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Teotihuacán: City of the Birth of the Gods
By
Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin
Twenty-five miles
northeast of Mexico City lay one of the greatest archaeological
sites of the New World, the fabled Teotihuacán: “City of the Birth
of the Gods.” Although the valley of Teotihuacán had been settled
by people scattered in small farming villages since at least the
eighth century BC, its rise to prominence began only in the first
centuries after Christ. Teotihuacán was the site of a sacred lava
cave, which legend claimed was the place of the “first emergence”—where
the gods and humanity had been created—giving the site great sacred
significance. Combining its spiritual advantage with the economic
potential conferred by local obsidian resources, Teotihuacán rapidly
developed as a religious and trade center. As population and wealth
grew, a massive two-century long building project was undertaken,
creating a vast sacred center unrivaled in the New World.
Plaza
of the Moon and the Avenue of the Dead looking south from the Pyramid
of the Moon. (Pyramid of the Sun to the left).
The core of the
complex is the so-called “Pyramid of the Sun,” which stands atop
the sacred cave of creation, anciently accessible by a tunnel under
the pyramid. The pyramid is aligned with the rising of the sun
and the appearance of the Pleiades at the spring equinox. Measuring
200 meters square and 66 meters high, the four massive tiers of
the pyramid can be climbed by means of a monumental stairway on
the west. It was designed for astronomical observations, worship,
and sacrifice. The entire structure seems to have symbolized the
cosmic mountain of creation, which one ascends in order to gain
the presence of the gods. In the sixteenth century an eighteen-foot
tall idol—probably similar to the “Atlantes” of Tula—stood in the
ruined temple complex at the top. This image was still worshipped
by pilgrims but was destroyed by the conquistadors in an attempt
to obliterate the Aztec religion.
In front of the
Pyramid of the Sun, on a roughly north-south axis, runs the three-mile
long, forty-yard wide “Avenue of the Dead” (Miccaotli). The entire
sacred way is interspersed with half-a-dozen small plazas, and is
lined on both sides with dozens of small stepped pyramids, temples,
altars and apartment complexes for the priests or other elite groups.
The northern part
of the Avenue of the Dead ends in the Plaza and Pyramid of the Moon,
associated by the Aztecs with the moon and water goddess Chalchiuhtlicue.
Although only 46 meters high, it is divided into four massive tiers
surmounted by a monumental south-facing stairway. Many of the smaller
pyramids and buildings surrounding the Plaza of the Moon contain
splendid carvings and fresco murals depicting jaguars, serpents,
butterflies, eagles, and ornately attired priests. As with the
other temples and pyramids of Teotihuacán, the precise rites and
beliefs associated with these structures are unknown.
On the Avenue of the Dead looking north towards
the pyramid of the Moon.
The southern Avenue
of the Dead culminates in a structure that the Spanish believed
was a “Citadel” (Ciudadela), but which is now thought to have been
a market or ceremonial complex. This “Citadel” contains the splendid
seven-tiered temple-pyramid of Quetzalcoatl. Built in the second
century AD, it is ornamented with numerous representations of the
feathered-serpent. Although Quetzalcoatl symbolism is found earlier,
many scholars see this site as the first major cult-center devoted
to the worship of this god. In subsequent centuries, the Quetzalcoatl
temple was buried beneath a larger pyramid; some archaeologists
speculate this may represent the overthrow of the Quetzalcoatl cult.
A World Class City
By the fourth century
AD, the period of monumental building was completed, but rapid military
and economic expansion continued apace, with Teotihuacáni merchants
and soldiers spreading as far as Kaminaljuyu and Tikal in Guatemala.
(Some LDS scholars posit a possible correlation between Teotihuacáni
militarism in the fourth century and the destruction of the Nephites.)
With added trade, tribute, and plunder, the city expanded to a population
of roughly 200,000 by the sixth century AD, making it one of the
largest cities in the world at the time.
The decline of Teotihuacán
was as dramatic as its rise. Although the details are not known,
archaeologists suspect that overpopulation and ecological decay,
combined with social, economic, political and ideological conflicts,
culminated in the massive destruction of the city around 725 AD;
altars and idols were smashed, and the vast ceremonial center was
burned. It is unclear if this destruction was caused by internal
civil war or by outside invaders, but the results were the same:
the city was largely abandoned, leaving only a few squatters farming
among the ruins of the once magnificent capital. However, despite
its devastation, Teotihuacán never lost its spiritual influence.
In later centuries Toltecs and Aztecs made regular pilgrimages there
to worship in the ruined temples, copying the art and architectural
styles in their own monuments, and giving it the name of the “city
of the birth of the gods.” Today hundreds of thousands of visitors
from around the world come to stand in awe of the magnificence of
this two-thousand-year-old sacred center.
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An
image of Quetzalcoatl (the "feathered serpent")
from the Temple of Quetzalcoatl. |
Jorge Angulo, Teotihuacan:
City of the Gods (Mexico City: Bonechi, 1999), contains a brief
introduction with dozens of excellent photographs of the site.
Kathleen Berrin and Esther Pasztory, Teotihuacan: Art from the
City of the Gods, (New York: Thames and Hudson, 1993), and Eduardo
Matos Moctezuma, Teotihuacan (New York: Rizzoli International,
1990), provide more detailed studies and bibliography.
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