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This article is about the Texcocan philosopher-king. For the modern-day city of Texcoco in the state of México, see Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl. Philosopher-kings are the hypothetical rulers of Platos utopian Kallipolis. ...
The United Mexican States, or Mexico, is a federal republic, comprising 31 states. ...
Nezahualcóyotl (also: Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl or Ciudad Neza, which is strictly the name of the municipal seat; informally: mi Nezota) is a municipality of the State of México adjacent to the eastern fringe of Mexicos Federal District: it is thus part of the Mexico City Metropolitan Area. ...
 The King depicted on the current 100 peso note Nezahualcoyotl (pronounced [neˌtsawaɬ'kojotɬ] and often spelled with a tz or accented as in Spanish: Nezahualcóyotl or Netzahualcóyotl) (1402 – 1472) was ruler (Tlatoani) of the city-state of Texcoco in modern Mexico. Unlike other high-profile Mexican figures from the century preceding the Conquest, Nezahualcoyotl was not an Aztec. His people were the Alcohuas, who along with the Aztec formed the third migratory wave of northern tribes into the Valley of Mexico. The Alcohuas settled at the eastern end of Lake Texcoco and from then on became known as Texcocans. Image File history File links 100front. ...
Image File history File links 100front. ...
Events September 14 - Battle of Homildon Hill. ...
Events February 20 - The Orkneys and Shetlands are annexed to the crown of Scotland Discovery of Newfoundland by Didrik Pining and João Vaz Corte-Real. ...
Texcoco is a city in México State, Mexico, located to the east of Mexico City at 19. ...
Revered as a sage and poet-king, Nezahualcoyotl drew a group of followers called the Tlamatine, the "knowers" or "followers of truth." These men were philosophers, artists, musicians and sculptors who pursued their art in the court of Texcoco.
He was something of a monotheist, honoring his god in a 10-level pyramidal temple. The roof of this shrine was gem-encrusted and no human sacrifices were permitted, only the offering of flowers and incense.
Early Life Nezahualcoyotl was the son of Ixtlilxochitl and Matlalcihuatzin, the daughter of Huitzilihuitl. Though born heir to a throne, his youth was not marked by princely luxury. His father had set Texcoco against the powerful city of Azcapotzalco and the tribe that ruled it, the Tepanecos. In 1418, when the young prince was fifteen, the enemy succeeded in subjugating his people. While concealed in the branches of a tree, the youth saw Tepaneco soldiers butcher his father. Ixtlilxochitl was the ruler (tlatoani) of the Acolhua city state of Tetzcoco (modern Texcoco) from 1409 to 1418. ...
Huitzilíhuitl (died circa 1417) was the second Tlatoani, or Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan. ...
Azcapotzalco (Place of the ants in Nahuatl) is one of the 16 delegaciones (boroughs) into which Mexicos Federal District is divided. ...
He fled the grisly scene but was captured and thrown into a dungeon, only to escape. Some sources claim he fled to the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, but the Aztecs were a tributary of Azcapotzalco at the time, so the account that the young prince spent his exile in Huexotzingo instead is more likely. He would devote the next ten years of his life to study, and then returned to his homeland and dethroned the Tepecano usurper. Sculpture remembering the moment when aztecs found the sign for Tenochtitlan foundation place given by Huitzilopochtli. ...
Plan of Tenochtitlan (Dr Atl) Mexico City statue commemorating the foundation of Tenochtitlan Tenochtitlan (pronounced ) or, alternatively, Mexico-Tenochtitlan, was the capital of the Aztec empire, which was built on an island in Lake Texcoco in what is now central Mexico. ...
Achievements As ruler Nezahualcoyotl cemented his friendship with the Aztecs when he assisted them in their successful rebellion against Azcapotzalco and the Tepanecs which led to the establishment of the Triple Alliance. As a founding member of the Alliance, he served the Aztec aristocracy as a trusted advisor and built the flood protection system of Tenochtitlán. He also took part in more wars conducted by the Allied forces, receiving lands and tribute in return. Azcapotzalco (Place of the ants in Nahuatl) is one of the 16 delegaciones (boroughs) into which Mexicos Federal District is divided. ...
The word Aztec is usually used as a historical term, although some contemporary Nahuatl speakers would consider themselves Aztecs. ...
Nezahualcoyotl is credited with cultivating what came to be known as Texcoco's Golden Age, which brought the rule of law, scholarship and artistry to the city and set high standards that influenced other cultures. Nezahualcoyotl designed a code of law based on the division of power, which created the councils of finance, war, justice and culture, the last actually called the council of music. Under his rule Texcoco flourished as the intellectual centre of the Triple Alliance and it possessed an extensive library that, tragically, did not survive the Spanish conquest. He also established an academy of music and welcomed worthy entrants from all regions of Mesoamerica. Mesoamerica is the region extending from central Mexico south to the northwestern border of Costa Rica that gave rise to a group of stratified, culturally related agrarian civilizations spanning an approximately 3,000-year period before the European discovery of the New World by Columbus. ...
Given this high cultural level, it is not surprising that Texcoco became known as "the Athens of the Western World" -- to quote the historian Boturini. Indeed, the remains of hilltop gardens, sculptures and a massive aqueduct system show the impressive engineering skills and aesthetic appreciation of his reign, and of the Acolhua Nation in general.
Many believe, however, that of all the creative intellects nurtured by this Texcocan "Athens," by far the greatest belonged to the king himself. He is considered one of the great designers and architects of the pre-Hispanic era. Some of the most sophisticated hydraulic systems in the pre-modern world were the creations of Nezahualcoyotl. He is said to have personally designed the dike across Lake Texcoco that was named after him and that was still in use over a century after his death. Lake Texcoco is a lake in Mexico. ...
His palace, gardens and private canal system Erected by the hill of Texcotzingo, the royal residence had aqueducts, baths, gardens, stairways and over 300 separate chambers. Nezahualcoyotl ruled from a golden throne adorned with turquoise. From there he wrote his Lamentations, a philosophical study of life.
The palace gardens were a vast botanical collection that included plants from not only the growing Aztec Empire but also the most remote corners of Mesoamerica. Remnants of the gardens still exist to this day and have recently been studied by a team of Discovery Channel scientists, who were able to demonstrate by means of modeling and computer simulation that the layout of the site had been carefully planned to be in alignment with astronomical events, with an emphasis on Venus, and not simply aligned with the cardinal directions as previously assumed. Discovery Channel is a property of Discovery Communications primarily packaged as a network entertainment brand distributed in virtually every pay-television market in the world. ...
Adjective Venusian or (rarely) Cytherean (*min temperature refers to cloud tops only) Atmospheric characteristics Atmospheric pressure 9. ...
The water used to irrigate the gardens was obtained from the springs beyond the mountains to the east of Texcoco. The water was channeled through canals carved into the rock. In certain areas, rock staircases were used as waterfalls. After clearing the mountains, the canals continued downhill to a point a short distance from Texcotzingo. There the path to the city was blocked a deep canyon that ran from north to south. Nezahualcoyotl ordered that the gap be filled with tons of rocks and stones, thus creating the first known aqueduct in the New World.
The sacred hill The whole hill of Texcotzingo was also served by this canal system and converted by his designers into a sacred place for the rain god Tláloc, complete with waterfalls, exotic animals and birds. Tlaloc, as depicted in the Magliabechi Codex Tlaloc was, in Aztec mythology, the god of rain and fertility. ...
On the summit of the mountain he constructed a shrine to the god, laid out in hanging gardens reached by an airy flight of five hundred and twenty marble steps, a significant number, since according to Aztec mythology the gods have the choice to destroy humanity once every 52 years.
The site is rarely visited since one needs to climb a small mountain to reach it. Only on solstice and equinox events do large numbers of people make the ascent to the sacred site, the rest of the time it is left to the shamans and healers that use it for initiations. Diagram of the Earths seasons Solstice is an astronomical term regarding the position of the Sun in relation to the earths equator. ...
An equinox in astronomy is the moment when the Sun passes over the equator. ...
The shaman is an intellectual and spiritual figure who is regarded as possessing power and influence on other peoples in the tribe and performs several functions, primarily that of a healer ( medicine man). The shaman provides medical care, and serves other community needs during crisis times, via supernatural means (means...
Legacy The date of Nezahualcoyotl's death is recorded as being June 4, 1472, survived by many concubines and an estimated 110 children. He was succeeded by his son Nezahualpilli. Nezahualpilli (1464-1515) was king of Texcoco. ...
His great-grandson Juan Bautista de Pomar is credited with the compilations of a collection of Nahuatl poems. Romances de los señores de la Nueva España, and with a chronicle of the history of the Aztecs. Juan Bautista de Pomar (died 1590) was an historian and writer interested in pre-Columbian Aztec matters after Mexico had been conquered by Spain. ...
The poetry of Nezahualcoyotl His authentic poems include: - In chololiztli (Song of Flight)
- Ma zan moquetzacan (My Friends Stand Up!)
- Nitlayocoya (I Am Sad)
- Xopan cuicatl (Song of Springtime)
- Ye nonnocuiltonohua (I Am Wealthy)
- Zan yehuan (He Alone)
- Xon Ahuiyacan (Be Joyful)
The poem that begins "All the earth is a grave and nothing escapes it" is widely attributed to Nezahualcoyotl. However, the consensus opinion among historians is that he was almost certainly not the author as it contains ideas and language that were totally alien to him.
One of his poems appears in tiny print on the face of the 100 peso note.
- Amo el canto de zenzontle
- Pájaro de cuatrocientas voces,
- Amo el color del jade
- Y el enervante perfume de las flores,
- Pero más amo a mi hermano: el hombre.
- I love the song of the mockingbird,
- Bird of four hundred voices,
- I love the color of the jadestone
- And the enervating perfume of flowers,
- But more than all I love my brother: man.
Misc Layman's pronunciation of the name Nezahualcoyotl: nets-a-wall-COY-oatl Pronunciation refers to: the way a word or a language is usually spoken; the manner in which someone utters a word. ...
The name Nezahualcoyotl means "starving coyote" in Nahuatl. Nahuatl is a native language of central Mexico. ...
A variant of the Xiphophorus fish is named after Nezahualcoyotl. Species (see text) Xiphophorus Heckel, 1848, is a genus of freshwater fish in family Poeciliidae of order Cyprinodontiformes. ...
References - Fifteen Poets of the Aztec World by Miguel León Portilla, Univ of Oklahoma Press; (October 2000).
- http://www.prodigyweb.net.mx/jrossow/History/Conquest/ConquestBook1Chap6.htm
- The History of the Conquest of Mexico - Book 1 Chapter 6
Miguel Le n-Portilla (born in Mexico City, 22 February 1926) is a Mexican anthropologist and historian, and the prime authority on Nahuatl thought and literature. ...
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