Daily Life of the Aztecs: People of the Sun and Earth

by Davíd Carrasco, Scott Sessions

Examine the fascinating and often controversial details of the daily lives of the ancient Aztecs through this innovative study written from the perspective of the history of religions. The Aztec people come to life for students, teachers, and interested readers through the exploration of the ceremonial character of their social and symbolic imagination. Insights into the communities they created, the games they played, the education they received, the foods they harvested, and the songs they sang, as well as the sacrificial rituals they performed, enable the reader to gain a better understanding of this complicated culture. The Aztecs organized their society as a microcosm of the cosmos that intricately linked all aspects of their daily lives to the natural and supernatural world. Carrasco explores the details of the Aztecs' lives and provides an in-depth look at all of these connections to help the reader comprehend the complexity of this ancient The Aztec calendar, Aztec religion and myths, Aztec marketplace, Aztec art and architecture, Aztec war, and autosacrifice and sacrifice are just some topics among the vast number that are colorfully presented. Actual Aztec poems and riddles scattered throughout the text, provide an even deeper understanding of their world view. Carrasco also examines the Aztecs' violent encounter with Europeans and illustrates the long-term significance of colonialism and Aztec culture reflected in modern-day Mexican and Mexican American imaginations.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

Davíd L. Carrasco is currently Neil L. Rudenstine Professor of Latin America Studies at Harvard. He is a Mexican-American academic historian of religion, anthropologist, and a Mesoamericanist scholar who has published widely on the Aztecs.

Reviews

[Salma · Rating 4 out of 5]

فصول الكتاب التسعة مقسمة ما بين بداية العهد الأزتكى وانشاء حضارة بعد هجرة الى الجنوب،أفكارهم عن العالم،المجتمع،التعليم،الهرم الاجتماعى،الجماليات،القرابين!،مواجهة قصيرة حزينة مع الغزو

الأوروبى،وما بعد الغز الأوروبى.
الكتاب يطرح المعلومة تلو الأخرى،رغم أنه مكثف فهو سهل الهضم.

باقتضاب..ما بقى ف الذاكرة من نقاط أثارت اهتمامى:
المرأة لم تحكم ف الأزتك أبدا.
الكليم عُرف ف الحضارة الوثنية الآزتكية،فإله الحرب لم يتكلم ف المهد بل تكلم وهو برحم أمه!
العالم عند الآزتك انتهى منذ عامين،يبدو أننا نعيش ف الجحيم!
الكتاب مليء بالأساطير فإن شئت الاستزادة وجدتها.
الزوج لا يحق له سوى زوجة واحدة فقط.

تنويه لأصحاب القلوب الضعيفة:فصل القرابين صعب نفسيا،احذروه.

[Lgordo · Rating 4 out of 5]

While anthropology is an interest of mine, I've mostly read about less complex societies. I decided to read up on the Aztecs after coming across an internet debate over who was worse: the Aztecs or the Spanish?

I realized that I only knew two things about the Aztecs: they practiced extensive human sacrifice, and they were a complex, highly evolved society. But I had no idea what either of those things meant.

This book is an excellent primer if you want to learn more about the Aztecs. It's a primer because the information is fairly superficial; it's clear the author is drawing from more primary sources than he had time to elaborate on. The result is more of a 40,000ft view. There are many chapters addressing various aspects of a society -- their social classes, their childrearing practices, their economy, and of course, religion.

Religion is addressed immediately because of the elephant in the book; we all want to know about the human sacrifice stuff. It turns out to include cannibalism, btw, not just constant, ongoing killing. And there's some even grosser stuff with flaying and wearing the victim's skin. Not like a cape -- like a full costume. Clearly, what we think of as universal taboos are not.

The author does a good job explaining how Aztec religion creates this ongoing obligation to feed the gods. He also did an amazing job walking you through the *experience* of several religious ceremonies, so you could witness the drama of the ceremony and feel the tension and relief of the Aztec people, and the giddy high of knowing the world would continue another year.

He even takes a quick stab at the question "who was worse?"

I was surprised that he never compares the Mexicas to the Romans. I'm no expert, but the highly evolved, stratified society with an ever-expanding military operation and enormous feats of art and architecture seem like easy parallels. Both also teemed with excess humanity, which they culled through ritual sacrifice. The Romans just called it "gladiators" and marketed it as entertainment for the masses. In both cases, the mass killings were public and publicly-sanctioned executions of war captives.

It's really amazing what people will agree to if you spin it the right way.

[imane · Rating 4 out of 5]

كتاب عن امة عاشت في المكسيك ، حضارتها و ثقافتها ، لغتها المحكية ، اساطيرها و تفاصيل عن مدنها و الابنية و الاثار التي خلفت بعدها
اكثر جزء مرعب يتعلق بالقرابين البشرية التي كان يتم تقديمها للالهة ، وطقوس اكل لحوم البشر
الجزء الاخير خصص للغزو الاسباني و ماحدث بعده
ثم عن الثقافة الحالية للمكسيكين و اعيادهم التي يحتفلون بها وفيها شيء من الحضارة القديمة .

[Reema Fairman · Rating 5 out of 5]

الكتاب رائع ولا يُمل .. بمجرد قراءته تشعر بخيالك يأخذك إلى عصر شعوب المايا والازتك وتعايش تقاليدهم وعاداتهم الغريبة والجميلة .. مؤسف لتلك الحضارة أن تندثر ومبهج أن لا زال من أسلافها من يحاول إحياءها عبر الفن وتعريفها بواسطته .. مثل دييجو ريفيرا وفريدا كاهلو وجوزيه انطونيو

[Benjamin Reed · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was one of the texts assigned in a history course I'm currently taking on the Maya, Aztec & Inca civilizations. An interesting look into the life and beliefs of the ancient Aztecs.

[Elias Helfer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good, thorough presentation of the world and worldview of the Aztecs. Each chapter approaches a particular facet of Aztec life, and does so in a good amount of detail. If you want a sense of what it means to be an Aztec, this is not a bad place to start.
Having said that, this is not a book without its flaws. I felt like the authors sometimes focused on certain topics while skipping others that might have merited inclusion. For instance, for a book ostensibly about daily life, there is surprisingly litte about actual daily life of Aztec people.
Also, the style of the book seems needlessly obtuse. Making that worse is the fact that the layout of the book is somewhat lacking. Particularly annoying is how similar the typography of quotes is to the typography of regular text. The authors also seem to scatter italics throughout the text fairly liberally, making them less useful and more confusing. That may seem like a small thing to complain about, but it frequently interfered with my reading as I was trying to guess why a certain phrase was italizised.

These few gripes aside, I enjoyed the book, and it gave me a good basis for understanding the Aztec culture. While it didn't cover all the areas I was curious about, it gave me a fine grounding from which to explore the culture of the Aztecs in more detail.

[Jim Hohenbary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book in a used bookstore in Shreveport, LA and decided to read it as part of my research for the novel I have been working on. Despite the fact that it is not a particularly recent book, I thought it was a strong overview of the Aztec culture and particularly appreciated the consistent focus on linking their daily life and practices with their cosmology and religious framework. I would definitely recommend for an individual wanting to learn about Aztec culture and develop their appreciation for its complexity.

I note that, as the title suggest, it is about the culture though. If you want to learn about the rise and fall of Tenochtitlan, and are interested in the political and martial history of the region, I think there are many other books that focus more centrally on that historical arc.

[Oscar · Rating 5 out of 5]

The backbone of my zine project thank you Davíd Carrasco

[Michele · Rating 3 out of 5]

Item Title: Carrasco, D., & Sessions, S. (2011). Daily life of the Aztecs (2nd ed.). Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood.

Citation created by: Michele Powell

Format: Handbook

Call Number: 972.018 CAR

Description: A comprehensive updated edition of the history of the Aztec people and their everyday lives.

Professional Review: MacMillan, K.K., (2012). Reference Review [Review of the book Daily life of the Aztecs, D. Carrasco & S. Sessions]. School Library Journal, 58(2), 77.

Relevance and Relationship: This book would be appropriate for the collection analyzed during my field experience because the collection is lacking in Central Mexican resources. Hardback print edition, which includes an e-book $49.95.

Purpose: The purpose of this reference is to provide students an authoritative information source for research and inquiry about the Aztecs. Appropriate for grades 9 and up.

Validity: Reviewed and recommended in School Library Journal

Format: Available in print and e-book.

Arrangement and Presentation: The reference opens with the chronology of Central Mexico. The book includes maps, charts, illustrations, an index, a bibliography, and a glossary of the pronunciation for the Nahuatl language and definitions of Nahuatl terms.

Diversity: Meets the needs of the culturally diverse.

[Brittany · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative and well written, giving a balanced and scholarly point of view without shying away from difficult subjects such as human sacrifice and transculturation post-Cortés.

[AskHistorians]

David Carrasco and Scott Sessions. Delves not only into the "daily life" but also the symbolism and philosophy behind many rituals both domestic and political. Features extensive quotations from primary sources, but is very reader friendly.

[Gabriel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating material. ok book. Not too rigorous...