A masterpiece of stone carving

The Mexica, as the Aztecs called themselves, dominated the Valley of Mexico, where their capital Tenochtitlan was located, from around the 14th to the beginning of the 16th century. 

They were renowned for their outstanding and monumental stone carving, especially during the last, imperial phase of the Mexica empire, from around 1480 until the arrival of the Spanish in 1519.

This Mexica stone box is certainly the most beautiful and important of its kind in the world. The box shows relief depictions on eight sides. They contain glyphs (signs) with dates from the various Mexica calendars. Mythical and historical figures are also depicted.

 

The Mexica called such stone boxes “tepetlacalli” in their language, Nahuatl. Nahuatl is still spoken today by the descendants of the Mexica, the Nahua, in Mexico. The term consists of two words, “petlacalli”: a box with a lid made of plant fiber, in which valuable objects are stored, and “tetl”: stone. A “tepetlacalli” was thus a stone box used to store extremely valuable items, such as the ashes of deceased rulers, ritual objects or blood sacrifices.

But where does the box come from and how did it end up in the museum?

Unfortunately, little is known about its provenance and origin. Albert Hackmack, a German-Mexican, offered it to the then Museum of Ethnology at the end of the 19th century together with a large collection of Mexican antiquities. For this reason, the box is also known as the “Hackmack stone box”. The museum acquired it in 1900, when Hackmack was in Mexico, apparently working for the Banco de Londres y Mexico. He is said to have bought the box from a Juan Bajes or Borges in Mexico City in 1880. Before that, its trace is lost. Despite first regulations on the protection of antiquities in Mexico, antiquities were taken out of the country on a grand scale at the time.

A plumed descending serpent, Quetzalcoatl, is prominently depicted on the top of the lid. It also symbolizes the deity of the same name and the mythical ruler Quetzalcoatl. The two date glyphs next to it, Ce Acatl (One Reed) and Chicome Acatl (Seven Reed), refer to the mythical year of Quetzalcoatl's birth and death. At the same time, the sign One Reed also refers to the mythical return of Quetzalcoatl and the year 1519, the year of the arrival of the Spaniard Hernán Cortés in Mexico. Spanish chroniclers later concluded that Moctezuma II had seen the returned Quetzalcoatl in Cortés. 

The Mexica ruler Moctezuma II is probably depicted on this long side, recognizable by the name glyph to the left of his head. It consists of three ruler's insignia: a turquoise diadem, an ear ornament and a nose ornament. He pierces his earlobe with a dagger and makes a blood sacrifice to maintain the cycle of the world. Moctezuma II probably also commissioned the box. It could have been used to store the utensils for the blood sacrifice.

Quetzalcoatl, one of the most important Mexica deities, can be seen on this long side. He wears a beard, a jaguar robe and holds a bag with tassels for copal resin in his right hand. The date glyph Ce Acatl (One Reed) to the right of the figure indicates that the deified Toltec ruler Ce Acatl Nacxitl Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl is also meant here. Quetzalcoatl was also regarded as the god of rule and was worshipped on the occasion of accession to the throne. 

Two date glyphs with year signs are depicted on the short transverse sides: Ce and Nahui Tochitl (One and Four Rabbit). One Rabbit refers to the mythical year of the creation of the earth, and at the same time to the year 1506, possibly the year in which the box was made. There is as yet no plausible interpretation for the date Four Rabbit.

An alligator appears on the bottom inside of the box. It belongs to the date glyph: Ce Cipactli or One Alligator, the first day of the Mexica ritual calendar. This was the preferred day for self-sacrifice and the coronation of rulers. The alligator was also associated with the earth and thus may have formed the antithesis to the representation of the sky on the inside of the lid.

A skull with an ear ornament and headdress is depicted here, surrounded by a ring of circles that probably symbolize the stars and the night sky. Presumably this was a reference to the religiously important morning or evening star and to the ancestors and deceased rulers of the Mexica.

Tlaltecuhtli, a powerful and terrifying earth deity, occupies the entire bottom side of the box. She/he is depicted crouching with her legs spread and hands raised, long claws and monster heads. A skull is emblazoned on her belt. The main feature of the head is the open maw with four protruding sacrificial knives.

 

Tlaltecuhtli was worshipped as the source of life and inhabited the underworld. The deity devours the dead, but also blood and human sacrifices to bring forth new life. Her/his gender is ambiguous, as she/he has both female and male attributes.

All in all, the box represents a kind of cosmology in miniature. The shape and depictions match perfectly. It represents complex religious and cosmological beliefs, which are also linked to historical events. Moctezuma II is emphasized as an important mediator to the deities and in the world cycle.