DOCSLIB.ORG

La Sexualidad En El México Prehispánico, Los Mexicas Del Posclásico: Un Estado Del Arte

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
La Sexualidad En El México Prehispánico, Los Mexicas Del Posclásico: Un Estado Del Arte UNIVERSIDAD AUTÓNOMA DEL ESTADO DE MÉXICO CENTRO UNIVERSITARIO UAEM TENANCINGO LA SEXUALIDAD EN EL MÉXICO PREHISPÁNICO, LOS MEXICAS DEL POSCLÁSICO: UN ESTADO DEL ARTE TESINA QUE PARA OPTAR POR EL TITULO DE LICENCIADA EN ARQUEOLOGÍA PRESENTA: Roxana Ramírez Marín DIRECTOR Dra. Eréndira Muñoz Aréyzaga ASESOR Dr. Carlos Rubén Maltés González Tenancingo, México; noviembre de 2017. INDICE Introducción ..................................................................................................................................... 13 Capítulo I Puntos de partida ........................................................................................................................... 16 1.1 Importancia de la temática, planteamiento del problema y pregunta de investigación 16 1.2 Metodología .............................................................................................................................. 19 1.3 Referencias teóricas básicas ................................................................................................. 19 Capítulo II Historia de la sexualidad humana ................................................................................................ 26 2.1 Historia general de la sexualidad .......................................................................................... 26 2.2 Grecia ........................................................................................................................................ 31 2.3 Egipto ......................................................................................................................................... 35 2.4 Sexualidad en la época prehispánica ................................................................................... 42 2.4.1 Mayas ..................................................................................................................................... 46 2.4.2 Culturas de occidente .......................................................................................................... 53 Capítulo III La sexualidad entre los mexicas del posclásico ........................................................................ 59 3.1 Religión ...................................................................................................................................... 62 3.1.1 Deidades asociadas a la sexualidad ................................................................................. 63 3.1.2 Prácticas rituales asociadas a la sexualidad .................................................................... 73 3.2 Género y diversidad sexual .................................................................................................... 79 3.2.1 El rol del hombre ................................................................................................................... 82 3.2.2 El rol de la mujer ................................................................................................................... 87 3.2.3 Matrimonio ............................................................................................................................. 91 3.3 Transgresiones sexuales ........................................................................................................ 96 3.3.1 Adulterio ................................................................................................................................. 97 3.3.2 Prostitución .......................................................................................................................... 101 11 3.3.3 Homosexualidad ................................................................................................................. 104 Conclusiones ................................................................................................................................. 109 Bibliografía………………………………………………………………………………………. 119 12 INTRODUCCIÓN El presente trabajo surgió del interés por acercarse a la comprensión de la sexualidad en las sociedades antiguas y específicamente en los antiguos nahuas a los que pertenecieron los mexicas del posclásico. La intención es realizar una monografía sobre el tema, conocer su definición y los aspectos que implica a partir de la revisión de distintos trabajos académicos que reflejan las perspectivas teóricas y metodológicas que han aportado a la comprensión de la sexualidad a partir de sus distintas manifestaciones sobre todo en fuentes escritas y pictográficas que ayudan a explicar la forma en la que era concebida por esta sociedad. La sexualidad es un aspecto que ha estado ligado al ser humano desde sus orígenes, forma parte de su propia naturaleza; puede decirse que “es el conjunto de emociones, conductas y prácticas asociadas a la búsqueda del placer sexual [y a la reproducción], que marcan de manera decisiva al ser humano en todas y cada una de las fases de su desarrollo como ser biológico y social” (Roque, 2015: 10), es decir la sexualidad no es únicamente un fenómeno biológico sino cultural, que como cualquier otro requiere un estudio complejo para entender las implicaciones que tenía en el individuo y en la sociedad. Sin embargo, su estudio en México es un tema relativamente nuevo y apenas hacia el último cuarto del siglo XX comenzaron a desarrollarse investigaciones y a publicarse los primeros trabajos respecto al tema. Durante mucho tiempo, investigadores de diferentes disciplinas se mantuvieron al margen del estudio de la sexualidad por distintas razones, las más importantes relacionadas con prejuicios y por considerarse entonces que forzosamente se tenían que transgredir ciertos tabúes para hacerlo, además de que desde la perspectiva social sólo la medicina era la única autorizada para investigar sobre el tema. Fue hasta la década de los setenta, con el impulso de las críticas generalizadas encausadas por el posmodernismo y los movimientos feministas, cuando comenzó a “despertarse el interés por el estudio de la sexualidad en 13 general y por la historia de la sexualidad en particular” (Rodríguez y López, 2009: 78). Pero la sexualidad ha estado presente en todas las culturas y es una dimensión fundamental del ser humano, no solo porque como reconoce Montejo (2012) es portadora de expresiones que son la base de una serie de prácticas tanto biológicas, sociales como religiosas, que ayudan a conocer la vida de las sociedades sino también la forma en la que se estructuran las relaciones sociales y se reglamenta el comportamiento humano, por lo que su estudio es relevante para una comprensión compleja de las sociedades antiguas. Por lo que es necesario definir la forma en la que se ha estudiado y los elementos culturales que han servido para conocerla que, por lo general, ha sido investigado a partir de fuentes escritas, con el fin de identificar de manera indirecta el papel o las potencialidades de la arqueología en este tipo de estudios, cuando existe cultura material con connotaciones sexuales. La presente investigación consta de tres capítulos. El primero describe las bases de la investigación, presenta el planteamiento del problema, metodología utilizada y las referencias teoricas basicas donde se dan a conocer algunos autores que han trabajado el tema. De esta forma se parte de una definición de la sexualidad, se esbozan las principales problemáticas que han abordado distintos autores sobre todo en el campo de la sexualidad de los antiguos nahuas para dar a conocer los aspectos que se han considerado fundamentales para su comprensión, relacionados con la concepción sobre el cuerpo humano y el papel de la humanidad en la cosmovisión del universo, los roles de género, los ritos y dioses asociados a ella, la diversidad sexual y la actitud hacia ella y los códigos morales que estructuraban no solo las prácticas sexuales sino las relaciones sociales. Y por otro lado reflejan las metodologías que han servido para acercarse al tema. En el segundo capítulo con el objetivo de contextualizar el fenómeno se presenta un breve repaso de los estudios de la sexualidad en general y con el fin de conocer la forma en la que se ha abordado en otras sociedades antiguas se 14 presenta una revisión de algunos aspectos sobre la sexualidad específicamente de Grecia y Egipto, que como se hará notar las fuentes para su estudio tiene algunas similitudes con el caso mesoamericano, especialmente las referencias mitológicas. Finalmente se aborda la sexualidad en la época prehispánica, retomando culturas distintas a la mexica, estas son la maya y las culturas de occidente. Ambos casos ofrecen una perspectiva de los conocimientos al respecto, pero el segundo sirve sobre todo para reflexionar en la necesidad de aproximarse a la cultura material para la comprensión del tema, ya que en este caso los avances han sido lentos por la carencia de identificación o análisis de fuentes escritas o pictográficas que se refieran al respecto. El tercer y último capítulo se centra en el interés principal de este estudio: la sexualidad en la cultura mexica, la cual se desarrollará a partir de la revisión de diversos autores que han aportado para el caso y para mostrar una perspectiva compleja se referirá a aspectos de la cosmovisión mesoamericana de los antiguos nahuas, los dioses asociados a la sexualidad y sus características, íntimamente relacionados con los roles de género de hombres y mujeres que determinaban su comportamiento biológico y social, la diversidad sexual y las transgresiones sexuales que para esta antigua sociedad alteraban el orden cósmico. Por último, se presentan las
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Barroque Paradise of Santa María Tonantzintla (Part II1)
    14 ETHNOLOGIA ACTUALIS Vol. 16, No. 2/2016 JULIO GLOCKNER The Barroque Paradise of Santa María Tonantzitla II The Barroque Paradise of Santa María Tonantzintla (Part II1) JULIO GLOCKNER Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities, Meritorious Autonomous University of Puebla, Puebla [email protected] ABSTRACT The baroque church of Santa María Tonantzintla is located in the Valley of Cholula in the Central Mexican Plateau and it was built during 16th-19th century. Its interior decoration shows an interesting symbolic fusion of Christian elements with Mesoamerican religious aspects of Nahua origin. Scholars of Mexican colonial art interpreted the Catholic iconography of Santa María Tonantzintla church as the Assumption of the Virgin Mary up to the celestial kingdom and her coronation by the holy Trinity. One of those scholars, Francisco de la Maza, proposed the idea that apart from that, the ornaments of the church evoke Tlalocan, paradise of the ancient deity of rain known as Tlaloc. Following this interpretation this study explores the relation between the Virgin Mary and the ancient Nahua deity of Earth and fertility called Tonatzin in order to show the profound syncretic bonds which exist between Christian and Mesoamerican traditions. KEY WORDS: syncretism, altepetl, Tlalocan, Tamoanchan, Ometeotl, Nahua culture, Tonantzintla 1 This text is a continuation of the article published in previous volume. In. Ethnologia actualis. Vol. 16, No. 1/2016, pp. 8-29. DOI: 10.1515/eas-2017-0002 © University of SS. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava. All rights reserved. 15 ETHNOLOGIA ACTUALIS Vol. 16, No. 2/2016 JULIO GLOCKNER The Barroque Paradise of Santa María Tonantzitla II The myth of the origin of corn From the rest of the plants cultivated traditionally in the area, corn stands out, a plant divinized during the pre-Hispanic era with the name Centeotl.
    [Show full text]
  • Oral Tradition 25.2
    Oral Tradition, 25/2 (2010): 325-363 “Secret Language” in Oral and Graphic Form: Religious-Magic Discourse in Aztec Speeches and Manuscripts Katarzyna Mikulska Dąbrowska Introduction On the eve of the conquest, oral communication dominated Mesoamerican society, with systems similar to those defined by Walter Ong (1992 [1982]), Paul Zumthor (1983), and Albert Lord (1960 [2000]), although a written form did exist. Its limitations were partly due to the fact that it was used only by a limited group of people (Craveri 2004:29), and because the Mixtec and Nahua systems do not totally conform to a linear writing system.1 These forms of graphic communication are presented in pictographic manuscripts, commonly known as codices. The analysis of these sources represents an almost independent discipline, as they increasingly become an ever more important source for Mesoamerican history, religion, and anthropology. The methodology used to study them largely depends on how the scholar defines “writing.” Some apply the most rigid definition of a system based on the spoken language and reflecting its forms and/or structures (e.g., Coulmas 1996:xxvi), while others accept a broader definition of semasiographic systems that can transmit ideas independent of actual spoken language (yet function at the same logical level) and thus also constitute writing (e.g., Sampson 1985:26-31). The aim of this study is to analyze the linguistic “magical-religious” register of the Nahua people, designated as such because it was used for communication with the sacred realm. In this respect, it represents one of the “sacred languages,” as classified by Zumthor (1983:53).
    [Show full text]
  • Aztec Festivals of the Rain Gods
    Michael Graulich Aztec Festivals of the Rain Gods Aunque contiene ritos indiscutiblemente agrícolas, el antiguo calendario festivo de veintenas (o 'meses') de la época azteca resulta totalmente desplazado en cuanto a las temporadas, puesto que carece de intercalados que adaptan el año solar de 365 días a la duración efectiva del año tropical. Creo haber demostrado en diversas pu- blicaciones que las fiestas pueden ser interpretadas en rigor sólo en relación con su posición original, no corrida aún. El presente trabajo muestra cómo los rituales y la re- partición absolutamente regular y lógica de las vein- tenas, dedicadas esencialmente a las deidades de la llu- via - tres en la temporada de lluvias y una en la tempo- rada de sequía - confirman el fenómeno del desplaza- miento. The Central Mexican festivals of the solar year are described with consi- derable detail in XVIth century sources and some of them have even been stu- died by modern investigators (Paso y Troncoso 1898; Seler 1899; Margain Araujo 1945; Acosta Saignes 1950; Nowotny 1968; Broda 1970, 1971; Kirchhoff 1971). New interpretations are nevertheless still possible, especially since the festivals have never been studied as a whole, with reference to the myths they reenacted, and therefore, could not be put in a proper perspective. Until now, the rituals of the 18 veintenas {twenty-day 'months') have always been interpreted according to their position in the solar year at the time they were first described to the Spaniards. Such festivals with agricultural rites have been interpreted, for example, as sowing or harvest festivals on the sole ground that in the 16th century they more or less coincided with those seasonal events.
    [Show full text]
  • Huitzilopochtli
    Huitzilopochtli The god of war, sacrifice and the sun. His name means ‘Hummingbird of the South’. He is always shown wearing a headdress made of large feathers and wielding the turquoise snake, Xiuhcoatl, as a weapon. visit twinkl.com Tlaloc The god of rain and water. Aztecs would pray to Tlaloc for rain to help their crops grow although he could also send storms if he was angry. He is often shown with fangs and large eyes. visit twinkl.com Tezcatlipoca The god of the night, magic and the earth. His name means ‘smoking mirror’. His sacred animal is the jaguar and he is usually shown with yellow and black stripes across his face. visit twinkl.com Chicomecoatl The goddess of agriculture, nourishment and corn. Her name means ‘seven snakes’. She is usually shown as a young girl carrying flowers. visit twinkl.com Quetzalcoatl The god of life and wind. His name means ‘feathered serpent’. Aztecs believe that Quetzalcoatl created mankind. He is often shown as a feathered serpent which could fly (similar to a dragon). visit twinkl.com Xochiquetzal The goddess of beauty and art. She is usually shown as a young, beautiful woman wearing fancy clothes. She looked after mothers and people who made beautiful things, such as craftspeople. visit twinkl.com Chalchiuhtlicue The goddess of rivers and lakes. Her name means ‘she of the jade skirt’. She is also sometimes seen as the protector of navigators. She is usually shown wearing a tasselled headdress and a skirt with a stream of water flowing out of it. visit twinkl.com Mixcoatl The god of the hunt and the stars.
    [Show full text]
  • The Tonsured Maize God and Chicome-Xochitl As Maize Bringers and Culture Heroes: a Gulf Coast Perspective
    f No. 32, 2009 WAYEB NOTES ISSN 1379-8286 THE TONSURED MAIZE GOD AND CHICOME-XOCHITL AS MAIZE BRINGERS AND CULTURE HEROES: A GULF COAST PERSPECTIVE H.E.M. Braakhuis Utrecht University “He [the Maize Hero] spoke words like water being scattered” (Alcorn et al. 2006: 601) It is now slightly more than twenty-five years ago that Taube identified the ‘Tonsured Maize God’, a youthful deity whose emergence from a turtle shell has since become an icon of Classic Maya culture. The presence of the Twin heroes of the Popol Vuh, Hunahpu and Xbalanque, at the maize deity’s emergence contributed much to this status. Taube’s conclusion that the episode represents the bringing back to life of the Twins’ father, who had died in the Underworld, has been widely accepted.1 M. D. Coe (1989: 167) was one of the first to adopt this interpretation, and it has slowly become the orthodox view. It has also become common practice to refer to the Twins’ father, Hun-Hunahpu, as ‘the Maize God’, notwithstanding the fact that a maize god is not mentioned in the Popol Vuh. Schele and Freidel (1993: 59-116, 272-286), in particular, have helped to popularize Taube’s viewpoint. They developed it into an astral maize mythology of their own, a critical evaluation of which, though much needed, lies beyond the scope of this essay. When, fourteen years after Taube’s initial study, Quenon and Le Fort (1997) presented an overview of the then available iconographic material, in which they distinguish five broad ‘episodes’, their focus remained on the interaction of the Twins with Hun-Hunahpu.
    [Show full text]
  • Contexts of Offerings and Ritual Maize in the Pictographic Record in Central Mexico
    Contexts of offerings and ritual maize in the pictographic record in Central Mexico NATALIA MORAGAS SEGURA and ELENA MAZZETTO he objective of this article is an initial enquiry into the evidence and classification of the Tofferings of maize in Central Mexico from the Classic period to early colonial times. In order to achieve this goal, we will analyse the presence of maize in Central Mexico according to the evidence found in mural paintings and some pictographic codices. Two Mesoamerican cultures will be considered to achieve our analysis: the Teotihuacan and Mexico-Tenochtitlan. Maize was instru- mental in the performance of daily rituals and in the diet of these ancient Mesoamerican cultures and the cereal also had sacred connotations in pre-Hispanic, colonial and contemporary narratives. We suggest this by reading the iconographic and symbolic representations of corn in the form of seeds and pods, or as an ingredient in cooked foods which are represented in the mural paintings of Teotihuacan as well as some codices of the post-Classic Nahua tradition. These methodological enquiries reveal evidence of a cultural continuity in Central Mexico as a contrasting perspective on the archaeological and ethno-historical period. Introductory remarks In 1943, Paul Kirchhoff coined the term ‘Mesoamerica’ as a cultural concept to refer to the development of complex societies (Kirchhoff 1943, Flannery 1968) in the region. This concept defines a variable geographical area but also emphasizes the cultural traits that were shared by a number of different indig­ enous cultures. The geographical area covers Mexico to Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica.
    [Show full text]
  • The Museum of the Templo Mayor Photo by José Ignacio González Manterola González José by Photo Ignacio
    The Museum of the Templo Mayor The Museum of the Templo Mayor, designed by architect Pedro Ramírez Vázquez, was created to display more than 7,000 objects found in excavations which took place between 1978 and 1982 at the site of what was once the main temple of the Mexicas. Inaugurated on October 12th, 1987, the museum recreates the duality of life and death, water and war, agriculture and tribute, symbols of Tlaloc and Huitzilopochtli, deities to whom the Main Temple of Tenochtitlan was dedicated. View of the facade of the Eagle Warrior. Photo by Luis Antonio Zavala Antonio Luis by Photo Warrior. Eagle Museum of the Templo Mayor Photo by José Ignacio González Manterola González José by Photo Ignacio Tlaltecuhtli A few steps from the museum foyer lies the imposing relief of Tlaltecuhtli, the Earth goddess of the Mexicas. A monolith weighing almost 12 tons that was originally placed at the foot of the Main Temple was discovered in October 2006 on the property of the Nava Chávez estate, on the corner of Guatemala and Argentina Streets. Thanks to 3 years of arduous and detailed restoration work, the visitor can see the impressive representation of this deity in its original polychrome. Historical Background This room presents a panorama of the research developed about the Mexica culture since the first archeological discoveries in 1790 until the present time. A model at the entrance to the room illustrates the places where the most important pre-Hispanic pieces were found in the main square of Mexico City. ROOM 1 ROOM The visitor can see objects found in the first excavations of the Main Temple from the beginning of the 20th century until the Templo Mayor Project, initiated in 1978 as a result of the discovery of the great circular sculpture of the goddess Coyolxauhqui.
    [Show full text]
  • Emily Floyd Fray Bernardino De Sahagún and the Construction Of
    Emily Floyd Fray Bernardino de Sahagún and the construction of the Aztec Pantheon Fray Bernardino de Sahagún is often hailed as the first great ethnographer. This characterization of Sahagún pays tribute to his exhaustive curiosity and deep interest in the cultures he recorded. At the same time, it obscures his motivations in compiling his vast compendium of culture, religion, and history. In overemphasizing Sahagún's supposed impartiality and objectivity, this approach discourages critical readings of his work. Sahagún's work should not be read as an unbiased source for knowledge about the Aztecs, ignoring the context in which it was compiled. In Book 1 of the Florentine Codex, The Gods, Sahagún provides a visual and written list of the Aztec deities. In this paper, I will argue that while the representation of the Aztec deities in The Gods draws upon both Aztec and Christian visual conventions, close association with either religious tradition was potentially dangerous. By giving the Aztec gods a Greco-Roman gloss, Sahagún distanced the deities from pre-Catholic religious practice and placed them into the ambiguous language of Renaissance approaches to the Greco-Roman deities. This portrayal has the effect of distancing the deities from religious practice and placing them into the equal parts glorifying and secularizing context of the Renaissance Greco-Roman pantheon. The visual language employed by Sahagún's artists in The God's list of Aztec deities owes little to Aztec visual conventions. Sahagún's artists were students of the friars at the Colegio de Santa Cruz de Tlateloco, trained in European theories of proportion and draftsmanship.
    [Show full text]
  • No Existe Una Mitología Azteca 7 FIGURAS Aztec Mythology Does Not Exist
    Estudios de Cultura Náhuatl, vol. 60 (julio-diciembre 2020): 9-45 issn 0071-1675 ARTÍCULO No existe una mitología azteca 7 FIGURAS Aztec Mythology Does Not Exist Michel GRAULICH (1944-2015) Resumen En vista de las influencias cristianas —y de las procedentes de otras áreas geográficas— que se pueden detectar en las fuentes que nos transmiten los mitos aztecas, se puede concluir que “la mitología azteca no existe”. Después de demostrar el carácter absurdo de esta afir- mación, el presente artículo analiza los relatos y la iconografía sobre la transgresión en el paraíso de Tamoanchan, tomando en cuenta otras variantes equivalentes de este pecado que consiste, en términos generales, en una creación sin permiso. Sin descuidar las indudables influencias cristianas presentes en las fuentes coloniales, se enfatiza en la existencia de im- portantes paralelismos entre estos mitos mesoamericanos de transgresión y otras numerosas tradiciones míticas en el mundo. Palabras clave: aztecas, mitología, transgresión, influencia cristiana, Tamoanchan, paraíso Abstract In view of the Christian influences—and those from other geographic areas—that can be de- tected in the sources on Aztec myths, it might be concluded that “Aztec mythology does not exist.” After demonstrating the absurdity of this statement, the present article analyzes the accounts and iconography of transgression in the paradise of Tamoanchan, taking into account other variants equivalent to this sin that consist in a creation without permission. Without overlooking the un- questionable Christian influences present in colonial sources, the existence of important parallels between these Mesoamerican myths of transgression and numerous other mythical traditions in the world is emphasized.
    [Show full text]
  • WORKS of ORIGINAL AZTEC and MIXTEC ART 1) Statue Of
    WORKS OF ORIGINAL AZTEC AND MIXTEC ART 33" 1) Statue of chicomecoatl. Aztec. Red volcanic stone. high X 15 1/2" wide X 7". 2) Statue of Chicomecoatl. Aztec. Basalt. 15" high X 7" wide X 6" • 3) Jaguar Mortar. Aztec style (Guerrero). Stone with mica particles, length 10 1/2" X width 6X3 1/2" high. 4) Phallic Tlaloc . Aztec . Stone. 8 1/2" high X 6" wide X 5". 6" 5) Mortar in the Shape of a Pulque Bowl. Aztec. Stone high X 5 3/4" diameter. 6) Pulque Bowl Lid. Aztec. Stone. 5 1/4" diameter. 7) Large Panel of Dancing Deity Macuilxochitl or Impersonator (Ixiptla). Aztec. Basalt. 22 1/2" high X 14 1/2" wide X 4 1/2" thick. Heavy. 8) Hunchbacked Figure (probably Xolotl). Aztec. Basalt. 7" high X 4" wide X 4". 9) Head of Ehecatl. Aztec. Volcanic Stone. 9 1/2" high X 7" wide X 6". (Crude). 10) Double Brazier (candelario?). Aztec. Red volcanic stone. 4 3/4" high X 4 3/4" wide X 2 1/2". 11 ) Head of "Macehualli." Aztec. Red volcanic stone. 13 1 /2" high (with stand) X 7 1/2". 12) Head of "Macehualli." Aztei c. Grey volcanic stone. 12 1 /2" high (with stand). X 5". X 5" 13) Xiuhtecuhtli. Aztec. Grey volcanic stone. 8"1 high wide X 5 1/2". 14) "Chichimec" Skull. Aztec. Basalt. 8" high X 6" wide X 5 1/2" • 15) Head of Xipe Totec. Aztec. Red Stone. 13" high (with stand) X 8" • Skull. Aztec. Volcanic stone (with red paint).
    [Show full text]
  • The Venus-Rain-Maize Complex in the Mesoamerican World
    JHA, xxiv (1993) 1993JHA....24...17S THE VENUS-RAIN-MAIZE COMPLEX IN THE MESOAMERICAN WORLD VIEW: PART I IVAN SPRAJC, Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia, Mexico City INTRODUCTION The importance attributed to the planet Venus by the ancient Mesoamericans is well known. Most famous is its malevolent aspect: according to some written sources from the post-Conquest central Mexico, the morning star at its first appearance after inferior conjunction was believed to inflict harm on nature and mankind in a number of ways. Iconographic elements in various codices seem to confirm these reports. Although there is a considerable amount of data of this kind, some recent studies have revealed the inadequacy of the common assumption that the heliacal rise was the most, if not the only, important Venus phenomenon. It has been argued that "in spite of the obvious importance of the first appearance of the Morning Star ... , the Evening Star which disappears into inferior conjunction in the underworld had an equal, if not greater, signifi­ cance".1 The importance of the evening star and of events other than heliacal risings is also attested in Mayan inscriptions and codices.2 Consequently, the symbolism associated with the planet Venus in Mesoamerica must have been much more complex than is commonly thought. One part of this symbolism was related to rain and maize. 3 The conceptual association of the planet Venus with rain and maize can be designated, following Closs et al., as the Venus-rain-maize complex.4 The object of this study is to present various kinds of evidence to demonstrate the existence of this complex of ideas in Mesoamerica, to describe its forms and particularities associated with distinct aspects of the planet, to follow its development, and to explore its possible observational bases.
    [Show full text]
  • The Rules of Construction of an Aztec Deity: Chalchiuhtlicue, the Goddess of Water
    Ancient Mesoamerica, 31 (2020), 7–28 Copyright © Cambridge University Press, 2018 doi:10.1017/S0956536118000056 THE RULES OF CONSTRUCTION OF AN AZTEC DEITY: CHALCHIUHTLICUE, THE GODDESS OF WATER Danièle Dehouve Director of Research (emeritus), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique-Université Paris Ouest Nanterre, Maison Archéologie et Ethnologie, 21 allée de l’université, 92023 Nanterre Cedex, France Abstract This article seeks to contribute to the development of a method for analyzing the attributes of the gods of central Mexico in the manuscripts and the statuary from the time of the Spanish conquest. I focus on the Goddess of Water, Chalchiuhtlicue, “Jade Her Skirt.” The method consists of isolating the component designs of her array and grouping them in semantic groups. I begin by examining these designs and show that all of them were used in the notation of toponyms. These findings call into question the traditional separation between glyphs and icons. I next study the semantic groups and show that they consist of a series of culturally selected manifestations of water. Hence, it follows that the rules of composition of the goddess were grounded on a process of “definition by extension.” Thus, most of the semantic groups referred to different secondary names of the goddess, allowing us to think that they represented theonyms of a particular type. INTRODUCTION of “diagnostic insignia” assigned to each deity (Nicholson 1971: 408), the distinction between “determinant forms” and “isolated The numerous gods of central Mexico were identified by a principal forms” (Spranz 1973:27–28), or between “distinctive” (rasgos name and several secondary names, as well as by the ornaments distintivos) and “optional” traits (rasgos discrecionales; Mikulska encasing their anthropomorphic figure.
    [Show full text]