All the civilized Americans had a priesthood, and circumcision was practised by the Mayas of Yucatan, the Calchaquis of Caho.[[14]] and Mexicans,[[15]] who worshipped the sun and stars, believing that departed souls became stars. Water was held to be sacred for religious ablution—and the mounds are generally found near it, or have the means of being well supplied. Adair assures us that the Choctaws called the old mounds “Nanne-Yah,” “The Hills or Mounts of God;” a name almost identical with the Mexican pyramids. In Mexico, the Teocalli, or “Houses of God,” or Houses of the Sun, (for the word “Teolt,” the appellation of the Supreme Being, was also used to denote that luminary,) were regular terraced pyramids, supporting chapels, which contained the images of their idolatry. The temples of the sun and moon, in Mexico, resemble similar temples among the ancient Romans. The sun was worshipped at Emesa, says Gibbon, under the name of Elagabalus, under the form of a black conical stone, which, it was universally believed, had fallen from heaven on that sacred spot.
The Siamese and Javanese divide their weeks similar to the Mexicans, the first, like theirs, being market-day; and their cycles, like the Maya age, consisted of twenty years. This was a custom with them previous to any connexion with the Hindoos.[[16]] The belief of the Mayas and Mexicans, that the world would be destroyed at the end of one of their ages, coincides singularly with the same impression among the Egyptians, according to Herodotus, when they saw the sun descend from the Crab toward Capricorn. In the festival of Isis, when the orb began to re-appear, and the days grew longer, they robed themselves in white garments, and crowned themselves with flowers.
The movements of the Pleiades were observed by most of the primitive nations, says Pritchard, and not less so by the southern and central Indians. It is an Egyptian legend that the body of Osiris (the moon) was cut to pieces by Typhon (the sun.) So, likewise, in the Mexican mythology, the woman serpent (the moon) is said to be devoured by the sun; a fabulous allusion to the changes of the moon. In Mexico the woman serpent, or moon, was styled the “mother of our flesh;” so, in Egypt, that luminary was called the “mother of the world.” The Mexicans, Peruvians, Araucanians, the Canadian and Huron Indians; as, also, the Chinese, Malays, and Hindoos, in cases of eclipses of the sun or moon, shot off arrows at them, made hideous noises, caused dogs to bark and howl, and in every possible way struggled to separate the two antagonists.
Thus much with regard to the impressions left upon my mind respecting the origin and purpose of these ruins. I make no apology for their vagueness. It would be presumptuous to attempt to have any definite ideas upon the subject. But in order to afford the reader every facility for forming clearer views, if possible, than myself, I have collected and subjoin in another chapter, a mass of historical information connected with the subject before me, selected from the writings of the most recent, sagacious, and faithful travellers, who have left us any record of their studies. These extracts present all the most important facts known of the early inhabitants of Mexico. How far history can assist the antiquary in his investigations of this subject, may be pretty satisfactorily judged by consulting the following chapter.
CHAPTER X.
Waldeck’s Remarks on Uxmal—Ancient Tools—Soil and Health—Ancient Customs—End of Time—The Coronation of an Emperor—Religious Beliefs—Marriage Ceremony—Infant Baptism—Origin of those Rites—Horse Worship—Amusements—Markets—Idols—Candidates for Matrimony—Their Worship Varies—Refinements.
In respect to the ruins of Uxmal, Waldeck remarks, that “nothing is in stucco—all is in well-worked stone. Cogolludo and Gutierre have confounded Palenque with Uxmal, and Uxmal with Copan. The edifices of Palenque, except the palace, are of small dimensions—those of Uxmal are, comparatively, colossal, and all constructed of hewn stone. The pyramid is called the Conjurer’s Tower, and is the highest of five seen by the author. He considers it a place originally devoted to sacrifices. The Asiatic style is easily recognised in the architecture of this monument. It is ornamented by the symbolic elephant upon the rounding corners of the building. The trunk is yet visible on the east side, though the whole figure is much broken on the west side. It is to be regretted that the figure is not entire. The legs, for the most part, are wanting. There are some statues in basso-relievo, very natural; and in some respects very correctly designed. Above all, in the ornaments, we must admire the patience of the workmen, and the taste of those ancient people, so rich in monumental wealth. Blue and red are the only colors distinguishable upon the walls. The carvings, which ornament the façades of some of the edifices of Uxmal, deserve the careful attention of artists and savans. When they carefully examine the squares, which compose those beautiful embellishments, they will be convinced that their designers had a profound knowledge of the principles of geometry. I have measured all the details by plumb and line, and have found them to conform to each other with perfect accuracy in all their parts.”
No iron implements, or tools of any description, have been discovered here; nor was I successful in finding anything of the kind at Chi-Chen. Flint was undoubtedly used. This stone is capable of being formed with a most delicate natural edge, which is as durable, in the working of limestone, as that of steel.
The soil about Uxmal is rich, principally of a red sand loam, capable of producing corn, tobacco, and almost any other product that the limited industry of its inhabitants may be disposed to cultivate. The face of the land is somewhat undulating, and free of that flat monotonous appearance which may be considered as almost an affliction to a great portion of this province. There are ponds in the vicinity; which, taken in connexion with the rank vegetation which borders them, engender considerable sickness during the months of autumn. The timber throughout Yucatan is of a stinted growth.