A divine omen and the cosmic sign: the mythical origin of Mexico-Tenochtitlan

Unlike other big cities of the past like Rome or Athens, after the fall of Mexico-Tenochtitlan no fragment has been left to attest or attest to its former greatness.

In his book Dissertations on the history of the Mexican Republic, historian and writer Lucas Alamán suggested that the Spaniards who populated Tenochtitlan probably “they exaggerated“The virtues and the real value of the metropolis founded by the ancient Mexicans in a island surrounded by lakes.

After 75 days of siege, the city was almost completely wiped out –According to the testimonies of Hernán Cortés and Bernal Díaz del Castillo, only the eighth part remained standing– and on its remains, they raised what would become the capital of New Spain.

Over time, many archaeological relics have been found in the basement, but it is also true that in the middle of the colonial town that occupied the island, there were no remains that remind us of the town. indigenous.

The above does not imply that the ancient metropolis of Mexicans was not worthy of praise and it would not be fair to compare it with other cities in Europe.

Legends and traditions vary depending on the year it was founded and the indigenous names with which the great city was referred to.

According to Codex Aubin, all the tribes who for unknown reasons – some historians say they seek a more favorable physical environment – migrated from the north to the valley of Mexico, the Mexican is the last to arrive. They did so after a long pilgrimage that lasted more than two centuries and during which they crossed territories that now include the states of Sinaloa, Nayarit, Jalisco, Zacatecas and Michoacán.

One of the legends gives an account of the name that the city would adopt, in honor of the last priest who would have led this wandering people: Tenoch, whose coat of arms consisted of a nóchtli (tunal) placed on a stone (tetl), and surmounted by an eagle as a sign of greatness.

Another legend says that it was the priests Axolóhua Yes Cuauhcóatl those who found a small water site “very green“And of such lively finesse that on its surface there were hints of”beautiful emeralds“.

The story goes that suddenly Axolóhua sank into the green waters without rising to the surface, leaving his companion stunned.

Twenty-four hours later, Axolóhua appeared unharmed and, according to his testimony, was dragged away by a hidden force at the bottom of the lake where he found himself face to face with the great god Tláloc:

“Welcome my dear son Huitzilopóchtli with his people; tell all these Mexicans, your companions, that it is here that they will populate and make the head of their lordship, and that here their generations will be praised“Said the rain god.

According to the CRamirez odicx, the wandering tribe found “a very beautiful water hole where they saw wonderful things and of great admiration», Before the appearance of the god of Mexica.

Legend has it that after the abandonment of Huitzilopochtli to Malinalxóchitl, his younger sister, his son Cópil tried to take revenge. However, the goal was thwarted by his uncle, who Defeating him, he also ordered the priests to cast his heart in a sacred place among the tulars.

The god told the priests that this heart fell on a stone and a tunnel had sprung from it.tall and handsomeLike the bird that adopted him as his home:

“Go there in the morning and you will find a beautiful eagle on a tunal, and around it you will see a lot of green, blue, yellow and white feathers“.

The controversy over the year of foundation

El presidente Andrés Manuel López Obrador ha convocado a 15 eventos en 2021 para commemorar los 200 años de la Independencia (1821), los 500 de la conquista de Hernán Cortés (1521) y los 700 de la fundación de Tenochtitlan (1321), actual Ciudad from Mexico.

However Several historians point out that the year most cited in the sources that refer to the founding of Mexico-Tenochtitlan, is 2-Calli, it would correspond to 1325, and not to 1521.

Among them, Professor Eduardo Matos Moctezuma, respected archaeologist and anthropologist, founder and director from 1978 to 1982 of the Templo Mayor project, a series of excavations and studies of the city of Tenochtitlán.

“Several sources coincide in 1325, I underline it because now go around mentioning the year 1321, it is a historical manipulation What are we doing this year because they want to link it to 1521 with the fall of Tenochtitlan, independence in 1821 with this year, it is not correct to manipulate the story like thisMatos Moctezuma expressed during one of his online conferences in collaboration with the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).

To build on this date, the emeritus researcher of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), Eduardo Matos, recovered a calculation obtained by archaeoastronomer Jesús Galindo, from UNAM: April 13, 1325, at 10:54 am, in the Mexican Basin, a total solar eclipse was observed that lasted 4 minutes and 6 seconds.

However, in September 2019, during a debate convened by the National Coordination of Historical Memory of the Government of the Republic and the Ministry of Culture of the capital, INAH Director General, anthropologist Diego Prieto Hernández, said, however, that “we all need stories that give us meaning, which is why we are commemorating 700 years of Mexico City., can push us to deepen and reflect on our collective future ”.

“The control of the valley of Mexico was held by Azcapotzalco, whose sovereign Tezozomoc sees that these Aztecs-Mexica are there and proposes to them to go and populate certain islets which are in the middle of Lake Texcoco, on condition that they be tributaries May they be your conquering warriors, your mercenaries. In reality, they are not going to settle where they saw the eagle, but where the owner of these lands allows them, ”explained Matos Moctezuma about the true origin of the so-called Aztecs. .

“There may be a bias in the story”: Enrique Ortiz

For his part, the writer Enrique Ortiz García, who documented in various codices what happened in this enigmatic city in an interesting novel set at that time The Eagles of Tenochtitlán (Editorial Grijalbo), considers that since the beginning of this government a justification of pre-Hispanic culture was emerging.

“It’s a matter of time, the one that was accepted in consensus is 1325, there could be a bias in the story because the statue of Columbus was removed, this bronze monument, beautiful not for what it represents but for its artistic quality, has been removed with the excuse that it had to be restored but it was also said that they would find him a new location and bring the statue of the Green Indians back to its original location. In addition to apologizing to Spain for the conquest, in which I do not agree because then we should apologize to our indigenous peoples, because our governments have not done much to improve their living conditions, ”said Ortiz.

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