CLCS 233 Final

Teotihuacan

City "Where Gods Were Made"; pan-Mesoamerican shrine; was a pre-Columbian Mesoamerican city located in the Basin of Mexico, 30 miles (48 km) northeast of modern-day Mexico City, which is today known as the site of many of the most architecturally significant Mesoamerican pyramidsbuilt in the pre-Columbian Americas. Apart from the pyramids, Teotihuacan is also anthropologically significant for its complex, multi-family residential compounds, the Avenue of the Dead, and the small portion of its vibrantmurals that have been exceptionally well-preserved.

Vucub Caquix

Macaw who pretends to be Sun in Popol Vuh; defeated by Hero Twins; is the name of a bird demon defeated by the Hero Twins of a K'iche'-Mayan myth preserved in an 18th-century document, entitled 'Popol Vuh'. The episode of the demon's defeat was already known in the Late Preclassic Period, before the year 200 AD.

cuauhxicalli

"Eagle gourd bowl" holds extruded heart of victim; was an altar-like stone vessel used by the Aztecs to contain human hearts extracted in sacrificial ceremonies. A cuahxicalli would often be decorated with animal motifs, commonly eagles or jaguars. Another kind of cuauhxicalli is the Chacmool-type which is shaped as a reclining person holding a bowl on his belly.

Xipe Totec

"Our Lord the Flayed One" : god of regeneration, gold-work, poetry; celebrated in Festival of Flayed Men; was a life-death-rebirth deity, god of agriculture, vegetation, the east, disease, spring, goldsmiths, silversmiths, liberation and the seasons.[3] Xipe Totec was also known by the alternative names Tlatlauhca[pronunciation?], Tlatlauhqui Tezcatlipoca ("Red Smoking Mirror") and Youalahuan[pronunciation?] ("the Night Drinker").[4] The Tlaxcaltecs and the Huexotzincas worshipped a version of the deity under the name of Camaxtli,[5] and the god has been identified with Yopi, a Zapotec god represented on Classic Period urns.[6] The female equivalent of Xipe Totec was the goddess Xilonen-Chicomecoatl.[7]

Coyolxauhqui

"She Whose Face is Adorned with Bells": step-sister attacks Huitzilopochtli but is defeated and killed (moon defeated by sun); each sacrifice re-enacts her death; was a daughter of Coatlicue and Mixcoatl and is the leader of the Centzon Huitznahuas, the southern star gods. Coyolxauhqui was a powerful magician and led her siblings in an attack on their mother, Coatlicue, because Coatlicue had become pregnant.

Cipactli

'Crocodile' or 'Caiman', was the first day of the Aztec divinatory count of 13 X 20 days; Aztec is a primeval sea monster, part crocodilian, part fish and part toad, frog, with indefinite gender. Always hungry, every joint on its body was adorned with an extra mouth. The deity Tezcatlipoca sacrificed a foot when he used it as bait to draw the monster nearer. He and Quetzalcoatl created the earth from its body; In the Mayan Popol Vuh, the name of the earthquake demon, Sipakna, apparently derives from Cipactli.[4] Sipakna is the demon Sipak of 20th-century Highland Maya oral tradition.

Motecuhzoma (=Montezuma)

9th ruler of tenochtitlan 1502-1520, also known as Nahuatl, young, large empire, killed during Spanish conquest

pulque

Alcoholic and medicinal beverage made from sap of maguey, plant grown from ashes of Mayahuel; is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented sap of the maguey (agave) plant. It is traditional to central Mexico, where it has been produced for millennia. It has the color of milk, somewhat viscousconsistency and a sour yeast-like taste.

Titlacauan

Avatar of Tezcatlipoca, corrupts Topiltzin(-Quetzalcoatl) and destroys city of Tula

Tenochtitlan

Aztec capital founded 1345; site marked by eagle in cactus; was anAztec altepetl (city-state) located on an island in Lake Texcoco, in the Valley of Mexico. Founded in 1325, it became the capital of the expanding Mexica Empire in the 15th century,[1] until captured by the Spanish in 1521. At its peak, it was the largest city in the Pre-Columbian Americas. When paired with Mexico, the name is a reference to Mexica, also known as "Aztecs" although they referred to themselves as Mexica.

Leyenda de los soles

Aztec cosmogony; postclassic

Cortés

Cortes arrives Mexico 1519, mistakenly believed to be Quetzalcoatl; conquers Tenochtitlan 1521; are names of Latin origin, meaning "court(s)" or "cut(s)".

Quetzalcoatl

Creator god and culture bringer; see Leyenda de los Soles for activities and contributions; is a Mesoamerican deity whose name comes from the Nahuatl language and means "feathered serpent".[1] The worship of a feathered serpent is first documented in Teotihuacan in the first century BCE or first century CE.[2] That period lies within the Late Preclassic to Early Classic period(400 BCE - 600 CE) of Mesoamerican chronology, and veneration of the figure appears to have spread throughout Mesoamerica by the Late Classic (600-900 AD).

Xolotl

Double (nahualli) of Quetzalcoatl; descends with him to retrieve bones from Underworld; was the god with associations to both lightning and death.

Olmec

Earliest Mesoamerican high civilization: monumental scultures, jaguar shamans, ball game, human sacrifice; the first major civilization in Mexico. They lived in the tropical lowlands of south-central Mexico, in the present-day states of Veracruz and Tabasco.

Zapotec

Early Mesoamerican civilization : astronomical observatories; was an indigenous pre-Columbian civilization that flourished in the Valley of Oaxaca in Mesoamerica. Archaeological evidence shows that their culture goes back at least 2,500 years. The Zapotec left archaeological evidence at the ancient city of Monte Albán in the form of buildings, ball courts, magnificent tombs and grave goods including finely worked gold jewelry. Monte Albán was one of the first major cities in Mesoamerica and the center of a Zapotec state that dominated much of the territory that today belongs to the Mexican state of Oaxaca.

Hun Hunahpu

Father of Mayan Hero Twins, defeated in Xibalba; head put in calabash tree grows and impregnates Xquic; is the father of the Maya hero twins, Hunahpu and Xbalanque. As their shared calendrical day name suggests, Hun-Hunahpu is first and foremost the father of Hunahpu. He is also stated to be the father of the twins' half-brothers, the patrons of the artisans and writers, Hun-Chowen and Hun-Batz (see Howler Monkey Gods). Hun-Hunahpu 'One-Hunahpu' is paired with his brother, Vucub-Hunahpu 'Seven-Hunahpu'. The brothers were tricked in the Dark House by the lords of the Underworld (Xibalba) and sacrificed. Hun-Hunahpu's head was suspended in a trophy tree and changed to a calabash. Its spittle (i.e., the juice of the calabash) impregnated a daughter of one of the lords of Xibalba, Xquic. She fled the underworld and conceived the Twins. After defeating the lords of the Underworld, the Twins recovered the remains of their father and father's brother, but could not resuscitate them.

Ometeotl

God of Duality; is a name sometimes used about the pair of god Ometecuhtli/Omecihuatl (also known as Tonacatecuhtli and Tonacacihuatl) inAztec mythology. Whether such a deity existed among the Aztecs and what its meaning was, is a matter of dispute among scholars of Mesoamerican religion.

Mictlantecuhtli

God of Underworld, Lord of Death and Regeneration; in Aztec mythology, was a god of the dead and the king of Mictlan (Chicunauhmictlan), the lowest and northernmost section of the underworld. He was one of the principal gods of the Aztecs and was the most prominent of several gods and goddesses of death and the underworld. The worship of Mictlantecuhtli sometimes involved ritual cannibalism, with human flesh being consumed in and around the temple

Tlaloc

God of rain and lightning, irrigates land to produce maize; servants (tlaloques) steal maize from Mt. Sustenance; was an important deity in Aztec religion; a god of rain, fertility, and water. He was a beneficent god who gave life and sustenance, but he was also feared for his ability to send hail, thunder, and lightning, and for being the lord of the powerful element of water. Tlaloc is also associated with caves, springs, and mountains, in which he was believed to reside. He is known for having demanded child sacrifices.

emergence myth

In emergence myths humanity emerges from another world into the one they currently inhabit. The previous world is often considered the womb of the earth mother, and the process of emergence is likened to the act of giving birth. The role of midwife is usually played by a female deity, like the spider woman of Native American mythology. Male characters rarely figure into these stories, and scholars often consider them in counterpoint to male oriented creation myths, like those of the ex nihilo variety.

Mayan

Indigenous people of mesoamerica, popol vuh is their creation story

Eagle Warrior

Main participant in Festival of Flayed Men: wears skin of victim; souls of eagle warriors pull sun up into sky each morning; were a special class of infantry soldier in the Aztec army, one of the two leading military orders in Aztec society. They were a type of Aztec warrior called a cuāuhocēlōtl [kʷaːwoˈseːloːt͡ɬ].[2] The word cuāuhocēlōtl derives from the Eagle warrior cuāuhtliand the Jaguar Warrior ocēlōtl [oˈseːloːt͡ɬ].[2] These military orders were made up of the bravest soldiers of noble birth and those who had taken the greatest number of prisoners in battle. Of all of the Aztec warriors, they were the most feared.

Xibalba

Mayan Underworld. Hero Twins travel there, defeat Lords of Xibalba, re-emerge as sun and moon; is the name of the underworld in K'iche' Maya mythology, ruled by the Maya death gods and their helpers. In 16th-century Verapaz, the entrance to Xibalba was traditionally held to be a cave in the vicinity of Cobán, Guatemala. According to some of the K'iche' Maya presently living in the vicinity, the area is still associated with death.

Mountain of Sustenance

Mt. of Sustenance contains maize; cracked open by Nanahuatzin; maize stolen by servants of Tlaloc; In ancient Mexico, mountains were thought to contain subterranean waters that filled the space under the firmament. In the central highlands, this was Tlalocan, the realm of the rain god, and from here emanated the waters of rivers, lakes and ultimately the sea.

Hunahpu

One of Mayan Hero Twins; kills Vucub Caquix; defeats Lords of Xibalba; are the central figures of a narrative included within the colonial K'iche' document called Popol Vuh, and constituting the oldest Maya myth to have been preserved in its entirety. Called Hunahpu and Xbalanque [ʃɓalaŋˈke] in the K'iche' language, the Twins have also been identified in the art of the Classic Mayas (200-900 AD). The Twin motif recurs in many Native American mythologies; the Maya Twins in particular could be considered as mythical ancestors to the Maya ruling lineages

Xbalanque

One of Mayan Hero Twins; kills Vucub Caquix; defeats Lords of Xibalba; are the central figures of a narrative included within the colonial K'iche' document called Popol Vuh, and constituting the oldest Maya myth to have been preserved in its entirety. Called Hunahpu and Xbalanque [ʃɓalaŋˈke] in theK'iche' language, the Twins have also been identified in the art of the Classic Mayas (200-900 AD). The Twin motif recurs in many Native American mythologies; the Maya Twins in particular could be considered as mythical ancestors to the Maya ruling lineages

tzitzimime

Star demons: kill Mayahuel, threaten to devour sun if blood sacrifices not carried out; is a deity associated with stars. They were depicted as skeletal female figures wearing skirts often with skull and crossbone designs. In Postconquest descriptions they are often described as "demons" or "devils" - but this does not necessarily reflect their function in the prehispanic belief system of the Aztecs.[1]

Tamoanchan

Paradise of gods on earth, marked by bleeding tree; site of creation of human beings, creation of maguey; is a mythical location of origin known to the Mesoamerican cultures of the central Mexican region in the Late Postclassic period. In the mythological traditions and creation accounts of Late Postclassic peoples such as the Aztec, Tamoanchan was conceived as a paradise where the gods created the first of the present human race out of sacrificed blood and ground human bones which had been stolen from the Underworld of Mictlan.[1]

Nanahuatzin

Pimply, crippled god who cracks open Mt. Sustenance; later sacrifices himself to become sun of Fifth World; the most humble of the gods, sacrificed himself in fire so that he would continue to shine on Earth as the sun, thus becoming the sun god. Nanahuatzin means "full of sores." According to a translation of the histoire du mechique, Nanahuatzin is the son of Itzpapalotl and Cuzcamiahu or Tonan, but was adopted byPiltzintecuhtli and Xochiquetzal

maguey

Plant created from corpse of Mayahuel; provides source of fibres, spines, pulque; is the agave plant

Aztec Cosmology and Anthropolgy

Primal Duality •Ometeotl (Two God) •creation of four Tezcatlipocas Creation of Suns 1-4 •opposition between Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl •destruction of each sun/world by amplification of its own power •etiological myths of origin of monkeys, turkeys, butterflies, fish •cyclic pattern of time Creation of 5th World •flood and primal couple (Nana and Tete) •cooperation between Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl •separation of earth and sky •creation of 13 levels •defeat/sacrifice of caiman •blood-letting by gods to feed earth Descent into Mictlan (anthropogony) •need to retrieve bones of ancestors •Quetzalcoatl and Xolotl (nahualli) descend into Mictlan •combined patterns of heroic and regeneration myths •trials in the underworld •limited success (broken bones) •humans made (like tortillas) of ground bones and divine blood •investment of male/female with implements and functions Mountain of Sustenance •need for food for humans •discovery of Mount of Sustenance •failure to move mountain •Nanahuatzin borrows lightning from Tlaloc, splits mountain •limited success (tlaloques steal maize) Creation of pulque •Quetzalcoatl elopes with Mayahuel •unsuccessful disguise as tree in Tamoanchan (tree with split trunk) •pursuit by star-demons (tzitzimime) •sacrifice of Mayahuel •transformation into maguey, from which come fibers, spines, pulque Creation of 5th Sun (4-Motion) •competition between Nanahuatzin and Tecuciztecatl •Nanahuatzin becomes sun, Tecuciztecatl becomes moon •singeing of eagle and ocelot •rabbit on the moon •gods sacrifice themselves at Teotihuacan to feed sun and moon •Xolotl becomes twinned maize, double maguey, salamander •Quetzalcoatl (as wind) sacrifices himself to put sun and moon into motion

Tezcatlipoca

Primary god (4 Tezcatlipocas; Black Tezcatlipoca most authentic) counterbalances Quetzalcoatl; god of destruction, death, delusion; was a central deity in Aztec religion, and his main festival was the Toxcatl ceremony celebrated in the month of May. One of the four sons of Ometeotl, he is associated with a wide range of concepts, including the night sky, the night winds, hurricanes, the north, the earth, obsidian, enmity, discord, rulership, divination, temptation, jaguars, sorcery, beauty, war and strife. His name in the Nahuatl language is often translated as "Smoking Mirror"[2] and alludes to his connection to obsidian, the material from which mirrors were made in Mesoamerica and which was used for shamanic rituals.

tzompantli

Rack that holds skulls of sacrificial victims; or skull rack is a type of wooden rack or palisade documented in several Mesoamerican civilizations, which was used for the public display of human skulls, typically those of war captives or other sacrificial victims. It is a scaffold-like construction of poles on which heads and skulls were placed after holes had been made in them.

Plumed Serpent

Representation of Quetzalcoatl, creator god and culture-bringer; was a prominent supernatural entity or deity, found in many Mesoamerican religions. It was calledQuetzalcoatl among the Aztecs, Kukulkan among the Yucatec Maya, and Q'uq'umatz and Tohil among the K'iche' Maya. The double symbolism used in its name is considered allegoric to the dual nature of the deity, where being feathered represents its divine nature or ability to fly to reach the skies and being a serpent represents its human nature or ability to creep on the ground among other animals of the Earth, a dualism very common in Mesoamerican deities.

Quetzalcoatl-Topiltzin

Topiltzin-might conceivably have been an actual historical figure who played a central role in the early history of the Toltecs, but that, to the extent that this was true, he was subsequently blended and confused with supernatural entities including, primarily, Ehecatl Quetzalcoatl, a creator god of fertility, rain and wind.

Tree of Origin

Tree of origin; example of axis mundi

ixiptla

War captive dressed as god and later sacrificed in Festival of Flayed Men

xochiyaoyotl

War prosecuted to obtain captives for human sacrifice; is the name given to the battles fought between the Aztec Triple Alliance and some of their enemies: most notably the city-states of Tlaxcala, Huejotzingo, Atlixco and Cholula.

Ehecatl

Wind god merged with Quetzalcoatl; is a pre-Columbian deity associated with the wind, who features in Aztec mythology and the mythologies of other cultures from the central Mexico region of Mesoamerica. He is most usually interpreted as the aspect of the Feathered Serpent deity (Quetzalcoatl in Aztec and other Nahua cultures) as a god of wind, and is therefore also known as Ehecatl-Quetzalcoatl.

jaguar

Xbalanque is known as jaguar deer, guardian of the forest, God of underworld and rain and fertility, very diverse

nahualli

an indigenous religious practitioner, identified by the Spanish as a 'magician'. The nagual is acquired along with the other characteristics of a person's birth day at birth. Each day is associated with an animal which has strong and weak aspects

Basic Characteristics of Mesoamerican culture

astronomical observation pyramidal architecture ball game blood-letting & sacrifice oppositional structures dynamism shamanistic animal cults agricultural symbolism (maize) regeneration

Coatlicue

impregnated by feather; mother of Huitzilopochtli murdered by 400 sons and daughter; also known as Teteoinan (also transcribed Teteo Inan), "The Mother of Gods" (Classical Nahuatl: Cōhuātlīcue[koːwaːˈt͡ɬiːkʷe], Tēteô īnnān), is the Aztec goddess who gave birth to the moon, stars, and Huitzilopochtli, the god of the sun and war. She is also known as Toci (Tocî, "our grandmother") and Cihuacoatl (Cihuācōhuātl, "the lady of the serpent"), the patron of women who die in childbirth.

Role of Blood Sacrifice in Meso Culture

compensation/justice shed blood of Cipactli demands blood (divine and human) be returned to the earth debt-payment (nextlaoaliztli) blood sacrifices by Givers of Life demand blood to pay gods back for their loss of blood at Tamoanchan and Teotihuacan nourishment blood sacrifices feed and animate earth, Nanahuatzin (Sun of 4-Motion), and Tecuztecatl (Moon of 4-Motion) maintenance of order blood sacrifices prevent world destruction by star demons (tzitzimime) regeneration blood sacrifices feed the dead, fertilize the earth, ensure the emergence of the sun, renewal of life

Huitzilopochtlic

is a Mesoamerican deity of war, sun, human sacrifice and the patron of the city of Tenochtitlan. He was also the national god of the Mexicas, also known asAztecs, of Tenochtitlan. Many in the pantheon of deities of the Aztecs were inclined to have a fondness for a particular aspect of warfare. However, Huitzilopochtli was known as the primary god of war in ancient Mexico. Since he was the patron god of the Mexica, he was credited with both the victories and defeats that the Mexica people had on the battlefield.[1] It is important to remember that the defeat of their patron deity meant the defeat of his people. This is one of the many reasons why they were concerned with providing exquisite tribute and food for him. Not only was it important for him to survive his battles, but the fate of the Mexica people would have rested in the victory of Huitzilopochtli.

Popol Vuh

is a corpus of mytho-historical narratives of the Post ClassicK'iche' kingdom in Guatemala's western highlands. The title translates as "Book of the Community", "Book of Counsel", or more literally as "Book of the People".[1] Popol Vuh's prominent features are its creation myth, its diluvian suggestion, its epic tales of the Hero Twins Hunahpú and Xbalanqué,[2] and its genealogies. The myth begins with the exploits of anthropomorphic ancestors and concludes with a regnal genealogy, perhaps as an assertion of rule by divine right.

Xquic

is a mythological figure known from the 16th century Quiché (K'iche') Maya manuscript Popol Vuh. She was the daughter of one of the lords of Xibalba, called Cuchumaquic, Xibalba being the Maya Underworld. Noted particularly for being the mother of the Maya Hero Twins, Hunahpu and Xbalanque, she is sometimes considered to be the Maya goddess associated with the waning moon. However, there is no evidence for this in the Popol Vuh text itself.

Mayahuel

is the female divinity associated with the maguey plant among cultures of central Mexico in the Postclassic era of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican chronology, and in particular of the Azteccultures. As the personification of the maguey plant, Mayahuel was also part of a complex of interrelated maternal and fertility goddesses in Aztec mythology and is also connected with notions of fecundity and nourishment.

Chicomoztoc

mountain of seven caves; MesoamericanCave of Origins; an example of authocthony; is the name for the mythical origin place of the Aztec Mexicas, Tepanecs,Acolhuas, and other Nahuatl-speaking peoples (or Nahuas) of the central Mexico region ofMesoamerica, in the Postclassic period.

Aztec

people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica from the 14th to 16th centuries. The Nahuatl words aztecatl [asˈtekat͡ɬ] (singular)[2] and aztecah [asˈtekaʔ] (plural)[2] mean "people from Aztlan",[3] a mythological place for the Nahuatl-speaking culture of the time, and later adopted as the word to define the Mexica people. Often the term "Aztec" refers exclusively to the Mexica people of Tenochtitlan (now the location of Mexico City), situated on an island in Lake Texcoco, who referred to themselves as Mexica Tenochca [meˈʃika teˈnot͡ʃka] or Cōlhuah Mexica [koːlwaʔ meˈʃika]

Quiche Cosmology and Anthropolgy

primal waters Sovereign Plumed Serpent (Heart of Earth) inhabits waters Heart of Sky =3 deities (Thunderbolt Hurricane, Newborn Thunderbolt, Sudden Thunderbolt); = "word" Plumed Serpent + Heart of Sky earth created by power of word (logogenically) creation of animals animals of forests, animals of mountains assigned habitats and habits creation of humans 1 mud creature (consultation with diviners Xpiyacoc and Xmucane) creation of humans 2 wood people creation of humans 3 (PV 4,163-67) maize people

Cihuatateo

souls of women who die during childbirth pull down the sun out of the sky every evening; were the spirits of human women who died in childbirth (mociuaquetzque.). Childbirth was considered a form of battle, and its victims were honored as fallen warriors. Their physical remains were thought to strengthen soldiers in battle while their spirits became the much-feared Cihuateteo who accompanied the setting sun in the west. They also haunted crossroads at night, stealing children and causing sicknesses, especially seizures and madness, and seducing men to sexual misbehavior.

Festival of Flayed Men

the name given to the form of sacrifice in which an especially courageous war captive was given mock weapons, tied to a large circular stone and forced to fight against a fully armed Aztec warrior. As a weapon he was given a macuahuitl (a wooden sword with blades formed from obsidian) with the obsidian blades replaced with feathers.[36] A white cord was tied either around his waist or his ankle, binding him to the sacred temalacatl stone.[37] At the end of theTlacaxipehualiztli festival, gladiator sacrifice (known as tlauauaniliztli) was carried out by five Aztec warriors; two jaguar warriors, two eagle warriors and a fifth, left-handed warrior

Tecuciztecatl

was a lunar deity, representing the old "man-in-the-moon".