5 COMMON ELEMENTS OF MEXICA AND INCAS - HISTORY - 2025

Some of the common elements of the Mexica and Incas are the polytheistic religion, the structure of government or architecture and technology.

The pre-Columbian civilizations of the Mexica and Incas have multiple aspects in common, despite the thousands of kilometers of distance that existed between both cultures.

The Mexicas - called Aztecs in traditional historiography - lived in Mesoamerica between 1325 and 1521.

Its extension covered a good part of southern Mexico, western Honduras, and what we know today as Belize, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and El Salvador.

For its part, the Inca Empire developed between the years 1438 and 1533, and predominantly populated Peru and Ecuador, and isolated sections of Bolivia, Chile, Argentina.

Both managed to concentrate and optimize the knowledge of Mesoamerican and Andean cultures, and stood out for the richness of their cultures, technological advances, their religious affinities and the socio-political structure.

Similarities of elements between the Aztecs and the Incas

Both empires co-existed in the mid-15th century, and despite the distances, the common geographic characteristics made them coincide in many aspects related to daily life.

1- Religion

Both civilizations were polytheistic, that is, they fervently believed and worshiped various gods.

Both Mexicas and Incas agreed to believe in a god that alluded to the sun. In Aztec culture, the sun god was called Tonatiuh; meanwhile, the Incas called it Inti.

To honor their gods, both Mexica and Incas performed human sacrifices. To do this, they built temples exclusively oriented to make offerings to their gods, and the rituals were directed by priests.

2- Governance structure

Both civilizations had theocratic governments, that is, the political leaders were the figures of power from the religious point of view.

In this mode of government, state guidelines are strongly influenced by religious precepts.

In the case of the Mexicas, the largest ruler was called Tlatoani, and in the Inca culture the leader of the Empire was the Sapa Inca.

Both civilizations had robust armies that made possible the expansion and consolidation of both empires, in a very short time.

3- Architecture and technology

Both the Mexicas and the Incas were characterized by the grandeur of their infrastructure. Both built pyramidal temples to be closer to their gods, and perform religious cults from the top of these structures.

Likewise, both cultures were characterized by developing astronomical notions based on the observation of the sun and celestial bodies.

4- Agriculture

The Aztecs and Incas depended on agriculture as their main means of subsistence. In both territories corn, cocoa, tomato, sweet potatoes, chili peppers and cotton crops predominated.

They used irrigation systems by terraces, and ventured into the use of fertilizers to optimize the cultivation of low-fruitful soils.

5- Social structure

Religious priests had the most privileged status in society, due to theocratic characteristics of government in both cultures. Consequently, the priests were extremely powerful figures.

Then, in descending order, followed the warriors, the families with the greatest economic power, and finally, the humble population made up of artisans and farmers.

References

1. Aztecs Vs. Incas: Differences and Similarities (nd). Recovered from: sites.google.com
2. Mexicas and Incas: common elements (nd). Recovered from: pacoelchato.org
3. Similarities between the Aztec and Inca (2017). Recovered from: pitlanemagazine.com
4. The Aztec and Inca Empires: Compare and Contrast (nd). Recovered from: theancientworldofartcultureandrelegion.weebly.com
5. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia (2017). Aztec empire. Recovered from: es.wikipedia.org
6. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia (2017). Inca empire. Recovered from: es.wikipedia.org