The Aztecs - from the spear of the sun to broken spears

Excerpt from the book The Aztecs - From the Sun Spear to Broken Spears, series What? Know! Dvir Publishing House, 1996

Nahum Maged

First of all

In 1519, the Spaniards, led by Hernán Cortés, arrived in the city of Tenochtitlan, Mexico, the capital of the Aztec kingdom. This kingdom ruled over 371 tribes and kingdoms in the areas that are now in the United States, in Mexico and Guatemala. The Spaniards were appalled by the kingdom's wealth, order and abundance. Compared to Mexico, the cities of Spain and all of Europe looked like small towns, the Aztec capital was located in a lake, on the edge of
The lake was an impressive witness, and in the lake itself, on islands, partly artificial, lived large cities, each of which was larger than any Spanish city, these cities, which resembled the European Venice in the canals, the boats that were in every house, the public boats and the bridges - were divided into four areas and in the center were Temples built on huge pyramids, each pyramid was painted in many colors. There were cartoon characters on the walls
And next to the pyramids stood Pslimetz
There were also temples in each district and since each temple was dedicated to a different god, there were no shortage of holidays in the capital and the other big cities. Colorful markets were operating in the city centers throughout the week, where they sold the best of the country: works of art made of silver, gold, precious stones and feathers; Fruits that came from different regions, meat, fish, vegetables and medicinal herbs, slaves and maids. Bernal Dias del Castillo, a Spanish historian who accompanied
For Cortes' armies, he described them as follows:
Among us were soldiers who knew different places in the world, including Constantinople, Italian cities and Rome. They said that such a large square, such a bustle, such an abundance of groceries and such a number of people had never been seen anywhere else.

At the head of the kingdom stood a king who was considered a god. In the same year King Muktasuma II. According to the Spanish accounts, the king's cooks cooked over 300 different dishes for the king and his bodyguards served in 1,000 dishes and for the royal guard, they brought him fruits from all over the country on huge trays. The king, who was an ascetic by nature, ate a little of the food offered to him and most of it was burned. Near the palace there were: a zoo and an eagle house; Workshops where they made the decorations for the palace and temples from silver, gold, precious stones and feathers; Writing centers where they recorded in writing the movement of goods in the palace, the taxes paid, the subjects and kingdoms liable to tax and of course the history of the places, the gods and the rituals and celebrations. On the days of the holiday and when an evil spirit rested on the king, hundreds of dancers and singers entertained him, those dancers and singers also sang and danced in temples and markets, before or after the ball game dedicated to the god of death.
The king, who established the order of the kingdom in consultation with his advisers, was also the high priest of the two central gods. In this position he started the religious ceremonies on the important dates, ceremonies in which many people were sacrificed to the gods, he had at his disposal priests and soldiers who were loyal to him and the tribal tradition. The power of the kingdom was so great
Until the hundreds of peoples he conquered, including peoples who maintained limited independence and raised taxes on goods and slaves, did not dare to rebel. Everyone believed that the Aztecs were an invincible people, that their tribal god directed their path and protected them from all trouble and was the highest of all gods.
In light of the position of the Aztecs among the peoples of the continent, the fall of the kingdom raises many questions. The Mishikas, also by this name they called themselves, were a people that came from close by. They arrived in the Valley of Mexico only in 1299, their tribal memory starts from an earlier date, but still new in historical terms: 1168. In 1428, after many years of slavery, the Aztecs managed to free themselves from the yoke of foreigners - and in 1521 their kingdom fell, which did not exist for even a century. These facts raise questions: How did they become in such a short time from an unknown and enslaved tribe to an all-powerful kingdom ruling over so many nations?' And how could they not have the strength to defeat an enemy whose soldiers were so few? The Aztecs had tens of thousands of good soldiers, who knew the "art of war"
And the Spaniards numbered less than 400 soldiers.
Who were the Aztecs? What was the secret of their power? What was their faith? How did they rise and how did they fall? Their stories reveal a wonderful story, interwoven with faith that kept them moving forward; But in one historical hour, that belief itself caused their loss. Aztec history tells of a prince who invented the nation and built it in the mold of his spirit. This prince, Talaqalel, laid the religious, national and tribal foundation. He determined the form of government and the methods of education, he rewrote the history of his people, believing that only in this way could he capture them around a common memory and a common purpose. The founder of the tribe in his new form could not imagine that his people, who carry the spear to the sun and save the world as the shield of the sun, would after so few years direct the broken spears and the destruction of the kingdom and the people.