waTeR and The sacRed ciTy • 47(see figure 1.3). At the center of the flat, carved-stone face is
the eagle, which represents the solar god Huitzilopochtli,
its wings slightly arched open as it completes its landing
on the top of a nopal cactus, ripe with fruit. In contrast
to the other surfaces of the monument, which are densely
carved at different scale, this one seems open, easy, with
little in the way of background. The back face of the monu-
ment also includes yet another atl, tlachinolli glyph, this one
streaming out of the eagle’s mouth. We recall that some
accounts of the mythic history of the foundation of the city
tell us that the tossed-away heart of the sacrificed Copil
gave rise to the cactus tree upon which Huitzilopochtli’s
eagle landed. Thus we would expect to find the heart of
Copil at the base of the nopal cactus. But we do not.
Instead, the monument celebrates the defeat of Chal-
chiuhtlicue, the deity of lakes and streams. She is shown
on her back with her knees drawn in toward her body,
the tips of her two sandaled feet touching the right edge
of the sculpture (D on figure 2.15). 66 While much of her
headdress, which would have occupied the left side of
the sculpture, is eroded, some of it, taking the shape of
a folded-paper fan (A), is discernible, as is her skirt (C),
a series of undulating bands that represent water (B), and
a visual representation of her Nahuatl name, the glyphs
for “jade-skirted.” Most known representations of Chalchi-
uhtlicue in stone show her as an upright, columnar figure
(figure 2.11), but here the sculptor has fit her body into a
narrow horizontal register at the bottom of the work, and
it appears, although difficult to make out given the erosion,
that the cactus grows out of an open cavity in her chest.
Figures lying on their backs are rare in Mexica art, and
when seen in manuscripts, figures adopting this position
are victims of heart sacrifice, stretched out upon the sacri-
ficial plinth to expose the cavity of their chests, where the
heart would have been extracted. A sculptural parallel to
this Chalchiuhtlicue, a figure on its back with knees drawn
in toward its body, is to be found in chacmool figures, a
sculptural type known from the earliest constructive phases
of the Templo Mayor. The chacmool seen in figure 2.10 was
found near the templo, and, like other chacmools this three-
dimensional sculpture is a humanlike figure, shown on itsfiguRe 2.14. Unknown creator, Teocalli of Sacred Warfare, also
known as Moteuczoma’s Throne, back view, ca. 1507. Museo Nacional
de Antropología, Mexico City. Archivo Digitalización de las Colecciones
Arqueológicas del Museo Nacional de Antropología. cOnacULTa-
inaH-canOn. Reproduction authorized by the Instituto Nacional de
Antropología e Historia.
figuRe 2.15. Drawing of the Teocalli of Sacred Warfare, back, also
known as Moteuczoma’s Throne, by Emily Umberger. Base shows
Chalchiuhtlicue: her paper-fan headdress (A); water behind her figure
(B); jade beads on her skirt (C); and her sandals (D).