Tetnochtitlan

In this mural you can see Tenochtitlan, the thriving Aztec commercial community. In the foreground you can see young Aztec men rolling large rolls of textiles, and behind them you can see young Aztec men caring large rolls of textile, ( which look very heavy).The textiles were probably used to make the rugs that the Aztec woman are holding on the left hand side. In the background you can see volcanoes and snow-capped mountains of Popocatépetl and Iztaccihuatl. In the front of the city, you can see one large pyramid that is much bigger than the other ones sticking out from the rest of the city. On the stairs of the pyramid there is blood. Diego rivera probably wanted to make it easy to see. The blood on the stairs came from sacrifices the Aztecs made in the pyramids.

4. Since the mural depicts Tenochtitlan, the Aztecs capital city, and if you knew that the Aztec civilization arose in the 15th century, you could assume that the mural portrays Tenochtitlan in the 15th or 16th century.

5. I think Rivera wanted to show a normal day for the Aztecs in Tenochtitlan. Which is, work, and sacrifice. But I think his main goal was to show the Aztec sacrifices, since there is that one pyramid sticking out with blood on the stairs. During the Aztecs time , the sacrifices were taken to the tops of the Aztec pyramids and laid upon a flat stone. There, their chests were cut open and their hearts were ripped out. The bodies were then thrown down the steps of the pyramid.While human sacrifice was practiced throughout Mesoamerica, the Aztecs, if their own accounts are to be believed, brought this practice to an unprecedented level. For example, for the reconsecration of Great Pyramid of Tetnochtitlan in 1487, the Aztecs reported that they sacrificed 84,400 prisoners over the course of four days. I think that this mural depictsTenochtitlan during the late 15th century, early 16th century.

6. I think Rivera did a great job representing Tenochtitlan. Even though the main purpose of this mural was the temple with the blood, I think Rivera did a great job not only making it about that. He also shows other aspects of the Aztecs life, and the beauty of Tenochtitlan and it's surrounding volcanoes and snow-capped mountains. We did not learn a lot about the Aztecs, only that they lived in Tenochtitlan and they made sacrifices, so I consider it a fair recreation of life in Tenochtitlan at the time.