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Aztec New Fire Ceremony
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...

Definition
George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) was a composer of baroque music who was born in Germany but became an English citizen. His most famous works include his Messiah, Water Music, baroque Italian operas, and English oratorios. A hugely successful...

Definition
Gustav Holst
Gustav Holst (1874-1934) was a British composer of Swedish origin most famous for his dramatic orchestral suite The Planets, first performed in public in 1919. Holst also composed several operas, wrote sacred choral works such as The Hymn...

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History of the Aztec Civilization, a Mesoamerican Empire
The Aztec civilisation spanned from around 1300 CE until 1521, and at its greatest extent, the empire covered most of Northern Mesoamerica. Although we refer to these peoples as ‘Aztecs,’ that is not what they called themselves. They were...

Definition
Sun Stone
The Aztec Sun Stone (or Calendar Stone) depicts the five consecutive worlds of the sun from Aztec mythology. The stone is not, therefore, in any sense a functioning calendar, but rather it is an elaborately carved solar disk, which for the...

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Expansion of the Aztec Empire
A map illustrating the various stages of Aztec expansion under successive rulers in the 15th and early 16th centuries CE.

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Aztec Turquoise Shield
An Aztec (Mexica) shield of wood covered in turquoise and shell mosaic. Likely used only as a ceremonial shield. The design shows solar disks and a long, winding snake crisscrossing the shield horizontally. The shield was dedicated to the...

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Mozart's Music for his Requiem
A facsimile sheet of the music handwritten by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) of the composer's Requiem (1791).

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Good King Wenceslas Carol Music
A 1913 biscuit tin showing Good King Wenceslas, the Bohemian duke and saint Wenceslaus I (r. 921-935), and the music for the Christmas carol of that name. The lyrics were written by John Mason Neale (1818-1866). Tin made by Hudson, Scott...

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The Holly & the Ivy Sheet Music
A page of sheet music for the Christmas carol The Holly and the Ivy. From a 1926 issue of the Radio Times magazine.