Coyolxauhqui

Relieve de Coyolxauhqui dismembered by his brother, found in the Great Temple.

Coyolxauhqui (from Nahuatl: coyolxauhqui 'the one adorned with bells''coyolli, rattlesnake; xauhqui, which adorns') is a Mexica deity, who is considered to represent of the moon, however, since it does not present any lunar sign or glyph, it has been proposed that it represents another type of celestial body.

In Nahua mythology, Coyolxauhqui was the daughter of the mother goddess Coatlicue and sister and leader of the star gods Centzon Huitznáhuac. When Coatlicue became pregnant by Huitzilopochtli, Coyolxauhqui and her brothers tried to kill her mother considering it dishonorable, so Huitzilopochtli dismembered her and dumped her body through the slope of the Coatepec hill.

The myth

Photograph of the place where the relief was found. In the image, relief of an older sculpture

The myth about the birth of Huitzilopochtli, narrates that Coyolxauhqui, furious when she suspected that her mother, Coatlicue, was pregnant by an unknown person (who in reality was pregnant by a ball of feathers that fell from the sky and kept in her belly), led his brothers (the four hundred southerners) to Coatepec, where his mother was, to kill her, and thus redeem the offense.

When the children arrived in Coatepec, Coatlicue gave birth to Huitzilopochtli, who dressed as a warrior and armed, was born ready to defend his mother. The god defeated his brothers, decapitated his sister, sent her head to heaven so that her mother could see her every night, and threw her body down the mountain, dismembering it.

This is how Coyolxauhqui became the representation of the Moon and his brothers came to represent the stars; just as Huitzilopochtli himself became a representation of the Sun, which every day defeats the Moon.

Monolith of Coyolxauhqui

It is a quarry monolith, 320 cm in diameter, shaped like a shield, and it is thought that due to the round shape of the stone, similar to the full moon, it embodies the lunar goddess.

In the great stone the goddess can be seen dismembered, with her head, arms and legs separated around her body. On her are small balls of eagle feathers in her hair, a bell-shaped symbol on her cheek, and an eyelash, with the Mexica symbol for year, on her ear. As in the images of her mother, she is shown with skulls attached to her belt.

Scholars also believe that Coyolxauhqui's beheading and dismemberment is reflected in the pattern of ritual sacrifices by warriors. These consisted, first of all, in extracting the hearts of the captives from the chest. Second, in being beheaded and dismembered. Finally, when their bodies were thrown from the temple, down the steps of the pyramid, perhaps on the great stone of Coyolxauhqui.

Its original location recreates the myth, since it was located in front of the Templo Mayor, in the building dedicated to Huitzilopochtli, of ancient Tenochtitlan, just like on the Coatepec hill.

Discovery

Archaeologists working after the discovery of the monolith, 1978.

Colouring of the original monolith, determined from chemical traces of pigments.

The Coyolxauhqui monolith was found at the base of the Templo Mayor stairs in February 1978, while workers from the Compañía de Luz y Fuerza del Centro, led by engineer Felipe Curcó Bellet, were digging for the underground wiring. This discovery led to the expansion of archaeological investigations into the ruins of the Templo Mayor, which continue to this day.

It is believed that its original location recreated the myth, since it was located in the lower part of the building dedicated to Huitzilopochtli, in front of the Templo Mayor, of old Tenochtitlán, thus representing his murder on the hill of Coatepec.

The sculpture of his mother, Coatlicue, was found in 1790 when the cobblestones of the Plaza Mayor were changed, more or less around the time the Stone of the Sun or Aztec Calendar was found.

It is exhibited in the Museo del Templo Mayor, in the current historic center of Mexico City.