
In
Aztec religion
The Aztec religion is a Pantheism#Form_of_monism, monistic pantheism in which the Nahua concept of was construed as the supreme god , as well as a diverse pantheon of lesser gods and manifestations of nature. The popular religion tended to embr ...
, (, "Painted with Bells"
) is a daughter of the priestess ("Serpent Skirt"). She was the leader of her brothers, the ("Four Hundred Huitznahua").
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,
Huitzilopochtli, the national deity of the Mexicas.
In 1978, workers at an electric company accidentally discovered a large stone relief depicting in Mexico City. The discovery of the stone led to a 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 m ...
, to unearth the Huēyi Teōcalli (Templo Mayor in Spanish).
The prominent position of the stone suggests the importance of her defeat by Huitzilopochtli in Aztec religion and national identity.
Birth of Huitzilopochtli and Coyolxauqui'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 Aztec deity Huitzilopochtli.
Her miraculous pregnancy embarrassed Coatlicue's other children, including her eldest daughter, Coyolxauhqui. Hearing of her pregnancy, the Centzon Huitznahuas, led by Coyolxauhqui, decided to kill Coatlicue. As they prepared for battle and gathered at the base of Coatepec, one of the Centzon Huitznahuas, Quauitlicac, warned Huitzilopochtli of the attack while he was in utero. Hearing of the attack, the pregnant miraculously gave birth to a fully grown and armed Huitzilopochtli who sprang from her womb, wielding "his shield, ''teueuelli'', and his darts and his blue dart thrower, called ''xinatlatl''."
Huitzilopochtli 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 Centzon Huitxnahuas, 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 Huitzilopochtli tossed Coyolxauhqui's head into the sky where it became the
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width ...
, 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.
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 Coyolxauhqui's defeat at Coatepec, shown at left. The discovery renewed the interest in excavating the ancient city of Tenochtitlan, underneath Mexico City. This led to the excavation of the Huēyi Teōcalli (
Templo Mayor
The (Spanish: Main Temple) was the main temple of the Mexica people in their capital city of Tenochtitlan, which is now Mexico City. Its architectural style belongs to the late Postclassic period of Mesoamerica. The temple was called ' in ...
), 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 m ...
.
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 Coyolxauhqui 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 Huitzilopochtli and
Tlaloc, the Aztec rain deity.
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 placement of the monument at the bottom of the Templo Mayor commemorated the history of Huitzilopochtli defeating Coyolxauhqui in the battle on Mount Coatepetel. Matos Moctezuma has argued that the section of the Huēyi Teōcalli dedicated to Huitzilopochtli represents the sacred mountain of Coatepec where Huitzilopochtli was born and Coyolxauhqui died.
The Coyolxauhqui stone was located in what was named Phase IV of the Templo Mayor during its excavation.
Creation
The artist of the Coyolxauhqui stone carved this disk in
high relief
Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...
out of a single large stone, 3.25 meters in diameter. Aztec historian Richard Townsend describes it as one of the most powerfully expressive sculptures of Mesoamerican art, 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, Coyolxauhqui 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 carving line the points of decapitation and dismemberment at her neck, shoulders, and hip joints. In this representation, Coyolxauhqui 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
An ear is the organ that enables hearing and, in mammals, body balance using the vestibular system. In mammals, the ear is usually described as having three parts—the outer ear, the middle ear and the inner ear. The outer ear consists ...
showing the
Mexica year sign. Snake, skull, and earth monster imagery surround her.
In the image to the right, which represents the original colors of the stone, Coyolxauhqui'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.
Uses
The Coyolxauhqui stone would have served as a cautionary sign to the enemies of
Tenochtitlan
, ; es, Tenochtitlan also known as Mexico-Tenochtitlan, ; es, México-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. The date 13 March 1325 was ...
. According to Aztec history, female deities such as Coyolxauhqui were the first Aztec enemies to die in war. In this, Coyolxauhqui came to represent all conquered enemies. Her violent death was a warning for the fate of the those who crossed the Mexica people.
Richard Townsend notes that the disk represented the defeat of the Aztecs' enemies at large.
Sacrificial victims crossed this stone before walking up the stairs of the temple to the block in front of Huitzilopochtli's shrine.
Role in sacrifice
Scholars also believe that the decapitation and destruction of Coyolxauhqui is reflected in the pattern of warrior
ritual sacrifice
Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity as an act of propitiation or worship. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly exi ...
, particularly during the feast of Panquetzaliztli (Banner Raising). The feast takes place in the 15th month of the Aztec calendar and is dedicated to Huitzilopochtli.
During the ceremony, captives’ hearts were cut out and their bodies were thrown down the temple stairs to the Coyolxauhqui stone. There, they were decapitated and dismembered, just as Coyolxauhqui was by Huitzilopochtli on Coatepec.
See also
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Aztec sun stone
The Aztec sun stone ( es, Piedra del Sol) 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 we ...
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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 als ...
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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''. Richard ...
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Templo Mayor
The (Spanish: Main Temple) was the main temple of the Mexica people in their capital city of Tenochtitlan, which is now Mexico City. Its architectural style belongs to the late Postclassic period of Mesoamerica. The temple was called ' in ...
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Huitzilopochtli
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Coatepec
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Panquetzaliztli
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Centzon Huitnahuas
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Coyolxauhqui imperative, a theory named after the goddess
References
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External links
In-depth interactive exploring Coyolxauhqui 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
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Aztec goddesses
Lunar goddesses
Magic goddesses