# data[].attributes.body
Tenochtitlan: The founding of the city was viewed as a great model of cosmological order. The city is split into four sections and in the middle the Aztec god Huitzilopochtli. The image of the giant eagle landing on a blooming cactus growing from a rock in the Lake Texcoco. In the Codex Mendoza -- A mix of mythological and historical imagery.

# data[].attributes.body
The border has temporal signs, this frame this frames the city. The border also contains calendar symbols. These symbols continue counterclockwise, mixing thirteen numbers, presented as dots. the frame also presents four-year signs -- House, Rabbit, Reed, and Flint knife -- and ends at the top with the year sign " 13 reed." The Aztec society and their way of life were also depicted by a framed by intermeshing calendar systems. The cross dividing the city is most likely believed to represent canals of Lake Texcoco. In the four quadrants, there is vegetation and human symbols. These symbols may seem simple but in the upper quadrant of the image, there is an important building dedicated to the patron god Huitzilopochtli (Depicted as a hummingbird). This building is also believed to depict the Tecpan, noble houses. This structure became a part of Aztec ceremonial life. The symbol of the great image of the temple of Huitzilopochtli can also be interpreted by the blooming cactus, the rock. The central cluster combines a sacred center representing war, ceremonial structures, and rulership. The importance of the special numbers also come into play in these images. There are ten men only nine of those men wear white tilmatli wrapped around there bodies and are seated on bundles of green reeds, these men are likely warriors. These nine men are reminiscent of the nine lords of the night who accompany many many cosmic images. the tenth man is the most prominent leader. Distinguished by blue speech glyph in front of his mouth, most likely signifying he is the speaker. He also sits on a mat to signify he is the lord of the mat. He is the authority.

# data[].attributes.body
These signs surround a huge center image that shows an eagle with extended wings perched on a blooming prickly cactus that grows from a rock. This image is known as "Tenoch". The four quadrants represent these became to represent the four who became an important governmental group in the history of the community. in this entire image the eagle represents the sun, the god of Huitzilopochtli. The posture and location on the cactus signify the arrival of the Aztecs, led by the god of war, into this valley of Mexico. Below this is the Aztec war shield with seven eagles down feathers and six spears attached. this image of feathers and arrows is a symbol of war. When the circular down balls are added this becomes a symbol of sacred conquest. The city of Tenochtitlan was founded by warfare, by the war god, and the warrior.

# data[].attributes.headline
Huitzilopochtli: God of the Sun and War 

# data[].attributes.subject
Huitzilopochtli: God of the Sun and War 

# data[].attributes.body
The most celebrated of the Aztec deities. He is the god of the sun and of war. Huitzilopochtli was first known as a minor hunting god to the Nahuatl speaking Mexica people. Huitzilopochtli would often be referred to as "the portentous one" because he led the Aztecs to Lake Texcoco in the valley of Mexico. He sent an eagle to perch on a nopal (cactus) as a sign for the Mexica people to settle on Lake Texcoco. This would become their capital city Tenochtitlan. When the Mexicas power, as well as their status, grew, the importance of Huitzilopochtli grew as well. Huitzilopochtli became the premier god of all the Aztec-held lands. He became the spiritual force of the state and his new attributions became intertwined with the Mexica history as well as their destiny.

# data[].attributes.body
With the importance of Huitzilopochtli growing, he overshadowed more traditional gods like Tonatiuh. With the amount of importance, Huitzilopochtli has he demanded sacrifice. Blood that gave life, as well as the hearts of humans, must be given to sustain the sun and its journey. The sun needed this sacrifice to guide it through the sky from dawn to dusk as well as the underworld at night. He was also the patron of the warrior class, Huitzilopochtli ordered them through the eagle and jaguar knights. Being a god that sponsored war and the success of the Aztec military, he supported and encouraged the tribute system, that led to the Aztec nobles to the love for elite luxury goods.

# data[].attributes.body
The Templo Mayor was at the heart of Tenochtitlan. This great temple was where they worshiped Huitzilopochtli alongside Tlaloc, the god of rain and as a result the god of agriculture. Templo Mayor was the largest temple the Aztecs had and with both Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc given the most honor. They were the backbone of the Aztec empire (wars and agriculture). With Huitzilopochtli being one of the most praised deities it is strange that the image of the god is mostly unknown. Few paintings and sculptures still exist. The paintings of him in the pictorial codices is varied. Even though Huitzilopochtli shared twin shrines alongside Tlaloc, he is corporally absent from its ruins. No idol is known to have come from Huitzilopochtli's temple has been found. When the Spanish arrived in the Aztec Empire their descriptions of the sun god varied. There was no one image of Huitzilopochtli reserved. When the Spanish searched for an image to add to the record of the voyage, all the images were inadequate.

# data[].attributes.body
Huitzilopochtli's image differed based in the context he was being described in. He could have been described as the patron of the monthly feast of Panquetzaliztli, the patron who directs the Mexica migration from Aztlan to Tenochtitlan, or as the principal Aztec god. Huitzilopochtli is represented throughout the record of the Aztec culture. after the Spanish conquest, Huitzilopochtli's image took another turn. The Spanish saw him as a pagan god or a diabolical idol. The Spanish translated Nahuatl concept of teotl as "god", "saint" or even "demon", but the more accurate translation is closer related to the Polynesian idea of mana. This would mean that teotl actually means a sacred and impersonal force also to be interpreted as a great concentration of power. Huitzilopochtli can be characterized by his headdress:

Crest of white feathers topped with long luminous green quetzal feathers

Gold colored fillet over his bow

The head of a hummingbird attached at the back of the head

HIs Face:

Has yellow and blue striped face paint, yellow strips on blue ground

Starboarded eye mask

A nose rod, an ear ornament

Body:

Blue or blue striped body paint

A device of blue and green feathers

A back device of the fire serpent ( Xiuhcoatl)

A shield with clusters or a shield of turquoise mosaic

3-4 spears or arrows carried with the shield

Never are all these elements found together on the same image. Usually, a group of these several elements is needed to be able to identify Huitzilopochtli. The hummingbird is of great importance to identify the god. The hummingbird may not always be present in these images but when it is present it refers to specifically to the god.

# data[].attributes.body
Huitzilopochtli was early carved into stone. The Aztecs Reserved the stone carving for the water god Tlaloc and the fertility goddesses Chalchihuitlicue and Chicomecoatl. These gods are common in the Aztec art. The idols of Huitzilopochtli were crafted of luxury materials opposite many effigies were created from perishable materials with the knowledge they would be replaced periodically. More of the permanent figures were destroyed by the conquest. The only remaining idol of Huitzilopochtli is a small and compact jadeite figure that is now located in the Musse de I'Homme in Paris.

# data[].attributes.body
The Templo Mayor that housed the worship of both Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc, is known to have stood in the east and being oriented toward the west. Four axial rods leading east, north, west, and south, pointed an focused to the four quarters of the city. These directions were significant especially in the time when Huitzilopochtli led the Aztecs from Aztlan to Tenochtitlan. In the myth, the great Chichimec conqueror solemnized his newly won possession of land. He did this by dispatching four arrows from the mountaintop, one for each of the four directions. The Aztecs viewed the universe to have five directions: the center (where Xolotl's archer stood) and the four cardinal directions. Each arrow fired by the Chechemec carried a message of a new possession. The north was defined as his right hand and south as the left hand. the four directions represented explicitly the sun god himself. The position of the Templo Mayor was not random and was implicitly that way for the men who knew the significance and the way to read the directions. Each of these five directions and a special name and color with their corresponding associated symbol.

# data[].attributes.body
Their music was a very important part of their life. Each God came with a chapel with composers that would dance and sing to please them. They had a different genre of music like the antares which was more for religious ritual. For the instruments that they had were drums, rattles, flutes, horns, and flutes. Some of the drums that they used were called ayotl which was made from a turtle shell and another drum that they used was called teponaztli that was a horizontal drum played with mallets. The rattles would be filled with beads or pebbles. The flutes that they had were called huliacapitztli. A conch was called a tecciztli and a snail horn is called quihquiztli. With their music, they also did a lot of traditional dances with special outfits. They would sometimes dress up as aminals because they thought that they would get more energy and force from dressing up like animals. They wore a lot of feathers and bright colors since it was very important for the warriors. Many dancers were trained at a very early age.

# data[].attributes.body
The language that the Aztec used to communicate was called Nahualt and it only lasted from 1300's until the 1500's. There are some words that originated from this language like chili, cholate, and avocado. This was a language of trade and prestige. This language is now considered a dialect in Mexico. Their language was very complex and mainly designed to be spoken than reading. Their writing was more of pictures and symbols for their alphabet and vocabulary. Many of the records and stories that were used were called codices. Codices had various ways to display the language like logograms were used for words and sounds.

# data[].attributes.body
Human and animal sacrifice was very important to the Aztec since they thought that they owed a blood debt to the gods. They had an 18 month in one cycle and every month for those 18 months there was a ritual sacrifice. They would throw the body down the stairs of a temple or pyramid. There were some cannibalism but its uncertain. Some warriors were involved in war ritual called xochiyaoyotl which was a flower war.

# data[].attributes.body
Tattoos for the Aztec were very symbolical for their gods since it showed devotion to them and it also showed how they adored their body. The popular tattoos were of the sun but there were different ones like eagles, calendars, day symbols, and warriors. Since they did have different type of tribes the tattoos would also help distinguish which tribe they came from tribes. Tattoos also showed the rank of the warriors in the tribe so who was the chief etc..
The sun was very important to the Aztec since it was

# data[].attributes.body
From De Young Museum

# data[].attributes.body
Carrasco, Davíd. City of sacrifice: the Aztec empire and the role of violence in civilization. Beacon Press.

Boone, Elizabeth Hill. Incarnations of the Aztec supernatural: the image of Huitzilopochtli in Mexico and Europe. The American philosophical Society, 1989.

Brundage, Burr Cartwright., and Roy E. Anderson. The fifth sun: Aztec gods, Aztec world. Univ. of Texas Press, 1988.

“Ancient Aztec clothing.” Aztec History, www.aztec-history.com/ancient-aztec-clothing.html.

The Conquest of Mexico | AHA, www.historians.org/teaching-and-learning/teaching-resources-for-historians/teaching-and-learning-in-the-digital-age/the-history-of-the-americas/the-conquest-of-mexico.

“Aztec Sacrifice.” Aztec History, www.aztec-history.com/aztec-sacrifice.html.

"Aztec History" Aztec Indians, http://www.aztec-indians.com/aztec-language.html.

"Aztec Languages" Go to Legends and Chronicles, http://www.legendsandchronicles.com/ancient-civilizations/the-ancient-aztecs/aztec-languages/