Unlike most other ancient civilizations, school was mandatory
for all people no matter the rank or gender of the child in the Aztec Empire. In most cases, the children would start
school at the age of 12-15, everyone was taught the basics of how to live and
the history behind their people. In most
cases, boys and girls were taught different things, boys being taught how to be
in battle and girls being shown how to cook and keep a household.
The boy’s main focus in school was battle training; sometimes the boys would compete against other schools teams which would usually end in a fight. The boys would also learn about history and there civic duties as a man in the village as well as the boys working on their family’s lands. The girls also learned about history, but their main focus was on the jobs at home. The girls were taught how to cook, clean and look after the young. |
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The Aztecs are also well known for their advanced medicines
and said to be as good as the Spanish doctors (according to Spanish intruder’s journals). Medicines were also taught in schools, but only
to a select few. It was believed that if
you got sick, it was brought on by one of three causes, punishment from the
gods, an enemy using black magic against you or just of natural causes. When you
got really sick, the Ticill (Aztec doctor/shaman) would come and see you. Depending on what you were sick with would
determine how you were treated. Usually the
Ticill would rub a mixture of herbs, plant or roots onto the pained area to
relive it or make the patient inhale the plants fragrance or the smoke from a
burning plant. The Aztecs where able to
help with fever, colds, swelling, epilepsy and could set bones.
The most advanced medicine the Aztecs created was Antispasmodic, they found this in the Passion flower, it helped with relaxing the muscles during procedures and helped with insomnia, epilepsy and high blood pressure (still used today).
The most advanced medicine the Aztecs created was Antispasmodic, they found this in the Passion flower, it helped with relaxing the muscles during procedures and helped with insomnia, epilepsy and high blood pressure (still used today).
To the Aztecs, keeping track of time was a must. They believed in reoccurring events, so they
made two calendars. The first calendar
was dedicated to the sun god and consisted of 365 days, 18 months with 20 days
and an extra five days that were known as the unlucky days of the year. This calendar was for knowing when to plan
crops and predicting the weather, this calendar is most like our solar
one.
The second calendar was considered the sacred one. It had 260 days, 20 signs and 13 numbers;
each day was ruled by a different god. Every
52 years the two calendars would align, it was believed that on the day the
gods would send disaster down, to prevent this disaster they would perform the
fire ritual describes in the religious sacrifice page.
The calendar stone itself is very layered, not only was it the calendar that the Aztecs used, but it was also believed to be a sun dial. On the stone there is small holes dung into the stone, these best add up with some kind of sun dial device. The most interesting theory behind the stone though is that it was used at a sacrificial altar, relating the Aztec calendar straight to human sacrifice. |
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When the Spanish invaded the Aztec, they recorded some of the
inventions that they stumbled upon. Some
of these records say that there was a type of corn that when heated, would explode
into what looked like a white flower. This
is what we know to be popcorn, although it may not have been a true innovation of
the Aztecs, it was made popular by them.
Some of the Spanish men wrote about a popular spicy drink that the Aztecs
regularly had, Xocoatl the Aztecs called it, or as we would call it, spicy hot
chocolate. The Aztecs would put
chillies, water, coca and corn flower all together to make it, later on the
Spanish would bring sugar to the Aztecs, thus making the hot chocolate we enjoy
today. The Aztecs also had Canoes as their form of transportation (other then walking) this also provided fish to eat.