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The thing thats wild about Tenochtitlan, as the story goes, is that the Aztec people discovered it themselves, and no one really knows who originally built it!
by beepbooptheory 2y ago
The thing thats wild about Tenochtitlan, as the story goes, is that the Aztec people discovered it themselves, and no one really knows who originally built it!
- loloquwowndueo 2y agoYou’re thinking of another city, very likely Teotihuacán. Tenochtitlán was built from scratch by the aztecs. (Either that or please give sources for your statement).
- viciousvoxel 2y agoParent is probably thinking of Teotihuacán which is nearby. We do know who built it but there is relatively little know about them (compared to the Aztecs). The ruins of Teotihuacán were discovered by the Aztecs and they were mythologized, for instance even the name "Teotihuacán" is the Aztec (Nahuatl) name for the city meaning "the place where gods were created."
- ks2048 2y agoMaybe they are referring to the fact that the Mexica came from elsewhere and founded the city and there were already other people/cities in the area. It seems the Valley of Mexico has been inhabited since around 12,000BC, so not surprising there isn't history of the first people there.
- loloquwowndueo 2y agoNope. It was just an honest mistake see response from parent.
- beepbooptheory 2y agooops yes, definitely was thinking of Teotihuacán.. My bad!
- shermantanktop 2y agoT-something. Those names are easily confused for me as an English speakers.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- ecocentrik 2y agoYou think some mysterious people or aliens built something as technologically complex as a planned urban city, with a clear grid, subdivided districts with schools and commercial centers... that facilitates the application of human labor, commerce, worship and education and then gifted it to some other people who somehow knew how to use and maintain that technology? To most Americans today, who have no idea why their country works the way it works, and would rather tear it all down, I'm sure the actions of the last few generations might seem alien.
- beepbooptheory 2y agoWell first of all, I got the city wrong so its really not applicable here. But also more broadly, your point is basically why Teotihuacan is so interesting to me! Not because of aliens, but because its fun to think about how the Aztec/Mexica people were as displaced from the origins of that particular place as much as we are! But yes absolutely with you: even more so than attributing it to a particularly American decadence (which is a little too pat/editorial column to pass my sniff test, but ymmv), the whole impulse to Ancient Alienize things seems to me to be a kind of mystification which sustains, ultimately, racist/colonial stereotypes of ancient non-white people. It clearly serves to sustain a certain idea of civilization, rather than overturn or disrupt it. Either way, its an important point, and happy to be your punching bag so you can make it!
- ecocentrik 2y agoThank you for giving your statement more context. :) Asking the question: "How could they have done that?" is not dissimilar from asking "Why didn't we do that?" so occasionally truly curious individuals do step through the self-soothing cultural narrative.
- thaumasiotes 2y ago> The thing thats wild about Tenochtitlan, as the story goes, is that the Aztec people discovered it themselves Considering that the Aztecs were a recent conquering group, the southern extremity of their ethnicity, that isn't surprising at all, whether or not it's true.