– And Tenochtitlan, the city, the capital of the Aztec Empire was divided also into four. – And their cosmos, or their universe was thought to be divided into four quadrants associated with these four cardinal directions. – And, outside of that band of calendrical dates we see the rays of the sun radiating outwards and you see that the largest ones are pointed in the four cardinal directions.
– We have, now, 20 glyphs or symbols, the 20 days, this basic unit of the Aztec calendar. Then the idea is that because the gods have killed themselves willingly, that we as humans need to be feeding them through offerings, and that could include things like animal sacrifice, piercing of our body to give blood, or human sacrifice. – The sun is brought into creation by the gods sacrificing themselves, but at first, it was static, it couldn’t move, and so then another god had to sacrifice himself in order to put the sun in motion. – We have this idea of sacrifice in the center with that face, and then we have this idea in Aztec mythology that this era that we’re in was formed by two gods agreeing to sacrifice themselves. Earthquakes were terrifying and so this is prophesizing how our current world is going to end. – You have devastating earthquakes that happen here. – The city where we are and where this is from, the Aztec capital, is surrounded by volcanoes and a fault line. The idea with the fifth sun is it’s prophesizing that this current world in which we live is going to be death by earthquakes. In the third era, death by rains of fire. The idea is that in the first era, it’s death by jaguar, devoured by jaguars. So if we go from the top right and go counter-clockwise, the four eras are 4-Jaguar, 4-Wind, 4-Tlaloc, and then 4-Chalchiuhtlicue. – And then, inside those squares or rectangular shapes that mean four movement, we see the names of the previous four suns. – That particular shape that it’s forming is a sign for Ollin, which in Nahuatl means movement, and we also see these four dots surrounding this central figure, which gives us the name Four Movement, which is the title of the fifth sun, or the fifth era that we’re living in right now. – And yet the name of the fifth sun, the fifth era, is “Four Movement,” and we actually see that in the four square lobes that surround that center figure.
– So the current era is actually the fifth era, according to this system. So what we’re seeing here is a record, a cataclysmic history of previous eras, and then the current era, under which we live. – The stone relates to one of the main Aztec myths, essentially the creation of the various eras, or as they called them, suns. – So what this records, with this figure in the center, what the disc itself records is this origin of the cosmos as the Aztecs saw it. – The Aztecs were part of this larger ethnic group of the Nahua. – And Nahuatl is the name of the language spoken by the Nahua people, or the Aztecs. There have been various interpretations of who this individual actually is, and most people identify him as the sun god, Tonatiuh, which is the Nahuatl word for the sun god.
So who is that? – So this figure, this face, and if you look to the sides, you also see that he has clawed hands and he’s holding something, possibly human hearts. – The ear spools were decorations that Aztec elite would wear. That’s actually a anthropomorphized sacrificial blade. – He’s wearing ear spools, and within that open mouth you see the tongue protruding out. I see a rather gruesome looking face with deep-set eyes and a wide mouth, and on either side, hanging down, what look like ear ornaments. And as you see it was unfinished, cause there are protrusions of uncarved rock that we see on the top and to the left. – No, it most likely would have been placed horizontally on the ground. – And it wouldn’t have been up on the wall. – This would have been originally painted, which would have helped pick out the motifs that you’re seeing here. But in actuality, when you look closely it’s an incredibly complicated object. – It’s become the modern-day emblem of Mexican culture. This is an educational video about the fascinating calendar Stone seen in Shadow of the Tomb Raider.īlues piano music) – We’re in the National Anthropology Museum in Mexico City, looking at what is perhaps their most famous object, sometimes called The Calendar Stone, but more accurately called The Sun Stone. Thank you and enjoy! There is more on the way. Watch and learn about the Sun Stone Aztec calendar AKA the calendar stone from the video and the transcript below.
They are similar in the ritualĬycles based on the same amount of days the Mayas used among other features. Screenshot from the KHAN Academy video taken by Okh Eshivar 2019ġ76 years and had a broad compass of dominance.ĭoes the Aztec and Maya Calendars work the same way?īased their calendar on the Maya calendar.
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