The temple is located in the legendary city of Tenochtitlan. Tenochtitlan - capital of the Aztec state
California ground cuckoo is a North American bird from the cuckoo family (Cuculidae). It lives in deserts and semi-deserts in the south and southwest of the United States and northern Mexico.
Adult ground cuckoos reach a length of 51 to 61 cm, including the tail. They have a long, slightly downward curved beak. The head, crest, back and long tail are dark brown with light splashes. The neck and belly are also light. Very long legs and a long tail are adaptations to the desert running lifestyle.
Most representatives of the cuckoo suborder stay in the crowns of trees and shrubs, fly well, and this species lives on the ground. Thanks to the peculiar build of the body and long legs, the cuckoo moves completely like a chicken. As she runs, she stretches her neck somewhat, slightly opens her wings and raises her crest. Only when necessary does the bird fly into trees or fly short distances.The California ground cuckoo can reach speeds of up to 42 km/h. The special arrangement of her toes also helps her in this, since both outer toes are located back, and both inner toes are located forward. However, due to its short wings, it flies very poorly and can stay in the air for only a few seconds.
The California ground cuckoo has developed an unusual, energy-efficient way to spend cold nights in the desert. At this time of day, her body temperature drops and she falls into a kind of motionless hibernation. On its back there are dark areas of skin not covered with feathers. In the morning, she spreads her feathers and exposes these areas of skin to the sun, due to which her body temperature quickly returns to normal levels.
This bird spends most of its time on the ground and hunts snakes, lizards, insects, rodents and small birds. She is fast enough to kill even small vipers, which she grabs by the tail with her beak and hits her head on the ground like a whip. She swallows her prey whole. This bird got its English name Road Runner because it had the habit of running after mail coaches and grabbing small animals disturbed by their wheels.
The ground cuckoo fearlessly appears where other desert inhabitants are reluctant to penetrate - into the domain of rattlesnakes, since these poisonous reptiles, especially young ones, serve as prey for birds. The cuckoo usually attacks the snake, trying to hit it in the head with its powerful long beak. At the same time, the bird constantly jumps, dodging the opponent’s throws. Ground cuckoos are monogamous: during the period of hatching the chicks, a pair is formed, and both parents incubate the clutch and feed the cuckoos. Birds build a nest from twigs and dry grass in bushes or thickets of cacti. There are 3 - 9 white eggs in a clutch. Cuckoo chicks are fed exclusively by reptiles.Death Valley
Death Valley got its name from settlers who crossed it in 1849, seeking the shortest route to the California gold mines. The guidebook briefly reports that “some stayed there forever.” The dead were ill-prepared for crossing the desert, did not stock up on water and lost their orientation. Before dying, one of them cursed this place, calling it Death Valley. The few survivors withered mule meat on the wreckage of dismantled carts and reached their goal. They left behind them “cheerful” geographical names: Death Valley, Funeral Ridge, Last Chance Ridge, Coffin Canyon, Dead Man's Passage, Hell's Gate, Rattlesnake Gorge, etc.
Death Valley is surrounded on all sides by mountains. This is a seismically active region, the surface of which shifts along fault lines. Huge blocks of the earth's surface move during underground earthquakes, the mountains become higher, and the valley goes lower and lower in relation to sea level. On the other hand, erosion is constantly occurring - the destruction of mountains as a result of the influence of natural forces. Small and large stones, minerals, sand, salts and clay washed away from the surface of the mountains fill the valley (now the level of these ancient layers is about 2,750 m). However, the intensity of geological processes far exceeds the force of erosion, so in the next millions of years the trend of “growth” of mountains and lowering of valleys will continue.
The Badwater Basin is the lowest part of Death Valley, located at 85.5 m below sea level. Once upon a time after the Ice Age, Death Valley was a huge lake with fresh water. The local hot and dry climate contributed to the inevitable evaporation of water. Annual short-term, but very intense rains wash tons of minerals from the surface of the mountains into the lowlands. The salts remaining after the evaporation of water settle at the bottom, reaching their highest concentration in the lowest place, in a reservoir with poor water. Here, rainwater lingers longer, forming small temporary lakes. Once upon a time, the first settlers were surprised that their dehydrated mules refused to drink water from these lakes, and marked “bad water” on the map. This is how this area got its name. In fact, the water in the pool (when it is available) is not poisonous, but it tastes very salty. It also has its own unique inhabitants that are not found in other places: algae, aquatic insects, larvae, and even a mollusk named after its place of residence, Badwater Snail.
In a vast area of the valley, located below the level of the World Ocean, and which was once the bottom of a prehistoric lake, one can observe the amazing behavior of salt deposits. This area is divided into two different zones that differ in the texture and shape of the salt crystals. In the first case, salt crystals grow upward, forming bizarre pointed piles and labyrinths 30-70 cm high. They form an interesting foreground with its chaos, well emphasized by the rays of the low sun in the morning and evening hours. Sharp as knives, growing crystals on a hot day emit an ominous, unique crackling sound. This part of the valley is quite difficult to navigate, but it is better not to spoil this beauty.
Nearby is the lowest area in the Valley Badwater Basin. Salt behaves differently here. A uniform salt grid 4-6 cm high is formed on an absolutely flat white surface. The grid consists of figures gravitating towards a hexagon in shape, and covers the bottom of the Valley with a huge web, creating an absolutely unearthly landscape.
In the southern part of Death Valley is a flat, level clay plain - the bottom of the dry lake Racetrack Playa - called Racetrack Playa. According to the very phenomenon found in this area - “self-propelled” stones.Sailing stones, also called sliding or crawling stones, are a geological phenomenon. The stones move slowly along the clayey bottom of the lake, as evidenced by the long tracks left behind them. The stones move independently without the help of living creatures, but no one has ever seen or recorded the movement on camera. Similar movements of stones have been noted in several other places, but in terms of the number and length of tracks, Racetrack Playa stands out from the rest.
In 1933, Death Valley was declared a national monument, and in 1994 it received the status National Park and the park's territory was expanded to include another 500 thousand hectares of land.
The park's territory includes the Salina Valley, most of the Panamint Valley, as well as areas of several mountain systems. In the west rises Mount Telescope Peak, in the east – Mount Dante’s View, from the height of which a beautiful view of the entire valley opens.
There are many scenic spots, especially on slopes adjacent to the desert plain: dormant volcano Ubehebe, Titus Canyon deep. 300 m and length 20 km; a small lake with very salty water, in which a small shrimp lives; in the desert there are 22 species of unique plants, 17 species of lizards and 20 species of snakes. The park has a unique landscape. This is an unusual wild beautiful nature, graceful rock formations, snow-covered Mountain peaks, scorching salt plateaus, shallow canyons, hills covered with millions of delicate flowers.coati- a mammal from the genus Noshu of the raccoon family. This mammal received its name for its elongated and very funny movable snout-nose.
Their head is narrow, their hair is short, their ears are round and small. There is a white rim on the edge of the inside of the ears. Nosukha is the owner of a very long tail, which is almost always in a vertical position. The animal uses its tail to balance itself when moving. The characteristic color of the tail is alternating light yellow, brown and black rings.
The color of the nose is varied: from orange to dark brown. The muzzle is usually a uniform black or brown color. There are light spots on the face, below and above the eyes. The neck is yellowish, the paws are black or dark brown.
the catch is elongated, the paws are strong with five fingers and non-retractable claws. The nose digs the ground with its claws, obtaining food. The hind legs are longer than the front legs. The length of the body from the nose to the tip of the tail is 80-130 cm, the length of the tail itself is 32-69 cm. The height at the withers is about 20-29 cm. They weigh about 3-5 kg. Males are almost twice as large as females.
Nosukhi live on average 7-8 years, but in captivity they can live up to 14 years. They live in tropical and subtropical forests South America and southern USA. Their favorite place is dense bushes, low-lying forests, and rocky terrain. Due to human intervention, lately nosos prefer forest edges and clearings.
They say that nosuhs used to be called simply badgers, but since real badgers moved to Mexico, the true homeland of nosuhs, this species received its own individual name.
All noses, including coatis, are predators! Coatis get food for themselves with their noses, diligently sniffling and groaning, they inflate the foliage in this way and look for termites, ants, scorpions, beetles, and larvae under it. Sometimes it can also feed on land crabs, frogs, lizards, and rodents. During the hunt, the coati clamps its prey with its paws and bites its head. In difficult times of hunger, the Nosukhi allow themselves vegetarian cuisine; they eat ripe fruits, which, as a rule, are always in abundance in the forest. Moreover, they do not make reserves, but return to the tree from time to time.
Nosuhs live both in groups and alone. In groups there are 5-6 individuals, sometimes their number reaches 40. In groups there are only females and young males. Adult males live alone. The reason for this is their aggressive attitude towards children. They are expelled from the group and return only to mate.Males usually lead a solitary lifestyle and only during the mating season do they join family groups of females with young ones. During the mating season, which is usually from October to March, one male is accepted into the group of females and young ones. All mature females living in the group mate with this male, and soon after mating he leaves the group.
As soon as young males turn two years old, they leave the group and subsequently lead a solitary lifestyle, females remain in the group.
Nosukha gives birth to cubs once a year. Usually there are 2-6 cubs in a litter. Newborns weigh 100-180 grams and are completely dependent on the mother, who leaves the nest for a while to find food. The eyes open at approximately 11 days. The babies remain in the nest for several weeks, and then leave it with their mother and join the family group.
Lactation lasts up to four months. Young noses stay with their mother until she begins to prepare for the birth of the next offspring.
Red Lynx is the most common wild cat on the North American continent. In general appearance, this is a typical lynx, but it is almost twice as small as an ordinary lynx and is not so long-legged and wide-legged. Its body length is 60-80 cm, height at the withers is 30-35 cm, weight is 6-11 kg. You can recognize a red lynx by its white
You can meet the red lynx in dense subtropical forests or in desert places among prickly cacti, on high mountain slopes or in swampy lowlands. The presence of humans does not prevent it from appearing on the outskirts of villages or small towns. This predator chooses areas where it can feast on small rodents, nimble squirrels or timid rabbits and even prickly porcupines.
Although the bobcat is a good tree climber, it only climbs trees in search of food and shelter. It hunts at dusk; only young animals go hunting during the day.Vision and hearing are well developed. Hunts on the ground, sneaking up on prey. The lynx holds its prey with its sharp claws and kills it with a bite to the base of the skull. In one sitting, an adult animal eats up to 1.4 kg of meat. He hides the remaining surplus and returns to it the next day.For rest, the red lynx chooses a new place every day, without lingering in the old one. This could be a crack in the rocks, a cave, a hollow log, a space under a fallen tree, etc. On the ground or snow, the red lynx takes a step approximately 25 - 35 cm long; The size of an individual footprint is approximately 4.5 x 4.5 cm. When walking, they place their hind paws exactly in the tracks left by their front paws. Thanks to this, they never make very loud noise from the crackling of dry twigs under their feet. Soft pillows on their legs help them calmly sneak up to the animal at close range. Bobcats are good tree climbers and can also swim across a small body of water, but they only do this on rare occasions.
The red lynx is a territorial animal. The lynx marks the boundaries of the site and its paths with urine and feces. In addition, she leaves marks of her claws on trees. The male learns that the female is ready to mate by the smell of her urine. A mother with cubs is very aggressive towards any animal or person that threatens her kittens.
IN wildlife males and females love solitude, meeting only during the breeding season. The only time, when individuals of different sexes look for meetings, this is the mating season, which occurs at the end of winter - the beginning of spring. The male mates with all the females that are in the same area with him. The female's pregnancy lasts only 52 days. Cubs are born in the spring, blind and helpless. At this time, the female tolerates the male only not far from the den. After about a week, the babies' eyes open slightly, but for another eight weeks they remain with their mother and are fed with her milk. The mother licks their fur and warms them with her body. The female red lynx is a very caring mother. In case of danger, she moves the kittens to another shelter.
A male bobcat often occupies an area of 100 km2, and border areas may be shared by several males. The female's area is half the size. Within the territory of one male, 2-3 females usually live. A male red lynx, whose territory is often home to three females and cubs, must provide food for 12 kittens.
Among the almost two and a half thousand species of higher plants found in the flora of the Sonoran Desert, the most widely represented are species from the family of Compositae, legumes, cereals, buckwheat, euphorbia, cactus and borage. A number of communities characteristic of the main habitats make up the vegetation of the Sonoran Desert.
The extensive, slightly sloping alluvial fans support vegetation, the main components of which are clumps of creosote bush and ragweed. They also include several types of prickly pear, quinoa, acacia, fuqueria, or ocotillo.
On the alluvial plains below the fans, the vegetation cover mainly consists of sparse forest of mesquite trees. Their roots, penetrating into the depths, reach groundwater, and roots located in the surface layer of soil, within a radius of up to twenty meters from the trunk, can intercept precipitation. A mature mesquite tree reaches a height of eighteen meters and can be more than a meter wide. In our time, only the pitiful remnants of the once majestic mesquite forests remain, long cut down for fuel. The mesquite forest is very similar to the black saxaul thickets in the Karakum Desert. The forest composition, in addition to mesquite, includes clematis and acacia.
Near the water, along the banks of rivers, near the water, there are poplars, with ash and Mexican elder mixed in with them. Plants such as acacia, creosote bush and celtis grow in the beds of arroyos, drying up temporary streams, as well as in the adjacent plains. In the Gran Desierto Desert, near the Gulf of California coast, the sandy plains are dominated by ragweed and creosote bush, and sand dunes Ephedra and tobosa grow, as well as ragweed.
Trees here grow only on large dry riverbeds. The mountains are mainly inhabited by cacti and xerophilous shrubs, but the cover is very sparse. The saguaro is quite rare (and completely absent in California) and its distribution here is again limited to riverbeds. Annuals (mainly winter ones) make up almost half of the flora, and in the driest areas up to 90% of the species composition: they appear in huge quantities only in wet years.
In the Arizona Highlands, northwest of the Sonoran Desert, the vegetation is especially colorful and varied. The denser vegetation cover and diversity of vegetation is due to more precipitation here than in other areas of Sonora, as well as the ruggedness of the terrain, a combination of steep slopes of different exposures and hills. A peculiar cactus forest, in which the main place is occupied by the giant columnar saguaro cactus, with a low-growing encelia shrub located between the cacti, is formed on gravelly soils with a large amount of fine earth. Also among the vegetation there are large barrel-shaped ferocactus, ocotillo, paloverde, several types of prickly pear, acacia, celtis, creosote bush, as well as mesquite tree, in the floodplains.
Such trees and bushes of the Sonoran Desert attract attention with their unique appearance, elephant tree, ironwood and idria, or buium, growing only in two areas of the Sonoran Desert, located in Mexico, part of the region of Latin America.
The Vizcaino region is located in the central third of the California Peninsula. There is little precipitation, but the air is cool, as humid sea breezes often bring fogs, weakening the aridity of the climate. Rain falls mainly in winter and averages less than 125 mm. Here in the flora there are some very unusual plants, bizarre landscapes are characteristic: fields of white granite boulders, cliffs of black lava, etc. Interesting plants are bujamas, an ivory tree, a 30 m high cordon, a throttle ficus growing on the rocks and a blue palm. In contrast to the main Vizcaino Desert, the Vizcaino Coastal Plain is a flat, cool, foggy desert with 0.3 m tall shrubs and fields of annuals.
District Magdalena is located south of Vizcaino on the California Peninsula and is similar in appearance to Vizcaino, but the flora is slightly different. Most of the meager rainfall occurs in the summer, when the Pacific breeze blows from the sea. The only noticeable plant on the pale Magdalena Plain is the creeping devil's cactus (Stenocereus eruca), but away from the coast on the rocky slopes the vegetation is quite dense and consists of trees, shrubs and cacti.
Riverine communities are usually isolated ribbons or islands of deciduous forest along temporary streams. There are very few permanent or dry watercourses (the largest is the Colorado River), but there are many where water appears only a couple of days or even a few hours a year. Dry beds, or "washes", of arroyos - "arroyos" - are places where many trees and shrubs are concentrated. Xerophilic open forests along dry riverbeds are highly variable. Along some ephemeral streams, almost pure mesquite forest occurs, others may be dominated by blue paloverde or ironwood, or develop a mixed forest. Characteristic is the so-called "desert willow", which is actually a catalpa.
The Aztec Empire was formed in XV century as a result of numerous wars. At the very beginning, it was a triple alliance that united the city-states of Mexico City, Tlacopan and Tezcoco. However, very soon the reins of government of the alliance were completely in the hands of the supreme ruler of the Aztecs, whose capital with a double name - Mexico City (Tenochtitlan) - became the capital of a huge empire.
Naturally, this had its advantages for the ruling city. Everything produced in the provinces found its way to Mexico City, especially tropical goods hitherto unknown on the central plateau, such as cotton, cocoa, hides, colorful feathers, turquoise and, finally, gold. Therefore, luxury could appear in Tenochtitlan: in clothing, jewelry, food, and in the furnishings of houses.
The entire territory of the Aztec capital was planned around four main centers - calpullia, each of which included its own temple and its own “house of youths,” something like a religious-military school. However, the calpullia did not include the areas where the emperors' palaces, government buildings and major shrines were located. According to rough estimates by researchers, the population of the Aztec capital at the time of the Spanish conquest numbered more than half a million people.
The conquistadors who entered Mexico City later recalled that a city that shone with astonishing splendor opened before them. Even Hernán Cortés, who was not characterized by sentimentality, mentioned gardens, sometimes surrounded by an embankment, sometimes located at land level, reported about wide, straight streets and about the movement of boats along the canals next to them, about an aqueduct carrying fresh water in town. The proud hidalgo in his letters to Charles V goes so far as to write: “The Indians live almost as we do in Spain, obeying order.” He adds: "It's amazing to see how intelligent they are in doing anything they do."
On November 12, 1519, four days after entering Mexico City, Cortés and his main commanders went to inspect the market and the great temple of Tlatelolco with Emperor Montezuma II . They climbed up 114 steps and stood on a platform at the top of the pyramid located in front of the shrine. From the height there was a beautiful panorama of both nearby villages and four roads leading to the capital, as well as the city itself. Cortez wrote:
“So, after admiring all this and reflecting on what we saw, we turned our gaze to the huge market square and the crowd of people on it who were buying and selling something... And among us there were soldiers who had already visited many parts of the world , in Constantinople, in Italy and in Rome; and they said that they had never seen such a well-organized and large market, filled with such a large crowd of people.”
Most houses in Tenochtitlan were low, one-story buildings, since only noble Aztecs had the right to build a two-story house. Most of the buildings had a facade without windows - private life took place in the courtyard and was hidden from prying eyes. The suburbs of the capital were built up with simple huts, with walls made of reeds and clay, with roofs covered with thatch and grass. But as they approached the palaces of the emperors, the houses became more and more magnificent and luxurious.
Here and there stood the pyramid of a local temple, on some streets there were shops of jewelers or makers of feather jewelry, on others there were warehouses of merchants. And although there was little free space other than huge squares, Mexico City was not without greenery: every house had its own courtyard, and the Aztecs always had a passion for flowers. There were also gardens around the huts located in the suburbs, where flowers and vegetables grew, sometimes placed on floating chinampas; and the flat roofs of the palaces of the nobles were crowned with greenery.
"The main streets – wrote Hernan Cortes, – very wide and straight. Some of them and all the smaller streets are half pedestrian, while the other half is a canal along which the Indians sail boats. And all these streets from one end of the city to the other are connected in such a way that water can completely cross them. All these channels - and some of them are quite wide - are spanned by bridges made of very strong and well-fitted beams, so that ten horsemen can ride across many bridges abreast.”
The central square of Tenochtitlan apparently coincided almost completely with the modern Zocalo square in Mexico City. From the north it was limited by part of the fenced area adjacent to big temple, above which at that time towered the pyramid of one of the sun temples. The southern side was bordered by a canal running from east to west; on the eastern side there were probably two-story houses of high nobles, and on the western side there was the facade of the imperial palace of Montezuma II , which stood on the site where the palace of the President of the Mexican Republic is currently located.
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| Meeting of Montezuma and Hernan Cortes |
The palace, which once belonged to the ruler Axayacatl (1469–1481) and in which the Spaniards stayed on their first visit to Mexico City, stood to the north of the houses of the nobles, and its western façade overlooked the grounds of the great temple. This square could be reached by canal or various small streets. The soil of the modern Zocalo Square, as well as the foundations of the buildings that surround it, are literally filled with the remains of Aztec sculptures, statues and pieces of broken monuments and bas-reliefs.
In the cult quarter, in addition to temples, there were also secular buildings. Firstly, there was a court for playing ball - a favorite pastime of the upper classes. Secondly, there were hotels for the emperor’s high-ranking guests, as well as arsenals and a school for those playing musical instruments. And finally, a huge imperial palace, the luxury of which delighted the Spanish conquistadors. According to eyewitness accounts, it appears that Montezuma's residence II consisted of buildings arranged in a certain order, many of which were two-story, grouped around oval or square courtyards with gardens.
The monarch's apartments were on the top floor. The ground floor housed the court, military council, treasury and public storage, where large supplies of food, clothing and other goods were kept. Other parts of the palace were used as prisons for prisoners of war and common criminals. In addition, musicians who played drums, flutes, bells and rattles, as well as artisan jewelers lived in the palace. Also on the territory of the imperial residence there was a menagerie and a garden with the rarest flowers and medicinal herbs.
"At Montezuma's, – reported to KarlVCortez, - was like that magnificent palace in the city, which seems to me almost impossible to describe its beauty and luxury. I will only say that there is nothing like this in Spain.”
The impression of splendor was even greater due to the countless bas-reliefs, statues and various sculptures that decorated the buildings, sanctuaries, squares and great halls of the palace. Despite the destruction in XVI century, what remains of this former splendor of the Aztec capital is kept in the national museum and still amazes with its wealth, size and perfection.
The central square of Tenochtitlan also served as a market square. “There are many squares in this city, – wrote Hernan Cortes, – where there are always markets where you can buy and sell something. But there is another, twice the size of the city of Salamanca, completely surrounded by vaulted galleries, where every day more than sixty thousand people buy and sell something and where all kinds of goods from all the provinces can be found.”
In one place they sold jewelry made of gold and silver, gems and colorful feathers; in the next row - slaves, then cloaks, loincloths and skirts made of cotton or fabric obtained from aloe fibers. Skins of jaguars, pumas, foxes and deer; corn, beans, cocoa, peppers, onions, a thousand types of greens; turkeys, rabbits, hares, venison, ducks and small, barking, hairless dogs that the Aztecs loved to eat; fruits, sweet potatoes, honey, molasses, salt, paints, pottery of all shapes and sizes, vases and dishes of painted wood, boards and timber for building, charcoal, resinous torches; paper made from bark or aloe; all the gifts from the lakes, mats, chairs, stoves...
In the same market square, according to Cortez, “There are places similar to apothecary shops where they sell ready-to-use medicines, ointments and poultices. There are hairdressers where you can wash your hair and get a haircut; there are houses where, having paid, you can eat and drink.”
And there were women who cooked food in the open air and offered customers dishes of stewed meat or fish with vegetables, or corn porridge with spices, or honey candies with excellent tortillas called tlaccalli, or corn flour pies, under whose the steaming crust was filled with beans, meat and peppers.
This is how the Aztec capital of Mexico City-Tenochtitlan appeared before the Spanish conquerors. And, despite the admiration caused, the conquistadors almost razed it to the ground a few years later.
The last of the great indigenous cities of Mesoamerica was the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan, located in the Valley of Mexico. By the time of the Spanish conquest in 1521, the city was better organized and larger in size than any European city of the time. The Spanish conqueror Hernan Cortes on August 13, 1521, after a 70-day siege, declared the city of Tenochtitlan the possession of the king of Spain. The splendor of this city amazed the winners. Their historians described it as something magical due to its grandiose towers, temples and stone buildings rising straight out of the water. The city of Tenochtitlan was founded in 1325 by the Aztecs on an island in the middle of a lake with marshy shores in the Valley of Mexico. The Aztecs came to the valley from the north under the leadership of their leader Tenoch. Less than a hundred years have passed since the city was founded, when Tenochtitlan turned into a huge metropolis with a population of 150-200 thousand. It was connected to the banks by 3 wide dam roads: to the north, south and west. It was often necessary to move around the city by water. In the middle of the city was gigantic size a ritual center with many temples and altars, where the 45-meter Great Temple towered above them all. The Great Temple was built in the form of a pyramid, its façade facing west. A wide double staircase led to the very top of the pyramid, where two smaller temples stood. These were the temples of the two most revered gods by the Aztecs: Huitzilopochtli, the god of the sun and war, and Tlaloc, the god of rain and water. Subsequently, the stone blocks of the temple were used by the Spaniards for the construction of the Catholic Cathedral - the largest on the American continent (the construction of the Cathedral took three centuries). During excavations, many stone statues and masks of Tlaloc were found, but not a single image of Huitzilopochtli. From Spanish chronicles it is known that his images were usually made from a special kind of dough and seeds that had long since decomposed. The market in the city, as described by the Spaniards, was very large and well organized, with a huge variety of goods. Each type of goods had its own special place, and all goods were carefully checked. The Aztecs had no money; people exchanged their goods among themselves or paid with cocoa beans, copper axes or pieces of cloth. The houses of the nobility were also notable in the city. Some of them were so large that they often had gardens - both above-ground and hanging. The gardens had fruit trees, areas for herbs and pools with exotic fish. But most amazing place was the ruler's palace. It had an arsenal, a weaving workshop where women wove fabrics especially for the ruler, and workshops where potters, metalworkers, jewelers and other artisans worked. There was also an aviary where every conceivable species of bird from all over the empire was kept. The palace parks were the most amazing and magnificent in the whole world at that time. The ruler of Tenochtitlan and his nobility lived in the center of the city, near ritual buildings. The rest of the population lived on the outskirts of the city in groups called calpulli and consisted of those who performed one type of work and their relatives. Each clan settled in a separate residential area, consisting of one-story houses. These houses were mud huts made of twigs and silt, or adobe buildings made of bricks. On August 3, 1521, the Spanish captured Tenochtitlan along with the last Tlatoani, Cuauhtémoc, and a number of his high councilors. Subsequently, Tenochtitlan was completely sacked and destroyed, Cuauhtemoc was executed (in 1525), and the Aztec empire was completely conquered by the Spaniards.
Tenochtitlan (Tenōchtitlan, which means “City of the Stone Cactus” in Aztec) was located on the site of the modern city of Mexico City. It was founded around 1325 on an island in the middle salt lake Texcoco was destroyed in 1521 by Spanish conquistadors led by Hernán Cortés.
Foundation of the city
The ancient Aztecs were nomadic hunters. They roamed the territory of modern North America. According to legend, Huitzilopochtli, the God of the sun and war, told the Aztec Indians to settle where they saw the following picture: an eagle on a cactus would hold a snake in its claws. Wandering in the southern lands of North America for almost 130 years, they saw what the sun god told them about. In 1325, they founded a city on the western shore of Lake Texcoco and named it Tenochtitlan, which means “place of thorny cacti.” The lake was rich in fish and waterfowl, and there was a lot of game on the shore. According to another version, the city was named after the leader Tenoch. In 1337, the satellite city of Tlatelolco was founded north of Tenochtitlan, where the Aztecs, who separated from the tribe, settled.
The city grew rapidly: 7.5 square km and 100,000 inhabitants - these were its growth rates approximately 100 years after its founding. And over the next 100 years, the city grew to 13.5 square km, which housed up to 212,500 inhabitants (according to other sources, up to 350,000 and even up to 500,000 inhabitants). The Spanish governor appointed by Cortez spoke about the city's population being one million. Residents of the city, having risen in rebellion, gathered an army of 200,000 people, only adult men. This means that by 1500 it was the most Big city on the ground. The city had many canals and lakes, so it was often necessary to get around using boats, as in modern Venice. The city itself was surrounded by countless dams and bridges that protected it from watercourses. Even after complete destruction by the Spaniards and fires, after the extinction of the local population from epidemics of smallpox and syphilis, Mexico City is still one of the most densely populated cities in the world.
Tenochtitlan was divided into four quarters: Teopan, Moyotlan, Quepopan and Aztacalco. In the middle of the city there was a ritual center surrounded by the protective wall of Coatepantli (“snake wall”). The city was built up with temples, schools, service buildings and houses. Due to the loose soil, the buildings were erected on long piles.
Mexico and Central America form part of an ancient region that archaeologists call Mesoamerica. For thousands of years, these areas were inhabited by nomadic groups; some of them later settled there and took up farming. Settlements grew, and around 1200 BC. real cities began to appear. Tenochtitlan was founded much later - in the 14th century. AD
P The first cities in the world arose in Europe, North Africa and Asia in 3000-2000. BC. These were the cities of the Sumerians in Mesopotamia (mainly in modern Iraq), the Egyptians and the Indus Valley people in modern India and Pakistan. The first cities in Mesoamerica appeared somewhat later, around 1200 BC; they all belong to the civilization we call the Olmec culture.
P The last of the great cities of the indigenous people of Mesoamerica was the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan, located in the Valley of Mexico. By the time of the Spanish conquest in 1521, the city was the capital of the largest empire in Mesoamerica. In addition, it was better organized and larger in size than any European city XVI century.
Fall of Tenochtitlan
On August 13, 1521, after a 70-day siege, the Spanish conqueror Hernán Cortés declared the city of Tenochtitlan a possession of the King of Spain. The splendor of this city amazed the triumphant victors. Their historians described it as something magical because of its grandiose towers, temples and stone buildings rising straight out of the water: “...No one has ever seen, heard or even dreamed of anything like what we saw then." The capture of Tenochtitlan by the Spaniards in that fateful year proved to be an omen of the death of the Aztec empire.
Codes
Codices were long, accordion-folded strips of paper on which the Aztecs described and illustrated their lives and history.
A The Tztecs themselves described their way of life in books called codices. The codices are illustrated accounts of the life and history of the Aztecs. These are long strips of paper made from bark and folded in the shape of a large accordion, not at all similar to the books we are familiar with. The Spanish conquerors destroyed most of the codices, but, fortunately, some still survived.
M We received a wealth of information about the Aztecs thanks to the notes of Spanish missionaries who were sent to Mexico shortly after its conquest to convert the local population to Christianity.
AND we had to learn the language of the Aztecs so that they could tell them about their religious beliefs and their way of life.
ABOUT One of the missionaries, Fray Bernardino de Sahagún, came to Mexico in 1529. He learned that the Aztecs had hidden several codices. His Aztec assistants showed them to him and explained each picture. Over the course of 30 years thereafter, Sahagún compiled a 12-volume history of the Aztecs. Some of Cortez's own soldiers also wrote about what they saw with their own eyes - these sights were both wonderful and terrible. The notes of these Spaniards are often called chronicles.
P In addition, archeology gives us information about all aspects of Aztec life.
WITH Having put everything we have learned from written and archaeological sources, we get a fairly complete picture of the life, customs and religious beliefs of the Aztecs.
WITH Today, most of the ruins of Tenochtitlan lie, inaccessible to view, directly below modern Mexico City, a city founded in the 16th century. Spanish conquistadors (conquerors). Although Tenochtitlan is largely lost to us, we know quite a bit about the Aztecs and their capital thanks to historical and archaeological sources.
Excavations of a disappeared city
But how can one look for the remains of a vanished civilization lying under such a large modern city as Mexico City? After all, you can’t dig holes under tall buildings- they will simply collapse. As often happens with big cities, where many generations of people live for hundreds and even thousands of years, the discovery of material remains of the past is a matter of luck. This is how it happened with the Aztec capital and the city of Mexico City.
IN During the construction work carried out in Mexico City over the past 200 years, evidence of past centuries that had once disappeared was rediscovered: carved sculpture, parts of stone stairs, fragments of wall paintings. Twentieth-century archaeologists took advantage of every opportunity when builders tore down old houses to carry out small excavations in their place before constructing new buildings.
Opening of the Great Temple
Fortune smiled on archaeologists when the Mexican government decided to build a metro system in Mexico City. While the construction of these lines was underway, which began in 1966, a rich collection of Aztec artifacts was excavated from the ground. And on February 21, 1978, electricians digging the ground in the very center of Mexico City discovered part of a huge stone cut from a block. The work was immediately stopped and archaeologists turned to them. After four days of careful excavation, a massive, stone-hewn Aztec moon goddess was finally unearthed. Archaeologists realized that they had discovered part of the Great Aztec Temple, the most sacred site in the entire Aztec world and the center of Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztecs. It was truly an amazing discovery. The Mexican authorities decided that it was extremely important to continue excavations at this site and asked Professor Matos Moctezuma, a famous Mexican archaeologist, to lead the work.
Preparing for excavations
Before any excavation begins, archaeologists must develop an accurate and detailed plan. They should decide what they want to do, being clear about why they want it, what questions they hope to answer, and what technology they are going to use to do it. And of course, they should gain as much prior knowledge as possible about the subject of their excavations. Moctezuma and his colleagues carefully read all the 16th-century Spanish chronicles that described Tenochtitlan and Aztec life to get an idea of what the Great Temple should look like. This was to help them recognize objects that could be found and individual parts of the temple during excavations; in addition, they had to have a clear understanding of the Aztecs themselves. So this reading was an important part of preparing for the excavations.
E Another significant aspect of the preparatory work was the accurate calculation of the excavation sites - after all, it was necessary to conduct excavations on a vast area in the center of a crowded modern city and not cause damage to the surrounding buildings. Although these buildings belonged to much later periods than Tenochtitlan. yet many of them were of some historical value. In the end, two houses had to be destroyed, but not before particularly significant areas of these buildings from a historical point of view were carefully photographed.
P Among other things, archaeologists needed to take into account the groundwater level, which was not too deep under the surface of the city. 11Because Tenochtitlan was built on an island, archaeologists were not able to excavate the lower levels of the site - as a result, both the temple and parts of the modern city could fall through. When the preparatory work was completely completed, Moctezuma and his team began excavations. They lasted four years: from 1978 to 1982.
What do we know about Tenochtitlan?
Spanish chronicles of the 16th century. tell us that in 1325 the Aztecs founded Tenochtitlan on an island in the middle of a lake with marshy shores in the Valley of Mexico. Less than a hundred years have passed since Tenochtitlan turned into a huge city with a population of 150-200 thousand. It was connected to the shores by three wide roads: one went north, another to the south, and the third to the west.
P It was often necessary to move within the city by water - much like in modern Venice. In the middle of the city there was a gigantic ritual center with many temples and altars, where the Great Temple towered above everything.
IN The great temple was built in the form of a pyramid, its facade facing west. A wide double staircase led to the very top of the pyramid, where two smaller temples stood. These were the temples of the two most important Aztec gods: Huitzilopochtli - the god of the sun and war and Tlaloc - the god of rain and water. During excavations, many stone statues, figurines and masks of Tlaloc were found, but not a single image of Huitzilopochtli. From Spanish chronicles we know that his images were usually made from a special kind of dough and seeds. And therefore, naturally, they decomposed a long time ago.
Tribute in favor of the ruler
By the time of the Spanish conquest, the Aztec Empire extended over much of Mexico. Each city subject to the Aztecs had to pay tribute (a type of tax) to the ruler of Tenochtitlan.
TO Aztec codes talk about a colossal amount of all kinds of products coming from the provinces - maize (corn), beans, fruits, cocoa, honey and pepper.
IN as tribute they brought cotton, wool, military armor, hats, shields, clothing, paper, pottery, reed mats, precious stones, jewelry, turquoise and stone masks, feather items, gold, silver, animal skins, sea shells, as well as slaves.
IN the payment of such tribute was associated with great hardships in the provincial cities themselves, and we read of their uprisings being brutally suppressed by the Aztec armies. And in fact, the population of many cities subject to tribute joyfully welcomed the Spanish conquerors and even helped them destroy the Aztecs, whom they hated.
P The tall people of Tenochtitlan also paid their ruler something like a tax.
AND we had to give him part of the harvest they produced, the fish they caught, and the products of their craft. In addition, they had to participate in various public works - say, in the construction of temples - and, if necessary, then fight for their ruler as soldiers.
Agriculture
Agriculture was an important aspect of life in Tenochtitlan. The Aztec codices, as well as Spanish chronicles, say that Aztec farmers created strips of fertile land using silt and algae from the surrounding swamps.
E These artificially created fields, chinampas, were separated by canals, and the edges had to be strengthened with wooden supports or specially planted trees so that the ground did not collapse back into the swamp.
A The Ztec chinampas were surprisingly fertile. Farmers grew a wide variety of crops, including maize, peppers, tomatoes, pumpkins, beans, spices and flowers, which they took to a huge market in a region of Tenochtitlan called Tlatellolco.
Tenochtitlan Market
Judging by the descriptions of the Spanish soldiers, they had never before seen such a large and well-organized market with such a huge variety of goods as in Tenochtitlan. Each type of goods had its own special place, and all goods were carefully checked. Those who stole or cheated were severely punished. As far as we know, the Aztecs had no money; people exchanged their goods or paid in cocoa beans, copper axes or pieces of cloth.
Dwellings
Spanish writers report the magnificent houses and palaces of the Aztec ruler and his nobles. Some houses were very large, often with gardens - both above-ground and hanging. The gardens of the nobility, as a rule, had fruit trees, areas for herbs and pools with exotic fish.
WITH The most amazing place was the ruler's palace. It had an arsenal, a weaving workshop where women wove fabrics especially for the ruler, and workshops where potters, metalworkers, jewelers and a host of other specialist artisans worked. There was also an aviary where every conceivable species of bird from all over the empire was kept. Those who had a chance to see the palace parks claimed that this was the most amazing and magnificent place in the world.
P The Aztec ruler and nobles lived in the center of Tenochtitlan, near ritual buildings. The rest of the population lived away from the Great Temple. Common people lived in groups called calpulli, which consisted of those who performed one type of work and their relatives. Each clan, or calpulli, settled in a separate residential area, consisting of small one-story houses. These houses were mud huts made of twigs and silt, or adobe buildings made of mud brick.
Archaeological discoveries
Eyewitness accounts paint a detailed picture of Aztec life in Tenochtitlan. By using archaeological excavations these written documents acquired new colors.
AND The research, conducted under the direction of Professor Matos Moctezuma, was undertaken over an area of 5000-7000 square meters in the heart of Mexico City.
IN As a result of excavations, a giant pyramidal structure was discovered, which was once rebuilt at least six times. The structures on the highest level were destroyed by the Spanish conquistadors, who used the stones to build their own city. Fortunately, much more remained of the lower levels, since the Spaniards simply did not discover them. It was not possible to open the lower part during excavations due to the high groundwater level; however, we know from historical sources that this was the very first temple built by the Aztecs after they founded Tenochtitlan in 1325 AD. These interspersed levels give us a great deal of additional information about the Aztecs; they are mainly confirmed by historical sources.
Excavations of the Great Temple
When the Aztecs added a new temple, they built it on top of the old one, which was completely covered. The lowest level was not excavated, but at the top of the second temple, archaeologists discovered structures similar to the temples of the gods Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc.
P In front of the Temple of Huitzilopochtli there was a stone on which human sacrifices were made. The chronicles of the 16th century described numerous human sacrifices and even indicated the size of the sacrificial stone. Found in front of the Temple of Tlaloc big statue, chacmool, and there were other statues inside the decorated temples.
N and in some parts of the stairs Aztec writings, called glyphs, were discovered; this made it possible to date the temple - taking into account the Aztec calendar, it corresponded to 1390. Thus, the date of construction of this particular temple was clarified. Glyphs at other levels have given archaeologists the opportunity to date the construction of some other temples.
IN In all the excavated temples, sculptures carved from stone and many different artifacts were found. For example, in the third temple (dated 1431), eight human-sized statues were found at the foot of the stairs. In the fourth temple (1454), as a result of excavations, stone braziers were discovered (probably used for burning incense); the braziers were decorated with symbols of the gods Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc. The sides of the temple were decorated with snake heads.
H To understand the secrets of Tenochtitlan buried underground, archaeologists used many different sources of information.
WITH Using the records of 16th-century Spanish chroniclers, the codices of the Aztecs themselves, and archaeological excavations, Professor Matos Moctezuma has done a brilliant job of presenting us with a detailed picture of Mexico's exotic past.
Sacrifices to the gods
Double-headed snakes are often mentioned in Mesoamerican mythology. This snake, carved from wood and covered with turquoise mosaic, could be worn during religious rituals; it may have been among the gifts presented to Cortes by the Aztec ruler Motecuzoma II (Montezuma).
A The Tztecs offered many sacrifices to their gods. The sacrifices found inside the Great Temple were made in honor of Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc. Sacrificial places are divided into three types. These are small rooms with stone walls, either stone boxes or depressions in the ground covering the earlier temple. Most of the sacrifices were located near the front of the Great Temple or near the temples dedicated to the gods. Artifacts are always placed very carefully, often in a special position, and directed in a certain direction. Therefore, we understand that for the Aztecs this position of objects had some special meaning.
B More than 6,000 artifacts were excavated from sacrificial containers. Many of them were brought from distant parts of the empire, especially from the coastal regions. Among them are shells, corals and all kinds of fish. The remains of turtles and crocodiles were also found, but these reptiles were not used entirely - usually only turtle shells and only the skins and heads of crocodiles. In the same way, only the skulls and skins of snakes were buried, but not their bodies.
AND Spanish authors mention the sacrifices of the Aztecs, but say nothing about objects of marine origin, and many of them were discovered among the excavated victims. On the other hand, they talk about the widespread custom of sacrificing birds, but very few birds were found during excavations. Professor Matos Moctezuma suggests that birds were ordinary, everyday offerings, and sea animals were sacrificed only on special occasions, when the ritual was performed in the Great Temple. Sacrifices, especially sacrificial animals, had a special meaning and were carefully arranged in a special way. One of the most impressive victims was the skeleton of a jaguar with a jade ball in its mouth.
M Numerous sacrifices found in the Great Temple were offered to the Aztec gods Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc. Although no statues or masks of Huitzilopochtli could be found during excavations, objects such as skulls, knives and artifacts from conquered areas suggest that he was the god of war.
