The Aztecs were a Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican people of central Mexico in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. They called themselves Mexica. The Republic of Mexico and its capital, Mexico City, derive their names from the word "Mexica".
The capital of the Aztec empire was Tenochtitlan, built on raised island in Lake Texcoco. Mexico City is built on the ruins of Tenochtitlan. The Spanish colonization of the Americas reached the mainland during the reign of Huey Tlatoani , Moctezuma II (Montezuma II). In 1521 Hernan Cortes and an allied army of American Indians that far outnumbered the defending Aztecs, conquered the Aztecs through germ warfare, siege warfare, psychological warfare, and direct combat.
According to their own history, when the Mexicas arrived in the Anahuac valley (Valley of Mexico) around Lake Texcoco, the groups living there considered them uncivilized. The Mexicas borrowed much of their culture from the ancient Toltec whom they seem to have at least partially confused with the more ancient civilization of Teotihuacan. To the Mexicas, the Toltecs were the originators of all culture; "Toltecayotl" was a synonym for culture. Mexica legends identify the Toltecs and the cult of Quetzalcoatl with the mythical city of Tollan, which they also identified with the more ancient Teotihuacan.
The center of the Aztec civilization was the Valley of Mexico, a huge, oval basin about 7,500 feet above sea level. The Aztec empire included many cities and towns, especially in the Valley of Mexico. The largest city in the empire was the capital, Tenochtitlan.
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Gaea (variant spelling Gaia) is a Greek goddess personifying the Earth. Etymologically, Gaea is a compound word of "Ge," meaning "Earth" and "Aia" meaning "grandmother" (In modern English, the root "Ge" still relates to terms such as geography (Ge/graphos = writing about Earth) and geology (Ge/logos = words about the Earth) displaying an ancient connection to the term Gaea). Though not as popular as the Olympian gods of Greek mythology, Gaea was still revered for her role as "Mother Nature."
The divinization of the earth by the ancient Greeks as the goddess Gaea was their way of recognizing the intrinsic value of the earth's bounty, fertility and beauty. Hellenistic worship of Gaea was also a celebration humanity's symbiotic relationship with nature.
The idea that the fertile earth itself is female, nurturing humankind, was not limited to the Greco-Roman world. Fertility goddess figurines found worldwide often suggest reverence for a divine, potent mother deity. Early cultures of the Middle East (such as the Sumerian) likely made an impact on Greek views of Gaea, and veneration of the pre-Indo-European "Great Mother" had existed since Neolithic times.
In the twentieth century, Gaea has taken on new importance in the New Age movement, neopaganism, and ecological spirituality through the development of the Gaia hypothesis. The belief in a nurturing Earth Mother is also a feature of modern "Goddess" worship. Today, Gaea represents a celebration of the feminine side of creation embodied in the fertility of Mother Nature.
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