The Aztecs are descended from a tribe known as the Toltecs

type="text/javascript">of the sun, Huitzilopochtli, had led them to the
The Aztecs, who developed a great but shortisland, where they saw an eagle with a serpent in
lived civilization in central Mexico, are descendedits beak. The eagle told them to build temples in
from a warlike tribe known as the Toltecs. In thethis place and nourish the sun with the sacrifice of
tenth century A.D., the Toltecs built a great cityhumans. The picture of the eagle with the serpent
called Tula to the north of what is now Mexicoin its beak is shown on the Mexican flag today.
City. But only two and a half centuries later, in theTenochtitlan, which translates as “place
middle of the 12th century, the Toltecs wereof the stone cactus,” became the Aztec
conquered by a nomadic tribe called thecapital, and by the 1400s, it had become a grand,
Chichimeca. The Toltecs dispersed in all directions,thriving city, thanks to its people’s
leaving a legacy of legends and religious traditionsadvanced engineering projects and great military
that would become important elements of Aztecstrength. Like the Mayas, the Aztecs used their
culture. According to the Aztecs, their originalintelligence and skill to build causeways and
homeland was an island in a lake called Aztlan,roadways. They found it necessary to construct
which means “White Land.”causeways to connect their island city to the
Researchers are not exactly sure where Aztlanmainland. In addition, they dug canals and
was, or even whether it actually existed. Theaqueducts to transport freight and people. To
word may simply refer to a general areasecure their place in the region and expand their
northwest of present day Mexico City. It mayempire, Aztec rulers waged war and created
have been as close as sixty miles to Mexico City,alliances with other tribes in the region.Like the
or it may have been as distant from Mexico CityMayas, the Aztecs built religious temples in the
as the states of Arizona and New Mexico. By theform of pyramids throughout their capital. The
time the Spanish arrived in the 1500s, the Aztecsmost notable was the Great Temple, a huge
had become rulers of a vast empire. However,structure embellished with twin stone staircases
that empire began humbly, when a smallside by side. On top of the Great Temple were
wandering tribe took refuge from hostileshrines to two powerful gods: Huitzilopochtli, and
neighbors on a swampy island near the westernTlaloc , the god of rain. It was at the shrine to
shore of Lake Texcoco in the Valley of Mexico. InTlaloc that human sacrifices were made. Smaller
1325 A.D., the Aztecs founded the city oftemples discovered near the Great Temple
Tenochtitlan on this island in the middle of theincluded one with a platform made up of more
lake, not far from the current site of Mexico City.than 200 skulls.
Legends say that their tribal war god and symbol