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summary The Aztecs

review The Aztecs Ò eBook or Kindle ePUB ã This Very Short Introduction employs the disciplines of history religious studies and anthropology as it illuminates the complexities of Aztec life Readers meet a people highly skilled in sculpture astronomy city planning poetry and philosophy who were also profoundly committed to cosmic regeneratiThis Very Short Introduction employs the disciplines of history religious studies and anthropology as it illuminates the complexities of Aztec life Readers meet a people highly skilled in sculpture astronomy city planning poetry and philosophy who were also profoundly committed to cosmic regeneration through the thrust of the ceremonial knife and through warfare David Carrasco looks beyond Spanish accou. I do dearly love these little gems from Oxford University Press In this case I happen to admire the author too having taken one of his classes at Harvard in 2015 Davíd Carrasco is a gifted teacher a warm human being and of course a great expert in this subject I read this book as part of a tear I'm on to read histories of Mexico and particularly of the Mexican American border As expected I learned some things from this slim volume For one the Aztecs were preceded by even older civilizations upon which they built this should not be a surprise of course They were in constant battle with neighboring groups; yes they practiced human sacrifice but there is no evidence that they practiced it than other civilizations; Cortez's conuest was not a simple case of superior weapons and tactics but from a civil war among the Aztecs and their neighbors masterminded by Cortez; and of course the European diseases that Cortez brought with him did than anything I liked the Aztec idea of souls comprising four distinct pieces that depart the body for different dwelling spots after death Sad how prior generations of Europeans men of science eg Morgan disparaged the Aztecs but good now that scholarship has resurrected their merit and importance And I understand the pride that many Mexicans have felt and continue to feel about the grand civilization that grew in North America independent of other civilizations

review ´ eBook or Kindle ePUB Ð Davíd Carrasco

Ines the rise of the Aztec empire He also explores Aztec religion which provided both justification for and alternatives to warfare sacrifice and imperialism and he sheds light on Aztec poetry philosophy painting and especially monumental sculpture and architecture He concludes by looking at how the Aztecs have been portrayed in Western thought art film and literature as well as in Latino culture and ar. Ethusiastic short history of the Aztecs Lots of uotes from primary sources Highly readable although the names can get confusing if you're unfamiliar with Aztec history Still if you have to start getting familiar somewhere this seems like a good place to start I enjoyed it

Davíd Carrasco Ð 3 download

The AztecsNts that have colored much of the Western narrative to let Aztec voices speak about their origin stories the cosmic significance of their capital city their methods of child rearing and the contributions women made to daily life and the empire Carrasco discusses the arrival of the Spaniards contrasts Aztec mythical traditions about the origins of their city with actual urban life in Mesoamerica and outl. If you always carry a book on you it's surprising how much time you can find to read throughout the day On public transit in ueues or while waiting for friends to arrive you can get through a dozen pages or Oxford's Very Short Introductions are great for this purpose because they're small enough to fit in my pocket and short enough to be digested in bite sized chunksSome interesting facts from The Aztecs that I think will stick with me English words with Aztec origins include tomato tomatl coyote coyotl and chocolate chocolatl Tenochitlan was a cool city It was built on an island in the middle of Lake Tezcoco When the Spaniards showed up in 1519 it was one of the largest cities in the world with 200000 inhabitants at a time when London had 50000 and Paris had 300000 Later flood control efforts drained the lake Mexico City is built on top of Tenochitlan's historic location Excavation efforts at the rediscovered Great Aztec Temple buried at the center of the modern city have been ongoing since 1978 The Mexican coat of arms which appears in the center of the flag includes an eagle eating a snake on top of cactus This depicts an Aztec founding myth Carrasco writes that there is no proof that the Aztecs ritually killed people than other ancient cultures He then describes the Great Skull Rack where the severed heads of sacrificial victims were displayed sacrifices to the corn goddess which involved flaying the victim so the fire priest could wear her skin and the Feast of the Flaying of Men The description of how Aztec sacrifices reflected their cosmovision was particularly interesting Captured warriors were sometimes forced to climb to the top of the Great Aztec Temple where they were killed and flung down the stairs This represented an Aztec founding myth about a battle between the gods Huitzilopochtli and Coyolxauhui at the summit of a mountain called Coatepec Hernan Cortes and his soldiers arrived in Mexico in 1519 but two Spanish sailors had actually been shipwrecked there in 1511 One was happy to be rescued and joined Cortes as a translator and guide The other had married a Mayan woman and become a warrior chief He fought against the Spanish invaders in the coming wars and was killed in battle in 1535 At first Cortes only had about 500 soldiers with him He managed to conuer the huge Aztec empire with the help of smallpox and alliances with disgruntled city states and other groups that chafed under Aztec domination 90% of the attacking force that eventually sacked Tenochitlan was made up of warriors from other cities the battles were as much a native civil war against the Aztecs as a Spanish conuest p 110