Happy New Year’s! Instead of fireworks, let’s ring in the new year with a superb photostream from Flickriver user Ilhuicamina. This set is of exceptional quality and covers many significant artworks excavated from the Templo Mayor and safeguarded by INAH at the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. Take a look!
Click HERE to visit Ilhuicamina’s Aztec Art Photostream!
January 1, 2013 | Categories: Arts & Sciences, Culture, History, Media, People, Photo, Places, Preconquest Era, Religion, Things | Tags: adorar, amanteca, antes de la conquista, art, arte, artefacto, artifact, atl tlachinolli, Aztec, Azteca, ética, belief, Calendar Stone, ceremonia, ceremony, Chalchihuitlicue, Chicomecoatl, Coatlicue, corn, corn god, corn goddess, Coyolxauhqui, crafts, creencia, cuauh, cuauhxicalli, Cuauhxicalli de Motecuhzoma Ilhuicamina, Cuauhxicalli of Motecuhzoma Ilhuicamina, cultura, culture, deified knife, dios, dioses, Eagle Warrior, emperor, ethics, faith, fe, feather, featherwork, filosofía, fish, Flickriver, flint, foto, frog, glyph, god, goddess, gods, Huehueteotl, Huey Teocalli, idea, Ilhuicamina, INAH, indígena, Indian, indigenous, indio, la religión de los aztecas, maize, mask, Mesoamerica, Mexica, Mexica-Tenochca, Mexicayotl, Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico-Tenochtitlan, Mictecahichuatl, Mictlancihuatl, Mictlantecuhtli, Mictlanteuctli, Moctezuma, Montezuma, moral, morality, Motecuhzoma, Motecuhzoma Ilhuicamina, Nahua, Napatecuhtli, National Museum of Anthropology, obsidian, offering, ofrenda, personified knife, philosophy, photo, photostream, picture, Piedra de Coyolxauhqui, piedra de sacrificios, pintura, pre-Columbian, pre-Conquest, Pre-Hispanic, Precolumbian, preconquest, Prehispanic, reflexión, religion, sacrificial stone, sculpture, shield, statue, storm, Sun Stone, technology, tecnología, tecpatl, temple, Templo Mayor, Tenochca, Tenochtitlan, Teocalli de la Guerra Sagrada, Teocalli of Sacred War, teología, Teotl, Tepeyollotl, Teteo, theology, thought, Tlaloc, Toxcatl, tradicional, traditional, worship, Xilonen, Xipe Totec, Xiuhtecuhtli, Xiuhteuctli | Leave a comment
In the spirit of the aphorism “a picture is worth a thousand words,” I recommend stopping by the British Museum’s Aztec collection online. They have available 27 photographs (well, 26 if you ignore the crystal skull that’s been proven to be a hoax) of beautiful Aztec and Mixtec artifacts. Among them are statues of Quetzalcoatl, Tezcatlipoca, Mictlantecuhtli, Tlazolteotl, Tlaloc, Xochipilli, and Xipe Totec, as well as a rare mosaic ceremonial shield, a turquoise serpent pectoral, and a sacrificial knife. The images are thought-provoking and intense, as these objects speak wordlessly the vision of the Nahua peoples without Colonial censorship.
Click HERE to visit the British Museum’s Aztec Highlights.
As a bonus, I located an excellent photograph of a jade mask of Xiuhtecuhtli, God of Time and Fire, which is a part of the British Museum’s collection but is not on their website. Thank you Z-m-k for putting your fine photography skills to work on this worthy subject material and for your kindness in sharing it under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike 2.5 License.
Jade Mask of Xiuhtecuhtli
October 4, 2008 | Categories: Arts & Sciences, Culture, Media, Photo, Religion, Things | Tags: adorar, antes de la conquista, atl-atl, atlatl, Aztec, Aztec religion, Azteca, ética, belief, British Museum, cache, ceremonial shield, ceremony, Chalchiuhtlicue, Chalco, Colonial, costumbre, creencia, crystal skull hoax, cultura, culture, dios, dioses, drum, Eagle Warrior, ethics, faith, fe, filosofía, flayed, god, goddess, gods, gold, Grand Temple, House of the Bows and Bells, Huey Teocalli, idea, image, indígena, Indian, indigenous, indio, itzpatl, jade, jewelry, knife, la religión de los aztecas, Mesoamerica, Mexica, Mexicayotl, Mexico, Mexico City, Mictlantecuhtli, Mictlanteuctli, mirror, Mixtec, Mixteca, Moctezuma, Montezuma, moral, morality, mosaic, Motecuhzoma, Nahua, obsidian, pectoral, perforator, philosophy, photo, picture, pottery, pre-Columbian, pre-Conquest, Pre-Hispanic, Precolumbian, preconquest, Prehispanic, Quetzalcoatl, reflexión, religion, sacrifice, serpent, statue, stone, tecpatl, Templo Mayor, teología, Teotl, tepetlacalli, teponaztli, Tezcatlipoca, theology, thought, Tlaloc, Tlaxcala, Tlazolteotl, tradicional, traditional, turquoise, worship, Xipe Totec, xiuhcoatl, Xiuhtecuhtli, Xiuhteuctli, Xochipilli | 3 Comments
I came across a lovely little hoard of traditional Aztec poems, prayers, and songs the other night. These were originally recored in Ruiz de Alarcon’s 1629 work, Tratado de las supersticiones y costumbres gentílicas que oy viven entre los indios naturales desta Nueva Espana, commonly referred to as “Treatise on Heathen Superstitions” for short in English. For example, he’s posted prayers for safe travel, for love, and even a myth in song about Xochiquetzal and the Scorpion. Professor Joseph J. Fries of Pacific Lutheran University is the person who has generously posted these precious literary treasures, and he includes a bit of commentary as well. Thank you, Dr. Fries!
Click HERE to read some Aztec poems!
Xochiquetzal, Goddess of the Arts
September 29, 2008 | Categories: Culture, Literature | Tags: adorar, antes de la conquista, Aztec, Aztec religion, Azteca, ética, belief, calendar, Caxxoch, Centeotl, ceremony, Chalchiuhcueye, Chalchiuhtlicue, chant, chaos, Chicome-Xochitl, Cinteotl, Cipactonal, Conquest, cosmology, costumbre, creencia, Cuaton, cultura, culture, dios, dioses, divine, ethics, evil, faith, fe, filosofía, flower and song, Francisco X. Alarcón, god, goddess, gods, good, Heathen Superstitions, huehuetlatolli, Huitzilopochtli, hymn, idea, immoral, in xóchitl in cuicatl, indígena, Indian, indigenous, indio, Joseph J. Fries, la religión de los aztecas, liturgy, Mesoamerica, Mexica, Mexicayotl, Mexico, Miguel León-Portilla, mito, Moquequeloa, Moquequeloatzin, moral, morality, myth, Nahua, Nanahuatl, Nanahuatzin, New Spain, oración, order, Oxomoco, philosophy, piedad, poem, poema, prayer, pre-Christian, pre-Columbian, pre-Conquest, Pre-Hispanic, Precolumbian, preconquest, Prehispanic, priest, Problem of Evil, Quetzalcoatl, reflexión, religion, ritual, Ruiz de Alarcón, sacrifice, scorpion, song, tecpatl, Telpochtli, teología, Teotihuacan, Teotl, theology, thought, Tlaloc, Tlaltecuhtli, Tlalteuctli, Tlalticpac, Tlazolteotl, Tonacacihuatl, tradicional, traditional, Tratado de las supersticiones y costumbres gentílicas, worship, Xapel, Xochiquetzal, xochitl | 3 Comments
A quick update today — I came across a link to an interesting little website devoted to the study of the Aztec sword-club, the macuahuitl (also spelled maquahuitl). They even have a new forum for people to discuss traditional Mesoamerican weapons. Cool. Click to visit Maquahuitl, and tell ’em Cehualli sent you. <g>
- Aztec Warriors With Macuahuitl
September 26, 2008 | Categories: Culture, Things | Tags: arte, Aztec, Azteca, contemporary, contemporáneo, crafts, cultura, culture, experimental archaeology, flint, indígena, Indian, indigenous, indio, knapped, knapping, knife, macuahuitl, maquahuitl, Mesoamerica, Mexica, Mexico, Mexico City, Nahua, Nahuatl, obsidian, soldier, sword, sword-club, technology, tecnología, tecpatl, tradicional, traditional, war, warrior, weapon | 3 Comments
Shock kindly shared the link to this story with me recently, and I thought I would highlight it here as an interesting archaeological discovery. I look forward to when they publish their full findings.
Most Important Offering in Past 30 Years Discovered in Great Temple
Presidencia de la República
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Mexico City – President Felipe Calderón toured the House of the Bows and Bells of the Great Temple Archaeological Zone, where the largest, most important offerings recorded in 30 years of excavations in this zone were recently discovered…
(Click here for the full story in English)
June 29, 2008 | Categories: Culture, Indigenous News & Issues, News, Places, Religion, Things | Tags: adorar, Ahuizotl, antes de la conquista, Aztec, Aztec religion, Azteca, ética, belief, cache, ceremony, conch, costumbre, creencia, cultura, culture, dios, dioses, ethics, faith, fe, filosofía, god, goddess, gods, Grand Temple, House of the Bows and Bells, Huey Teocalli, idea, indígena, Indian, indigenous, indio, knife, la religión de los aztecas, Leonardo López Luján, Mesoamerica, Mexica, Mexicayotl, Mexico, Mexico City, moral, morality, Nahua, obsidian, Offering #126, philosophy, pre-Columbian, pre-Conquest, Pre-Hispanic, Precolumbian, preconquest, Prehispanic, reflexión, religion, sacrifice, tecpatl, Templo Mayor, teología, Teotl, theology, thought, Tlaltecuhtli, Tlalteuctli, tomb, tradicional, traditional, worship | 6 Comments
Tlacatecco 