Mexico is one of the most beautiful countries in the world, where the food is amazing, and the culture is beautiful. Mexico is a very nice place to travel to, but how did this magical nation start, and who lived in the time of Ancient Mexico? The history of Mexico spans around 13 millennia. Before Christopher Columbus “discovered” America, many cities, kingdoms, and even empires would all compete to be the most powerful and prestigious during that time. Ancient Mexico produces 5 major civilizations: the Olmec, Maya, Teotihuacan, Toltec, and Aztecs.
The Olmec first originated along the Atlantic coast in 1500-900 BCE. The Olmec were also the first culture to produce an identifiable artistic and cultural style and people believe that the Olca were the inventors of writing in Mesoamerica. Around 900-300 BCE, the style of Olmec was everywhere in the land of Mexico.
The Mayan cultural characteristics, such as the rise of a king, can be traced back to around 300 BCE, during the classical period. The Maya Kingdom extended from the Pacific coast of southern Mexico and Guatemala to the northern Yucatán peninsula. The Mayan cities would expand organically. Most buildings would be palaces, temples, sculpted stone monuments, stucco, and finely painted murals.
Teotihuacan is a huge archaeological site in the Valley of Mexico containing many of the biggest pyramidal structures. The city was thought to have been built in 100 BCE and finished in 250 BCE. It lasted between the 7th and 8th centuries. At that time, Teotihuacan had around 200,000 residents, making it among the biggest cities at the time. Teotihuacan also had multi-floor buildings to hold as many people as possible.
The Toltecs were an architectural Mesoamerican group that was one of the strongest groups, taking over many huge pieces of land. The last Aztec tribe saw them as their intellectual cultural predecessors. Fun fact: in the language of Nahuatl, the word Toltec came to mean artisan.
The Aztec Empire started with the people of Nahua going into central Mexico around the 6th century, and in the 12 century, they had hade their centers in Azcapotzalco, also known as Tepanecs. The Aztec religion was mostly based on these beliefs. They sacrifice human blood to the gods they believe to give them what they want. The Aztec people sacrificed many people, using captives in times of peace to sacrifice. The Aztecs resorted to starting a ritual war called the Flower War. The Tlaxcalteca and some Naualt nations were forced into the war.
After the end of all their big powerful nations, they left pyramids abandoned in many places making them beautiful buildings in the jungles, beautiful buildings with horrible stories. Slowly the warriors of this land started becoming less violent and more inspiring new culture that was less violent, like making the dance and music very different.
Mexico, you might know or imagine now, is very different from the old Mexico. In my opinion today their music is very nice to listen to and their food is amazing. Compared to how the empire of Mexico where they killed people to get what they wanted and had a ruler that didn’t care about the poor, we are lucky to have the Mexico we have today. If you ever want to see beautiful places, take a look at Mexico.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olmecs
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_civilization
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teotihuacan
