Teotihuacan Pyramids

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Whenever people think of pyramids, most of them will probably think of the Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt. Closer to home here in the Americas, ancient Mesoamerican civilizations have made their stamp on the world by leaving behind the ruins of their once great cities that had their own versions of pyramids and other structures. One of the most impressive and well preserved ruins of these ancient Mesoamerican civilizations is a place that the Aztecs called Teotihuacan which means “Birthplace of the Gods” (Metmuseum.org). The ruins are located around 30 miles northeast of Mexico City and have become a very popular tourist attraction in Mexico. Apart from being a tourist attraction, there is more to the city and pyramids than meets the eye. …show more content…

Unlike other ancient Mesoamerican cities such as Chichen Itza which were built by the Mayans during the Pre-Colombian era, not much is known about the language or writing system of the Teotihuacanos who moved into the area around 500 BC. However, there is some evidence around the city that tells us a little on who they could have been. The website Sacred Destinations states that murals were found on the site that indicated that the civilization may have been made up of warriors that captured prisoners as a form of warfare instead of capturing their territory. The Teotihuacanos used these prisoners as sacrifice so that the end of the world would be adverted. They believed that the world had 5 sun cycles and since they were on the fifth one, they believed that the world would end soon with earthquakes if they didn’t do sacrifices to their deities (Sacred). Some of these deities named by the Aztecs can be found as wall murals and sculptures throughout the ruins such as the Rain God Tlaloc or the god Quetzalcoatl represented by a serpent with feathers. The strange thing about this civilization is that even to this day, no one knows why the Teotihuacanos abandoned the city but some speculate that overpopulation combined with low resources may have contributed to the gradual decline of the number of citizens. Fortunately, the Aztecs discovered the city many centuries later and called it “Teotihuacan”. According to Sacred Destinations, the Aztecs praised the ruins of this city so much that the Aztecs made pilgrimages from their center of Tenochtitlan (Modern Day Mexico City) to

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