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"...As long as the world exists,
the glory and honor
of México Tenochitlán
must not be forgotten."
Chimalpahín Quauhtlehuatzin
Neither conquest nor time, nor new foreign influences have been able to erase from the Mexican
memory, the splendor of its pre-Hispanic past. Even before Mexico had achieved independence, there was already an awareness of its valuable heritage and the need for
it to be known by Mexicans themselves as well as by foreigners.
Aztecs, Mayas, Zapotecas, Mixtecas, Purépechas, Olmecs and many other cultures are still alive in
Mexico today.
As a tribute to all of them, the National Museum of Anthropology and History was inaugurated on
September 17, 1964, located on Paseo de la Reforma Avenue, in the second section of the legendary Chapultepec Park
Chapultepec Park is a veritable festival of the people on Sundays. Families wander along its paths,
in the midst of food stands, balloon vendors, photographers' and caricaturists' stands, and all the other people who come to this fabled place to pass a pleasant
afternoon.
For parents who like to combine fun with culture, nothing is better than the many museums found in
Chapultepec Park. After a day in the country, or a visit to the traditional zoo, families scatter off toward their favorite museum.
One of the most traditional, since its inauguration in September, 1964, is the National Museum of
Anthropology and History.
At the entrance is an imposing statue of Tlaloc, the Aztec god of rain. They say that
on the day it was brought to its current location, an unforgettable, torrential rain fell on Mexico City...
It was built by the Mexican architect, Pedro Ramírez Vázquez, over a period of 19 months.
One of the museum's main features is that its use of open spaces is exemplary. The museum covers an
area of 79,700 square meters, 35,700 of which are in the open air! (the central patio, the entrance square, and several other patios). The show rooms surround the
central patio. Each room is dedicated to a particular culture, beginning with the origins of man and encompassing the Toltecs, the Teotihuacans, the Mayas, and in
particular, the Aztecs.
A trip through the rooms, entering and leaving them through the patio, gives one a feeling of
coolness and lightness; in contrast to so many dismal museums, this one manages to really impress the visitor without tiring him or her.
Being in this museum is truly a moving, and at the same time motivating, experience. Here, pieces
that witnessed greatness and wisdom share the space with works of art created by our ancestors many centuries ago.
Besides its restrained beauty, the museum's architectural structure uses very interesting
symbolism. For example, the bronze snail in the pond found in the main patio
represents the way the ancient Mexicans called each other together: by rattling the sea snail shells whose sound still
makes us tingle in remembrance of those civilizations.
The complex in general is very similar to Mayan
constructions, with the first body of smooth stone and the upper one covered with geometrical bas reliefs.
The inverted fountain, also located in the central patio, is a marvelous sculpture that records on
its metal column, the two races who merged, the Indigenous and the Spanish, to create a new nation. And around this
pillar a circular curtain of rain falls gently, endowing the whole place with a fresh coolness and solemnity. Although I have to say that it is also one of the
favorite places of the children who visit the museum, who play at getting as close as they can to see who gets wet!
If you cross this light curtain of water, you will hear only the sound of water falling and, very,
very far away, the music of a flute. This is the echo of the ritual performed daily by the "Papantla flyers" in a clearing of the woods in front of the
museum.
Beyond the architectural beauty of its building, the importance of the National Museum of
Anthropology lies in the fact that through it, we maintain a close relationship with our past.
In its 27 rooms, pre-Hispanic Mexico meets the Mexico
of today. This is how we keep our Aztec roots alive, perpetuating them and saving them from oblivion.
There is a magical element in the coincidence that
this spot is located in the legendary Chapultepec Park, a site so respected and admired by the Aztecs, that because of its beauty was the exclusive
place of the Tlatoanis, emperors of the great México Tenochtitlán.
Magic and precise, because if the ancient Mexicans had chosen a space on the earth for their
burial, a spot in the Anahuac Valley that would guard their essence, they would no doubt have chosen a place in this woods, witness to their arrival, development, and
the splendor of their empire.
The Aztec Room is especially majestic. Here we find the world-famous Aztec Calendar, the goddess
Cohatlicue, a spectacular mock-up of the Tlaltelolco market, and a reproduction of Moctezuma's headdress, among many other pieces.
The museum does not only display the magnificence of
Mexico's pre-Hispanic cultures; it also has an area for temporary expositions which has presented large exhibits of other cultures, such as "The greatness of Greece
and Sicily", or the more recent "Etruscans". These exhibitions have given Mexicans the chance to experience the beauty of these majestic cultures.
Fortunately for all Mexicans, this museum will again host various international expositions, such
as for example, "Imperial China: the Xian Dynasties", and "The Cloud Men", from Chile.
Anther very interesting event will be the 12th Anthropology and History Book Fair, that attracts
more than 125,000 visitors.
The museum is a testimony of the legacy of our ancestors, so that it does not remain hidden, lost
in the jungle or asleep under the earth, but rather rises and shows itself in all its splendor, not just to Mexicans, but to the entire world.
We hope you will be able to visit Mexico soon!
If you would like to make a virtual visit to the National Museum of Anthropology, click in at:
http://www.cnca.gob.mx/cnca/inah/antropologia/menu.html
And if you are interested in Aztec civilization, visit the Templo Mayor Museum:
http://archaeology.la.asu.edu/tm/pages2/mtm01.htm
And speaking of the Templo Mayor, which is very near Constitution Square ("Zocalo") in Mexico City,. a Mexican Rock concert by the Café Tacuba group took
place last weekend in this huge square, which is the heart and soul of our city. Imagine, Rock in the Zocalo. I am surprised by the idea that this square, precisely
where the Aztecs found an eagle devouring a serpent, the signal the gods gave them in order to identify the place where they were to build their city, is now the
scene of a huge rock concert.
It is here, in the Zocalo, where the merging of times and cultures that shape the Mexico of today, is a daily occurrence.
BERNAL,
Ignacio, Museo Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Edit. Aguilar, Mexico, 1967. Introduction.
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