On this occasion I want to talk to you about some of the most important monoliths of the Aztec civilization that have been discovered so far, these can be enjoyed when you visit Mexico City. This will be a series published in three parts and in this one, which is the first, I will explain, in a very brief way, some background on this pre-Hispanic civilization, the myths of its origin and the historical facts that explain its fall. The following posts will allow us to analyze their main gods and their incredible stories, since the monoliths that we will review are related to its cosmogony.
Throughout the world the founders of Tenochtitlan are known as the Aztecs, but it is very important to know that the correct name of the civilization that created the largest and most important empire in Mesoamerica is the Mexica.
The origin of the Mexica is Aztlan, a mythical place located somewhere in the northwest or west of present-day Mexico. The inhabitants of Aztlan were called Aztecs. At the beginning of the second century of our era, 7 tribes originating from this city began a pilgrimage to find a new place to live. One tribe in particular were the Mexicas and the main god that guided their path was Huitzilopochtli, the god of the Sun and war, whose name means “Lefty Hummingbird”.
The Mexica, after a pilgrimage of more than 200 years, found the sign that their god Huitzilopochtli had given them to found their city: an eagle standing on a cactus. Although that sign was located on a small islet in the middle of the gigantic Lake Texcoco, that did not represent an obstacle for them and there they founded and expanded the legendary Mexico-Tenochtitlan in 1325. In less than two centuries they became the dominant empire, they conquered all the cities around the lake and spread their empire throughout Mesoamerica.
Upon the arrival of the Spaniards under the command of Hernan Cortés in 1519 at Lake Texcoco, they found a wonderful city floating in the middle of the lake (you can get a glimpse of that image with the picture above). The chronicles of the time describe it as a New World Venice that dazzled them with its majesty.
Many events occurred in the following two years: the Mexica initially received and showered the Spaniards with gifts, believing them to be gods, who after living for a few months in one of the city’s palaces, took their Huey Tlatoani (chief ruler) Moctezuma hostage, and were expelled from the city. They returned to besiege and attack the island with the help of other indigenous peoples who had been subjugated by the Mexica empire. August 13, 1521 marks the fall of Mexico-Tenochtitlan and consequently the most important temples and buildings of the Mexicas were dismantled and their materials were used to build the new viceregal buildings that gave rise to the current Mexico City. The Spanish imposed their lifestyle and religion on the indigenous people who survived the Conquest and the diseases of the Old World against which their bodies had no defenses, in addition to enslaving them and destroying their codices and any representation of their gods.
This means that under the Historic Center of present-day Mexico City are the remains of the old Mexico-Tenochtitlan metropolis and irrefutable proof of this are the impressive monoliths that over the centuries have emerged from the subsoil to bear witness to the greatness of that civilization and that allow us to understand its cosmogony.
Those monoliths are on display to the general public in two of the most important museums in Mexico City: the National Museum of Anthropology, and the Museo del Templo Mayor. Regarding the first one, I want to share with you that the #TeamTacos of #LocalGuidesMexico held a meetup a couple of months ago and you can read the corresponding recap in @LaloPadilla 's post: [RECAP]Meet-Up Museo Nacional de AntropologĂa.
The second one is located in the main square of Mexico City, just beside of Metropolitan Cathedral and National Palace, and includes a path where you can enjoy the remains of Templo Mayor (the main Mexica pyramidal basement devoted to Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc gods).
So, the next two posts will be dedicate to analyze around six Mexica monumental monoliths… the best is yet to come!
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Are you ready for the next installments of this series?
The second part is already published!: Monumental monoliths of pre-Hispanic Mexico (2/3) | #MexicoPrehispanico
Do you have any question about we´ve reviewed up to now? Just let your comments below!
(This post responds to the invitation from @Chuytorres-alc to write about #MexicoPrehispanico)
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