions, Bernal Diaz Castillo, compiled true story the Spanish conquest, where the Tenochki and their brotherly peoples were described in detail. The first information sheets about aspects of Aztec lifeand cultures were compiled in the late 16th and early 17th centuries - all kinds of ethnographic descriptions created by the Aztecnobles and Spanish monks. The most valuable example of such writing that has survived to this day is the multi-volume manuscript “General History of New Spain.”

Aztec culture by means of language was connected with the cultural complex of the Nahua peoples. According to myths and Indian legends, the tribes that subsequently formed the once majestic and powerful empire The Aztecs came to the Anahuac Valley from the northern lands. The location of the Anahuac Valley is known for sure - this is the territory of the modern capital of Mexico, but it is not known for certain where the Aztecs came to these lands from. Researchers constantly put forward their theories about the historical homeland of the Indians, however, they all turn out to be false. According to legends, the ancestors of the Aztecs came from the north, from a place called Aztlan. According to legend, the Indians were led to new lands by the god Huitzilopochtli - “god of the hummingbird”, “left-handed hummingbird”.

American Indians settled in the place indicated to them by the gods themselves - the well-known legend about the eagle sitting on a cactus, about the eagle from the prophecy about the new land of the Aztecs. Today, this legend - an eagle eating a snake - is depicted in the design of the Mexican flag. Thus, according to legend, the Aztecs, back in 1256, found themselves in the lands of the Valley of Mexico, surrounded by cliffs and washed by the waters of Lake Texcoco. Before the arrival of the Aztec tribe, the lands of Lake Texcoco were divided between the dominant city-states. The Aztecs, recognizing the power of the ruler of one of the cities, settled on his lands and built their city, their great capital - Tenochtitlan. According to historical data, the city was built in 1325 AD. Today former capital Aztec is historical center Mexico City. According to beliefs, the local population received the Aztecs with hostility; they were considered uncivilized and uneducated, and most importantly, unimaginably cruel. However, the Indian tribes that came did not respond to aggression with aggression - they decided to learn; and they took all the knowledge they could from their neighbors.

The Aztecs absorbed the Vedas of the surrounding tribes and peoples close to them. The main source of development of the tribes was the knowledge and experience of the ancient Toltecs, and the Toltec tribes themselves as teachers. For the entire Aztec people, the Toltecs were the creators of culture. In the language of this people, the word “Toltecayotl” was synonymous with the word “culture”. Aztec mythology identifies the Toltecs and the cult of Quetzalcoatl with the city of Tollan ( modern city Tula in Mexico). Along with their knowledge, the Aztecs also absorbed the traditions of the Toltecs and peoples close to them. Among the traditions were the foundations of religion. Such borrowings primarily include the myth of the creation of the world, which describes four suns, four eras, each of which ended with the death of life and a universal catastrophe. In Aztec culture, the current fourth era, the fourth sun, escaped destruction thanks to the self-sacrifice of the supreme god - the god Nanahuatl, which means “all wounded.”

It is known that the Aztec capital was divided into 4 districts called meycaotl, each of which was headed by an elder. Each district - meykaotl, in turn, was divided into 5 smaller quarters - calpulli. The Calpulli of the Aztecs were originally patriarchal families, clans, and the regions uniting them - meykaotl - phratries. Before the arrival of the Spanish conquerors to the lands of the Aztecs, one community lived in one dwelling, house - a large patriarchal family of several generations - sencalli. The land owned by the tribe was divided into sectors, which were looked after by individual Aztec household communities - sencalli. In addition, at each more or less large village there were lands allocated for the needs of priests, rulers and military leaders, the harvest from which went to support the corresponding castes of society.

Aztec tribes and features of the development of the empire.

The lands of the American Indians were always cultivated jointly - a man and a woman. However, upon marriage, a man received rights to personal use of land. Land plots, like the community's land itself, were inalienable. The life of the Aztecs was built according to certain social canons, violations of which were strictly punished. At the head of each Aztec quarter, the calpulli, stood its own public council, which included only elected elders of the Aztec tribe. The leaders of the phratries and the elders involved in the public council were also part of the tribal council - the council of the Aztec leader, which included the main leader of the tribe. A similar social structure was observed in all tribes without exception.

Aztec tribe, The social system of the Indians was divided into castes of free people and slaves. Slaves could be not only prisoners of war, but also debtors who fell into slavery, as well as poor people who sold themselves and their families. Aztec slaves always wore collars. It is not known for certain in which sectors of agriculture and other Aztec households slave labor was involved; most likely, they were used in the construction of large-scale structures - palaces and temples of the Aztecs, as well as as servants, porters and artisans of low professions.

On the lands conquered by the ancient Indians, military leaders were given tributaries as trophies for their service, whose status was comparable to that of serfs. But not only slaves were artisans; large communities always had their own artisans from free people. Thus, in the Aztec empire, in addition to residual communal relations, there was a complete absence of rights to land, coupled with private property, i.e. rights to slaves, agricultural products and crafts. It is obvious that, along with private property and dominant relations - master and subordinate, in the Aztec tribes there were also remnants of the primitive communal system characteristic of Europe BC. Slaves, or “tlacotin” among the American Indians, constituted an important social caste, different from prisoners of war.

City of Tenochtitlan was a slave capital. The rules of behavior for slaves, and slave life itself, were very different from what could be observed in Europe of that era. Slavery among the Aztecs was more like slavery during classical antiquity. First of all, slavery was personal, not inherited; the children of a slave were free from birth. A slave in the Aztec tribe could own personal property and even personal slaves. Slaves had the right to redeem themselves, or to win their freedom through labor and service. Also, in cases where slaves were treated cruelly or slaves had children with their owners, they could protest their slavery and become free people.

The American Indians respected traditions. Thus, in most cases, upon the death of the owner, slaves were inherited as private property. However, slaves who particularly distinguished themselves by their service and labor to the previous owner were freed. Another feature and property of slavery among the Aztecs: if in the market a slave could, due to the carelessness of his owner, run out of the market wall and step on excrement, then he was given the right to appeal his slavery. In case of victory, the slave was washed, given clean clothes and released. Cases of such emancipation of slaves occurred quite regularly among the American Indians, since a person who prevented a slave from escaping and who helped the owner was declared a slave instead of a fugitive.

In addition, a slave could not be given away or sold without his consent, unless the authorities declared the slave disobedient. In general, increased controls were applied to unruly slaves, the wild Indians; they were forced to wear wooden shackles around their necks and hoops on their hands everywhere. Shackles served not only as a distinctive feature exposing the slave’s guilt, but also as a device that complicated the process of escape. Before such slaves were resold, the new owner was informed how many times he had tried to escape and how many times he had been resold before.

Slave who undertook 4 unsuccessful attempts to escape, in most cases they were given away for sacrificial rites. In some cases, free Aztecs could become slaves as punishment. A murderer sentenced to death could be given into slavery twice as much or to the widower of the murdered man. Slavery also punished unpaid debts, debts of sons, fathers and mothers. Parents had the right to sell their child into slavery only in cases where the authorities declared their offspring to be a disobedient, wild Indian. A similar fate awaited the disobedient students. And the last important distinguishing feature is that the Aztecs had the right to sell themselves into slavery.

In a number of cases, voluntary slaves who were captured Aztec civilization, were awarded a vacation in order to enjoy the price of their freedom, after which they were transferred to the possession of the owner. A similar fate awaited unsuccessful gamblers, old courtesans and prostitutes. It is also known that some captive slaves were treated as debtors and offenders, according to all the rules of slave ownership. In South America during the dawn of the Aztec Empire, sacrifices were widespread and ubiquitous.

However, the Aztecs practiced them on a grand scale, sacrificing both slaves and freemen on each of their many calendar holidays. There are known cases described in Aztec chronicles when hundreds and thousands of people were sacrificed every day. So during the construction of the main temple - great pyramid Aztecs in 1487, about 80 thousand prisoners of war and slaves were sacrificed in four days. It is not entirely clear how a city with a population of 120 thousand inhabitants and several tribes of Indians accommodated such a number of prisoners and slaves, how they were able to catch them, much less execute them, taking into account the fact that Atzizotl personally sacrificed to the gods. However, the fact remains. It is also worth noting that the Aztec tribe did not always sacrifice people; Animals often played the role of alms to the gods. As is known, the Aztecs specially bred animals for such purposes, for example, llamas.

There were also donations of things: communities broke their most valuable property for the glory of the gods. In addition, individual gods and their cults required special alms: The Cult of Quetzalcoatl, along with human sacrifices, demanded the sacrifice of hummingbirds and butterflies. Self-sacrifice was also practiced in the Aztec tribes. During special rituals, people deliberately wounded themselves, performed ceremonial bloodletting, dressed in shackles and clothes with spikes on them. back side. Blood occupied a dominant position in Aztec religion and ceremonies. Indeed, in local mythology, the gods shed their blood more than once to help humanity. So in the myth of the rebirth of the world - the myth of the fifth sun, the gods sacrificed themselves so that people could live.

The rituals, traditions and religion itself of the ancient Aztecs prepared people for the highest sacrifice, for the sacrifice of human life. The ritual of sacrifice took place according to the canons: the victim’s skin was painted blue using chalk; the sacrifice was carried out on the supreme square of the temple or pyramid; the victim was laid down, and the process of sacrifice began. The heart, the first to be separated from the body, was always stored by the Aztecs in a special stone vessel. The victim's belly was ripped open with a stone knife - obsidian was not capable of opening the flesh, and the Indians did not discover iron for themselves.

At the end of the ritual, the victim was thrown down the stairs of the temple, where the priests picked her up and later burned her. The sacrifices of the ancient Indians were in most cases voluntary, with the exception of the sacrifices of prisoners of war. Before the ritual of sacrifice, captured soldiers were treated like slaves, however, without the possibility of pardon and release. The ancient Aztecs also had other types of sacrifice, for example, torture. The victims were burned, shot with arrows, drowned, and parts of their bodies were fed to sacred animals. The Aztec tribe was famous for its cruelty. The line between sacrificial torture and torture of captured soldiers and nobles is difficult to keep track of.

The most famous civilizations of ancient America, which every educated person has heard of, are the Mayans, Incas and Aztecs. These peoples inhabited the territories of central Mexico (Aztecs), southern Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, western Honduras (Mayans) and western southern (Inca). The grandiose architectural structures of these ancient civilizations have survived to this day. The most famous of them are the pyramids of the American Mayan and Aztec tribes. The Incas, according to scientists, did not build pyramids, although they were able to erect structures of quite impressive size (such as the Sacsayhuaman fortress).

The Mayan and Aztec peoples inhabited America in different time. The Mayan civilization flourished in the 7th - 8th centuries, and the Aztecs in the 14th - 15th centuries. But both these peoples were different high level development. They built large cities, used writing, and shipping was developed. The calendars of those times surprise with their accuracy. Religion occupied a special place among the Mayan and Aztec peoples. It is not without reason that the pyramids that they erected were used for various religious rites.

The exact age of the Mayan pyramids is unknown. These structures are made of rough-hewn stones, which are held together with a fairly strong mortar.

The slopes of the pyramids are steps, i.e. They were built in stages - on each platform the next, smaller one, was built. This process was quite lengthy.

One of the most famous pyramids is Kukulkan, named after the main god in the mythologies of the Mayan and Toltec tribes, who was depicted as a snake with a human head. It is located in the ancient city of Chichen Itza (Yucatan Peninsula). This structure is 25 meters high and has 9 platforms. The number 9 is not accidental; it symbolizes the regions of the kingdom of the dead. The pyramid is crowned by a temple. There are wide staircases on four sides, each of them has 91 steps, for a total of 364, which corresponds to the number of days in a year. The stairs themselves are divided into 18 flights - in the Mayan calendar there were exactly this number of months. The Pyramid of Kukulkan has four sides clearly facing south, north, west and east.

This pyramid is very popular among tourists. The thing is that twice a year a very unusual phenomenon can be observed on its surface. On the days of the equinox at 17:00, a huge image of a serpent begins to appear on the north side of the pyramid, becoming increasingly clear. This effect is achieved due to the sun's rays, and the illusion lasts about 3 hours.

Another pyramid was built in the city of Chichen Itza, the base of which measures 40 x 40 meters.

Another famous Mayan structure is . It is located on the territory ancient city Palenque, in Guatemala. The pyramid got its name because of the huge number of different designs and hieroglyphs. Scientists are still trying to unravel the meaning of these inscriptions. Only in this pyramid was a tomb with a sarcophagus discovered, the surface of which was also covered with drawings and inscriptions. Before this discovery, it was believed that the Mayans did not use pyramids for burials. The remains of a man were discovered in the sarcophagus, who, apparently, occupied a high position in society.

There is another ancient city on the Yucatan Peninsula - Uxmal. This is where the famous . This is one of the most impressive buildings that has been left to us as a legacy from the Mayan tribes. The 38 m tall pyramid has a flat top. Its corners are rounded. This structure was built over many years. Archaeological research showed that construction lasted from the sixth to the tenth centuries. There are 5 temples inside the pyramid - according to the number of construction stages.

The most famous Aztec pyramids

Perhaps the most impressive building of the Aztecs is pyramid of the sun, located on the site of the ancient city of Teotihuacan, near modern Mexico City. It ranks third in the world among ancient structures, ahead only of the Pyramid of Cholula, from Toltec times, and the Pyramid of Cheops, which is located in Egypt, near Cairo.

The Pyramid of the Sun previously rose 71 m high (currently 64.5 m), and the perimeter of the base of this grandiose structure is 893 m. About 3 million tons of stones were required for its construction. 300 years after the pyramid was built, a temple was erected on its top, which was destroyed even before the discovery of the city of Teotihuacan by the Spanish conquerors. Currently, many tourists visit the Pyramid of the Sun. To climb to the very top, you have to overcome a difficult climb of 248 steps, which are distinguished by their steepness. But despite all the difficulties, there are many who want to rise to the very top. After all, if you believe the legends, this is where the so-called “place of power” is located. Thanks to positive energy flows, a person can find harmony and peace of mind.

In the north of Teotihuacan is . This is smaller than the Pyramid of the Sun - its height is 42 m. This five-tier pyramid is located on a small hill. A fairly wide staircase leads to the top - it is a continuation of the path called the Road of the Dead. During archaeological excavations in the Pyramid of the Moon, many remains and burials were discovered. Presumably, various rituals were performed on top of this structure.

Teotihuacan is home to the Citadel, a square that got its name thanks to the Spaniards. It is here that the Temple of the Feathered Serpent is located - a building built in the form of a pyramid. Its walls were decorated with stone ornaments that represented the heads of feathered snakes - from the western part they are well preserved to this day. The remains of animals that were sacrificed during rituals were discovered within the walls of this temple.

The pyramids of the American Mayan and Aztec tribes have not yet been fully studied. The mysteries associated with these structures will continue to attract scientists from all over the world for a long time.

A little over ten years ago - on October 12, 1992, planet Earth celebrated one of the most significant dates in the history of mankind - the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America. There are many hypotheses about when man appeared in the Western Hemisphere, in North and South America, on numerous islands, and when people came to the American continent. For the fifth century now (since the 16th century), pundits have been debating this issue. In numerous studies on this topic, among the first inhabitants of America, people from Canary Islands, Phoenicians and Carthaginians, ancient Greeks and Romans, Jews, Spaniards, Egyptians and Babylonians, Chinese and even Tatars and Scythians.

Science developed, and as new discoveries were made, knowledge accumulated and hypotheses were selected. Today there is no longer any doubt that the part of the world marked on the world map as America was inhabited by people from other continents. However, from which ones exactly has not been finally decided. Nevertheless, scientists were able to identify many common features inherent in all Indians, bringing them closer to the Mongoloid peoples of Asia. Appearance The appearance of the original inhabitants of America at the time of their first meetings with Europeans was as follows: a stocky figure, short legs, medium-sized feet, rather long arms but with small hands, a high and usually wide forehead, poorly developed brow ridges. The Indian's face had a large, strongly protruding nose (often, especially in the north, the so-called eagle nose), and a rather large mouth. The eyes are most often dark brown. The hair is black, straight, thick.

Many early European documentary and literary sources indicated that the Indians were red-skins. This is actually not true. The skin of representatives of various Indian tribes is rather yellow-brown. According to modern researchers, the name “Redskins” was given to them by the first settlers. It did not arise by chance. The North American Indians once had a widespread custom of rubbing their faces and bodies with red ocher on special occasions. That's why Europeans called them redskins.

Currently, anthropologists distinguish three main groups of Indians - North American, South American and Central American, whose representatives differ in height, skin color and other characteristics.

Most researchers believe that the settlement of the American continent came from Asia through the Bering Strait. Scientists believe that four great glaciations helped ancient people overcome the expanse of water. According to this hypothesis, during the glaciations the Bering Strait froze and turned into some kind of huge bridge. Asian tribes who led a nomadic lifestyle freely moved along it to the neighboring continent. Based on this, the time of the appearance of man on the American continent was determined - this happened 10-30 thousand years ago.

By the time the Spanish caravels under the command of Christopher Columbus appeared at east coast New World (October 1492) Northern and South America, including the islands of the West Indies, was inhabited by many tribes and nationalities. With the light hand of the famous navigator, who assumed that he had discovered new lands of India, they began to be called Indians. These tribes were at different levels of development. According to most researchers, before the European conquest, the most advanced civilizations of the Western Hemisphere developed in Mesoamerica and the Andes. The term “Mesoamerica” was introduced in the 40s of the 20th century by the German scientist Paul Kirchoff. Since then, in archeology this has been used to designate a geographical region that includes Mexico and most Central America (to the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica). It was this territory that, at the time of its discovery by Europeans, was inhabited by many Indian tribes and presented a colorful picture of the cultures that they represented. According to the correct definition of the Czech Americanist Miloslav Stingl, “these cultures were at different stages of development of tribal society, and the general laws of evolution characteristic of the primitive communal formation manifested themselves here in many local variants and forms.” Scientists include such cultures as the Olmec, Teotihuacan, Mayan, Toltec and Aztec among the most vibrant and developed civilizations of Ancient America (pre-Columbian period).

The study of the art of Ancient America and its history is relatively young. It dates back a little over a hundred years. American studies researchers currently do not have such rich material and achievements as are available today in the field of studying ancient art. They also experience great difficulties due to the fact that to support their conclusions obtained as a result of archaeological excavations and discoveries, they do not have as many written monuments as are, for example, at the disposal of researchers of the Ancient East. The ancient Americans developed writing much later and never reached a high level of development. The written monuments of the peoples of Mesoamerica that have reached us have not yet been sufficiently studied. Therefore, most information concerning political history, social system, mythology, conquests, titles and names of rulers is based only on Indian legends. Many of them were recorded after the Spanish conquest and date back to the first half of the 16th century. It is also important to remember that until this time, ancient American civilizations developed without any influence from European or Asian centers. Until the 16th century, their development proceeded completely independently.

The art of Ancient America, like any other art, has a number of features and characteristic features that are unique to it. In order to comprehend this originality, a dialectical approach is necessary, taking into account the historical conditions under which art and culture developed ancient civilizations Mesoamerica.

Scientists attribute the highest flowering of the culture of the Mayan Indian tribe to the 7th-8th centuries. The Aztec Empire reached the apogee of its development at the beginning of the 16th century. Very often, in the works of archaeological scientists and researchers of ancient cultural civilizations, the Mayan Indian peoples (as older people) are called by analogy “Greeks,” and the Aztecs (as they existed later) are called “Romans” of the New World.

The Mayan cultural traditions had enormous influence in the Yucatan Peninsula, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador, as well as in several states of modern Mexico. Geographical boundaries The distribution of this civilization amounted to 325,000 km2 and covered the habitat of several dozen, and possibly hundreds of tribes. In general, the tribes inherited a single culture. However, in many ways it naturally had regional characteristics.

The Mayan civilization stood out primarily for its achievements in construction and architecture. Representatives of this nationality created exquisite and perfect works of painting and sculpture, had unique masters in stone processing and the manufacture of ceramic products. The Mayans had deep knowledge of astronomy and mathematics. Their greatest achievement is their introduction of such a mathematical concept as “zero”. They began to use it hundreds of years earlier than other highly developed civilizations.

The Aztecs appeared in Central Mexico in the second half of the 12th century. No historical data about them has been found before this time. There are only a few legends and traditions from which it is known that they called the island of Aztlan (Aztlan) their homeland. One of the traditional descriptions of the supposed life of ancestors in Aztlan is known, allegedly compiled for the last of the pre-Hispanic rulers of the Aztec state, the famous Montezuma II the Younger, based on ancient manuscripts. According to this source, the ancestral home of Aztlan was located on an island (or was an island) where there was big mountain with caves that served as dwellings. From this word, which denoted the location of the island (Aztlan), came the name of the tribe - Aztecs (more precisely, Aztecs). However, science has not yet established the exact geographical position of this island.

In the earliest stages of their existence, the Aztecs were dominated by a nomadic lifestyle; they were mainly engaged in hunting. This left an imprint on their character. By nature they were very warlike. For almost two centuries, the Az-Tecs waged wars of conquest and at the beginning of the 14th century, having conquered many other tribes living in Central Mexico, they created a powerful empire. Around 1325, the city they founded, Tenochtitlan (modern Mexico City), became its capital.

Currently, interest in the study of ancient Indian civilizations has not faded. Architectural monuments, sculpture, jewelry, household items discovered in places where peoples with an original, unique culture lived several thousand years ago, still conceal a lot of unsolved things. Understanding the history of pre-Columbian America, leading archaeologists and modern scientists are trying to find an explanation for many of the most important aspects of the life of ancient human communities.