Accesso 01/02/2014
Teotihuacán:
The place where, "Men Became Gods!"
Teotihuacán
(pronounced "teh-oh-tee-wa-khan") means "place where gods were
born," reflecting the Aztec belief that the gods created the universe here
at this place.
This page
will take us to the far Northern End of the excavated part of Teotihuacán. Here
we will visit the famous structures known as: The "Pyramid Of The
Moon," "Plaza Of The Moon," "Palace Of Quetzal-Papalotl,
"Palace Of The Jaguars," "Temple Of The Feathered
Conches," the "Mural Of The Puma,"
and "The Street Of The Dead."
"Palace of Quetzalpapalotl":
A word
about the "Palace of Quetzalpapalotl," or (Quetzal-Butterfly), which
occupies the southwestern edge of the "Plaza Of The Moon."
It was excavated and restored in the 1960s, to serve as an example of
Teotihuacáns' most elite residences & public buildings. However we now know
that the most elite, did not live here.
The term
"Palacio de Quetzalpapalotl," was originally applied because the
excavator thought that he was uncovering strange depictions of a creature with
both quetzal bird and butterfly characteristics.
More
recently the excavator and others have realized that the creature was none
other than the ubiquitous Teotihuacan Armed Bird. Also called,
"Spearthrower Owl."
We have
since learned that the "Palacio de Quetzalpapalotl," has had a long
history of construction, destruction, & reconstruction.
Therefore,
today we find the remains of not one but three associated structures: the
Palacio de Quetzalpapalotl, another structure buried earlier, known as the
"Subestructura de los Caracoles Enplumados," (Substructure of the
Feathered Conch Shells), and the adjacent, "Patio of the Jaguars."
"Patio
Of The Jaguars:
Most of the
dwelling here are embellished with murals containing the images of jaguars.
Thus, inspiring the name “Patio Of The Jaguars.”
The main
plaza is bordered on the east by a temple holding pyramid whose stairway reinforcements
are decorated with rattlesnake tails at the lower end.
Around its
other three sides are very spacious rooms whose portico areas house murals
portraying jaguars. Those on the north side are easiest to see.
"Tepantitla
Compound:
Located
upon the Northeast section, several hundred yards to the East of the
"Pyramid Of The Moon," is the "Tepantitla Compound." During
the early years leading up to 1942,
a series of murals were found in the Tepantitla Compound
in Teotihuacán. This compound was important since, the Tepantitla compound
provided housing for what appears to have been high status citizens. And upon
its walls (as well as much of Teotihuacan)
we find brightly painted frescoes.
"The
Great Goddess of Teotihuacán," or the "Teotihuacán Spider
Woman":
Several of
these frescoes contain images of "The Great Goddess of Teotihuacán"
or the "Teotihuacán Spider Woman."
"The
Great Goddess of Teotihuacán," or "Teotihuacán Spider Woman," is
a proposed goddess of the pre-Columbian Teotihuacán civilization, in what is
now Mexico.
The Great
Goddess is thought to have been a goddess of the underworld, darkness, the
earth, water, war, and possibly even creation itself. To the ancient
civilizations of Mesoamerica, the jaguar, the
owl, and especially the spider were considered creatures of darkness, often
found in caves and during the night. The fact that the Great Goddess is
frequently depicted with all of these creatures further supports the idea of
her underworld connections.
The Great
Goddess images have been identified at other locations than Tepantitla –
including Teotihuacán's Tetitla Compound, the Palace of the Jaguars, the Temple of Agriculture, and upon several vessels.
In many
murals, the Great Goddess is shown with many of the scurrying arachnids in the
background, on her clothing, or hanging from her arms. She is often seen with
shields decorated with spider webs, further suggesting her relationship with
warfare. Her nosepiece is the single most recognizable adornment of the deity,
finalizing her transformation into the arachnid-like goddess.
In both the
Tepantitla and Tetitla murals, the Great Goddess wears a frame headdress that
includes the face of a green bird, generally identified as an owl or quetzal.
She is shown among several spiders and with a yellow body coloration, further
distinguishing her from other Mesoamerican deities. Her single most
distinguishing feature is a nosepiece consisting of a rectangular bar with
three circles. Immediately below this bar hang three or five "fangs".
The outer fangs curl away from the center, while the middle fang points down.
Here is
some of the archaeological history about both the Tepantitla and Tetitla
murals, and the Great Goddess.
Since the
largest figures within the murals depicted several complex and ornate deities
or supernaturals; in 1942, archaeologist Alfonso Caso identified these central
figures as a Teotihuacan
equivalent of "Tlaloc," the Mesoamerican god of rain and warfare.
Thirty
years later, researcher Esther Pasztory; re-examined the murals, and concluded
that many of the paintings of "Tlaloc," instead showed a feminine
deity, an analysis based on a number of factors including the gender of
accompanying figures, the green bird in the headdress, and the spiders seen
above the figure. Pasztory concluded; that the figures represented a vegetation
and fertility goddess, that was a predecessor of the much later Aztec goddess
Xochiquetzal.
Then in
1983, researcher Karl Taube; christened this goddess the "Teotihuacan
Spider Woman". This more neutral description of the deity as the
"Great Goddess," has since gained more popularity.
In the
mural from the Tepantitla compound, the Great Goddess appears with vegetation
growing out of her head, perhaps a world tree, or hallucinogenic morning glory
vines. Spiders and butterflies appear on the vegetation and water drips from
its branches and flows from the hands of the Great Goddess. Water also appears
to be flowing from her lower body. It was these many representations of water
that led Caso to declare this to be a representation of the rain god, Tlaloc.
Below this
depiction, separated from it by two interwoven serpents and a talud-tablero, is
a scene showing dozens of small human figures, usually wearing only a loincloth
and often showing a speech scroll. Several of these figures are swimming in the
criss-crossed rivers flowing from a mountain at the bottom of the scene. Caso
interpreted this scene as the afterlife realm of Tlaloc although this
interpretation has also been challenged, most recently by María Teresa Uriarte,
who finds that, "this mural represents Teotihuacan as the prototypical civilized
city associated with the beginning of time and the calendar."
Some
American Indians, such as the Pueblo
and Navajo, revered what seems to be a similar deity. Referred to as the Spider
Grandmother, she shares many of the same traits as the Teotihuacan Spider
Woman.
We will
include several different photos of the various murals at each of the temples
and palaces. Most of the murals are untitled.
