aztec journal noelle bui
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Aztec Journal ProjectTRANSCRIPT
Week 1: August 4-August 8
My people, the Tlaxcalans, have appointed me to undertake the responsibility of gathering
information about these abstruse and foreign Aztecs. It is my main objective this week to gather as much
information as I can about Aztec food and markets. This is what I have gathered so far:
The Aztecs are mostly vegetarian. The main crop that these people grow is corn. I have learned
the ways that the Aztecs make use of corn. I had been spying on a farmer’s family for four days, as well
as a nobleman. I wanted to see both sides of the social spectrum and how each of them treated
themselves. As I watched the farmer’s family, his wife had wrapped their corn in corn husks and ground it
with water for him and the children to drink. She repeated the same procedure except that she cooked the
husk on a comal to make tortillas. I had been sitting,
waiting for them to start the meal, but all of them had
gone out to carry out their responsibilities. I waited in
the hot, blistering sun for their arrival, but the family
did not come back until 10:00. I realized that the
Aztecs do not have breakfast. The wife and the
daughter had cooked porridge and laid out cups of
water for the rest of the family to have. After their
meal, the family had set out again. One of the little
children, a little boy, was walking my way, and I
quickly fled and hid behind a thicket of bushes, hidden from view. I studied the little boy’s movements.
He seemed to be looking for something, but I did not know what. Did he know I was there? The idea
seemed to frighten me, so I inched back further into the brush. There, in the corner of my eye, I saw an
iguana that was perched on top of a log. The boy crouched into position and pounced onto the iguana,
hands outstretched. He covered the iguana with his hands and ran back into the house. I finally gain back
the courage to remove myself from my current position and placed myself near the window of the house.
I see the boy bending over the creature, which seemed to be stabbed to death by a sharp rock. I cringed in
disgust. It was gruesome and revolting to see. I averted my eyes and decided to venture to the farms. I had
to go unnoticed, which was almost impossible since there was nothing to hide me. I was forced to observe
from afar. I believe to have seen beans, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, red peppers, and chilies. I also saw
guavas, apples, and cherries growing on different parts of the farm. I decided to leave the farm and go see
what the upper classes ate.
I entered the premises of a wealthy individual and settled myself near
his window near the dining area. I saw remnants of his past meal. There was a
cup of chocolate that I believed replaced the water that the local people often
drank. There, laid out for his midday meal was a tortilla with beans and
tamales with tomato sauce. I saw a shadow enter the room, and I immediately
removed myself from the window. I stretched my neck to see through the
window without being noticed as the nobleman walked into the room. He sat
down at the table and started his meal. He was outfitted with brocades and
fashionable cloth. It seemed as if he were to attend a special gathering of
some sort after this meal. He sprinkled what I believed was sage on his food,
as well as coriander. After his meal, he went over to a small bowl placed in
the middle of the table and picked out a piece of zictli, and started chewing it.
I decided to leave once he had left the room to attend his banquet.
I then came across a few children near a lake. They skimmed the lake and produced some sort of
algae. They started making cakes out of them and started eating them. They also caught insects and
grabbed water-fly eggs and worms. The sight of watching these children eat these disgusting creatures
revolted me even more. Since these people were mostly vegetarian, it was understandable at the time for
them to want some sort of protein.
It was nearing the evening and I decided to head back to the farmer’s house. The food laid out on
the table was a corn drink spiced with sage. I perceived this as their last meal, but it wasn’t even dinner. I
then realized that only the wealthy could receive dinner, for that nobleman set out to a banquet after
eating so little before. I shall conclude my information on Aztec food, for I have said sufficient.
Week 1: August 9-August 11
I spent the rest of the week studying the markets that take place regularly during the daily lives of
the Aztecs. The city that I spent my time in was called Texcoco. It is known for its finest clothes and
ceramics and it amazed me how organized these markets were. They were large outdoor business places
placed in a large square in front of the town’s temple. This market lasts for the whole week, and I was
glad because sometimes markets last for only five days before the next week comes. I had to walk around
to see what these people sold almost every day, so I decided to disguise myself as well as I could. I
walked around quickly enough to pass the guards that oversaw everything during this time. I quickly
glanced back when one of the guards shouted something. I was alarmed, for the guard was walking in my
direction. I quickly walked into the crowds to blend in, but it was to my relief that the guard was not after
me. He had stopped a man that was arguing with the owner of a clothing vendor and took him away to a
panel of judges that was standing by. I was now able to observe the different things that people sold.
There was food, animal skins, cloth, spices, dyes, building supplies, tools, medicine, and slaves. The
sellers were all grouped according to their wares. These
markets were not only for getting the supplies that you
needed. I saw many friends talk to each other about news and
other types of gossip. These people used a barter system, or
trading one kind of good for another. I passed by a certain
shop where a woman was trying to buy something, but the
shop owner refused her trade repeatedly. I looked closely at
what she was holding. Her cocoa beans were counterfeit. It
looked like they were made of wax. Guards came over and
took the woman away. I followed the guards and saw them
throw her beans on the ground and destroy them. I could not
understand what they were saying, but I understood enough
to know that she had to pay a fine for trying to give counterfeit items. Since this market was getting
hectic, I decided to depart from the area. I returned the next day only to find what I already know.
However, there was one aspect that I have to write down. I saw a few suspicious figures that I believed
were the Pochtecas. I knew that they were not only merchants inside the market system, but they also
venture to distant parts of this land bartering different items to bring back to for sale at the marketplace. I
had seen a few bring these exotic items to the nobles for them to buy to show their upper class status from
the commoners. I was quite uneasy, for the land where I come from warns us about how the Pochtecas
were spies and messengers. I had decided to avoid the Pochtecas, for I knew if they had spotted me, I
would be in a lot of trouble. I now conclude my three days studying Aztec markets.
Week 2: August 12-15
What I was most intrigued about the Aztecs was how they dealt with crime and punishment and
what were their warfare tactics. I decided to focus on their crime and punishment system for three days.
As I already knew, their laws were based on religious beliefs. Judges governed marriage, business,
family, and personal behavior. I encountered one significant event on my first day investigating and came
across the local court’s senior warriors choosing the fate of a man who had committed a crime. I knew it
was his first offence, for he seemed frightened and confused. I had caught a few words and came to the
conclusion that the judges had given him a lighter punishment. They said to him that his punishment was
that his house was going to be demolished. It is to my understanding that crime was considered to be fate,
or inevitable, so it was not a horrible thing to commit, and that it was all part of the gods’ plans. Only if
the crime was serious would the person go to court with elected judges. I had been
given the chance to witness a court session. The man had committed numerous crimes
and the judges were dealing out his fate. He had repeatedly stole items from houses
and was publicly drunk numerous times. He was sentenced to death the next day. It
confused me when they said that being publicly drunk was a crime, but it did not
apply to the people that were at least 70 years old. I came to think that people at the
age of 70 could become besotted if they gave children and grandchildren.
I had come the next day to see what has become of the man. He was confined
in a cage to await his death. It was told to me that criminals could be drowned or
skinned alive. I did not want to see what punishment was given to the man and
decided to leave. No criminals were used for sacrifice because they might displease
the gods. I had to gain more information about crime and punishment, so I decided to
see what other fates awaited for those who were disloyal. I had come across a commotion that was going
on near the swampy lowlands. I had come just in time to see the punishment for a cowardly warrior and a
disloyal wife. They were both to be put to death by drowning in the swamp. I heard the judge say to them
that they had lost their right to be buried or cremated. This to me was the lowest possible disgrace for the
Aztec people as well as the two people and their families. I watched as they slowly walked towards their
death and watched as their bodies were engulfed by the water until I could see them no more.
I had seen the punishments of both commoners and warriors, but I wondered whether or not the
nobles were given any punishments. It was to my pleasure that I had experienced such a case where a
noble had committed a crime. When he had committed the crime of stealing, he was tried by professional
judges in the king’s palace. He was punished harshly and he was sent for death
penalty. Nobles were supposed to set an example for the commoners, and for one to
commit a crime was a disgrace.
I had come across slavery and the exile of two people as punishments.
Slavery was a common way to pay back what was owed. I did not know what the
case was for the two people who were exiled, but for someone to be exiled from the
city must have committed a crime too large for the local court and too small for the
professional. I had come across many events in the course of three days, and I am
satisfied with what I had gained from the Aztecs and their way of dealing with
criminals.
Week 2: August 16-August 20
The Aztecs seemed fierce and merciless for they wanted to
show their superiority of their way of life and gods. The seemed to
have conquered a lot of the land, thankfully not mine so far. They
have extended their empire and gained wealth, power, and were
able to spread their religion. They found prisoners that they used
for religious sacrifices. I wanted to see how they trained their
menacing and ruthless warriors. At the age of 12, boys entered
warfare training. By the age of 17, these boys were required to
fight for five years without pay. This fighting allowed the warriors
to gain or move up ranks. They started out with simple clothes: a
wood or leather shield and a club or a spear. I have seen these
young boys go out to war and only a few of them come back. The more experience warriors are the ones
that come back victorious. The ones who are victorious and are at a beginners level move up ranks if they
capture a prisoner. Once they move up a rank, they also gain a different type of clothing to show their
superiority. The warriors now wear a feathered suit to show others that they have moved up a rank.
I knew that these warriors would not stop there. They wanted to fight for the land and gain their
own nobility and recognition. These warriors continued to capture prisoners and fight. As they move up
their ranks, they gain more colorful, decorated uniforms. The highest and especially brave warriors were
awarded a uniform that looked like a jaguar or eagle. I decided to accompany these warriors on one of
their conquests, but from a very long distance. I tried to stay hidden as well as I could. I hoped that they
would not attack my fellow Tlaxcalans, and I was relieved when they headed west. I had followed the
Aztec warriors to their next victim. They all crouched into position, hidden and unknown to the enemy.
They sprang out and screamed their battle cries. I heard the banging of drums and saw the warriors run
into the territory of their opponents. The start of a war began and ensued for a long time. I stayed hidden,
but I knew I could not stay in an area for too long for I knew someone would find me. As I ran to a
different safe zone, I saw the first wave of spears thrown into the air. The cries of men injured rang in my
ears as I ran into the jungle. I watched and observed from afar as the soldiers with clubs and shields ran
forth. The men engaged in hand-to-hand combat and none of them dared retreat. The warriors dragged
injured prisoners away while others were still fighting. I had noticed that these warriors tried to not kill
their opponent, but rather tried to capture
them to become prisoners or victims of
sacrifice. The warriors did not stop there.
They ran forth deeper into the premises
of the enemy, holding fire lit torches.
They started throwing the torches at the
temples of the city, burning them to the
ground. The Aztecs had entered the
palace of the ruler. I did not see the rest
for I fled because the warriors were
coming back into the jungle. They had won in the course of almost two days. The tribe was not big, but it
was still a very quick battle. It was another day’s worth of travelling to return back to the city. The army
had lost very few men, but they replaced those men with the prisoners that they had captured. It was a
gruesome discovery that I had experienced, but now I know what tactics these warriors use to win the
battles that they face.
Week 3: August 21-24
It always occurred to me what the Aztecs did if they had any time off from their responsibilities. I
decided to focus on learning about the Aztec’s idea of recreation. During the little time they had off, the
commoners would play music, ball games, and board games. They made music using flutes, drums, and
their voices. I enjoyed listening to their music, for it was very different from ours. What I found very odd
was that singers who sang for nobles were not supposed to sing off key or make mistakes, or they would
be punished or put to death. These musicians would play at markets,
religious ceremonies, or celebrations. Men and sometimes boys would
play ullamaliztli, or tlachtli. I had to watch from a distance, but I could
describe the court and the game. The court was long and narrow, divided
lengthwise, and enclosed with walls that were eleven feet high. There
was a small ring projected on the court walls. The men scored by putting
the rubber balls through the rings only using their knees, thighs, or
buttocks. There were hundreds of spectators that gathered to watch
games. The often risked clothes, feathers, and gold betting on which
team would win. Sometimes some people lost their wealth by betting and
were forced to sell themselves into slavery. I believe that tlachtli also had
religious meanings. I noticed that this ball court was placed near the most important temples. I came to
the conclusion that the tlachtli court represented the world and the ball represented a heavenly body.
Children and adults also passed their time playing board games. Their board games consisted of
mat designs drawn in rubber and beans used for markers and dice. Players would move their pieces off
the board based on the throws of the beans or stones. These people often placed bets for the outcome of
the game. They bet precious metals and stones, plants, or even themselves. This game was called patolli.
It was a cross-shaped board divided into 52 squares. The board symbolized the sacred 260 days calendar.
This game was often played by the commoners and by the nobles. Anything that tested skill and
endurance was popular amongst the Aztecs. Nobles also enjoyed going on hunts. The children played
with bows and arrows, marbles and stones. For the adults, dances
and ritual battles were often considered a form of entertainment. I
was fascinated at how skilled and talented the Aztecs were. I also
was intrigued by the fact that they would bet so much of their wealth
over a game. This just shows how much recreational games are
important spiritually to these people.
Week 3: August 25-August 29
The Aztecs were known for their beliefs of sacrificing humans to the gods. I wanted to see how
this process worked and what they really did to the victims of sacrifice. The Aztecs were known as the
“people of the Sun.” They are known as this because the Aztecs believed that the gods threw themselves
into the sun to fuel it. Hence that belief, they also
believed that the sun needed precious water to help
it stay alive. That precious water is blood. I have
witnessed countless sacrifices of not only people,
but animals as well. They dress the person being
sacrificed as a representation of the god they are
sacrificing to. I have seen prisoners or slaves be
sacrificed, but there was no obvious hatred that
went towards the priest, for they believed that they
would become one of the gods’ messengers. Only
some rituals included sacrifices, otherwise the king
or the priests would pierce their skin with cactus
needles and offer their own blood to the gods. The
sacrifices were brutal, but I was forced to watch to
see what the priests did to the victim. There were heart-extractions, which were viewed as means of
liberating the sun’s heat and reuniting it with the Sun.
The sacrifice depended on the type of god being worshipped. I have seen sacrificial victims be
beheaded, drowned, given a pain-killing drug and burned, shot with arrows, and skinned alive. Once any
of these things have been done, the priests sometimes cannibalized the victim. This process was taken to
the top of the temple. The Templo Mayor was located in the middle of Tenochtitlan. This temple was
where all the sacrifices took place and was dedicated to the two most important gods, Huitzilopochtli and
Tlaloc. Usually what would happen was that the victim would be placed on a stone slab. Four priests
would hold his or her arms and legs while the fifth priest would slice their abdomen open with a
ceremonial knife. The heart was ripped out and was offered the god. The heart was placed in a vessel
called a Choc Mool that was dedicated to Tlaloc, the god of rain and fertility.
It was gruesome and uncanny as the priests placed the
bleeding head on display in the skull rack. There were
thousands of skulls displayed, and the sight of them sent
chills down my spine. There were hundreds, perhaps
thousands of skulls that were displayed on the rack. Tribes
have been frightened because of these many skulls, and I
think this was the purpose of them. The Aztecs also wanted to
intimidate their opponents with these victims. Surely the
consolidation and power, not to mention wealth, was in mind
as the leaders continued to promote the practice. All of these
victims have been sacrificed in the course of four days. In
addition, certain youths and maidens were chosen to represent
specific gods and goddesses. These people were treated with
great care and tenderness throughout the year before their
execution. This was an experience I will not forget, for now I know about the ritual of sacrifice for the
Aztec people.
Week 4: August 30-October 3
After learning about the rituals of sacrifice of the Aztecs, I decided to learn about the social
classes. I learned that people belonged to one of seven classes. The
highest class, of course, is the ruler, his family, and nobles. They
owned the empire and were made responsible for government choices.
Nobles had many other privileges. They generally received a fuller
education, and they were allowed to wear fancier clothes and decorate
their houses. Below this class were the priests. These were the most
educated people and trained other priests and rulers. They were also
responsible for rituals such as sacrifices. Below the priests were the
warriors. It makes perfect sense to me that these warriors would gain
such a high rank, for they are the main reason why the Aztec empire
expands for many miles. They also carried out orders. What is
interesting is that most of these warriors started out as one of the lower
class, but they slowly gained power and rank. The next class was the
tradesmen and craftsmen. Tradesmen sold and bought goods to help
their rulers gain riches. Craftsmen made jewels, built homes, and
quarried stone.
The lower class made up most of the Aztec population. The
lower class consisted of mostly peasants. They worked on farms, but
they had ownership of their land, but all of it belonged to the king.
These peasants could also vote for their local ruler.
On the bottom of the social pyramid are the slaves. The slaves were either prisoners of war,
people would owed money, or criminals. They were not treated poorly, to my surprise. They could earn
money to get their own slaves, or even buy their own freedom. Men
slaves could marry free women and the children whose parents were
slaves did not become slaves themselves. I believe this is because
children being born were needed in the Aztec society. They wanted
more warriors and laborers. Merchants were a privilege class. They had
the ability to travel and deal in valuable objects. They had a certain
amount of freedom that many Aztecs did not have.
Except for the nobility, the people of this society are quite poor.
They lived in adobe homes, made of much bricks. Most of the day I see
the commoners working for hours and hours, only having a few minutes
of free time to spend with their families and friends. The nobles attend
special banquets or gatherings, and the only event that they take part in
with the king was that they were allowed to hold important government
offices. However, not all of the nobles received positions of authority.
Some were craftsmen, or even palace servants that served with
distinction to move up ranks.
Week 4: October 4-October 7
This is my last week before the month ends. I have decided to learn about one more aspect of
Aztec life. I wanted to learn about their education system. I have learned that there are two types of
schools: the calmecac and the telpochcalli. The calmecacs, or monasteries, were run by priests for the
sons of nobles. The telpochcallis were for the sons of peasants and merchants. They were trained to be
good warriors and citizens. The calmecacs taught boys to be high priests or rulers. I have spied on their
classes and have seen the following being taught to these boys:
They are being taught warfare, singing, dancing, religion, citizenship, mathematics, law, writing,
astronomy, and medicine. Some boys were punished if they were not following orders or if they did not
do something right. Their punishment was that they would have their heads shaved or they would be
pierced with a cactus needle. Sometimes I see the boys fasting and getting up in the middle of the night to
pray. Sometimes they would dig ditches and clean floors. All of this I believed was to teach them
discipline.
The telpochcalli taught boys about warfare and how to participate in ceremonies and obeying
rules. Once these boys left their school, they were taught by their fathers. The fathers taught them about
their own skill. For example, I followed one boy home to his household where his father, a painter, had
taught him the basics of art and how to create it. Girls learned to weave, cook, and clean. All genders
were given an education, but males were given a wider variety. Their punishments at home were them
being held over a fire of burning chilies.
Females were mostly taught at home. They start spinning thread at the age of four and cooking at
twelve. The schooling for girls was a basic training for marriage, except the girls from a noble family
spent a year at the age of twelve or thirteen helping in the temples. Some of these girls became
priestesses. There are some temples with priestesses with their own schools, but I do not know of their
actual place in the hierarchy.
This concludes my information on the Aztecs. I
have covered most of the aspects of Aztec daily life, and I
hope that my people are satisfied with the information I
have gathered for them.