Of the origin of the last of these Pyramids there is preserved, in the Mexican picture writing,[3] a clear and distinct account, which appears to throw light, not only on the Pyramids of Mexico, but on those of Egypt, and on the Pyramidal form so common among the temples of Hindostan.[4] It is as follows: “Before the great inundation, which took place 4800 years after the creation of the world, the country of Anahuac[5] was inhabited by giants. All those who did not perish, were transformed into fishes, save seven,[6] who fled into caverns. When the waters had subsided, one of these giants, Xalhua, surnamed the builder, went to Chohollan, where, as a memorial of the mountain Haloc, which had served for an asylum for himself and his six brethren, he built an artificial hill in form of a Pyramid. He ordered bricks to be made in the provinces of Tlamanalco, at the foot of the mountain range of Cocotl; and to convey them to Cholula, he placed a file of men, who passed them from hand to hand. The gods beheld with wrath this edifice, the top of which was to reach the clouds. Irritated at the daring attempt of Xalhua, they hurled fire on the Pyramid. Numbers of the workmen perished; the work was discontinued, and the monument was afterwards dedicated to Quetzalcoatl, the god of the air.”[7]
To this Humboldt adds, “Of the different nations that inhabited Mexico, (at the time of the conquest,) paintings representing the deluge of Coxcox are found among the Aztecks, the Miztecks, the Zapotecks, the Tlascalans, and the Mechoacanese. The Noah, Xisuthrus or Menou of these nations is called Coxcox, Teo-Cipactli, or Tezpi. He saved himself conjointly with his wife Xochiquetzal in a bark; or, according to other traditions, on a raft of ahue huete (cupressus disticha.) The painting represents Coxcox in the midst of the water, lying in a bark. The mountain, the summit of which, crowned by a tree, rises above the waters, is the peak of Colhuacan,[8] the Ararat of the Mexicans. The horn which is represented on the left, is the phonetic hieroglyphic of Colhuacan. At the foot of the mountain appear the heads of Coxcox and his wife. The latter of these is known by the two tresses in the form of horns, which, as we have observed, denote the female sex. The men born after the deluge were dumb; a dove from the top of a tree distributes among them tongues, represented under the form of small commas. We must not confound this dove with the bird which brings Coxcox tidings that the waters were dried up. The people of Machoacan preserved a tradition, according to which, Coxcox, whom they call Tezpi, embarked in a spacious acalli with his wife, his children, several animals, and grain, the preservation of which was of importance to mankind. When the Great Spirit, Tetcatlipoca, ordered the waters to withdraw, Tezpi sent out from his bark a vulture, the Zohilote (vultur aura). This bird, which feeds on dead flesh, did not return on account of the great number of carcasses with which the earth, recently dried up, was strewed. Tezpi sent out other birds, one of which, the hummingbird, alone returned, holding in his beak a branch covered with leaves. Tezpi, seeing that fresh verdure began to clothe the soil, quitted his bark near the fountain of Colhuacan.... The tongues which the dove distributed to the nations of America, being infinitely varied, these nations disperse; and fifteen heads of families only, who spoke the same tongue, and from whom the Toltecks, the Aztecks, and the Acolhuans descended, unite, and arrive at Aztlan.” Ib. II. p. 63.
“The group, No. 2,[9] represents the celebrated Serpent Woman, Cihuacohuatl, called also Quiliztli or Tonacacihua, woman of our flesh; she is the companion of Tonacateuctli. The Mexicans considered her as the mother of the human race; and after the god of the Celestial Paradise, Ometeuctli, she held the first rank among the divinities of Anahuac. We see her always represented with a great serpent. Other paintings exhibit to us a feather-headed snake, cut in pieces by the great spirit Tercatlipoca, or by the sun personified, the god Tonatiuh....
“Behind the serpent, who appears to be speaking to the goddess Cihuacohuatl, are two naked figures; they are of a different color, and seem to be in the attitude of contending with each other. We might be led to suppose that the two vases, which we see at the bottom of the picture, one of which is overturned, is the cause of this contention. The Serpent woman was considered in Mexico as the mother of two twin children; these naked figures are perhaps the children of Cihuacohuatl; they remind us of the Cain and Abel of the Hebrew tradition.” Ib. I. p. 195.
Pyramidal structures are also found scattered over the islands of the Pacific. “The natural temples (in the Polynesian islands) consisted of a number of distinct Maraes, altars, and sacred dormitories, appropriated to the chief pagan divinities, and included in one large stone enclosure of considerable extent. Several of the distinct temples contained smaller inner-courts, within which the gods were kept. The form of the interior or area of the temples was frequently that of a square or a parallelogram, the sides of which extended forty or fifty feet. Two sides of this were enclosed by a high stone wall; the front was protected by a low fence; and opposite, a solid Pyramidal structure was raised, in front of which the images were kept, and the altars fixed. These piles were often immense. That which formed one side of the square of the large temple in Atehura, according to Mr. Wilson, by whom it was visited when in a state of preservation, was 270 feet long, 94 feet wide at the base, and 50 feet high; being at the summit 180 feet long and 6 wide. A flight of steps led to its summit; the bottom step was six feet high. The outer stories of the Pyramid, composed of coral and basalt, were laid with great care, and hewn or squared with immense labor, especially the trava, or corner stones.” Ellis’s Polynesian Researches, vol. I. p. 339, 340.
“The most remarkable objects in Easter Island, are its monuments of stone-work and sculpture, which, though rude and imperfect, are superior to any found among the more numerous and civilized tribes of the South Sea islands. These monuments consist of a number of terraces or platforms, built with stairs, cut and fixed with great exactness and skill, forming, though destitute of cement, a strong durable pile. On these terraces are fixed colossal statues or busts.”[10] Ib. vol. III. p. 325.
Last among the Pyramids that I will notice here, though the first in date, is the celebrated tower of Babel, or, as it was afterwards called, the temple of Belus. This temple was square, measuring at its base 660 feet on each side; and consisted of eight successive layers or towers, formed of huge unburnt bricks, each layer 75 feet high, and each smaller than the next below. It was thus altogether 600 in height, and had on the summit a chapel for the golden statue of their god. According to Diodorus Siculus, the gold of this statue, and the decorations of the temple, were equal in value to [ten] millions of dollars; while the worth of the utensils employed, and the treasure deposited here, amounted to an equal sum.
We have thus, throughout Hindoostan, on the banks of the Euphrates, through Egypt, in the remote region of Mexico, and among the Pacific islands, structures in shape exactly alike, and often of stupendous magnitude. For an effect so general we must find a cause as extensive, and it must be one operating with powerful effect. It appears to me that we are supplied with this in the hints given by the picture writing of Mexico.