Twin Stair Pyramids
In
the pyramids that the Aztecs built, the early Aztecs used a style very
similar to that of earlier Mesoamerican people of the Classic and Post
Classic periods, including the Maya. There were some differences
though.
An example
of the twin stair pyramid is the Temple Mayor of
Tenochtitlan. At its summit, it had two temples and a double staircase.
Each temple was dedicated to a seperate god. The one on the left
was dedicated to Tlaloc and was decorated with blue and white paint to
signify water and moisture. The Aztecs worshipped him because of
his connection with the life giving and taking qualities of the rain.
The right temple was dedicated to Huitzilopochti and was painted in red
and white to honor war and sacrifice(Townsend 145).
This
pyramid was so steep that one could not see the temple on top unless they
had climbed the pyramid and their head had cleared the platform.
This signified that the gods were so much above the people and earthly
things that one could not even come close to them if they were not at the
top of the pyramids. This was because the gods lived in the sky.
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