Aztecs, Incas, and Mayas History

*The Mexica people people built the main city of the Aztec Empire called Tenochtitlan in 1325. On August 13, 1521 the city fell into ruins.

*The Aztec people spoke Nahuatl, which when translated means "a person who is from Aztlan".

Moctezuma II, the 9th emperor of the Aztecs, welcomed the Spanish explorers not knowing that these explorers would be the downfall of their civilization.

*The reason the Aztec capital city, Tenochtitlan fell into ruins was because of the Spanish conqueror, Hernán Cortés (Hernando Cortés).

*The Aztec religion included many rituals and sacrifices.

*The Aztec culture stressed the importance of family in their daily life.

*In their daily life the Aztecs placed an emphasis on art, music, poetry, and tattoos.

* Aztec warriors were often very brutal. They often took prisoners so that they could be sacrificed to their gods as Aztec gods were very important to them.

*The Inca civilization (or Inka) began as a tribe in the Cuzco area in 1438 A.D. and became the largest civilization (12 million people) in existence until it was conquered by the Spaniards in 1532.

*The Inca People called themselves "The Children of the Sun".

*The Inca Empire grew larger under the rule of Pachacuti.

*Knowing what happened in the Inca Empire is difficult because the Incas had no written language and passed their history down orally from one generation to the next.

*Inca gods were very important to the Incas' Religion. The most important gods were: Inti, the sun god, Quilla the moon goddess (wife of the sun), and Illapa god of thunder, who the Incas believed controlled the rain.

*Little of the silver and gold Inca Art can be found because the Spanish explorers melted the gold and silver to make them a richer people.

*Machu Picchu is known as ""The Lost City of the Incas". Archaeologists can only apply guesswork through their findings as how important the city of Machu Picchu was during the Inca period of history.

*The Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro conquered the Inca Empire in 1533.

*Archaeologists divide the history of the Mayan Civilization into three periods: Preclassic (c.1500 B.C.-A.D. 300), Classic (300-900), and Postclassic (900-1500).

*One of the Mayas greatest achievements was the creation of the precise Mayan Calendar.

*The Maya people were also known as expert astronomers.

*Mayan art was important because the Mayans were able to use their art in trade.

*Both Maya women and Maya men worked very hard in their daily life.

The Mayans worshipped many different gods.