Culture: A Visit @ National Museum of Anthropology Mexico City

 

(Drivebycuriosity) -  If you come to Mexico City you should see the National Museum of Anthropology (mna.inah.gob). The huge institution has a massive collection of historic Mexican artifacts and also teaches about human evolution and the history of Mexico.  I display here my favorites, a very subjective selection as usual.

 

At least one room focuses on the city Teotihuacán,  one of the foremost pilgrimage and economic centers, located 30 miles (50 km) northeast of modern-day Mexico City.  Its influence reached distant regions within and beyond Mesoamerica. I have already reported about the famous pyramids there (driveby). According to Wikipedia: "At its zenith, perhaps in the first half of the 1st millennium AD, Teotihuacan was the largest city in the pre-Columbian Americas, with a population estimated at 125,000 or more, making it at least the sixth largest city in the world during its epoch" (wikipedia). Teotihuacan collapsed about 750 AD, apparently caused by internal conflicts.

 Above you can see images from "Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent", probably Teotihuacán`s moyt important political and religious center. The pyramid was erected in one continuous operation between 150 and 200 AD. Archeologists have discovered numerous examples of sacrificed individuals dressed as warriors buried insider the pyramide.

 

Above you can the Stone of the Sun, discovered 1790 in the Plaza Mayor of the capital of New Spain, today Mexico City. The curators explain "this is a large gladiatorial sacrificial altar, it must have been used to stage the fight between warriors in the tlacaxipehualiztili ceremony". What ever that means. If you want to know more, Wikipedia has an interesting article about it (wikipedia ).

 

Above a reconstructed Maya temple. The Maya civilization developed in an area that encompasses southeastern Mexico, all of Guatemala and Belize, and the western portions of Honduras and El Salvador.  Their culture started ca. 2000 BC and collapsed in the 9th century AD, but existed through the Spanish conquest in early 16th century.

 

2 more reconstructed Maya temples

 

Some Maya artifacts.

 

Above fragments from the temple Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli belonging to the culture of the Atlante. Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli, 'Dawn Lord,' was a Mesoamerican god who represented a menacing aspect of Venus, the morning star (ancient.eu).





                             Meet The Water God

 

 

 

Here he is: El Creador - the Creator!

 

Meet Dios Del Agua - the Water God

 

I love this urn.

 

Jaguar or doggy?

 

 

Seven funny guys

 

 

and weird heads

 

 



                                                         Alternate History?

 

 

This painting is the "Panorama of the Cities of Tenochtitlan and Tlatelolco". The artist Louis Covarrubias painted an idealized view of the cities founded by the Mexicas (early Mexicans) based on the descriptions and narrations bequeathed by Hernan Cortes and other Spanish soldiers, who described these indigenous cities, before they destroyed them. So, the image is very fictional, maybe alternate history, but interesting anyway,

 

Mexicans love murals - so the museum has also some. Above some detail shots.

 

And there is a very modern fountain.

As my wife and I visited the museum last week I learned a lot. The museum inspired me to read more about the history of this fascinating country.  

To be continued