This year marks the 700th anniversary of the founding of Mexico-Tenochtitlan. The city's government prepared an extensive program of celebrations to honor these seven centuries. The peak of these festivities is scheduled for April, featuring an event commemorating the moment when the Mexicas witnessed the eagle perched on the nopal cactus.
March 13, 1325, is considered the most accurate date for the foundation of Tenochtitlan, according to Luis Barjau, former director of Ethnohistory at the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH). Eduardo Matos Moctezuma, an archaeologist, points out that documents and pictographs, including the Annals of Cuauhtitlan and the Aubin Codex, mention various dates for the foundation of Tenochtitlan, with 1325 being the most accepted. The Mexicas predominantly marked the symbol "2 Calli" (Two House), corresponding to the year 1325, despite complexities surrounding the exact founding date of the city.
The defining event of the founding of Tenochtitlan was the story of the appearance of an eagle perched on a stone nopal cactus, devouring a serpent. The Mexicas believed this was a sign from Huitzilopochtli, their solar god and god of war. "In my opinion, there the concept of the eagle standing on the nopal is born. The eagle represents Huitzilopochtli," Matos Moctezuma said.
Historically, the Mexicas were allowed to establish themselves in exchange for becoming tributaries, having been harassed, displaced, intermarried with, and humiliated by powerful altepetl for decades before founding their new and precarious settlement in a corner of others' territories. The territory was under the power of lordships like Azcapotzalco, whose ruler, Tezozomoc, imposed on the Mexicas the obligation to assist in his wars of conquest.
The Mexicas took years to free themselves from subjugation and tribute to Azcapotzalco. Only after imposing their military strength did they begin to forge their mythical narrative of origin. After defeating Azcapotzalco in 1428, with support from the lordships of Tacuba and Texcoco, the roles were reversed, and Azcapotzalco became tributary to Tenochtitlan. At that moment, the Triple Alliance was formed, consisting of Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tacuba.
The Mexicas' narrative of their origin was shaped by their military successes and the support of other peoples in the region. They adopted and transformed existing myths to legitimize themselves. The symbol of the eagle standing on the nopal began to prevail after their triumphs. The codices show that the Mexicas left from a place in the middle of a lake and passed through sites, including Chicomoztoc, the place of the "Seven Caves."
Archaeology has demonstrated that the islets in the middle of Lake Texcoco had already been occupied by previous settlements, possibly Toltec hamlets, before the arrival of the Mexicas. Around Mexico-Tenochtitlan lived many other peoples in city-states, such as Texcoco, Coyoacán, Tacubaya, and Iztapalapa, indicating that Tenochtitlan was part of a larger urban system in the Valley of Mexico.
Cities do not arise overnight; often, they are the result of long processes with previous settlements in the place where the city is supposed to be erected. It is difficult to pinpoint the exact day of the foundation because there are interpretations, including the fact that the founders did not use the Gregorian calendar but a calendar with 365-day years and 260-day cycles, creating 52-year centuries.
According to the myth, the Mexicas, guided by Huitzilopochtli, walked from Aztlán to the lake of Texcoco in the Valley of Anáhuac. They migrated from a mythical place, adopting narratives to legitimize their origins. Fray Diego Durán stated that several peoples, including the Chalcas, Tepanecas, Tlaxcaltecas, and the Mexicas themselves, peregrinated gradually from Aztlán.
After settling, the Mexicas began to count their mythical history from the formation of the Triple Alliance. They constructed a myth according to which, in 2025, the 500 years of darkness that plagued Mexico from the fall of its capital would conclude, ushering in 500 years of light.
The article was written with the assistance of a news analysis system.