Ancient glyphs of sky chariots of fire4/23/2024 ![]() When the Spanish arrived to Mexico in the early 16 th Century, Tula was occupied by a fraction of the population it had once had, and most of the people were ethnically Aztec, as the surrounding lands were part of the Aztec Empire. Much knowledge about Tula and the Atlantean statues was lost as a result of this ruler’s zeal to get rid of all things from the previous civilization that might have challenged his power or legitimacy. In the 1400s, one of the early rulers of the Aztec Empire, a king called Izcoatl, burned all the books related to the Toltecs. ![]() A disputed king’s list created by ethno-historians show that the last ruler of Tula, and perhaps the Toltec civilization, was a king called Ce Acatl Topilitzin and the last year of his rule was 1179 AD. Most of the living quarters around the ceremonial center were abandoned by 1150 AD and there is evidence of a huge fire sweeping through the city at about this time along with the destruction and looting of much of the massive buildings of Tula. Whether a trading empire, influential kingdom city-state or cultural movement, the Toltec civilization ended with the fall of Tula to outside northern invaders sometime in the 12 th Century. All can agree and plainly see the strong influence coming from the Toltecs, including the smaller Atlanteans. Archaeologists have debated for years about whether or not the sites identified as Toltec in the faraway Yucatán were just copying Tula, were colonies of the city or were conquered by it. In the former set of ruins we also see Atlantean figures at the Temple of the Warriors, but they are smaller in scale compared to the ones found at Tula. The influence of the Toltec civilization in Mexico can be seen as far away as the Yucatán, specifically at the sites of Chichén Itzá and Mayapán. In fact, the very word “Toltec” in the Nahuatl language of the Aztecs means “skilled worker” which later broadly meant “urban person.” The items produced in Tula were traded for goods coming from distant places such as Costa Rica. As the center of trade, some believe that half of the population of Tula was engaged in some sort of craft production including work in stone and ceramics. The extended urban area stretched to about 1,000 square kilometers. Soon after people abandoned this site, a new city was built on top of the old one and archaeologists call this city “Tula Grande,” or “Big Tula.” This new Tula grew to be the largest city in Mexico at its height around 1,000 years ago with an urban population of over 50,000 with 20,000 or so people living in the immediate countryside surrounding the city. Between 850 and 900 AD the site known as Tula Chico was mysteriously abandoned. Archaeologists call the first phase of occupation at this site “Tula Chico” or “Little Tula.” At its height, Tula Chico had well over 20,000 people and covered about 6 square kilometers in area. The first village at the site of the present-day ruins of Tula was established around 400 AD. In any event, the Toltecs came to prominence in the power vacuum left by the fall of Teotihuacan at around the 8 th Century AD. ![]() Some believe that the term “Toltec” is best used to describe a civilization instead of a political entity. The city of Tula has long been believed to be the capital of the Toltec Empire, although some archaeologists describe the Toltecs politically as having a kingdom rather than an empire. According to archaeologists and anthropologists, the name “Tula” comes from the Aztec phrase Tollan Xicocotitlan, which means “place where the reeds grow.” The Aztecs later shortened this to Tollan which has been more generally used to denote any urban center. The statues dominate the abandoned ancient city of Tula located in the central highlands of Mexico in the present-day Mexican state of Hidalgo about 45 miles from Mexico City. ![]() In order to understand the Atlantean figures we must first understand the context in which we find them. No one knows how these figures were made or how they were transported to the top of the pyramid. Called the Atlantean Statues – or in Spanish, los atlantes – these huge sculptures are perhaps the most enigmatic surviving artifacts of the Toltec civilization which ruled central Mexico about 1,000 years ago. Standing over 15 feet tall and weighing several tons each, these basalt carvings in human form are the masters of all they survey. On the top of the pyramid are curious stone carvings. It is a massive pyramid in the center of the ancient city of Tula, the civic-ceremonial capital of the Toltecs. The Aztecs called this place Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli, the Temple of the Morning Star. ![]()
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