The Aztec are a Nahuatl-speaking people who in the 15th and early 16th centuries ruled a large empire in what is now central and southern Mexico. The ninth emperor, Montezuma II, was taken prisoner by Hernan Cortes and died in custody.
In just a century, the Aztec built an empire in the area now called central Mexico. The arrival of the Spanish conquistadors brought it to a sudden end.
With the help of other local groups who no longer wanted to be ruled by the Aztec, the Spanish conquered Tenochtitlan in 1521, ending the Aztec Empire. However, many Aztec descendants still...
In 1810, he used the name “Aztecs” to describe the powerful Mesoamerican people who had built a vast empire in Mexico and who encountered the Spaniards in 1519. He adapted the name Aztec from the Nahua word Aztlan, which referred to their mythical homeland.
They were a civilization with a rich cultural heritage whose capital, Tenochtitlan, rivaled the greatest cities of Europe in size and grandeur. The nucleus of the Aztec Empire was the Valley of Mexico, where the capital of the Aztec Triple Alliance was built upon raised islets in Lake Texcoco.
Los Angeles Times: Art review: ‘The Aztec Pantheon and the Art of Empire’ @ Getty Villa
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts. ‘The Aztec Pantheon and the Art of Empire’ is a show of modest size but ...
Art review: ‘The Aztec Pantheon and the Art of Empire’ @ Getty Villa
The Aztec Empire once hosted an expansive trade network that brought volcanic glass to its capital from right across Mesoamerica, coast to coast. The largest compositional study of obsidian artifacts ...