Even more importantly, the finding of this monolith is what led to the excavation of the Tempo Mayor de Tenochtitlán, located in the zocalo of Mexico City, and now visible to those who visit. Although the pre-Hispanic piece was already mentioned in the chronicles of Spanish missionaries as part of the Mexica culture, it was until 44 years ago, when it was discovered, that it has been the subject of multiple research and conversations about Mexica deities. They recreated the birth of Huitzilopochtli in ceremonies performed in the precinct of Tenochtitlán, including the demise of Coyolxauhqui as an important part of these celebrations.Ĭurrently exhibited in room 4 of the Museo del Templo Mayor, this beautiful piece is as imposing as it is revealing of what Mexica/Aztec culture was like before the arrival of the Spanish. The myth of Coyolxauhqui and Huitzilopochtli’s birth, was so significant for the Mexica/Aztec people that, commemorating the victory of Huitzilopochtli, the Mexica carved this large stone disk which sat at the base of the stairs of the Huēyi Teōcalli, or the Templo Mayor. Others also suggest that with this myth, the Aztecs justified the violence used to conquer and demand tribute from other Mesoamerican peoples. However, other scholars suggests that this myth intended to narrate the tensions between fractions who wanted to settle at Coatepec versus those who wanted to continue their search for Tenochtitlán. The head of the goddess was tossed into the sky, and it became the moon and his brothers the stars of the firmament.Ĭoyolxauhqui's demise at the hands of Huitzilopochtli is said to symbolize the daily victory of the sun (one of Huitzilopochtli’s associations) over the moon and stars and/or light over darkness. The warrior-god Huitzilopochtli immediately rushed to where his sister was, and with his mighty weapon, the xiuhcoatl ('Fire Serpent') which was actually a ray of the sun, swiftly butchered his unruly siblings and, chopping up Coyolxauhqui into several large chunks, he tossed the pieces down the mountainside. This important myth recalls a time during their migration when they briefly settled at the sacred mountain of Coatepec, the “hill of the snake,” located next to the town of Tula (what is now the state of Hidalgo). It takes place during the migration of the Aztec people from Aztlán to Tenochtitlán, the ancestral promised land, what is now Mexico City. The myth of Coyolxauhqui is closely related to that of Huitzilopochtli’s and it recounts the story of his birth, tied with Coyolxauhqui’s demise. She was the daughter of Coatlicue, "the one with the serpent skirt," goddess of the earth and fertility, and the sister of Huitzilopochtli, "the left-handed or southern hummingbird," the Mexica/Aztec god of war and main deity who would lead the Mexica people to Tenochtitlan, the promised land. According to Mexica/Aztec mythology, Coyolxauhqui, whose name in Nahuatl means "the one adorned with bells," was the leader of her 400 brothers, known as the Centzon Huitznahua (the 'Four Hundred Huitznahua' who represented the stars of the southern sky).
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