Aztec Mayan Calendar

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Aztec Mayan Calendar Stone made of Malachite (13"Diameter) The Aztecs and Maya were very fond of a Green Stone called Malachite and they used it to make beautiful Sculptures and Masks that represented their gods. This piece is an authentic and detailed reproduction of the famous Aztec Calendar Stone. It is made of Malachite and comes from the area of Teotihuacan , Mexico where the Pyramids of the Sun and the Moon are located. The Aztec Calendar Stone is one of the most precious relics of Pre-Columbian culture in Mexico . This immense object of basaltic porphyry measures thirteen feet in diameter and weighs twenty-four tons. It is a living link with Mexico 's fascinating past, a blend of Aztec science and mythology. The stone was carved shortly after the year 1502, and was unearthed about the middle part of the seventeenth century at the Zocalo or Central Plaza of Mexico City. Incidentally, the Zocalo marks the ancient capital of the loosely-knit Aztec "empire," a place the Aztecs called Tenochtitlan ("cactus on a stone"). To the amazement of archaeologists, the stone, when deciphered, revealed a sophisticated knowledge of astronomy. Aztec astronomy, based chiefly on astrology, divided the solar year into 18 months of 20 days each with 5 intercalaries (days inserted into the calendar to make it correspond to the solar year). The days were named by consecutive hieroglyphics, and they could by means of the stone, calculate annual periods of 4, 13, 52, and 104 cycles. The Aztec priests used the stone calendar to regulate important festivals and sacrificial seasons. With the aid of the calendar, they could settle the hours of the day, the periods of equinoxes and solstices, and the zenith transit of the sun with precision.The face of the stone contains various mythological and astrological figures and signs in geometrical order. The outer border contains two serpents which represent time and the chief Aztec gods. Within this border are the rays emanating from the central figure which represents "Tonatiub," the Sun god. Again, according to legend, Tonatituh's heaven was the highest place attainable by those who had reached fulfillment here on earth. Surrounding the central sun figure are seven rings of varying dimensions. Above the face of the Sun god is an arrowhead symbolizing the wind. In the rectangles above and below the eagle's claws, at the right and left of the sun's face, are symbolic representations of the four elements, air, fire, water, and earth. The symbols on both sides of the upper arrowhead represent the years. Five ornamental disks occupy the spaces between the symbols. The names for the days of the Aztec month are represented by the symbols of the second ring. The third ring contains forty small squares, each filled with five balls. These represent days in the Aztec year -- 200 in all. Crossing this ring and extending to the sixth ring are four arrowheads. The sixth ring is the largest and contains two large serpents whose tails terminate in arrowheads ornamented with feathers. At the bottom of the calendar the serpents are brought face to face with each other.The two serpents represent on the left, the gods and Tonatiuh, and on the right, Quetzalcoatl, the God of the Air. Archaeologists place the birth of Quetzalcoatl as several centuries before Christ. And like Christ, Quetzalcoatl exemplified the deified man. He was a person of rare compassion and wisdom. Quetzalcoatl is represented in Aztec and Mayan mythology as the feathered serpent, a union between flesh and the spirit. Upon his death, Quetzalcoatl was transferred into Venus and later into a solar god identified as Huitzilopochtli ("Hummingbird-on-the-left"). The outer rim of the calendar is adorned with symbolic representations of the planets and stars. read more

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