Coyolxāuhqui
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Aztec religion The Aztec religion is a polytheistic and monistic pantheism in which the Nahua concept of '' teotl'' was construed as the supreme god Ometeotl, as well as a diverse pantheon of lesser gods and manifestations of nature. The popular religion te ...
, (, "Painted with Bells") is a daughter of the goddess ("Serpent Skirt"). She was the leader of her brothers, the ("Four Hundred Huītznāhua"). She led her brothers in an attack against their mother, , when they learned she was pregnant, convinced she dishonored them all. The attack is thwarted by 's other brother,
Huītzilōpōchtli Huitzilopochtli (, ) is the Solar deity, solar and war deity of sacrifice in Aztec religion. He was also the patron god of the Aztecs and their capital city, Tenochtitlan. He wielded Xiuhcoatl, the fire serpent, as a weapon, thus also associatin ...
, the national deity of the
Mexica The Mexica (Nahuatl: ; singular ) are a Nahuatl-speaking people of the Valley of Mexico who were the rulers of the Triple Alliance, more commonly referred to as the Aztec Empire. The Mexica established Tenochtitlan, a settlement on an island ...
. In 1978, workers at an electric company accidentally discovered a large stone relief depicting in Mexico City. The discovery of the stone led to large-scale excavation, directed by
Eduardo Matos Moctezuma Eduardo Matos Moctezuma (born December 11, 1940)  is a Mexican archaeologist. From 1978 to 1982 he directed excavations at the Templo Mayor, the remains of a major Aztec pyramid in central Mexico City. Matos Moctezuma graduated with a ma ...
, to unearth the Huēyi Teōcalli (Templo Mayor in Spanish). The prominent position of the stone suggests the importance of her defeat by the Centzonhuītznāhua in Aztec religion and national identity.


Birth of Huītzilōpōchtli and Coyolxāuhqui's defeat at Coatepec

On the summit of Coatepec ("Serpent Mountain") sat a shrine for Coatlicue, the maternal Earth deity. One day, as she swept her shrine, a ball of hummingbird feathers fell from the sky. She "snatched them up; she placed them at her waist." Thus, she became pregnant with the deity Huītzilōpōchtli. Her miraculous pregnancy embarrassed Coatlicue's other children, including her eldest daughter, Coyolxāuhqui. Hearing of her pregnancy, the Centzonhuītznāhua, led by Coyolxāuhqui, decided to kill Coatlicue. As they prepared for battle and gathered at the base of Coatepec, one of the Centzonhuītznāhua, Quauitlicac, warned Huītzilōpōchtli of the attack while he was in utero. Hearing of the attack, the pregnant miraculously gave birth to a fully grown and armed Huītzilōpōchtli who sprang from her womb, wielding "his shield, ''teueuelli'', and his darts and his blue dart thrower, called ''xinatlatl''." Huītzilōpōchtli killed , beheading her and throwing her body down the side of Coatepec: "He pierced Coyolxauhqui, and then quickly struck off her head. It stopped there at the edge of Coatepetl. And her body came falling below; it fell breaking to pieces; in various places her arms, her legs, her body each fell." As for his brothers, the Centzonhuītznāhua, he scattered them in all directions from the top of Coatepec. He pursued them relentlessly, and those who escaped went south. Some authors have written that Huītzilōpōchtli tossed Coyolxāuhqui's head into the sky, where it became the
Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...
, so that his mother would be comforted in seeing her daughter in the sky every night, and that her scattered brothers became the Southern Star deities. It is difficult to verify these variations of the narrative with 16th century sources.


Imagery in Poses

The Templo Mayor stone disk served as a cautionary sign to foes of Tenochtitlán. This is exemplified by the dismemberment of her body and its restraints. The display of Coyolxāuhqui's severed head served this same purpose differently, as it was different than the typical full-body sculptures and art created by the Mexica.


Identifying Elements

Gold ornaments adorn the face of Coyolxāuhqui in the form of earrings and bell pendants. The ear ornaments have trapeze-ray signs symbolic of the tail of
Xiuhcoatl In Aztec religion, Xiuhcōātl was a mythological serpent, regarded as the spirit form of Xiuhtecuhtli, the Aztec fire deity sometimes represented as an atlatl or a weapon wielded by Huitzilopochtli. Xiuhcoatl is a Classical Nahuatl word that t ...
, the fire serpent. This makes them identifiers as they create a direct tie to Huītzilōpōchtli, who used Xiuhcoatl as his weapon.


Templo Mayor stone disk


Discovery

On February 21, 1978, a group of workers for the Mexico City electric power company came across a large shield-shaped stone covered in reliefs while digging. The stone they uncovered depicts the narrative of Coyolxāuhqui's defeat at Coatepec, shown at left. The discovery renewed the interest in excavating the ancient city of
Tenochtitlán , also known as Mexico-Tenochtitlan, was a large Mexican in what is now the historic center of Mexico City. The exact date of the founding of the city is unclear, but the date 13 March 1325 was chosen in 1925 to celebrate the 600th annivers ...
underneath
Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...
. This led to the excavation of the Huēyi Teōcalli (
Templo Mayor The (English: Main Temple) was the main temple of the Mexica people in their capital city of Tenochtitlan, Tenōchtitlan, which is now Mexico City. Its architectural style belongs to the late Mesoamerican chronology, Postclassic period of Me ...
), directed by
Eduardo Matos Moctezuma Eduardo Matos Moctezuma (born December 11, 1940)  is a Mexican archaeologist. From 1978 to 1982 he directed excavations at the Templo Mayor, the remains of a major Aztec pyramid in central Mexico City. Matos Moctezuma graduated with a ma ...
. This relief is one of the best known Aztec monuments and one of the few great Aztec monuments to have been found fully ''in situ''.


Location

The Coyolxāuhqui stone sat at the base of the stairs of the Huēyi Teōcalli, the primary temple of the Mexica in Tenochtitlan, on the side dedicated to Huitzilopochtli. The stone laid in the center of a platform that extended from the foot of the stairway. The temple is dedicated to Huītzilōpōchtli and the rain deity Tlāloc. Scholars believe that Mexica artists and builders incorporated images of the Coatepec narrative into the Huēyi Teōcalli during a major renovation from the years 4 Reed to 8 Reed (1483–1487) under the rule of Ahuitzotl. Eduardo Matos Moctezuma first noted that the monument's placement at the bottom of the Templo Mayor commemorated the history of Huītzilōpōchtli defeating Coyolxāuhqui in the battle on Mount Coatepetel. Matos Moctezuma has argued that the section of the Huēyi Teōcalli dedicated to Huītzilōpōchtli represents the sacred mountain of Coatepec where Huītzilōpōchtli was born and Coyolxāuhqui died. The Coyolxāuhqui stone was located in what was named Phase IV of the Templo Mayor during its excavation.


Creation

The artist of the Coyolxāuhqui stone carved this disk in
high relief High may refer to: Science and technology * Height * High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area * High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory * High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift t ...
out of a single large stone, 3.25 meters in diameter. Aztec historian Richard Townsend describes it as one of Mesoamerican art's most powerfully expressive sculptures, using "an assurance of design and a technical virtuosity not previously seen at the pyramids." The stone was likely created under the rule of Axayacatl (1469–1481).


Imagery

On the disk, Coyolxāuhqui lies on her back, with her head, arms, and legs severed from her body. Her head faces upwards, away from her torso and in profile view, with her mouth open. Her dismembered torso lies flat on her back. Her breasts sag downward. Her body is neatly yet dynamically organized within the circular composition. Scallop-shaped carvings line the points of decapitation and dismemberment at her neck, shoulders, and hip joints. In this representation, Coyolxāuhqui is nearly naked, barring her serpent loincloth. She wears only the ritual attire of bells in her hair, a bell symbol on her cheek, and a feathered headdress. These objects identify her as Coyolxauhqui. She wears a skull tied to a belt of snakes around her waist and an ear tab showing the
Mexica The Mexica (Nahuatl: ; singular ) are a Nahuatl-speaking people of the Valley of Mexico who were the rulers of the Triple Alliance, more commonly referred to as the Aztec Empire. The Mexica established Tenochtitlan, a settlement on an island ...
year sign. Snake, skull, and earth monster imagery surround her. In the image to the right, which represents the original colors of the stone, Coyolxāuhqui's yellow body lies before a red background. Bright blue colors her headdress and various details in the carving. White bones emerge from the scalloped, dismembered body parts. The double-headed serpent, also known as Maquizcoatl, were negative omens that could indicate death. Associated with Huītzilōpōchtli, as it was one of his names, creates a tie between the siblings. Coyolxāuhqui's joints being restrained by Maquizcoatl is both symbolic of her duty to serve a warning as well as identifying.


Uses

The Coyolxāuhqui stone would have served as a cautionary sign to the enemies of Tenochtitlán. According to Aztec history, female deities such as Coyolxāuhqui were the first Aztec enemies to die in war. In this, Coyolxāuhqui came to represent all conquered enemies. Her violent death was a warning for the fate of those who crossed the Mexica people. Richard Townsend notes that the disk represented the defeat of the Aztecs' enemies. Sacrificial victims crossed this stone before walking up the stairs of the temple to the block in front of Huītzilōpōchtli's shrine.


Role in sacrifice

Scholars also believe that the decapitation and destruction of Coyolxāuhqui are reflected in the pattern of the warrior ritual sacrifice, particularly during the feast of Panquetzaliztli (Banner Raising). The feast takes place in the 15th month of the Aztec calendar and is dedicated to Huītzilōpōchtli. During the ceremony, captives’ hearts were cut out and their bodies were thrown down the temple stairs to the Coyolxāuhqui stone. There, they were decapitated and dismembered, just as Coyolxāuhqui was by Huītzilōpōchtli on Coatepec.


See also

*
Aztec sun stone The Aztec sun stone () is a late post-classic Mexica sculpture housed in the National Anthropology Museum in Mexico City, and is perhaps the most famous work of Mexica sculpture. It measures in diameter and thick, and weighs . Shortly after ...
*
Stone of Motecuhzoma I The Stone of Motecuhzoma I is a pre-Columbian stone monolith dating back to the rule of Motecuhzoma I (1440-1469), the fifth Tlatoani (ruler) of Tenochtitlan. The monolith measures approximately 12 feet in diameter and 39 inches tall, and is also ...
*
Stone of Tizoc The Stone of Tizoc, Tizoc Stone or Sacrificial Stone is a large, round, carved Aztec stone. Because of a shallow, round depression carved in the center of the top surface, it may have been a '' cuauhxicalli'' or possibly a '' temalacatl''. Richar ...
* Coatepec * Pānquetzaliztli * Coyolxauhqui imperative, a theory named after the goddess


References

*


External links


In-depth interactive exploring Coyolxāuhqui and her story by the J. Paul Getty Museum
Features the ''Head of Coyolxauhqui'', found near the Templo Mayor, Mexico City. Museo Nacional de Antropología {{Authority control Aztec goddesses Lunar goddesses Magic goddesses