Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T01:22:23.218Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

THE PETROGLYPHIC PRAYERS ON THE SUN STONE OF MOTECUHZOMA ILHUICAMINA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2014

Elizabeth Hill Boone  and
Rochelle Collins
Elizabeth Hill Boone*
Affiliation:
Department of Art, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70118
Rochelle Collins
Affiliation:
208 East Park Ave., Lebanon, Ohio 45036
*
E-mail correspondence to: eboone@tulane.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The Sun Stone of Motecuhzoma Ilhuicamina is one of the major monuments revealed by excavations in and around the Aztec Templo Mayor since 1978. Featuring the sun disk on its top surface and the Mexica conquest of 11 enemy polities on its cylindrical sides, it is considered a gladiatorial stone, similar in both iconography and function to the later Stone of Tizoc. While Tizoc's stone locates its conquest scenes between earth and sky bands, this sun stone uniquely places its conquests between two bands of repeating motifs. The authors argue that these bands are extraordinary examples of pictographic texts that parallel and likely called forth ritual speech acts. The iconography and patterning of the motifs reveal the bands to be visual exhortations or prayers related to human sacrifice specifically associated with Tezcatlipoca. The complex pattern of the repeating motifs is rhythmic and reflects the discourse structure of Nahuatl high speech.

Type
Research Article
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 24 , Issue 2 , Fall 2013 , pp. 225 - 241
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Alcina Franch, José, León-Portilla, Miguel, and Moctezuma, Eduardo Matos (editors) 1992 Azteca Mexica: Las culturas del México antiguo. Lunwerg Editores, Barcelona.Google Scholar
Baquedano, Elizabeth 1988 Iconographic Symbols in Aztec Elite Sculptures. In Recent Studies in Pre-Columbian Archaeology, edited by Saunders, Nicholas J. and de Montmollin, Olivier, pp. 191–204. BAR International Series 421. British Archaeological Reports, Oxford.Google Scholar
Batres, Leopoldo 1902 Exploraciones arqueológicas en la Calle de las Escalerillas, por Leopoldo Batres. Año de 1900. Tip. y Lit. “La Europea,” de J. Aguilar Vera, Mexico.Google Scholar
Boone, Elizabeth Hill 1989 Incarnations of the Aztec Supernatural: The Image of Huitzilopochtli in Mexico and Europe. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society Vol. 79, Part 2. American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Boone, Elizabeth Hill 2007 Cycles of Time and Meaning in the Mexican Books of Fate. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Caso, Alfonso 1927 Las ruinas de Tizatlán, Tlaxcala. Revista Mexicana de Estudios Históricos 1(4):139–172.Google Scholar
Codex Borbonicus 1974 Codex Borbonicus, Bibliothèque de l'Assemblée Nationale – Paris (Y120). History and description by Anton Nowotny, Karl and de Durand-Forest, Jacqueline. Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt, Graz.Google Scholar
Codex Borgia 1976 Codex Borgia. Biblioteca Apostólica Vaticana (Messicano Riserva 28). Introduction by Anton Nowotny, Karl. Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt, Graz.Google Scholar
Codex Magliabechiano 1970 Codex Magliabechiano, CL. XIII. 3 (B.R. 232), Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze. Introduction by Anders, Ferdinand. Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt, Graz.Google Scholar
Codex Mendoza 1992 The Codex Mendoza. Edited by Berdan, Frances F. and Rieff Anawalt, Patricia. 4 vols. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Codex Telleriano-Remensis 1995 Codex Telleriano-Remensis: Ritual, Divination, and History in a Pictorial Aztec Manscript. Edited with commentary by Quiñones Keber, Eloise. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Codex Tudela 1980 El Códice Tudela. Edited by de la Orden, José Tudela. 2 vols. Ediciones Cultura Hispánica, Madrid.Google Scholar
Contreras Martínez, José Eduardo 1992 Los hallazgos arqueológicos de Ocotelulco, Tlaxcala. Arqueología 7:113–118.Google Scholar
Contreras Martínez, José Eduardo 1993 La pintura mural de la zona arqueológica de Ocotelulco, Tlaxcala. In La escritura pictográfica en Tlaxcala: Dos mil años de experiencia mesoamericana, edited by Reyes García, Luis, pp. 54–61. Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala, Tlaxcala.Google Scholar
Contreras Martínez, José Eduardo 1994a Las estructuras policromas de Ocotelulco, Tlaxcala. Arquitectura, historia y descripción. In Calendario de pronósticos y ofrendas: Libro explicativo del llamado Códice Cospi, edited by Anders, Ferdinand, Jansen, Maarten, and van der Loo, Peter, pp. 109–117. Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt and the Fondo de Cultura Económica, Graz and Mexico.Google Scholar
Contreras Martínez, José Eduardo 1994b Los murales y cerámica policromos de la zona arqueológica de Ocotelulco, Tlaxcala. In Mixteca-Puebla: Discoveries and Research in Mesoamerican Art and Archaeology, edited by Nicholson, H. B. and Quiñones Keber, Eloise, pp. 7–24. Labyrinthos, Culver City, CA.Google Scholar
Dehouve, Danièle 2009 El lenguaje ritual de los mexicas: Hacia un método de análisis. In Image and Ritual in the Aztec World, edited by Peperstraete, Sylvie, pp. 19–33. BAR International Series 1896. Archaeopress, Oxford.Google Scholar
DiCesare, Catherine R. 2009 Sweeping the Way: Divine Transformation in the Aztec Festival of Ochpaniztli. University Press of Colorado, Boulder.Google Scholar
Diehl, Richard A. 1983 Tula: The Toltec Capital of Ancient Mexico. Thames and Hudson, New York and London.Google Scholar
Durán, Diego 1971 Book of the Gods and Rites, and The Ancient Calendar. Translated and edited by Horcasitas, Fernando and Heyden, Doris. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Durán, Diego 1994 History of the Indies of New Spain. Translated and edited by Heyden, Doris. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Eggebrecht, Arne (editor) 1986 Glanz und Untergang des alten Mexiko: die Azteken und ihre Vorlaüfer. P. von Zabern, Mainz am Rhein.Google Scholar
Garibay K., Ángel María 1961 Llave del náhuatl. Porrúa, Mexico.Google Scholar
Garibay K., Ángel María 1964 Poesía náhuatl. 3 vols. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Garibay K., Ángel María 1971 Historia de la literatura nahuatl. 2 vols. Porrúa, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Garibay K., Ángel María 1979 Panorama literario de los pueblos nahuas. 4th ed.Porrúa, Mexico.Google Scholar
Graulich, Michel 1992 On the So-called “Cuauhxialli of Moctezuma Ilhuicamina,” the Sánchez-Nava Monolith. Mexicon 14(1):5–10.Google Scholar
Graulich, Michel 1998 Nota sobre el llamado Cuauhxicalli-Temalácatl de Moctezuma Ilhuicamina. Cuicuilco 5(14):239–250.Google Scholar
Hernández Sánchez, Gilda 2004 Temas rituales en la cerámica “tipo códice” del estilo mixteca-puebla. Journal de la Société des Américanistes 90(2):7–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karttunen, Frances, and Lockhart, James 1980 La estructura de la poesía náhuatl vista por sus variantes. Estudios de Cultura Nahuatl 14:15–64.Google Scholar
Klein, Cecelia 2000 The Devil and the Skirt: An Iconographic Inquiry into the Pre-Hispanic Nature of the Tzitzimime. Ancient Mesoamerica 11:1–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
León-Portilla, Miguel 1983 Cuicatl y Tlahtolli, las formas de expresión en náhuatl. Estudios de Cultura Nahuatl 16:13–108.Google Scholar
León-Portilla, Miguel 1986 Pre-Columbian Literatures of Mexico. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
León-Portilla, Miguel 1992 Fifteen Poets of the Aztec World. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
López Austin, Alfredo, and López Luján, Leonardo 2011 La historia póstuma de la Piedra de Tízoc. Arqueología Mexicana 102:60–69.Google Scholar
López Austin, Alfredo, and López Luján, Leonardo 2012 The Posthumous History of the Tizoc Stone. In Fanning the Sacred Flame: Mesoamerican Studies in Honor of H. B. Nicholson, edited by Boxt, Matthew A. and Dillon, Brian D., pp. 439–460. University Press of Colorado, Boulder.Google Scholar
López Luján, Leonardo, and López Austin, Alfredo 2007 Los mexicas en Tula y Tula en Mexico-Tenochtitlan. Estudios de Cultura Nahuatl 38:33–83.Google Scholar
Matos Moctezuma, Eduardo 1997 Tezcatlipoca, Espejo que Humea. In Antiguo palacio del Arzobispado: Museo de la Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público, edited by León-Portilla, Miguel, pp. 26–41. Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público, Mexico.Google Scholar
Matos Moctezuma, Eduardo 2004 The Aztec Calendar. In The Aztec Calendar and Other Solar Monuments, edited by Matos Moctezuma, Eduardo and Solís Olguín, Felipe, pp. 13–75, 149, 152. Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes-Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia and Grupo Azabache, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Matos Moctezuma, Eduardo 2009 La Piedra del Tízoc y la del antiguo Arzobispado. In Escultura monumental mexica, edited by Matos Moctezuma, Eduardo and López Luján, Leonardo, pp. 291–326. Fundación Conmemoraciones 2010, Mexico.Google Scholar
Matos Moctezuma, Eduardo, and López Luján, Leonardo (editors) 2009 Escultura monumental Mexica. Fundación Conmemoraciones 2010, Mexico.Google Scholar
Matos Moctezuma, Eduardo, and Solís Olguín, Felipe 2004 The Aztec Calendar and Other Solar Monuments. Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes-Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia and Grupo Azabache, México.Google Scholar
Matos Moctezuma, Eduardo, and Solís Olguín, Felipe (editors) 2002 Aztecs. Royal Academy of Arts, London.Google Scholar
Nowotny, Karl Anton 2005 Tlacuilolli: Style and Contents of the Mexican Pictorial Manuscripts with a Catalogue of the Borgia Group. Translated and edited by George Everett, A. Jr. and Sisson, Edward B.. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Olivier, Guilhem 2003 Mockeries and Metamorphoses of an Aztec God: Tezcatlipoca, “Lord of the Smoking Mirror.” Translated by Besson, Michel. University Press of Colorado, Boulder.Google Scholar
Padilla y Yedra, Judith, Sánchez-Nava, Pedro Francisco, and Olguín, Felipe Solís 1989 The Cuauhxicalli of Moctecuhzoma Ilhuicamina. Mexicon 11(2):24–25.Google Scholar
Peperstraete, Sylvie 2002 Les peintures d'Ocotelulco et le problème de la provenance du Codex Borgia. Annales d'Histoire de l'Art et d'Archéologie 24:7–25.Google Scholar
Peperstraete, Sylvie 2006 Los murales de Ocotelulco y el problema de la procedencia del Códice Borgia. Estudios de Cultura Nahuatl 37:15–32.Google Scholar
Pérez Castro Lira, Guillermo, Francisco Sánchez Nava, Pedro, Estefan, María, Padilla y Yedra, Judith, and Garfías, Antonio Guidiña 1989 El cuauhxicalli de Moctezuma I. Arqueología 5:131–151.Google Scholar
Pohl, John 1998 Themes of Drunkenness, Violence, and Factionalism in Tlaxcalan Altar Paintings. Res: Anthropology and Aesthetics 33:184–207.Google Scholar
Sahagún, Bernardino de 1953–1982 Florentine Codex: General History of the Things of New Spain. Translated and edited by Anderson, Arthur J. O. and Dibble, Charles E.. School of American Research and University of Utah, Santa Fe and Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Solís Olguín, Felipe 1989 Un nuevo cuauhxicalli descubierto en la Ciudad de México. El Museo/Boletín Informativo del Museo Nacional de Antropología 2(4):10–11.Google Scholar
Solís Olguín, Felipe 1991 Gloria y fama mexica. Smurfit Cartón y Papel de México, Mexico.Google Scholar
Solís Olguín, Felipe 1992 El temalacatl-cuauhxicalli de Moctezuma Ilhuicamina. In Azteca Mexica: Las culturas del México antiguo, edited by Franch, José Alcina, León-Portilla, Miguel, and Moctezuma, Eduardo Matos, pp. 225–232. Lunwerg Editores, Barcelona.Google Scholar
Solís Olguín, Felipe 1995 Pintura mural en el altiplano central. Arqueología Mexicana 3(16):30–35.Google Scholar
Solís Olguín, Felipe 2004 Monuments of Sun Worship. In The Aztec Calendar and Other Solar Monuments, by Matos Moctezuma, Eduardo and Solís Olguín, Felipe, pp. 76–153. Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes-Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia and Grupo Azabache, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Tena, Rafael (editor) 2002 Mitos y historias de los antiguos Nahuas. Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Tonalamatl Aubin 1900–1901 The Tonalamatl of the Aubin Collection: An Old Mexican Picture Manuscript in the Paris National Library (Manuscrits Mexicains Nos. 18–19). Published at the Expense of His Excellency the Duke of Loubat. Edited with a commentary by Seler, Eduard. Hazell, Watson, and Viney, Berlin and London.Google Scholar
Umberger, Emily 1987 Antiques, Revivals, and References to the Past in Aztec Art. Res: Anthropology and Aesthetics 13:63–105.Google Scholar
Umberger, Emily 1988 A Reconsideration of Some Hieroglyphs on the Mexica Calendar Stone. In Smoke and Mist: Mesoamerican Studies in Memory of Thelma D. Sullivan, edited by Kathryn Josserand, J. and Dakin, Karen, pp.345–387. BAR International Series 402. British Archaeological Reports, Oxford.Google Scholar
Umberger, Emily 1996 Art and Imperial Strategy in Tenochtitlan. In Aztec Imperial Strategies, by Berdan, Frances F., Blanton, Richard E., Boone, Elizabeth Hill, Hodge, Mary G., Smith, Michael E., and Umberger, Emily, pp. 85–106. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC.Google Scholar