...cultivated cacao plants found in the tropical rainforests of Central America fermented, roasted and ground the cacao beans into a paste that they mixed with water, vanilla, honey, chili peppers and other spices to brew a frothy chocolate drink. Olmec, Mayan and Aztec civilizations found chocolate to be an invigorating drink, mood enhancer and aphrodisiac, which led them to believe that it possessed mystical and spiritual qualities. The Mayans worshipped a god of cacao and reserved chocolate for rulers, warriors, priests and nobles at sacred ceremonies. When the Aztecs began to dominate Mesoamerica in the 14th century, they craved cacao beans, which could not be grown in the dry highlands of central Mexico that were the heart of their civilization. The Aztecs traded with the Mayans for cocao beans, which were so coveted that they were used as currency. (In the 1500s, Aztecs could purchase a turkey hen for 100 beans.) By some accounts, the 16th-century...
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...colonization and conquest. While cultural contact does not always result in negative changes, more often than not one group is subjected to and forced to accept the culture of the other or face dire consequences. This was the exact case in the contact between the Spaniards and the Aztec peoples of 16th century Mexico, with the ending result being the complete destruction of the Aztec civilization. Prior to the arrival of Cortes and his men in Mexico, the Aztecs resided in Northern Mexico and under the leadership of Motecuhzoma maintained control over several other native groups in the areas. In general, the Aztecs showed no mercy and ruled nations beneath them with an iron fist, plundering and seizing control whenever they pleased. Despite this, there was no system in place for direct rule. Instead, the Aztecs followed a tribute system in which each group under Aztec control was required to pay varying amounts of tribute to them. Religiously, the Aztec people practiced polytheism, believing in multiple gods which were based on human activities and elements in nature. By contrast, the Spanish were practicing Christians and believed in a single God. The Aztecs saw and observed most things from a spiritual standpoint. One such example of this was the idea that they were given signs or omens, approximately 10 years prior to the arrival of the Spanish people. The disastrous nature of these omens, such as the spontaneous burning of the temple of Huitzilopochtli and fire falling from...
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...Vera Cruz in 1519, the Spaniard could not possibly understand the eventual effects of his arrival. As two cultures met – Aztec and Spanish – an inevitable exchange of material and cultural goods occurred that would play a significant role in the shaping of the modern world. But the degree to which exchange occurred was not always equivalent. At times, goods were transferred between both continents and the entire world reaped the benefits. In some cases though, the transfer was not always equal and had devastating effects. If any one good moved most fluidly between both continents and enriched multiple societies, it would be food. In 1972, historian Alfred W. Crosby gave an expansive treatment of the idea as part of his construction of “The Columbian Exchange.” The extent of the transference of foods from one continent to the other is almost exhausting; in fact, many modern conceptions of national cuisines would be impossible pre-contact; imagining Italian food without the tomato, Thai food without the chile pepper, or Mexican food without chicken or pork seems implausible. Perhaps the most impactful food was maize. While Europeans quickly attempted to establish wheat as the standard...
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...Angel Salinas Saldaña 22-11-2014 Ancient Armies Well, in the ancient times people defended and fought for their territory by making a huge army of strong people who gave their life for their city. I’m going to talk about 3 of the best armies that have existed. The army of the Kingdom of Macedonia was among the greatest military forces of the ancient world. It was created and made formidable by King Philip II of Macedon; previously the army of Macedon had been of little account in the politics of the Greek world, and Macedonia had been regarded as a second-rate power. Tactical improvements included the latest developments in the deployment of the traditional Greek phalanx made by men such as Epaminondas of Thebes and Iphicrates of Athens. Philip II improved on these military innovators by using both Epaminondas' deeper phalanx and Iphicrates' combination of a longer spear and smaller and lighter shield. However, the Macedonian king also innovated; he introduced the use of a much longer spear, the two-handed pike. The Macedonian pike, the sarissa, gave its wielder many advantages both offensively and defensively. For the first time in Greek warfare, cavalry became a decisive arm in battle. The Macedonian army perfected the co-ordination of different troop types, an early example of combined arms tactics — the heavy infantry phalanx, skirmish infantry, archers, light and heavy...
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...at the last moment, impressed by Abraham’s show of devotion. Religion is something that is practiced solely out of faith. To have faith is to believe in what cannot be seen or heard, what cannot be held; a belief that is not based on proof. The bible describes the Christian god as more of a present being, but to the Aztec, their gods were spiritual. Abraham had the voice of god to tell him that sacrifice was not what he truly wished but what if there was no presence there to stop him? For the Aztec there were no voices. They had developed the idea that their purpose on earth was to appease the gods for all that they had given them, and that is life. That being said, the most logical way to repay them for the life they had given is to give it back, bringing the Aztec upon human sacrifice. The number of lives taken by their people is unknown, however what is known, is that the number is much larger would care to believe. The Aztec, as Abraham had prepared himself to do, sacrificed themselves out of devotion to the gods. The Aztec sacrifice of humans was attributed to religion, but in what aspect of religion is it said to give your own life to repay christ? (The Aztec felt worship to hundreds of gods opposed to christianity where there is but one) Legend has it the creation of the earth was not an easy task, created only to be destoyed time after time. The fifth and final creation...
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...Mayans Medicine Health and medicine among the ancient Maya was a complex blend of mind, body, religion, ritual and science. Important to all, medicine was practiced only by a select few, who generally inherited their positions and received extensive education. These shamans acted as a medium between the physical world and spirit world. They practiced sorcery for the purpose of healing, foresight, and control over natural events. Since medicine was so closely related to religion, it was essential that Maya medicine men had vast medical knowledge and skill. It is known that the Maya sutured wounds with human hair, reduced fractures, and were even skilled dental surgeons, making prostheses fromjade and turquoise and filling teeth with iron pyrite. In understanding Maya medicine, it is important to recognize that the Maya equated sickness with the captivity of one’s soul by supernatural beings, angered by some perceived misbehaviour. For this reason, curing a sickness involved elements of ritual, cleansing and herbal remedy. Research of Maya ethno-medicine shows that though supernatural causes are related to illness, a large percentage of Maya medical texts are devoted to the treatment of symptoms based upon objective observations of the effects of certain plants on the human system. Herbal remedies were ingested, smoked, snorted, rubbed on the skin, and even used in the form of enemas to force rapid absorption of a substance into the blood stream. Cleansing techniques included fasting...
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...In the years between 1519 and 1540, conquistadores invaded the Americas and ruined the lives of many, if not all, Native Americans who lived in the New World during that time period. According to “Makers of America: The Spanish Conquistadores”, a conquistador is someone from Spain who traveled to the New World in search of God, gold, and glory (18-19). The name conquistadores translates into “conquerors” in Spanish. The conquistadores claimed all the land from Colorado to Argentina in only a mere fifty years after Columbus’s discovery of the New World (Makers of America: The Spanish Conquistadores 18-19). Although others may argue that conquistadores should be named heroes for exploring the New World, it is important to remember that conquistadores...
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...give my audience the summation of the Aztec Indians in Mexico beliefs and practices of sacrifice. Thesis: To explain the Aztec’s sacrificial philosophy is look into their history, religious beliefs and ceremonial rituals that are constantly misunderstood. I. Introduction: Mahatma Gandhi quotes: “A man who was completely innocent, offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of others, including his enemies, and became the ransom of the world. It was a perfect act.” According to the Webster’s dictionary, Sacrifice is the act of offering something to a divine being in propitiation, especially the ritual slaughter of an animal or person. When most imagine the Aztec Empire, many will think of pyramids of gold or worse a picture of a blood thirsty murdering priest holding a heart up over a sacrificial victim. These images are ethnocentric (tendency to believe that one's ethnic or cultural group is centrally important, and that all other groups are measured in relation to one's own) because the Aztec Empire was much more than gold or sacrifice. My ancestors, the Aztec Indians lived a spiritual lifestyle based on pleasing their Gods through many religious ceremonies, including frequent human sacrifices. To explain the Aztec’s sacrificial philosophy is look into their history, religious beliefs and ceremonial rituals that are constantly misunderstood. Transition: So, let’s get started with where the Aztecs came from. II. Body: A. Aztec History: 1. Legends says they originated...
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...Jalissa H. Professor Green History 101 INCAS The Incas became a definite group near present-day Cuzco around 1200CE. They were American Indian people. They were a small tribe in the Southern highlands of Peru. It was not until about 1400 tht they expanded and became one of the largest and morst tighly guarded empires the worl has ever known, under Pachacuti Inca. About 1532, the Spanish had arrived, at the time their empire was known as TYawantinsuyu. This is also known as the four Quarters, which spreed across the Northern Ecuador to the Central Chile, spanning some 3,500 kilometers in distance. Their skilld in governmebt matched their feat in engineering. They constructed roads, walls, irrigation system which is still being utilized in our society today. In 1532 the Spanish conquerors captured the Inca empires and it began to crumble. The Incas came out of conflicts between a number of competing communities in Southern Peru and Bolivia. It was the help of the military that caused success against the Chanca. This caused the Inca to believe they were under the protection of the sun God, Inti. Inti was known for being the emperor who was an earthly manifestation. The Incas thought they were on an all-powerful assignment to bring the civilization to those they had defeated. They inhabited some of the world’s arid dessert. Close by were the flat coastal lands and the jagged peaks of the Andes Mountain. The natives lived under the rule of one man, the emperor they called...
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...Bedouins of the Middle East. The size of the ring gifted denotes a family's wealth. It's given by a husband to his wife when they marry, and it represents financial security for her in the event that she and her husband are divorced ("History of Body Piercings"). In the west, nose piercing first appeared among the hippies who had traveled to India in the Late 1960s. In the 1970s, the practice of nose piercing was adopted by the Punk movement as a symbol of rebellion against conservative values. Most conservative people, mainly parents and employers, still don't react well to this piercing along with other facial piercings (“History of Body Piercings”). B. Tongue piercing 1. Tongue piercings was practiced in a ritual form by the ancient Aztecs and the Maya of Central America. The tongue was pierced to draw blood to appease the gods and to create an altered state of consciousness so that the priest or shaman could communicate with the gods (“History of Body...
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...For example, Santa Muerte being made notorious again by the drug cartels is an alternate indigenous religious nonentity that has been reformed by Mexicans into a current religious ancient figure. Even though censured by the Church, nonetheless it's key to the Mexican religious society. Santa Muerte has spread from Mexico all through Latin America and now into the United States, thus expressing the erasure. Besides Santa Muerte there is the Virgin of Guadalupe. With the Virgin of Guadalupe, in Gloria Anzaldúa's text she informs us of a spiritual and political identity (formed from Aztec Religious icons) named Coatlicue, which is the mother of all gods. Coatlicue being the indigenous side of the Virgin of Guadalupe was portrayed to express the erasure of the native religion. Furthermore, these religions also illustrate mutual borrowing between cultures and religion. For example, with Santa Muerte it goes along with Dia de Los Muertos, in Spanish meaning day of the dead, and during this time in Mexico on November 1st and 2nd it is a time where the worship the dead and celebrate; In the united states a borrowing is occurring with the holiday of Halloween, however this is a time where the dead returns for trouble instead of tradition. Additionally, with the religious tradition, Virgin of Guadalupe, it's...
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...Hernan Cortes. * “Malintzin,” the noble prisoner/captive of Cortes. * “La Malinche,” the embodiment of treachery against the Latin people. While there are many portrayals of her, there is an underlying theme in all of them. That she is a compelling force in events despite the traditional roles of women of the time. For example when comparing Laura Esquival’s, “Malinche” Malinalli variant to the one found in Gary Jennings “Aztec,” readers will find two different portrayals her but with the same dominance. Due to this extraordinary puissance, it leads me believe that she is a strong woman. Due to the diversity of works that showcase her I will be focusing on the following two representations of her as seen in Esquival’s novel, “Malinche” and Jose Limon’s ballet, “La Malinche.” Let’s begin by examining Laura Esquival’s interpretation in “La Malinche.” Written in 2006, I believe this novel characterizes Malinalli as a strong woman. Furthermore, as an ambassador and a genius. She is a woman struggling between the remnants of her native Aztec civilization and the culture of the invading Spaniards. Through these trials and tribulations, her character grows from the naïve slave girl to the mother of a new civilization. She didn’t begin as a strong woman. In the novel, Mallinali is constantly suppressing her of doubts Cortes nefarious nature, hoping that her intuition was incorrect until one faithful night, she confronts him upon realization that this vileness will never...
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...Cultural syncretism has transformed and shaped our world today; because of encounters years and centuries before our time we have religion and even art. Our modern culture was contributed to by the happenings of yesterday. Social Structure Introduction The legacies of cultural syncretism in the Americas and Africa can be compared and contrasted with the resistance to cultural change that westerners experienced in China and India. These encounters have left many legacies of change and differences in the culture today. Had syncretism not occurred or if syncretism had taken root during earlier encounters in China or India the world today would be different. Various cultural factors in would affect the outcome of syncretism tremendously. Compare/ Contrast Cultural Syncretism Cultural syncretism was active in some societies but not in all; syncretism was not affective in more cultures because some cultures were simply more developed. With the expansion of cultural syncretism, it was easier for Africa and the Americas to adapt than China and India Westerners. Africa and the Americas separated into different tribes which caused them to be weaker than China, India, and the Westerners who created a nation (Sayre, 2013). An example of this cultural syncretism is the Aztec tribe, which was a fairly large tribe; the Aztecs had so many neighboring enemies because of war. As a result, when an attack by the Spanish was launched on the Aztecs, the other tribes were happy to help (Sayre,...
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...A compilation of essays, The Labyrinth of Solitude mostly reflects on political history, while a few others tackle the experience of solitude in a direct manner. The author Octavio Paz holds to the belief that genres of solitude in society derive from a psychological fixation of defeat. For example, the Aztec’s humiliation begins with the harshly commanding leaders who are ousted and superseded by the Spanish fighters, which occurs during the independence period. In addition, the Aztec people grow intimidated by the North Americans. The outcome of these outside influences creates an oscillation between harsh treatment and aloofness. However, Paz elaborates that the feeling of being oppressed did not develop out of a sense of inferiority....
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...Chapter 7 Confucian Classics-the ancient texts recovered during the Han Dynasty that Confucian scholars treated as sacred scriptures. Silk Road- the trade routes across central Asia through which Chinese silk and other items were traded Eunuchs-castrated males who played an important role as palace servants Age of division- the period after the fall of the Han dynasty when china was politically divided Grand canal- a canal, built during the Sui dynasty that connected the yellow and Yangzi Rivers. Notable for strengthening china’s internal cohesion and economic development Pure land- a school of Buddhism that taught that calling on the Buddha Amitabha and his chief helper, one could achieve rebirth in Amitabha’s pure land paradise Chan-a school of Buddhism that rejected the authority of the sutras and claimed the superiority of mind-to-mind transmission of Buddhist truths Nara- Japan’s capital and the first true city; it was established in 710 and modeled on the Tang capital of Chang’an ------------------------------------------------- Chapter 8 Corpus Juris civilis- the “body of civil law,” it is composed of the code, the digest and the institutes. Dioceses- geographic administrative districts of the church, each under the authority of a bishop and centered around cathedral Arianism- a theological belief, originating with Arius, a priest from Alexandria that denied that Christ was co-eternal with god the father. Popes- heads of the Roman...
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