aztec 3

How was tlilli in tlapalli used in Aztec culture?

It described both the physical act of painting-writing and the moral act of maintaining truth through record-keeping.

What does tlilli in tlapalli reveal about Aztec thought?

That literacy and art were seen as sacred duties tied to cosmic balance and social order.

What was the role of codices in Aztec civilization?

Codices were painted manuscripts recording history, tribute, ritual calendars, and genealogy.

How did Spanish friars influence codices?

Figures like Sahagún collaborated with native scribes to produce bilingual works such as the Florentine Codex, preserving pre-Hispanic lore while reframing it for Christian audiences.

What did codices represent symbolically?

The living “skin” of culture—color, rhythm, and balance transforming memory into sacred art.

What was the Aztec calendar system?

A dual system of the 260-day tonalpohualli and the 365-day xiuhpohualli.

Why was the calendar essential?

It ordered ritual life, agriculture, and prophecy, connecting human activity to divine time.

What role did religion play in Aztec society?

Religion unified political power with cosmic obligation; gods required nourishment through offerings.

Why was sacrifice central to Aztec religion?

It maintained the cosmic order and repaid the gods who sacrificed themselves to create the sun.

How was sacrifice both civic and spiritual?

It reaffirmed community identity while ensuring universal balance—both a duty and an honor.

What does flor y canto (flower and song) mean in Nahua philosophy?

It referred to poetry, art, and truth expressed beautifully.

How did flor y canto relate to moral education?

Poems and songs transmitted virtue, humility, and awareness of life’s fragility.

What is the huehuetlahtolli?

The “ancient word” or collection of traditional moral speeches.

How did the cactus become sacred?

In the Mexica founding myth, an eagle perched on a nochtli marked the divinely chosen homeland.

What deeper meaning did nochtli carry?

It represented harmony between pain (thorns) and sustenance (fruit), echoing sacrifice and renewal.

What was Aztec cosmology?

A vision of the universe as layered heavens and underworlds sustained by divine struggle.

Why was cosmology crucial to social life?

Every ritual, profession, and festival corresponded to cosmic cycles; order on earth mirrored order in the heavens.

How did the “Five Suns” myth shape Aztec worldview?

It taught that the current world existed only through sacrifice and would end if humans failed their duty.

What did materials like turquoise and quetzal feathers symbolize?

They represented purity, divine light, and preciousness—metaphors for moral excellence.

How did artisans embody philosophy?

Crafting fine goods was a sacred act—transforming matter into moral order.

What was the role of speech and rhetoric in Aztec culture?

Speech (tlahtolli) was believed to create and sustain reality.

How was oratory taught?

Through the calmecac, where youths memorized moral dialogues and respectful forms of address.

How did the conquest transform Aztec culture?

Spanish domination destroyed temples and codices but also led to cultural fusion.

Why is Sahagún’s work critical to understanding this period?

He preserved Nahua knowledge in the Florentine Codex through collaboration with native students.

How did Christian and Nahua worldviews merge?

Native artists and friars reinterpreted gods as saints, blending cosmic order with Christian salvation.

What moral lessons pervaded Aztec culture?

Self-discipline, humility, duty to community, and respect for elders.

Why were these virtues linked to cosmic stability?

Human order maintained divine balance; ethical living was literally world-sustaining.