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Buried beneath what is now Mexico City, below the corridors and tunnels of the subway system, lie the ruins of the greatest city of the Aztec empire—Tenochtitlan (ten-och-tee-TLAN).
In 1325, after years of searching, the Aztecs chose a site in the middle of Lake Texcoco for their new capital. Within two centuries, this island in a swampy, shallow lake had become the center of an empire of over 5 million people that covered most of central and southern Mexico. By the early 1500s, Tenochtitlan was one of the world’s largest cities. More people lived there than in London or Paris at that time. How did a mighty empire rise from an island in a lake? What did its people believe? How long did the empire last, and why did it fall? Let’s unlock the mysteries of the Aztecs.
◀ Much of what we know about the Aztecs comes from glyphs, or picture drawings painted on a paperlike material made from strips of deerskin or tree bark. A group of glyphs is called a codex. This drawing shows a woman weaving. Today, historians use codices to learn about the religion, history, laws, customs, and daily life of the Aztecs.
In legend, the Aztecs’ first home was Aztlan, “Place of Reeds,” which was probably in northwest Mexico. The word “Aztec” comes from Aztlan. According to myth, the Aztecs left there in the 1100s to look for a new home and eventually reached the Valley of Mexico in central Mexico. This early drawing shows them leaving Aztlan. ▶
◀ The Aztecs wandered south until they saw an eagle atop a prickly pear cactus eating a snake. According to Aztec legend, this was a sign from the Sun god that they had finally found their home. Tenochtitlan means “Place of the Prickly Pear.”
◀ The Aztecs may have modeled their new capital city on Teotihuacan (tay-oh-tee-wa-CAN), a city east of the northern part of Lake Texcoco. Teotihuacan flourished between 1 C.E. and 750 C.E., when it had roads, many palaces, and two massive pyramid temples. Today, one is called the Pyramid of the Sun (shown here).
