National Geographic Documentary 2015 - The Aztec History channel bbc Documentary

The Calendar

We have two different calendars. One is used to keep track of our religious ceremonies and festivals. Its called the tonalpohualli, which means "day count". It is very sacred and used to divide time equally among the gods and keep the universe in balance. It has 260 days. Each day is represented by 21 day signs and 13 day signs.
The other calendar keeps track of time. Its called Xiuhpohualli, or "solar year". It has 365 days that are divided into 18 months with 20 in each of them. There are 5 days left over that are unlucky days.
Every 52 years the two calendars start on the same day. We are very scared that the world will end on that day. This is the day that we perform the New Fire Ceremony.

Aztec Science and Technology

MATH
Our math is very different then other civilizations. We count by 20s. The number 1-19 are expressed with dots or fingers. 20 is represented by a flag. 400 is a sign that looks like a feather or fir tree. 8,000 is a bag or tasseled pouch which is supposed to have 8,00 cocoa beans inside.

TOOLS AND WEAPONS
We don't have iron or bronze for tools and weapons, instead we use obsidian and chert. By the time the Spanish conquistadors came, our advances in technology was leading us to make tools with copper. Axe blades were made with stone or copper. We are even making drills out of reed or bone.
We have many different types of weaponry. A macuahuitl is a wooden club with sharp pieces of volcanic glass, or obsidian in it. We use it to disable an enemy without killing him. A living enemy can be used for sacrifice. We also use bows and arrows. Another weapon, called a theatlatl, makes it easier for someone to throw a spear. It also helps to fish.

TRANSPORTATION
We are pretty familiar with the wheel, but its only used in toys. We don't have horses or mules to aid us in transportation. Instead, we have developed canoes to transport ourselves and our good through canals, lakes, and waterways in the Valley of Mexico.

Art

Only the upper class may own art. Common people are not allowed. If you create or sell it, you might be an exception though.
There is a large variety of art in our empire. Richly colored and embroidered clothing, architecture, ceremonial knives, head dresses, jewelry, and adornment of jewels and feathers. Stories are written with pictures of conquests, sacrifices done by our priests, or even just daily life. We have statues made out of stone as well as things like masks, pottery, shields, knives, carvings, and paintings.
Some of the materials we use include gold, silver, copper, jewels, feathers, coral, clay, and stone. Not all of these things are native to us, and we bring a lot of it in from other places.
We like our art to be very lifelike. Our statues of people and animals are very realistic, with a lot of expression and even age.
Some common themes in our art is animals. These can be insects, birds, fish, jaguars, monkeys, snakes, deer, and dogs. Most of our art is religion related though. We often depict our god, who usually look like an animal form.

A brief History

Where our people originally came from is unknown. Some people believe we are from a northern tribe of hunter-gatherers and that our name comes from our homeland Aztlan, or "white land". We came to Mexico in the early 13th century. Our arrival came after, and maybe helped to bring about the fall of the Toltecs. They had been a previously dominant society. We wandered around Mexico before settling in The Vally of Mexico. Instead of starting war, we built our city  in the swampy land of Lake Texcoco.
In 1428 Itcoatl, our leader, formed an alliance with the Texcocans and Tacubans to defeat their powerful rivals, the Tepanec, over the region and conquer their capital of Azcapotzalco. Itzcoatl's successor Montezuma, who took over in 1440, was a great warrior who is remembered as the father of the Aztec Empire.
By the 16th century we had power over 500 small city-states with 5 to 6 million people in our population.
The city-states have to pay tribute either in the form of food, clothing, goods, or captives to feed to our hungry gods. Our tendency for human sacrifice brings fear to those we have concurred and keeps us above them.

Teotl

Teotl is the great unity that underlies the whole universe. Teotl forms, shapes, and is all things. It even forms opposites like light and dark. Priests see all the different gods as aspects or faces of the single and transcendent entity Teotl. However, the greater population of Aztecs are allowed to not completely understand the unified nature of all of the gods.
Aztec philosophers focus on morality as finding balance in the ever changing Teotl. The focus is to find the path to living a balanced life, which gives stability to the world.
The arts is seen as a way to express Teotl. Art is considered good if it can give you a better understanding of Teotl.

What happens when you die?

We Aztecs believe in a afterlife. Once you die you are assigned a job to help the gods. This job is not determined by how you lived but by how you died.
Warriors that die in battle will be turned into butterflies or hummingbirds to help the gods in charge of nature. This is why our warriors are so full of courage and not afraid of death. Their afterlife will be very nice, unlike people who die from a natural cause. Their job is to serve the Lord of the Dead in the gloomy underworld. It takes about 4 years of dangerous travel to get to the Land of the Dead and once you are there you will spend your afterlife in darkness. Some people ask if it is a punishment, but it isn't, its just what your job is.
Women who die in childbirth have to help the sun god push the sun everyday from being above us to its resting position at night. You only have to work from noon till sundown, so this isn't a bad job to have.
People who die from lighting, drowning, or a disease have been chosen to serve the rain or storm god. They get to spend their afterlife among flowers.