Mute Stones Speak Out

By Awake! correspondent in Mexico

ON February 21, 1978, some workers for the city electric company were digging a ditch in downtown Mexico City when they uncovered a piece of stone sculpture. That led to what was to be one of the most important archaeological discoveries in the history of Mexico.

The stone sculpture was found in an area where the main temple of the Aztec city of Tenochtitlán used to stand. Today the ruined remains of the temple have been excavated and are open to visitors. Some of these visitors are merely curious. But others are interested in seeing what these ruins can tell us about the Aztecs, the founders of an ancient Mexican empire. For these mute stones have a fascinating story to tell.

The Main Temple

Close by the excavations is the Zocalo subway station. Here you can see a scale model of what the main temple is thought to have looked like. It was pyramid-shaped with two towerlike buildings on the top. As the main center of Aztec worship, it stood surrounded by other temples in the central square of Tenochtitlán. Here were the principal idols worshiped by the Aztecs, Huitzilopochtli, the war god, and Tláloc, the god of rain.

When the Spaniards arrived, Tenochtitlán was an island in a valley full of lakes. Parallel to its streets were canals where goods were transported in chalupas, little boats. Salvador Toscano, in his book entitled Cuauhtemoc, describes it for us: “The great square of the main temple took up the center of the island, and Cortés adds ‘that there is no human language that can describe the grandeur and uniqueness of it, so big that dwellings for 500 people could be built within its bounds. The square contained several pyramids for worship, an area for ball games, priests’ homes, skull platforms (tzompantlis), and temples made out of hewn stone and aromatic cedar wood. Besides all of these, there was the main temple pyramid for the sun god of war, Huitzilopochtli, 30 meters [100 ft] high​—116 steps up to the top—​which commanded the view of the island.’”

Visiting the Excavations

With this information in mind, let us now walk to the handrail that leads down into the excavations so that we can get a view of the whole area. What do you see? At first, just a collection of ruins! The site has been left exactly as it was found, with only a few minor restorations. But a closer look reveals some interesting facts.

For example, in the middle of the excavation, you see the places where Huitzilopochtli and Tláloc were worshiped. Interestingly, the structure that Cortés described was much bigger than this. The Spaniards wanted to extirpate the Aztecs’ culture and particularly what they regarded as a bloodthirsty religion. Hence, after conquering the city in 1521, they systematically destroyed the temple until nothing but rubble was left. Then they erected their own buildings on the site.

What the Spaniards did not know, however, was that the temple they destroyed was only the last of a series of constructions. The initial building had been enlarged seven times, each enlargement burying the previous one. Hence, parts of the earlier temples survived the Spaniards’ destruction. The two places of worship that we see here are part of the second enlargement.

A Bloodthirsty Religion

It was in these places of worship that human sacrifices were carried out, and these sacrifices brand the Aztec religion as a bloodthirsty one. Yet, in comparing that religion with present-day religion, the comment of Dominique Verut is worthy of note: “The Aztec civilization carries along the horror of institutionalized human sacrifices, a cultural phenomenon that has had many defenders, yet still causes repulsion in its enemies, who are forgetful of the Holy Inquisition [and] Nazism.”

However, one cannot help but feel chills when looking at the sacrificial stone in front of Huitzilopochtli’s oratory. It was on the flat surface of this stone that the victim was laid, face up, ready to have his heart torn out and offered to the gods.

Another stone, the statue of the goddess Coyolxauhqui, reveals another aspect of Aztec worship. Coyolxauhqui was said to be Huitzilopochtli’s sister whom he killed and divided into pieces. Hence, the flat sculpture represents her as dismembered, with the head detached from the thorax. Apparently, the Aztecs felt no qualms about worshiping a dismembered goddess.

Comparisons​—Ancient and Modern

Bible readers are aware that human sacrifices have often been a part of false worship. The Canaanites, and sometimes even apostate Israelites, sacrificed their children to demon gods. (2 Kings 23:10; Jeremiah 32:35) The Aztecs, too, practiced child sacrifice. We read about this in the book El Templo Mayor: “The remains of sacrificed children were found in one of these [pits] along with representations of the rain god. Would this be a special offering because of famine?”

On page 219 the same books adds: “Fray Juan de Torquemada tells us something about this in the book Monarquía Indiana (Indian Monarchy): ‘The children would be taken to the sacrificial place richly dressed, atop portable platforms or litters, abundantly decorated with flowers and feathers, and these would be carried along on the shoulders of priests and ministers. Others would go before them playing instruments and singing and dancing. This is the way they would be conducted to the place where they would be sacrificed and offered to the demon.’”

Pointing up further resemblances between the religion of the Aztecs and the religions of the Old World, it is reported that the god Tláloc was also the god of fertility. One of the main altars is dedicated to him. Also represented in the temple are two huge snakes, the snake being a fertility symbol. Similarly, many of the ancient pagan religions of the Old World had a god of fertility, and the serpent was a widespread religious symbol. Interestingly, too, Huitzilopochtli was said to be born to Coatlicue, and this mother goddess was later called the “mother of all the gods.”

Aztecs Adapted to New Religion

The Spaniards tried hard, and often violently, to uproot the Aztec religion from Mexico. In many cases, they built their own churches on top of Aztec temples, using the stones of the older building in their construction work. Even pieces of Aztec idols became building material.

However, it was not difficult for the Aztecs to get used to the new religion. Idols of wood and ceramic were substituted for their stone idols. These new idols were more human-looking, but they were idols nonetheless. And many of the old religious ideas remained a part of Mexican culture. For example, there was still a cult of the dead, observed each year at the beginning of November. And followers of the new religion believed in the immortality of the soul, as had the ancient inhabitants of Mexico. So there were really many similarities between the religion Cortés introduced and the one he was trying to destroy.

These mute ruins of the main temple, now open to visitors, strongly evoke an empire and a culture that is gone forever. They remind us of cruel religious customs, of gods that are no longer worshiped, and of practices that are still preserved, albeit under a different name and in a different religion. And they remind us of the remarkable similarities that existed between the false religions of the Old World and those of the New World.

[Picture on page 23]

The goddess Coatlicue

[Credit Line]

Nat’l Institute of Anthropology and History, Mexico

[Picture on page 24]

The goddess Coyolxauhqui

[Credit Line]

Nat’l Institute of Anthropology and History, Mexico