Identifier: ancientcitiesofn00char (find matches)
Title: The ancient cities of the New World : being travels and explorations in Mexico and Central America from 1857-1882
Year: 1887 (1880s)
Authors: Charnay, Désiré, 1828-1915
Subjects: Indians of Mexico Indians of Central America
Publisher: London : Chapman and Hall
Contributing Library: Getty Research Institute
Digitizing Sponsor: Sloan Foundation

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pied by a monument where his symbolical image iseverywhere seen. It consists of two apartments of differentsize, richly decorated ; a portico gave access to the mainchamber (our cut shows its dimensions), where the bases of thecolumns are covered with finely sculptured serpents heads withprotruding tongues, over 9 feet long, bearing the characteristicsof those on the great temple at Mexico which date 1484-1486. The southern facade of this monument has a beautiful inter-laced frieze, with a procession of tigers, divided by richlyfringed shields, bearing a strong resemblance to those of the 362 The Ancient Cities of the New World. various tribes, published by Lorenzana with Cortez letters,and similar to those generally seen in the Mexican manuscripts.We think we recognise in this a monument of Ouetzalcoatlcommemorating his victory over Tezcatlipoca in his foot-ballmatch which took place at Tula, and that this is so seemshighly probable. In the chamber which stood over the ruined portico
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);as-relief in hall of tennis-court of chichen-itza. there was, twenty years ago, a series of paintings descriptiveof domestic and public life among the Mayas, now entirelydestroyed by barbarous explorers, or by the inhabitants ofPiste. Stephens, who saw them, says that they were paintedin bright colours of blue, red, yellow, and green. Fortunatelyfor us, three sides of the pillars at the entrance are stillcovered with sculptures, as also the lintels, and all are inbetter preservation than any at Chichcn-Itza, as may be seenin our drawing. Here also^ we find numerous analogies with Chichen-Itza. 3^3 Mexican monuments, which, it should be recollected, were the result of Toltec teaching.

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