For Rawad.

Codex Final Project

Worldview Icon 1:
  Beliefs:
The image above represents the killing of a traitor, and then the sun/sun god evaporating and absorbing the blood. The heart is later eaten by a god or an emperor, they believed this was necessary to feed the gods and keep them healthy.
Traitors had to be killed as they often knew things the nobles & higher try to keep away from society. Aztecs believed they should be used for good-- as a sacrifice. They believed this as the nobles and those higher in society told them it would help Tenochtitlan to develop, and for their society to become greater.
They believed that the world would end or have a large influx of chaos come towards their society/societies if they do not feed the gods or sacrifice towards them.
Worldview Icon 2:
   Geography:
This illustration signifies the eagle perched on top of the cactus with a snake in its mouth. Huitzilopochtli, the god of sun and war, lead them towards this. He said whenever they found this, this would be their new city. They travelled from Peru to the middle, desert Mexicas all by foot. This also relates to the quote “Geography is destiny,” and how the gods created their destiny This might have convinced the followers of the gods-- the entire Aztec race.
They were surrounded by mountains which helped them feel safe, and this aided some of the gods who said they created the mountains to protect them.
They had salty water, however, later, Aztec engineers created aqueducts to filter out the salt and fulfill the thirst of the Aztec society, however, this also conflicted with the Rain god, as he believed he should judge who is worthy of drinking water and living, whereas, Aztec society believed that was Huitzilopochtli’s choice.

Worldview Icon 3:
   Values:
They valued what they thought the gods had given/blessed them with.
They also valued cocoa and chocolate. They believe that the Aztec god, Quetzalcoatl,  created cocoa beans, and before they had gold, they used chocolate as currency, but only for a short while, until they got gold.
They valued all the things the gods contributed towards them, but they believed in Huitzilopochtli the most.



Worldview Icon 4:
  Economy:
Although the slavery trading system was inhumane, it was also effective. They used slaves to purchase items, and slaves were on demand.
Aztecs were semi-isolated for the time they lasted, however, eventually, they realized they should get resources from other societies/countries.
Aztecs valued gold the most. Although they traded violently, and made bad deals, they still got what they wanted in the end. After the cocoa era, they valued gold more than anything else. They were also partially capitalist, and invented one of the first mainstream currencies worldwide-- gold.

Worldview Icon 5:
   Society:
In this society, it’s different from other hierarchical structures. Slaves and Peasants could actually move up the ladder, and they would be able to become nobles and higher. You just needed to participate in war, which everyone was signed up for at birth, and people were forced into war a lot of the time.
Aztecs were semi-capitalist, as some businesses kept their gold and for profit, it does not benefit the government or society, it only aids them, however, later, they donated to the gods in fear that they would unleash their wrath and their chaos upon them.
The Spanish attempted to assimilate the Aztecs and change their society permanently so that it is more strict and so it’s harder/impossible to move up the hierarchical structure.

Worldview Icon 6:
  Knowledge:

Worldview Icon 7:
   Time: