Teotihuacan

 

What is written about Teotihuacan in brieft and easily readable detail by National Geographic. Please click on the link for the rest of the story:

Teotihuacan, The City of the Gods.

 

First, let's meet the lady who tells us all about agave, the plant used for so many things by the natives, and, as most of us know, is also the source of Tequila.
Arrowheads, sewing needles, the fiber for thread, and surely more. We all got to taste a variety of Tequila and a delicious liquor, made from that hardy plant.

 

From this place, with a quality reputation, the cloth is really agave based. That may be questionable when purchasing from street vendors.

 

 

Dyes made from mineral powders and plant and fruit

 

Protected from the sun, this gives one an idea of how colorfully painted everything was. Paint on stucco over stone

 

 

It's complicated: The four petaled flower symbolizes the perfect Mesoamerican universe with its fourfold division of time and space. It also relates to a four part universe creation story. It definitely gives us an idea of the complex thoughts of the Aztec philosphers. Complex ideas expressed in a simple symbol. The fourfold flower also corresponds to the fundamental Náhuatl term for empire, stretching out to the four corners of the Aztec world. The center represents the capital at the time (Tenochtitlan). More on Aztec lore here.

 

Pyramid of the Moon

 

 

 

Great view down the Avenute of the Dead from up here, and Aussie babe coming up.

 

 

Me on the pyramid of the moon

 

A steep descent, more difficult than the pyramid of the sun, by far.

 

 

Pyramid of the Sun

 

A look back at the Pyramid of the Moon. A old whitewater rafting guide told me, always look behind, it gives you a sense of accomplishment.

 

 

 

 

 

You see, Tlaloc, the god of rain was more important that the sun. This pyramid may well be renamed in future. The panel below, left, shows the locations of the child burials (sacrifices?).

 

 

 
And here I am, at the foot of the amazingly great pyramid, facing the gran altar.
This, if nothing else, gives you a sense of the massiveness of this pyramid, built at the time of Christ

 
You'll see this little babe again, at the top. Mom made her walk it. She was never carried. This is her brief story, from bottom to the top and back down. Now you know it was easy, and she was tough.

 

 
On top of the world

 

My Aussie buddy on his way down and an excellent view of the Gran Plaza

 

And there I am again, now with the Pyramid of the Moon in the background

 

Riding daddy's back, can it get any cuter?

 

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