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Tonatiuh Effigy Vessel
Not on view
Tonatiuh, the Aztec Sun God, wears gold earspools with jade bars, a large gold necklace with bells, and a pendant featuring the Nahua glyph for gold: teocuitlatl (meaning "divine excrement"). Such layering of exclusive and radiant materials onto the deity’s body attests to their close identification with sunlight. Gold was believed to be the waste of the sun, divine matter that was deposited into the earth when the sun traversed the underworld at night. Materials such as jade and feathers, as well as red pigment, were thought to absorb and manifest solar radiance and heat.
Tonatiuh, el dios azteca del sol, lleva puestas orejeras con barras de jade, un collar de oro con cascabeles y un pendiente con el glifo nahua que significa "oro": teocuitatl ("excremento divino"). Semejante despliegue de materiales exclusivos y esplendorosos en el cuerpo del dios demuestran su estrecha identificación con la luz del sol. Se creía que el oro era el excremento del sol y una materia divina depositada en la tierra cuando el sol atravesaba el inframundo durante la noche; en cambio, se creía que los materiales como el jade, las plumas y el pigmento rojo absorbían y manifestaban la radicación solar y el calor.
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