Today, we drove out to Teotihuacán to see the enormous pre-Columbian complex there that includes the massive Pyramid of the Sun and the almost equally huge Pyramid of the Moon. It is located about twenty-five miles to the northeast of downtown Mexico City.
The original name of the city is unknown, as is the ethnicity of those who built it. The name Teōtīhuacān was given to it by the Nahuatl-speaking Aztecs centuries after its fall, which seems to have occurred — along with systematic pillaging and burning — around 550 CE. Teōtīhuacān has been interpreted as meaning something like “birthplace of the gods,” or “place where gods were born,” reflecting the influence of Nahua creation myths that were located in Teotihuacán.
At its height, which it probably reached in the first half of the first millennium (that is, between AD 1 and AD 500), Teotihuacán was the largest city in the Americas, with a population that may have hit 125,000 or more, making it at least the sixth-largest city in the world during the time of its flourishing.
The Pyramid of the Sun, which is said to be the third-largest pyramid in the world, is believed to have been constructed about AD 200. It is the largest building in Teotihuacán and is among the largest buildings in all of Mesoamerica. It is roughly 750 feet on each side and about 233.5 feet high, with a total volume of 41,841,817 cubic feet.
To put such figures in comparative perspective, the Great Pyramid of Cheops or Khufu at Giza, in Egypt, is approximately 755.6 feet on each side and stands 454.4 feet tall, which gives it a volume of roughly 92 million cubic feet, making it considerably larger than Teotihuacán’s largest pyramid. And Giza’s Great Pyramid initially stood 481 feet tall: Over time, most of its smooth white limestone casing was removed, especially in order to construct the booming late-medieval Cairo, which lowered the pyramid’s height to its current level. What is visible today is the underlying and rather irregular core structure.
But the greatest pyramid in Mexico remains very large and very impressive. The name Pyramid of the Sun comes from the Aztecs, who first visited the city of Teotihuacán several centuries after it was abandoned; the name given to the pyramid by the Teotihuacános themselves is unknown.
The Pyramid of the Moon — that name too was, of course, bestowed upon it by the Aztecs many centuries after its construction — is the second-largest pyramid in Mesoamerica, after the Pyramid of the Sun. It was built between AD 100 and AD 450 over an earlier structure that is contained within it. Remains of human sacrificial victims have been found within it, both animal and human.
I haven’t seen Teotihuacán since I was seventeen years old, so it was fun to see it again. I had forgotten, for one thing, about the colorful murals that have been preserved in some areas of the complex.
Some scholars of the Book of Mormon have proposed Teotihuacán as the great city that was built by King Jacob of the Gadianton Robbers, according to the Book of Mormon, not long prior to the coming of Christ to the New World:
1 Now behold, I will show unto you that they did not establish a king over the land; but in this same year, yea, the thirtieth year, they did destroy upon the judgment-seat, yea, did murder the chief judge of the land.
2 And the people were divided one against another; and they did separate one from another into tribes, every man according to his family and his kindred and friends; and thus they did destroy the government of the land.
3 And every tribe did appoint a chief or a leader over them; and thus they became tribes and leaders of tribes.
4 Now behold, there was no man among them save he had much family and many kindreds and friends; therefore their tribes became exceedingly great.
5 Now all this was done, and there were no wars as yet among them; and all this iniquity had come upon the people because they did yield themselves unto the power of Satan.
6 And the regulations of the government were destroyed, because of the secret combination of the friends and kindreds of those who murdered the prophets.
7 And they did cause a great contention in the land, insomuch that the more righteous part of the people had nearly all become wicked; yea, there were but few righteous men among them.
8 And thus six years had not passed away since the more part of the people had turned from their righteousness, like the dog to his vomit, or like the sow to her wallowing in the mire.
9 Now this secret combination, which had brought so great iniquity upon the people, did gather themselves together, and did place at their head a man whom they did call Jacob;
10 And they did call him their king; therefore he became a king over this wicked band; and he was one of the chiefest who had given his voice against the prophets who testified of Jesus.
11 And it came to pass that they were not so strong in number as the tribes of the people, who were united together save it were their leaders did establish their laws, every one according to his tribe; nevertheless they were enemies; notwithstanding they were not a righteous people, yet they were united in the hatred of those who had entered into a covenant to destroy the government.
12 Therefore, Jacob seeing that their enemies were more numerous than they, he being the king of the band, therefore he commanded his people that they should take their flight into the northernmost part of the land, and there build up unto themselves a kingdom, until they were joined by dissenters, (for he flattered them that there would be many dissenters) and they become sufficiently strong to contend with the tribes of the people; and they did so.
13 And so speedy was their march that it could not be impeded until they had gone forth out of the reach of the people. And thus ended the thirtieth year; and thus were the affairs of the people of Nephi. (3 Nephi 7:1-13)
Then came the great destruction at the time of the crucifixion of Christ in the Old World:
9 And behold, that great city Jacobugath, which was inhabited by the people of king Jacob, have I caused to be burned with fire because of their sins and their wickedness, which was above all the wickedness of the whole earth, because of their secret murders and combinations; for it was they that did destroy the peace of my people and the government of the land; therefore I did cause them to be burned, to destroy them from before my face, that the blood of the prophets and the saints should not come up unto me any more against them. (3 Nephi 9:9)
Now, though, for a link to Tikal, the great Maya site in the Guatemalan lowlands that we visited at the very beginning of this Interpreter Foundation educational tour: The “Mundo Perdido,” or “Lost World,” at Tikal is the largest ceremonial complex there dating from the Preclassic period. It was an astronomical center consisting of a pyramid aligned with a platform to the east that supported three temples. The Mundo Perdido complex was rebuilt many times over the course of its history. By AD 250–300, however, its architectural style had been substantially influenced by that of Teotihuacán, the rising power located all the way up in the Valley of Mexico.
If I recall correctly, both Brant Gardner and Blake Allen, our Mesoamerican gurus for this tour, have suggested that the downfall of the Nephites and their polity may have come about, at least in part, because they were positioned between two newly allied and very ambitious trading partners, Teotihuacán (to the north) and Tikal (to the south).
Posted from the Ciudad de México, México
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