The Westerners who came up with
the name Aztecs likely took it from one of the original places that
the Aztecs lived around the twelve century, called Aztlan, which was
in the Northern part of Mexico. However, the Aztecs themselves
actually referred to themselves as Mexica, which is actually where
the name for the country of Mexico originally came from.
The Aztecs had their own language called N’ahuatl. The alphabet for
this language was a form of picture writing. Knowledge about how to
write things down was very specialized and was mostly performed by
learned scribes and priests who had the needed training.
Records were kept on paper made of bark, or deer skin. The writing
was usually performed using charcoal and then colored with
vegetables and other substances. They kept tax records, historical
records, records of religious sacrifices and other ceremonies and
even poetry. Sometimes they put their writings together in a
makeshift book that they called a codice.
Aztec men were allowed to have more than one wife, however, there
were certain strict rules governing these relationships. The first
wife the man took was considered his “principal” wife, and was the
only one he went through marriage ceremonies with. The other wives
were secondary, but still recognized in the official records. While
the first wife was considered the most important, the man was still
expected to treat all of his wives with equal respect. The man was
the head of the household, but women still had power in the
relationship and were well treated in Aztec society. Extra wives
contributed to the wealth of the family and were considered a mark
of great status and afforded them a high position in the culture.
The Aztecs allowed divorce in some situations, but adultery by
either party was punishable by death.
While the Aztecs put strong emphasis on parents teaching their
children properly, they also had mandatory public schooling for all
children. Those of a noble class had different schools to attend and
schools were also separated by gender. Boys of nobility would be
sent to the Calmecac School where they learned from the priests
about history, astronomy, art, and how to govern and lead. Boys of
lower caste were sent to the Cuicacalli School, which was much more
focused on preparing them for possible service in the military as
warriors. Girls were sent to separate schools and much more of their
education was focused at home where they were taught domestic duties
such as cooking and weaving.