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What was family life like as an Aztec?
Birth: When women were pregnant, they were considered very special. Pregnant women were placed under the protection of a god. When the child is born, the priest would look at the day and the astrology day and determine if it was a good or bad day to be born and named. The Aztec parents loved their children deeply, but were very strict when it came to rules. Until the child reached the age of 8, their disciplinary action was a verbal scolding. All of the parents took very good care of their kids but they had to know their responsibilities. Every child had to be warned against gambling, drunkenness, gossiping, and thieving. As the children got older, they had more harmful punishments. One of punishments was that the parents would hold the child over a chili pepper fire, where they made them inhale the chili pepper smoke. The chili pepper smoke would burn their eyes, mouth, sinuses, and lips. As an Aztec child, you had to always obey the rules and even if you had a harmful punishment, your parents still loved you deeply. School and Chores: To go to school and learn things, was valued to their people and was as important as learning and doing chores at home. You had to help do chores around the house and in the garden, as an older child. In addition to doing chores, the older children had to go to school. Boys and girls attended different schools.The class of merchants, peasants, and artisans, were known as “The Macehualtin”. They went to a local school called Telpochcalli. They were taught basics of warfare, civics, and elemental history and religion.If you were a gifted and talented Macehualtin child, you got sent to Calmecac. Children of noble birth and the Pilli went to Calmecac. The school was run by priest and the children were taught about government, very important religious concepts, Aztec history, astronomy, letters, and poetry. When the boys reached the age of 15, they had to go to Calmecac. If they didn’t attend Calmecac, they had to go to Cuicacalli.Cuicacalli was a junior military school, where all of the boys were trained in war and there would be heated rivalry between different academics that often led to fights. If you were a non-working class man, the professions you could choose is to be a priest, doctor,and a bureaucrat.Girls were home schooled most of the time. At the age of 4, the girls learned how to weave and at the age of 12, they learned how to cook. Female education was mostly a preparation for marriage. Noble girls, at the age of 12 and 13, would spend a year attending the priestesses in the temple. If you really good and wanted to continue, some of them would go onto becoming professional priestesses. Children were groomed from early on to be good productive members of the Aztec community. Marriage: Marriage was taken as seriously as old fashioned values. When men were 20 and women were 16, they tied the knot. The term tying the knot was not just a term to describe a wedding. The Aztecs actually tied the bride and groom together. Marriage was taken seriously for the Aztecs. Marriage was not just an attraction between the two people, they had a social tie. If you wanted to get married, you were only permitted between clans. In a clan, regardless of actually being related by blood, an Aztec was related. Usually the man asks the father, but as an Aztec you had to ask permission from a council. An old women of the clan, would set up a courtship. The families would both have to agree. During the day of the wedding, the bride would be carried on the back of the old women to the site of the man’s clan. The bride and groom would wear loose, but fitting white cloth. They would sit on the floor, and each of their family members gathered to listen to passages. At some point, during the service, the bride and groom would have their white linens tied together by the old women. After the ceremony, they would have a big celebration. Marriage to the Aztecs has its rules, courtships, and big celebrations, however it is considered to be permanent and respected Death: As people got older, and more disease arrived, the the religious healer would be called for. When death came, people would be cremated or buried, depending on how they died and the families choice. Death took a big toll on the Aztecs, since many had died. Housing: Good and adequate housing was important to the Aztec way of life. People had to live with their parents until they got married. When a couple got married, they would then, build a house together. Some related families may decide to build their house together.Aztec homes were designed and made of adobe (sun dried brick that is made from adobe clay). Houses would either be built on a platform or right on the ground.The platform would be made using wood as a brace and a mixture of, sand, clay, and earth. Most of the houses had a flat-pole roof, while some had peaked roofs. The floor would be made from dirt or plaster.The Aztec shelter was one that was equally split up into four areas, and that was their main area. One area of the shelter, the family slept in, where the family had a shrine and the gods would be kept with the shrine. There was also an eating area; where the family cooked their meals. If the home had any windows, they were mainly rectangle in shape. It was very popular to have. Inside the brick walls, would be the doors. Rich and poor people, had the same house layout but the wealthy people had better materials, like stone or lime. The nobles or the wealthy people could design their houses nicely and have bigger and beautiful houses. Since gardens were so important to the Aztecs, the nobles would have huge, nicely decorated gardens. The poor people could have their house decorated nicely or have a nice garden. Steam baths were important to the Aztecs and the doctors believed that everyone should have a steam bath. They had a separate building where the bath was. The building had a small doorway and was circular to keep more heat in. Water would pour on the hot wall the a fire was placed on and that created steam. Temazcalli, is the actual name of a steam bath. The steam bath is used now for religious reasons. The house was the surrounded with a fence of stone. Clearly, the Aztecs valued good housing for their entire community. As you can see, the Aztec civilization had pros and cons, just like we do today. I hope you enjoyed learning about the family life as an Aztec. http://www.westmifflinmoritz.com/Americas_Folder/aztec_life.html http://aztecs.mrdonn.org/dailylife.html http://www.aztec-indians.com/aztec-daily-life.html http://www.ducksters.com/history/aztec_empire/daily_life.php http://www.mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/kids/aztec-family-life http://www.aztec-history.com/aztec-society-family.html . |