Location

• Arid Valley in Central Mexico

Important Cities

• Tenochtitlan – Capital– Island City in Lake Texcoco

Government

• Ruled by an emperor with absolute power

• Indirect rule (trade and tribute held empire together)

Government (continued)

• Empire built by the conquest of fierce warriors

• Conquest provided prisoners and slaves for religious sacrifices

• Right of slaves to buy freedom

Economy

• Based on agriculture (beans, squash, tomatoes, and peppers)

• Chinampa farming (practice of draining swamps and building up fields in shallow lake beds)

Religion

• Polytheism• Chief god, the sun god• Priests, a special social class

– Recorded knowledge and ran schools– Served as astronomers and

mathematicians

Religion (continued)

• Ceremonies performed daily• Based on warfare• Pyramids• Frequent sacrifices

Achievements

• Causeways• Aqueducts• Canals• Dams