Aztec music: Did you mean...?

Quetzalcóatl (pron. Quet-zal-co-at) or 'Plumed Serpent' was one of the most important gods in ancient Mesoamerica. Quetzalcóatl was the god of winds and rain, and the creator of the world and humanity. A mix of bird and rattlesnake, his name...

Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) was an Italian composer best known for his operas La Bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot. Puccini drew inspiration from a wide range of literary sources, and his late Romantic music with its immortal...

An illustration from the Florentine Codex depicting Aztecs storing maize.

Atlalli, ink on parchment, unknown artist, included in the Florentine Codex by Bernardino de Sahagún, Mexico, 1577. A farmer in Mexico cultivates irrigated land. Water has a swirling texture while the land is sparsely decorated with wisps...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/music-and-creativity-in-ancient-greece-tim-hansen You think you love music? You have nothing on the Ancient Greek obsession. Every aspect of Greek life was punctuated by song: history, poetry...

Stone skulls from the Templo Mayor in the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan. They represent the tzompantli or skull racks where the heads of sacrificial victims were placed.

An Aztec spouted jug. Mexico, 1450-1521 CE. (St. Louis Art Museum, Missouri)

Professor Stefan Hagel performing Ancient Greek Music at palaestra et odeum - Lund - Sweden. Instruments: Greek Kithara & Aulos

The lighting of fires during the Aztec New Fire Ceremony of 1507, a ritual held every 52 years to ensure the continuation of the Sun. The priests carry fire bundles and wear turquoise masks in imitation of the fire god Xiuhtecuhtli, as do...

This Aztec conch shell trumpet or "Tecciztli" dates from the Post-Classic era in Aztec history (1325-1521 CE). It was used in rituals, festivals, and religious processions. (Musée du Cinquantenaire, Brussels)