Aztec — The People of the Sun
Builders of an island capital greater than any city in Europe — eagle warriors and master engineers whose eagle and serpent still fly on Mexico's flag.
Origin
The Aztec — the Mexica — built the last great empire of Mesoamerica from their island capital Tenochtitlan, raised in 1325 on a lake where Mexico City now stands. At the height of their power it was one of the largest cities on earth, laced with causeways and floating gardens. Through the Triple Alliance, the eagle warriors of the Mexica came to rule the valley of Mexico, until the Spanish arrived in 1519.
The Heroes
- Itzcoatl — the founder who forged the empire.
- Moctezuma I — under whom the empire reached its greatest expansion.
- Tlacaelel — the great statesman who shaped the Mexica into a power.
- Cuauhtémoc — the last emperor, who fought the Spanish to the end.
Symbols of the Lineage
The eagle perched on a cactus, devouring a serpent — the founding omen, now the emblem of Mexico. The great Sun Stone. The feathered serpent Quetzalcoatl. The eagle and jaguar warriors. Obsidian, gold, and turquoise.
Beliefs & Worldview
The Mexica honored a vast pantheon — Huitzilopochtli of the sun and war, Quetzalcoatl the feathered serpent of wind and wisdom, Tlaloc of the rains. They believed the sun itself must be nourished to keep rising, and that the world had been created and destroyed across five great ages — the Five Suns — each turn of the sacred calendar a renewal of the cosmos.
Timeline — Major Events
- 1325 — The founding of Tenochtitlan.
- 1428 — The Triple Alliance forges the empire.
- 15th c. — Mexica power spreads across central Mexico.
- 1519 — Cortés reaches Tenochtitlan.
- 1521 — The fall of the city.
Cultural Artifacts
The Sun Stone, carved with the ages of the world. The Templo Mayor at the heart of the capital. Brilliant featherwork, gold, and the painted codices that recorded tribute, history, and the gods.
The Living Lineage
The Aztec legacy lives in Mexico itself — in the eagle and serpent on the flag, in Nahuatl words the whole world now speaks (chocolate, tomato, avocado), in the Day of the Dead, and in the living Nahua peoples. To claim Aztec heritage is to claim the eagle warriors, the people of the sun.
Recommended Reading
Bernal Díaz del Castillo, The Conquest of New Spain; Inga Clendinnen, Aztecs.
The People of the Sun
The eagle warriors who built a city greater than any in Europe deserve an heirloom worthy of them. Each piece in the Aztec Collection renders the eagle and serpent, the Sun Stone, and Quetzalcoatl in black and gold — the fire of the people of the sun, fixed for the wall. Explore the collection →