Archeology Site of the Month - October 2009

Templo Mayor

Tenochtitlan (Mexico City)

We know the Aztec Capital City of Tenochtitlan as Mexico City, smog capital of the world, where on average twenty people a day drop dead on the street from smog related respiratory illnesses. Seriously.

That is nothing compared to what happened here in 1487. No less than 20,000 people had their still-beating hearts ripped from their bodies in a 4-day human sacrificial period. The Aztecs themselves place the number at over 80,400. The occasion? Re-consecration and re-dedication of the Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan - The Templo Mayor. It is estimated that at one point 19 separate altars in the city were executing 1 prisoner every 2 minutes for 24 hours a day for the 4 day festival. Rivers of blood flowed down the steep incline of the double pyramid steps of Templo Mayor.

We chose this UNESCO World Heritage Site as this months article because of the human-sacrifice-creepy-it's Halloween time factor. However, in it's heyday it must've been a super- majestic impressive site (when not dripping with blood).

The city of Tenochtitlan was grand. It was larger than every city in Europe except Paris and Venice. Twice as big as Seville, more than 50,000 people traded here daily. It was laid out in an impeccable grid like districts that would've made Pierre L‘Enfant proud. The largest city in Mesoamerica, it's population was over 200,000.

And it was an island! At least three wide causeways linked it to the mainland.

The Templo Mayor was built upon the spot where a Mexican God gave the people a sign that they had reached the promised land. The eagle on a cactus eating a snake is still the symbol of the city.

The precinct surrounding The Temple was sacred and encompassed over 4,000 Square meters. There was a priest sanctuary, a ball court and other huge pyramid temples, such as the Temples for the Great God Quetzalcoatl and one for The Sun.

The House of the Eagle Warriors was excavated in the early 1980's. This room has staircases decorated with intricately carved eagle head sculptures. The Eagle Warriors were privileged and dedicated to the founding God of Mexico. Privileged as in this was the ultimate first class lounge, man-cave, gentleman's bar, guy's hangout. These guys had all the best food, drink and girls there were to offer. There were numerous other temples, rooms and ball fields for them to enjoy as well. They were probably second only to the priests who had even better food, drink and girls. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

The most striking feature of Templo Mayor was the double sided staircase, dual temple at the top, each dedicated to a different god. The founding God and the God of rain and agriculture. The Temple took 200 years to build and about 10 minutes for the Conquistadors to burn. They were quite a bunch of guys, those Spanish.

Although the Spanish were amazed to find a city, a real city, in the jungles, it didn't stop them from killing everyone. And although these people actually had a government- a King!- like Europe! And a religious structure like The Vatican (priests and all!). They wanted the gold. Was Tenochtitlan, El Dorado? No. Then kill everyone and move on. You would think that a people with a trained warrior class (army) and an ability to sacrifice thousands of enemy warriors in a few days time that also had a literal thirst for blood that was unrivaled and unparalleled to this day, would've taken the Conquistadors with one arm tied behind their back. No. The Aztec legends regarding Quetzalcoatl held them back.

During a religious ceremony, Conquistador Alvarado, successfully massacred 10,000 Aztec nobles trapped in the sacred district. The Aztecs captured almost 70 men, sacrificing them immediately and tossing their heads back to the Spanish. To no avail. The Spanish sacked Tenochtitlan and razed it in 1521 after seizing it's ruler Moctezuma II. They rebuilt the city Mediterranean style as it remains to this day as Mexico City. The second largest metro area in the Americas with a population of over 19 million.

The Templo Mayor was only re-discovered after workers building an underground subway system in the 1970's literally dug some of it up. The remains are protected under UNESCO.

Interesting note: The biblical Cain, father of Enoch, named a city after him. The only city on earth with the name Enoch is Tenochtitlan. Taking off the first T, which is a prerequisite letter to almost every Aztec word, and the last "titlan", which means "city of", it would seem obvious. Considering the mark of Cain factor, as American Indians are incapable of growing facial hair, a growing academic crowd is calling out in favor of this being the City of Enoch, built by Cain who was punished to roam the Earth and was marked by God. Only those who are stubbornly holding onto the antiquated idea that there was no pre-Columbia contact would oppose the thought of such an idea.

End Note: Confused between the Maya, The Aztecs and The Inca?

The Mayans lived first, building AMAZING pyramids and leaving an incredible astronomical legacy. They disappeared from Central America over 1,000 years ago.

The Aztecs were with us in Central/Northern Mexico, apparently sacrificing every living thing that was within distance of them, until the Conquistadors wiped them out in the 1500's.

The Inca lived in South America and built amazing cities like Machu Picchu in Peru. They disappeared when the Spanish arrived as well.