#(for context she's the mother of Quetzalcoatl which was the main god and chosen king)

[lyxthen-reblogs]

This is not about the aztecs, but I'd like to add that the olmecs (a much older civilization) had these very anatomically precise sculptures:

Like, these are extremely old and worn down (the first one is a reconstruction) but just look at him!!! Look at the shape of his back and his arms and his feet!! The life it has!!! The way it captures movement!!!

And look at this little guy! Even with his cartoonist proportions, I love how "alive" his face looks, like a character out of a pixar movie, if that makes sense.

The mayan numeral system (I actually learned this one in school, at least when I grew up it came in the math textbooks here in Mexico)

And about the calendar and tracking time:

Mayan writing, and more calendar things

And more mayan art:

Tumblr won't let me add more images but you get the picture.

Also *please* read on Nahuatl/Aztec poetry if you have the time. Most of the resources about it are in Spanish but I swear, it is really, really interesting! The Europeans were really surprised that these "Savage Peoples™" as they called them had (and have) poets. Nahuatl is a wonderful language so if you are into that kind of thing I really encourage you give it a check.

And remember that this territory is full of distinct cultures, and while I de-railed the conversation to talk about civilizations that were not the aztecs, you have to understand that I am just happy to talk about the rich history of mesoamerica with people. I am always surprised when I see threads on my dash and people talk about not knowing about this sort of thing.

Painting the aztecs as particularly bloody and war-like in contrast to European civilizations is a tactic employed for fascists to this day, to justify the colonization of this land (as though the aztecs were the only people they fucked over, but whatever). They really were not. They were an empire, with all that entails, yes, but so were the Spanish, and this rethoric is to justify literal genocide. The Romans were also very war-like, but you don't see people calling them savages, some even idolize them for it.

And Aztecs had public baths. They had a public education system (for real! it was heavily segregated by class and gender, but even peasant children could go to school). They had complex irrigation and agricultural systems used in the country to this day. And they went to war and they had taxes and slavery complex politics and the ruling class killed a guy ritually once in a while (it was not as often as you may have pictured). So a lot like the Romans, I guess, yeah. But the Romans are the "peak of civilization we should strive to" and aztecs are "Savage" and "deserved what they got"

Sorry for the long rant. I hope you liked the pictures of the book I found in the school library the other day. Mesmerising stuff.

Nobody ever talks about how the Norse did human sacrifice. They just kinda jump over that part. Ignore it, mostly.

They don’t do that for the Aztecs though.

It’s kinda a weird case study I think in how xenophobia and racism shapes the way we talk about things. The Norse and the Aztecs were fairly similar in their violence and their complexity. Both mostly had their stories and practices written down by Catholics after the fact. Both are characterized as generally brutish and war hungry. But we only really focus in on the human sacrifice with the Aztecs.

So look at the whole picture for a minute. The Aztecs had a widely practiced state religion, philosophers, a complex class system. The Norse practiced human sacrifice. My ancestors, the ancient Scandinavians, practiced human sacrifice. There is archeological and textual evidence for this.

It’s kinda stupid to reduce the Aztecs solely down to their intimidation tactics and bloody religious rituals. Those should be part of the conversation, yes, but that’s not all they have to offer. In the same vein, we can’t just gloss over the uncomfortable parts of some older civilizations just because they’re white.

Go read up on the Aztecs a bit outside of their religion. I really like their architecture and weird calendar especially.