500 Years Later, Adventure In The Land of Aztecs - Chapter Three

Chapter Three
Teotihuacán

(Continued from Chapter Two)

I thought I just encountered something very similar just a a couple of days ago by the shore of Lake Texcoco - the only exception this time is that I'm inside the ruins of a lost city rather than a lost lake. 

The ominous fog thickened as I moved forward towards the gigantic pyramids that no one knew how or why they were there. Along the city's gloriously built main boulevard leading to the monuments believed by the Aztecs to be built by gods, foundations of massive structures suggested that 2000 years ago, there was once a great civilization we still know almost nothing about at the the time thriving in this land. Now only an empty shell, mother nature had reclaimed the great city of Teotihuacan. I could hear the sounds of many animals already, including the birds above me and the jaguar stalking behind me.....

The jaguar had been following me for a long time. I didn't even bothering looking back. I knew if I stopped, I would fell prey to it. Then that means that it would take me a while to get out of the situation. However, the sound was getting closer and closer - until it was too close. I turned around, and said: 

No, gracias.

The vendor pretended to be very confused: " Why not? Only one dollar.............."

.....................................................

"Stand there, don't move. Let me take a picture of you and the big pyramid". The archaeologist working on site insisted to take a photo of me with Pyramid of the Sun after I asked him to help me taking a picture of me standing in front of the Temple of  the Feathered Serpent.

Pyramid of the Sun in heavy fog as seen from the Temple of the Feathered Serpentine

I told him that it was too foggy, plus Pyramid of the Sun was too far away. You could barely see the pyramid with your own eyes.

"It's OK. More fog makes the pyramid more mysterious, ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha."

Massive foundations of ancient Mesoamerican buildings.

Temple of the Feather Serpentine

Well-preserved base of the temple. Evidence pointed to the fact that the temple was once used for human sacrifices as many bodies were found inside the structure, adding more mystery to the ancient Mesoamerican civilization we know almost nothing about.

Regardless of how heavy the fog was on that day, the history of Teotihuacan had always been shrouded in mystery. We knew that the city was built some 2000 years ago and was able to sustain a population of 125,000, making it at least the sixth largest city in the world at one time. However, that was pretty much it - we still have no idea about who were the people that once lived there, how was the city constructed, what were the functions and purposes of the buildings, and why all of sudden it became abandoned like what we see today?

Two pyramids in heavy fog

Ruins in Teotihuacan

Anyways, even when the Aztecs - whose presence and history we already feel so ancient today, first discovered the ruins of Teotihuacan, they were stunned at everything in front of their eyes. They even believed that the site was built by Gods - and hence the place got the name "The City of Gods", or "Teotihuacan". 

An example of what people discover above the ground, and what's actually hidden underneath

After a long walk from the Temple of the Feathered Serpent, I entered a a vast open field surrounded by symmetrical steps leading to what I could imagine to be impressive buildings back in the days. The domes and the houses of glory were gone, but the steps leading to them survived. Maybe one day, we'll realize that many things we did and thought to have a clear end goal would lead to nothing and nowhere. 

Stairs leading to nowhere

But there was one thing in Teotihuacan that if you follow the path, you will eventually reach it - The Pyramid of the Sun. 

Constructed over half a century before Mayan's El Castillo at Chichen Itza, Pyramid of the Sun, in my opinion, really is the epitome of the sophistication of indigenous civilization that thrived in Mexico prior to the Spanish colonization.  Standing over 70 meters tall, let's imagine seeing this structure standing in more familiar settings in the 3rd century like the Roman Empire or Han Dynasty, it would still be an awe-inspiring experience to anybody at the time.

Walking by the still impressive Avenue of the Dead (again, a name given by Aztecs, who influenced today's much celebrated Day of the Dead), I soon realized that Pyramid of the Sun wasn't the only jaw dropping structure of this lost city. The equally magnificent Pyramid of the Moon sealed off Avenue of the Dead and marked the end of Teotihuacan. I recalled a movie named Prometheus, where the pyramids in Egypt and Mexico were hinted to be created by  Engineers - aliens who were responsible for the creation of humans and whom we call God. In the end, Engineers wanted to obliterate what it created, as they saw humans as corrupted species just like the series; main antagonists the Xenomorphs. Maybe that explained how Teotihuacan was built, and how all of sudden it became abandoned like how Aztecs rediscovered it? Maybe an Engineer who used to hibernate inside one of the Pyramids one day woke up, obliterated the city's population and then took off with a UFO?

OK...I probably watched too many movies......

Avenue of the Dead from the top of the Pyramid of the Sun

Pyramid of the Moon from the top of Pyramid of the Sun

Pyramid of the Moon from Avenue of the Dead

A magnificent city with full of wonders.....but had been abandoned for centuries.....An ancient civilization that could be seen by historians as mighty, sophisticated and technological advanced at the same level with the Roman Empire and the Han Dynasty....but not a trace was left for us today to know about this lost civilization....

Avenue of the Dead and Pyramid of the Sun from Pyramid of the Moon

Then I looked around, the city was full of stairs leading to nowhere. I went back to the point I raised earlier, but now with a deeper understanding:

Maybe not just the things we did, our whole life would lead to nothing and nowhere, even though we might think that we have achieved great things like how ancient Mesoamericans looked at the great the city they built with pride. In the end, we will be forgotten sometime in the future, like how no one today even know the real name of "The City of Gods"....

A surviving mural in Teotihuacan depicting a jaguar    

Anyways, I came to Teotihuacan as a tourist, not a Philosopher. If I continued to battle with myself on the meaning of life, I would never get out of Teotihuacan. In the end, I would be another lost soul in a lost city.

(Click Here to View Chapter Four)