If there seems but little resemblance in the general outline between these monuments and those of the Toltecs or Mexicans, it must be evident to any one that some of the details, such as the masks and the small terra-cotta figures, are exactly like those at Teotihuacan; whilst the small crosses on the panels of the great palace, and those on the façade of the fourth, are facsimiles of those on the priest of Quetzalcoatl at Lorillard—assuredly a most important analogy.[183]
Torquemada ascribes a Toltec origin to these monuments, for he says: “After Quetzalcoatl had established himself at Cholula, in order to carry on there his work of civilisation, he built the celebrated palaces of Mitla.”
According to Burgoa,[184] Quetzalcoatl was worshipped at Acihuitla; and in the great sanctuary of that town was an idol called the “Heart of the people. It consisted of a large emerald the size of a Chili pepper, surmounted by a sculptured bird of exquisite workmanship, wreathed by a serpent. It was a gem of great antiquity, and so transparent that it shone like a flame; but the origin of the cult which surrounded it was forgotten.” Orozco y Berra thinks that the snake represented Quetzalcoatl, and was a Toltec reminiscence.
The Zapotecs and Miztecs believed themselves autochthones; they were ignorant of their origin, and had preserved no record of the time when they established themselves in the country of which Teozapotlan was the capital. The original name of Mitla seems to have been Liobaa or Yobaa, “the place of tombs,” called by the Aztecs Mictlan, or Mitla, place of sadness, hell, dwelling of the dead, a holy place devoted to the burial of the kings of Teozapotlan.[185]
GREAT PALACE OF MITLA-OAXACA.
The edifices consisted of four upper apartments finely sculptured, corresponding to an equal number in the lower or ground story. The upper story was divided between the high priest, whose apartment was the best furnished of all, the king, who retired here on the death of a relation, his retinue, and the levites. In the lower story, the sanctuary formed the central apartment, having a large slab which served as an altar, on which were placed the images of the various deities; the side apartments were devoted one for the king’s burial, the other for the priests; the fourth, which is supposed to have been the largest, extended far out under ground, and was supported by columns like those of the main upper apartment or hall, having an entrance which was closed by a large slab. In this vast enclosure were thrown the bodies of the victims and the military chiefs who had died in battle. Besides these, there were those who consecrated themselves to the gods, when they were led to the mouth of this necropolis by a priest, the slab was raised, and the self-devoted victim suffered to pass out in the abode of the dead.
SOUTH SIDE OF FOURTH PALACE OF MITLA.
The high priest was called “Huiyatoo,” the great sentinel, he who sees all; his power, which was absolute, was even greater than the king’s. No person of low degree could see his face and live. He was the sole mediator between man and the gods; from him flowed all good gifts, both temporal and spiritual.[186]