As part of our preparation for the R-T-W trip that will start off in Mexico we went to the Moctezuma exhibition at the British Museum. The exhibition poster declares “Moctezuma - Aztec Ruler” but once inside the BM tells us that the correct terminology is ‘Mexica’ (pronounced Mé-shee-ka) and not Aztec. Whatever we call them, sacrificial and blood-letting rituals lay at the centre of their culture and wherever we looked, the BM's exhibition testifies to this remorseless obsession - various aspects of blood letting are depicted in the photo collage (suprisingly photography was allowed). Click to enlarge and see the ribbon of thorns being pulled through the tongue... One of the exhibits was a small stone box with beautiful symbolic carvings which originally would have held a ritual blood-letting implement owned by Moctezuma.
A spectacular eagle vessel, carved from andesite stone, has a cavity in its body which is the place where the hearts of human captives were once held. They had been sacrificed to feed the Sun, and a dedication stone for the Great Temple is carved with the dynamic figures of Moctezuma's uncles, zealously piercing their ears with sharp bones to let blood flow into the toothed mouth of the stone, channelling it into the earth.
Fangs leapt out even from the sculpture installed in the emperor's own palace. Moctezuma, who had many wives and 19 children, built a colossal residence in Tenochtitlan (present day Mexico City). But he made sure that visitors to his grandiose residence felt terrified rather than welcomed. They were confronted by images as nightmarish as the feathered serpent, carved from a basalt block, who bares immense and rapacious teeth at everyone rash enough to gaze at him.
Physical contact with Moctezuma was forbidden, and citizens were ordered to lower their eyes in his presence. Anybody who refused might well have ended up as one of the real skulls ranged in public display on racks around the Great Temple where Moctezuma carried out prescribed rituals and oversaw human sacrifice.
The highlights of the exhibition were the three jade mosaic sculptures:
The first was a mosaic mask of Tezcatlipoboca - skull of the smoking mirror - one of the four powerful Aztec creator deities. An inlaid human skull with real teeth, lined with deer skin on which the movable jaw is hinged. The long deerskin straps would have allowed the mask to be worn during ceremonies.
The second was a double-headed serpent, a sacred image probably worn as a chest ornament on ceremonial occasions. Made from turquoise, mother-of-pearl and coral inlay.
The third was a jade mosaic mask with mother-of-pearl eyes and teeth which is used as the poster of the exhibition.
All in all, well worth seeing as an introduction to the late Aztec (sorry Mexica) period just before the conquest. Now we just need to get our heads around the other Mesoamerican cultures that existed prior to the Aztecs such as Olmecs, Teotihuacan, Toltecs, Zapotecs, Mixtecs and Maya....
A spectacular eagle vessel, carved from andesite stone, has a cavity in its body which is the place where the hearts of human captives were once held. They had been sacrificed to feed the Sun, and a dedication stone for the Great Temple is carved with the dynamic figures of Moctezuma's uncles, zealously piercing their ears with sharp bones to let blood flow into the toothed mouth of the stone, channelling it into the earth.
Fangs leapt out even from the sculpture installed in the emperor's own palace. Moctezuma, who had many wives and 19 children, built a colossal residence in Tenochtitlan (present day Mexico City). But he made sure that visitors to his grandiose residence felt terrified rather than welcomed. They were confronted by images as nightmarish as the feathered serpent, carved from a basalt block, who bares immense and rapacious teeth at everyone rash enough to gaze at him. Physical contact with Moctezuma was forbidden, and citizens were ordered to lower their eyes in his presence. Anybody who refused might well have ended up as one of the real skulls ranged in public display on racks around the Great Temple where Moctezuma carried out prescribed rituals and oversaw human sacrifice.
The highlights of the exhibition were the three jade mosaic sculptures:
The first was a mosaic mask of Tezcatlipoboca - skull of the smoking mirror - one of the four powerful Aztec creator deities. An inlaid human skull with real teeth, lined with deer skin on which the movable jaw is hinged. The long deerskin straps would have allowed the mask to be worn during ceremonies. 
The second was a double-headed serpent, a sacred image probably worn as a chest ornament on ceremonial occasions. Made from turquoise, mother-of-pearl and coral inlay.
The third was a jade mosaic mask with mother-of-pearl eyes and teeth which is used as the poster of the exhibition.
All in all, well worth seeing as an introduction to the late Aztec (sorry Mexica) period just before the conquest. Now we just need to get our heads around the other Mesoamerican cultures that existed prior to the Aztecs such as Olmecs, Teotihuacan, Toltecs, Zapotecs, Mixtecs and Maya....
