The Aztec Wooden Slit-Drum was called a teponaztli, in the langauge of Nahuatl, which was the language used by the Mexica. The drum was constucted out of carved wood, and has a hollowed out centre. The drum is carved in a specific way with two tongues on each side which when hit correctly produces different tones. These drums were often carved to represent human or animal figures. It is thought that the Teponaztli dates back to before Mexica times as the exact origin of the instrument is unknown.
The Aztec Stone Kneeling Figure of Chalchiuhtlicue, is a representation of the goddess of water, known as Chalchiuhtlicue, meaning 'she of the jade skirt' in the language of Nahuatl, which was the spoken language of the Mexica. Spring water, lakes, rivers and birth was associated with Chalchiuhtlicue. In the Mexica myths dealing with the creation of the world, the goddess of water, was said to have ruled over the fourth world (the world before this one) which was destroyed by flooding and the people were believed to have been turned into fish. The Aztec Stone Kneeling Figure of Chalchiuhtlicue forms part of the Bullock Collection of Mexica artefacts.
The Aztec masks of Xipe Totec are representations of the Mexica god of fertility, Xipe Totec. These masks are thought not to be authentic Mexica art as iconographic studies have shown that the masks hold different iconography. Such as the masks having three hands holding objects like a spear, shield and trophy. This is not insync with authentic Mexica representations of Xipe Totec as the god of fertility is usually represented with two hands which are never dipicted holding objects, but rather the hands are shown wearing flayed human skin. It is suggested that these masks were actually made in the 19th century by collectors and museums based on the style of Mexica art.
Modesty wasn’t a concept that most ancient rulers had much of a grasp of. When it came to palaces, tombs, statues, monuments and other symbols of their power, prestige and wealth, bigger pretty much always meant better. Who knows – maybe they were trying to make up for something?
Here we give our top ten run down of ancient history’s tallest, widest, longest, bulkiest and most darn audacious structures. Some of them still stand; others exist – probably exaggerated by at least an inch or two – only in legend.
Highlighted Quote:
The lighthouse deserves special mention for being one of the only super structures on this list that had a practical purpose, beyond inflating a ruler’s status.
We, sitting comfortably in front of our computers here in the 21st century, a mocha-choca-frappe-latte possibly close at hand, like to complain a lot about stress.
Balancing the demands of work, family, health and the full range of entertainment offered our by multi-channel digital TV package, is – after all – a trying daily endeavour. It’s blissful to believe that life was somehow calmer and simpler in the quaint days of ancient history. But the findings of some new studies have suggested that that firmly was not the case.
High levels of the stress hormone cortisol have been detected in the hair of ancient Peruvians – considerably higher levels, it should be noted, than those detected in the hair of humans today.
The Great Pyramid of Cholula (also known as Tlachihualtepetl – "artificial mountain" in Nahuatl) is a giant pre-Columbian Mesoamerican monument, situated in the ancient settlement of Cholula, near modern Puebla in Mexico. It is the largest pyramid in the world by volume. With a base of 202,500 square metres and a height of 66 metres, it boasts a total estimated volume of over 4.45 million cubic metres – almost twice the volume of its nearest rival, the Great Pyramid of Giza.
It was dedicated to the "feathered-serpent" deity Quetzalcoatl. The Aztecs thought it to have been built by Xelhua, one of the seven giants in Aztec mythology. It is fairly obscure as pre-Columbian monuments in South America go, because relatively little major archaeological investigation or restoration of the site has been carried out, but for the excavation of about five miles (8 km) of tunnels inside. This is because the the Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de los Remedios (Church of Our Lady of the Remedies) sits on top of the pyramid – an important Catholic pilgrimage destination, built by the Colonial Spanish in 1594. It's a protected colonial monument.
In 1932, with the investigation of Tutankhamun’s tomb by Howard Carter still ongoing and the myth of the curse of the pharaohs gaining traction in the public’s imagination, film execs looked to cash-in on clamour for all things ancient and Egyptian by unleashing The Mummyupon an unsuspecting audience – a big-screen classic.
Since then, mummy movies – most often depicting desiccated Egyptian kings trailing a string of dirty old bandages in their wake as they stagger about chasing a pretty girl in skimpy clothing – have become a cult sub-genre of the horror industry. The mummies have been portrayed along the way by many actors over the years, some of whom are legends in the movie business, and some who comfortably aren’t.
See if you agree with our pick of the best mummies from the movies, and watch the video below to find out how real mummies are made.
Dr John Hemming is a British-raised Canadian explorer and author, specialising in the study of the indigenous peoples of Amazonia - particularly Brazilian indians - as well as the ancient Incas and Peruvian archaeology. He has written and contributed to over 120 publications, and won multiple awards for his work over the years.
Born in Vancouver, Hemming was educated in the United Kingdom at Eton College and read History at Magdalen College, Oxford. One of his first expeditions to South America in 1961 - as part of a team sent to investigate the unexplored Iriri River country in central Brazil - ended in disaster, when the party was ambushed by indians, and Hemming's friend and fellow Oxford graduate Richard Mason became the last Englishman ever to be killed by an uncontacted tribe.
It only led to a heightened interest in Brazilian tribes for Hemming, however, and he mounted multiple repeat expeditions to the region, encountering and interacting with many long-lost tribes, and penning - over a 26 year period - a three-volume history of the indigenous peoples of Amazonia: Red Gold in 1978, Amazon Frontier in 1985 and Die If You Must in 2004.
