Aztecs

22 Pages 5471 Words

titlán. The traditional founding date of Tenochtitlán is 1325; the quest for the sacred site on which to found Tenochtitlán is relayed to us by an Aztec myth, ...[its] beginning is found in ancient times, when a humble tribe was banished-- by the original Aztecs (Castillo 1908)-- from a mysterious homeland it called Aztlán(place of the herons) or Chicomoztoc(place of the seven caves). During the long exile the Mexicas wandered among hostile strangers while anxiously searching for the divine sign, whose presence, prophesied by their god, would mark their arrival in the promised land. The tale continues with the discovery of the omen and the subsequent founding of Mexico-Tenochtitlán on the sacred site. (León-Portilla 1992) By the fifteenth century Tenochtitlán had become the center of the Aztec world-- the center of Aztec growth, conquest, and expansion. As early as the sixteenth century Tenochtitlán dominated all other cities in the Central Valley and had reached the height of its power and magnificence (Caso 1958). The center of the Az...