Chapter 21 Chapter 22 The Capital of the Gods

Many Mesoamerican legends revealed a major message: the "Fourth Sun Period" of mankind ended very tragically.After an earth-shattering flood receded, a long period of darkness followed.The sun disappears from the sky; the earth is darkened.Then: The gods gathered at Teotihuacan ("the abode of the gods") and anxiously deliberated over who should be the next sun.In the darkness, the gods saw only a cluster of flames, the embodiment of Huehueteotl, the god of fire; it was this god who brought fire to the earth and gave life to all things in the first place].After the earth experienced a catastrophe, this cluster of flames is still flickering.The gods pleaded for the life one after another: "We have to choose a god, sacrifice ourselves, and throw ourselves into the fire, so that the sun will appear in the sky."①

What follows is a moving scene: two gods, Nanahu atzin and Tecciztecatl, compete to sacrifice themselves to save life on earth.As a result, one deity was quickly burned to ashes in the center of the fire; the other was slowly roasted into charred meat lying on the coals at the edge of the fire. "The gods waited for a long time, and the sky finally appeared red, like dawn. A red-hot fireball burst out from the eastern sky. The sun that gave life to all things finally came out..."② Just when the earth was recovering and everything was being reborn, Quetzalkotel appeared.His mission is to guide the creatures on the ground and start the "Fifth Sun Period" for mankind.So he took the form of a man—a white man with a beard, like Viracocha in South America.

Viracocha made his capital at Tihuanaco in the Andes.In Mesoamerica, the capital of Quetzacotel is said to be the birthplace of the "fifth sun" - Teotihuacan, capital of the gods. Castles, Temples and Celestial Maps ●50 kilometers northeast of Mexico City, the ancient city of Teotihuacan I stood in the breezy castle enclosure, looking north, at the Pyramids of the Sun and the Moon standing in the misty morning light.In a field full of lush bushes and surrounded by distant mountains, an axis road - the locals call it "Street of the Dead" (Street of the Dead) - is strewn with ruins on both sides; The pyramid stands in the middle, like two musicians in a symphony orchestra, participating in playing a piece of music.The location of the castle is close to this wide and straight axis, which is more than 4 kilometers long.The Pyramid of the Moon is at the northern end of the axis, while the Pyramid of the Sun is slightly off axis to the east.

Facing such an ancient city built on the principles of geometry, most tourists would expect that the axis of the city stretches along the north-south or east-west direction, but to everyone's surprise, the architect who designed the city of Teotihuacan, However, this "road of the dead" is deliberately tilted slightly, pointing to a position 15 degrees and 30 minutes east of the north.Why did you choose such a weird direction in the first place?Experts have put forward several explanations, but none of them are convincing enough.More and more scholars believe that such a layout may be related to astronomical phenomena.For example, one of the scholars pointed out that the "Road of the Dead" goes straight to "the position of the seven stars of the Taurus Palace (the PIeiades) in the sky when it was built"③.Professor Gerald Hawkins believes that the axis in the city may represent "Sirius (Strins) - Taurus seven star axis". ④Stansbury Hagar, Department of Ethnography, Brooklyn Institute of the Arts and Sciences, believes that the "Road of the Dead" may represent the Milky Way in the sky⑤

Hagel further pointed out: Along both sides of this axis, there are many pyramids, mounds and other buildings arranged like fixed satellites, representing certain planets and other stars in the sky.According to his theory, the original architects designed the city of Teotihuacan as "a map of the heavens": "They copied the imaginary heavens—where the gods and the dead lived—on the ground."⑥ In the 1960s and 1970s, Hugh Harleston, Jr., an American engineer living in Mexico, carried out a comprehensive survey based on mathematical principles in the ancient city of Huacan, aided by Taio, to test Hagel's theory on the spot. In October 1974, Harlesden reported his findings to the International Congress of Americanists.His papers are full of bold, novel insights.One of the most intriguing discoveries involved the fortress of the ancient city and the temple of Quetzalkotel, which stood to the east of the vast, square enclosure.

It is widely recognized by scholars that this temple is one of the best-preserved monuments in Mesoamerica.It survived intact because the prehistoric building was partially buried under another mound built later and standing in front of it (slightly to the west).Archaeologists excavated the mound and found a beautifully shaped six-level pyramid buried beneath it.Right now, I'm standing in front of it, admiring the 72-foot-tall, 82,000-square-foot foundation of an ancient temple. The colorful paints painted on the temple at the beginning are now only mottled remnants. However, the unearthed temple still looks graceful and luxurious, which is breath-taking.The temple's main ornament is a series of gigantic serpent-headed statues that protrude lifelike from the stone walls; others line the grand central staircase.These reptiles look a bit like humans, with long mouths with pointed teeth, and a mustache on their lips.Around the neck of each serpent head is a circle of finely carved feathers - Quetzalkotel's most distinctive symbol.

Hallesden pointed out in the report that the main buildings listed on both sides of the "Road of the Dead" obviously have a complex mathematical relationship with each other.In fact, this relationship extends beyond the axis.What it shows is that the original architects designed the city of Teotihuacan as a model of the solar system, and the size of each part is in a certain and precise proportion to the solar system itself.According to Harlesden, if we regard the center line of the Temple of Quetzalcotel as the position of the sun, then, from here, the buildings arranged along the axis of the "Road of the Dead" appear to be The correct orbital distances of the various stars in the solar system.These include: the four planets close to the Sun, the asteroid group between Mars and Jupiter, Jupiter, Saturn (represented by the "Sun" pyramid), Uranus (represented by the "Moon" pyramid), Starfish and Pluto - representing The buildings of the last two planets, located a few kilometers north of the ancient city, are still buried under mounds⑦.

If this correlation is not mere coincidence, it at least proves that the ancient Teotihuacan region had a group of excellent astronomers, skilled in observing the sky; their achievements were not surpassed by modern scientists until quite recently. . Before 1789, Western astronomers did not know the existence of Uranus, and it was not until 1846 that Westerners found Neptune.As for Pluto, it was not discovered by Westerners until 1930.How old is Teotihuacan?According to the most conservative estimates, the main buildings in the city (including the fortress, the Way of the Dead, the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon) date back to at least the time of Jesus' birth.General scholars believe that at that time, neither the civilizations in the eastern hemisphere nor the western hemisphere knew the existence of exoplanets, let alone the orbital distance between them; as for how far these exoplanets were from the sun, no one knew.

Connections between Egypt and Mexico After completing his research on the Teotihuacan pyramids and streets, Hagel made this conclusion: "We still don't understand that the astronomical sect, with Teotihuacan as the main center, engaged in astronomical observations, in the How prosperous ancient America was, let alone its importance and high development."⑨ Is this just an astronomical "sect"?Why don't we just admit that it qualifies as what we call "science"?Whether it is a sect or a science, we cannot say that it only "prospered" in ancient America, because there are indications that it was also closely related to other parts of the ancient world.

For example, archaeological astronomers used the latest computerized astronomical mapping technology to survey the Egyptian pyramids, and found that the three world-famous pyramids on the Giza Plateau accurately reflect the three stars of Orion in their configuration.The celestial map drawn by ancient Egyptian priests on the sandy land on the west bank of the Nile is definitely not limited to these three stars.In Parts 6 and 7 of this book, we will find that the overall planning of the Egyptian priests also includes a product of nature-the Nile River-so that it can properly play the role of "Galaxy".

When the ancient Egyptians and Mexicans incorporated celestial charts into urban planning, they never excluded religious functions.The buildings of Teotihuacan, like the pyramids on the Keza Plateau, played a major religious role in the life of the community, among other functions.There is no doubt about it. Mesoamerican legends collected by the Spanish priest Bernardino de Sahagun in the 16th century confirm that Teotihuacan played at least one special and important religious role in ancient times.According to these legends, Teotihuacan is called "the capital of the gods" because "the king is buried here after his death, and the soul will not die from then on, but will be reincarnated as a god"⑾.In other words, this is "the place where mortals become gods"⑿.In addition, Teotihuacan is also known as "the place where everyone walks the road of gods" and "the place where gods are created"⒀. This also seems to be the religious function of the three pyramids on the Gisha Plateau.Is this another random coincidence?The oldest document in the world, the "Pyramid Scriptures" written in ancient hieroglyphs, clearly states: the ultimate goal of the ceremony held in the huge pyramid is to promote the reincarnation of the pharaoh's soul - "open the door of the sky and open the way to the heaven" , in the hope that Gugong can "surpass the heavens as soon as possible, and become a companion with the gods"⒁. Some scholars believe that the pyramids, whose function is to "turn mortals into gods" (from a metaphysical point of view), were developed in ancient Egypt and ancient Mexico separately, without any connection between each other.In my opinion, this view is too bizarre and unrealistic.The same is true of the incorporation of celestial charts into the planning of sacred places. In addition, there are some intriguing similarities worth mentioning. Like the Giza Plateau in Egypt, the ancient city of Teohuacan in Mexico has three main pyramids: the Pyramid of the Temple of Quetzalkotel, the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon.As in Giza, the relative positions of the three pyramids here are not as well-balanced as we expected; on the contrary, although two of them are directly opposite each other, the other is deliberately deviated to one side.It must also be noted that at Giza the tops of the Great Pyramid and the Pyramid of Cephren are level, although the former is taller than the latter.Likewise, at Teotihuacan, the pyramids of the sun and moon appear to be of equal height, although the former is actually taller than the latter.The reason for this phenomenon is that the Pyramid of the Sun is built on a relatively low-lying ground, while the Pyramid of the Moon stands relatively high.The two pyramids in Giza, Egypt, are exactly the same. Can all this be said to be a random coincidence?Why don't we simply admit that there was indeed some kind of cultural connection between ancient Mexico and Egypt?Wouldn't it be more logical to explain it this way? For the reasons set out in Chapters 18 and 19 of this book, I do not think that there was ever, at least in the recorded period, any direct, intimate contact between these two regions.However, like the Mayan calendar and the ancient map of Antarctica, what is involved here is likely to be a cultural heritage: the pyramids of Egypt and the ruins of Teotihuacan reflect the technology, geographical knowledge and knowledge left by a mysterious ancient civilization. Astronomical observations (and even religion).According to the sacred book "Bobo Wu Jing" of the Mayans, this ancient civilization once "explored the four corners of the sky and surveyed the entire shape of the earth". General scholars believe that the Giza Pyramid was built about 4,500 years ago.There is no consensus in the academic circles about the time when Teotihuacan was founded.The city's Path of the Dead, the temples of Kui and Kotel, and the pyramids of the Sun and Moon have never been definitively dated.Most scholars believe that the city flourished between 100 BC and 600 AD, but some experts point out that the rise of Teotihuacan should be earlier, around 1500-1000 BC. between.Another group of scholars, based on geological data, pushed the date of the founding of Teotihuacan to 400 BC—before the eruption of the nearby Xitli volcano (xitli)⒂. Examining these debates, I found that none of this group of experts and scholars knew who actually built Teotihuacan, the largest and most magnificent city in American history before the advent of Columbus.Only one thing is certain: when the Aztecs swept across Mexico and established a great empire in the 12th century AD, they inadvertently broke into this mysterious city; at that time, the huge buildings and wide streets in the city were already very old , surrounded by wild smoke and grass, the whole ruins look more like a part of nature, not like a man-made capital.However, the local people spread a myth that has been passed down from generation to generation: the buildings in the city were built by ancient giants, and their function was to transform mortals into gods. forgotten ancient wisdom Leaving the Temple of Quetzalkotel, I headed west and passed through the "fortress" in the city. There is no archaeological evidence that the huge enclosure was ever used as a fortress; nor can we really see that it had any military or defensive function.Like other buildings and facilities in the city of Teotihuacan, the construction of the "fortress" was obviously planned carefully and a lot of manpower and resources were spent, but modern scholars still don't know its true purpose.The Aztecs, who named the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon, could not think of an appropriate name for the "fortress." (Sun and Moon have since become the names of the two pyramids in the city, although no one knows what the original architects called them.) In the end, the Spaniards had to give it a nondescript name: La Ciudadela (Fortress).The Spaniards apparently came up with the name because they saw a large compound of 36 acres in the middle of the paddock, surrounded by a solid embankment 23 feet high and about 1,500 feet long. I strolled towards the west end of the courtyard, climbed up a steep staircase, came to the top of the embankment, turned around and walked north, and embarked on the "Road of the Dead".Again, I remind myself: that's not what the Teotihuacan people (whose origins are unknown) call this majestic avenue.The Spaniards call it "Calle de Los Muertos" (Calle de Los Muertos), which is inherited from the Aztecs.Apparently they saw the mounds lining the road and thought they were graves (which they weren't). As mentioned above, in the vision of the builders of Teotihuacan, the road on the ground may represent the Milky Way in the sky.Here, we might as well look at the research of another American.As we just mentioned, Alfred Schlemmer (Alfred E. Schlemmer) is also an engineer, specializing in technical prediction, especially earthquake prediction⒃.He presented a paper on this topic at the "11th National Conference of Chemical Engineers" (Mexico City, October 1971). Schremmer's argument is that the "Road of the Dead" may not be a road at all.When it was first built, it may have been a series of connected cisterns, filled with water that flowed from the Pyramid of the Moon in the north of the city through a series of sluices, and then transferred it to the fortress in the south of the city. I wandered towards the Pyramid of the Moon far north of the city, and I felt that Schlemmer's argument had merit.I found that this "road" has erected a high wall at intervals, across the middle of the road, and the remains of the water gate can still be seen at the foot of the wall.In addition, the terrain facilitated the transport of water from the north to the south: the Pyramid of the Moon stood about 100 feet above the ground in front of the fortress.The pools separated by high walls can be easily filled with water, and these shimmering pools can also add color to the city's landscape, creating a landscape more beautiful than the Taj Mahal or the legendary Shama. More charming light and shadow effects in Shalimar Gardens.Finally, it is worth mentioning that the Teotihuacan Mapping Project, funded by the National Science Foundation in Washington, led by Rene Mition, a professor at the University of Rochester, has presented conclusive evidence that : This ancient city has canals and branch waterways that are "well-designed and dense like a spider's web", connecting with a straight river outside the city, all the way through to Tesko, which is ten miles away from the city now and may have been nearby in ancient times Branch Lake (Lake Texcoco). ⒄ What is the purpose of this huge hydraulic system?Scholars are still arguing.Schremer claims that the strange waterways he discovered in the city have a practical use: "long-term detection of earthquakes"; according to him, this is "an ancient science that no one now understands."Distant earthquakes, he notes, "can create standing waves on liquid surfaces around the globe"; thus, he suggests, the series of well-designed, carefully spaced pools on "Road of the Dead" may have served "to allow Theo Residents of Tihuacan City, based on the standing waves formed on the pool surface, judge the location and intensity of earthquakes in various corners of the world, so as to predict earthquakes that may occur in this area." ⒅ Of course, it's hard to prove Schremer's theory.However, Mayan mythology is full of fear and concern about earthquakes and floods, and the Mayan calendar has repeatedly predicted possible disasters in the future. Therefore, I think there may be some truth in Schlemmer’s seemingly far-fetched theory .If Schremer is right and the ancient Teotihuacan residents really understood the principle of resonance and practiced it in earthquake prediction, then we have to admit that this ancient nation really possessed advanced technology.If the experts like Hagel and Harlesdon are right, and the designers of Teotihuacan did incorporate the star map of the solar system into the geometric planning of the urban area when the city was first built, then we have to face a possibility Nature: The city was built by an ancient civilization that has advanced technology and has not yet been discovered. I headed north and continued along the "Road of the Dead", then turned east and walked towards the Pyramid of the Sun.Before arriving at this magnificent ancient building, I stopped to inspect an abandoned courtyard.Next to it is an ancient "temple" with deep secrets hidden under the stone-paved floor. Notes: ① "Mexican Gods Before the Spanish Invasion", pp. 25-26. ② Same as above, pages 26-27. ③ "The Ancient Kingdom of Mexico", p. 67. ④ "Beyond Stonehenge", pages 187-188. ⑤ Quoted from "The Mystery of the Mexican Pyramids", pages 220-221. ⑥ Same as above. ⑦ "Mysteries of the Mexican Pyramids", pp. 266-269. ⑧ "The Ancient Kingdom of Mexico", p. 67. ⑨ "The Mystery of the Mexican Pyramids", p. 221. ⑩ "The Mystery of Orion Constellation", throughout the book. ⑾ Legends collected by Father Bernardino, reproduced in "Mysteries of the Mexican Pyramids", p. 23. ⑿ "Mexico: A Handy Guide", p. 216. Mexico: Rough Guide, HarraP Columbus, London, 1989, p. 216． ⒀ "Map of the Secret Land", page 158; "Mexican Gods Before the Spanish Invasion", page 24. ⒁ "Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts", paragraph 667A, p. 281. ⒂ "Mysteries of the Mexican Pyramids", pp. 230-233. ⒃ Ibid., pp. 271-272. ⒄ Ibid., p. 232. ⒅ Ibid., p. 272.