The Toltec civilization flourished in ancient central Mexico between the 10th and mid-12th centuries. Continuing the Mesoamerican heritage left to them by earlier cultures, the Toltecs built an impressive capital at Tollan. Ultimately, they passed on that heritage to civilizations such as the Aztecs, who regarded the Toltecs as a great and prosperous civilization, even claiming descent from them. Most information on the Toltec comes from Aztec and Post-colonial texts documenting earlier oral traditions. However, these are by no means complete, and information can be coloured by the Aztec’s particular reverence for all things Toltec and their delight in merging myth with fact to help establish a lineage with these old masters. Nevertheless, a careful comparison with earlier Mayan texts and the surviving archaeological record does allow for at least the main elements of this civilization to be outlined.
The Toltecs and the Toltec Empire is a semi-mythical legend reported by the Aztecs that appears to have had some reality in prehispanic Mesoamerica. But the evidence for its existence as a cultural entity is conflicting and contradictory. The “empire,” if that’s what it was (and it probably was not), has been at the heart of a long-standing debate in archaeology: where is the ancient city of Tollan, a city described by the Aztecs in oral and pictorial histories as the center of all art and wisdom?
Toltec Wisdom That Will Inspire You
Toltec wisdom brings us magical glimmers of a civilization that continues to inspire us. Its cosmovision, mythology, and legends continue to attract the now everlasting interest in the Nahuatl people and their secrets, and new books now appear regularly, like “The Four Agreements”. These books bring us a little closer to this past that was so rich in knowledge. The interesting work titled “Quetzalcoatl and the creation myths of Mesoamerica”, tells how the Toltecs created a highly refined culture. Despite having a hierarchical military system and being a warrior people, their anthropological, mystical, and cultural imprint left its mark in Mesoamerica.
“We choose only once. We choose to be warriors or to be common men. There is no second chance. Not on this Earth”
-The Toltec path-
“Use the word in the correct way. Use the word to share your love. Use white magic, beginning with yourself. BE IMPECCABLE WITH YOUR WORD.”
“Under any circumstance, always do your best, no more and no less”
“Use the word in the correct way. Use the word to share your love. Use white magic, beginning with yourself. BE IMPECCABLE WITH YOUR WORD.”
“With regard to the opinions of others, whether good or bad, it is better not to be influenced by them”
-The Four Agreements-
The Toltecs are perhaps the most mysterious and unknowable of the pre-Columbian civilizations that came and went long before Cortés set foot on Mexican soil. The reason for this is that what we know of them comes largely from Mexica writings and oral history which is a bit weird because the Toltecs had disappeared before the Mexicas rose to power in Tenochtitlan, modern day Mexico City. Despite not being contemporaries or even chronological successors, the Mexicas professed that the Toltecs had represented the epitome of civilization and that virtually everything they did was based on Toltec precedent. They ascribed the whole Queztalcoatl thing which was so essential to their myths and religion, to the Toltecs. They believed the last king of the Toltecs was named Queztalcoatl. The only problem with this is that the archaeological record does not support the idea that the Toltecs were some type of super race who did everything better than anyone before or after them. Quite the opposite is the case at Tula, the largest Toltec city was nowhere near as grand as either Teotihuacan which came before it and Tenochtitlan which came after.
Due to the disappearance of the Toltecs before the arrival of written language in Mesoamerica, historians are not sure of much regarding the ancient Toltec civilization. However, there was likely a continuity between the Toltecs, the later Aztecs, and the other Mesoamerican civilizations for whom historians have better records. While the following deities are known through the Aztecs, they are likely similar, to a large degree, to the earlier Toltec gods:
- Quetzalcoatl was one of the most important deities in the Mesoamerican faiths; he was the god of creation, invention, wind, rain, crafts, science, and knowledge. As this god’s name means ”Feathered Serpent,” he was often depicted in serpentine form. Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca, the other powerful god, were sometimes told to be rivals or enemies. As the Aztecs told it, Quetzalcoatl was once the king of the Toltecs who led his people in migration to their historical homeland. Quetzalcoatl was a merciful king who did not force his people to sacrifice humans, only offering blood. However, Tezcatlipoca came to Quetzalcoatl and forced Quetzalcoatl into exile, ending the golden age of the Toltecs.
- Tezcatlipoca was the god of the night sky, hurricanes, obsidian, war, sorcery, and jaguars. His name means ”Smoking Mirror.” The people used mirrors for divination and sorcery. According to some myths, Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl cooperated in making the Earth to attract the sea reptile Cipactli, and Tezcatlipoca used his foot as bait. Though the monster ate his foot, the two gods wrestled the reptile into the shape of the land. Other myths speak of the two gods as enemies and rivals whose competition for control of the universe caused the changing of the ages. This god was frequently depicted with black skin.
- Huitzilopochtli was the god of war, the sun, and human sacrifice. His weapon of choice was Xiuhcoatl, a fiery serpent. In some myths, Huitzilopochtli was the brother of both Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca. This god was especially important to the Aztecs, who sacrificed thousands of people so that the god would have the strength to keep the sun in the sky. Huitzilopochtli may have replaced the earlier deity Nanahuatl, who lit himself on fire to form the sun. Associated with the hummingbird, Huitzilopochtli was frequently depicted with a long-feathered helmet.
- Xipe Totec, or Tlatlauhca, was the fourth brother of the previously described gods. As the patron of agriculture, health, vegetation, and rebirth, Xipe Totec flayed himself to death before being reborn from his rotting skin every season. The people also believed that this god was able to cure ailments and invented warfare. Xipe Totec was depicted as a red man since he frequently removed his skin.
- Tlaloc was the god of rain, water, earthquakes, storms, and agriculture. Like the weather he controlled, Tlaloc could either be benevolent or cruel. His storms could fertilize the soil or bring about floods. Tlaloc was born when Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca killed the great beast Cipactli.
- Xochiquetzal was the goddess of fertility, beauty, love, and seduction. Mesoamericans made offerings to this goddess for help during childbirth. Xochiquetzal mothered other deities, once turned a priest into a scorpion, and married Tlaloc before being abducted by Tezcatlipoca. She was depicted as a beautiful young woman.
- Centeotl was the god of maize (corn) who oversaw agricultural production and taught humans how to grow plants. The Mesoamericans worshipped this god through ceremonial dances. He was usually depicted with yellow skin.
Centuries ago, when Toltec civilization had extended over Arizona, and perhaps over the whole West, the valleys were occupied by large towns — the towns whose ruins are now known as the City of Ovens, City of Stones, and the City of the Dead. The people worked at trades and arts that had been practiced by their ancestors before the pyramids were built in Egypt. Montezuma had come to the throne of Mexico, and the Aztec were a subject people; Europe had discovered America and forgotten it, and in America, the arrival of Europeans was recalled only in traditions. But, like other nations, the Toltec became prey to self-confidence, luxury, wastefulness, and to deadening superstitions. Already the fierce tribes of the North were lurking on the confines of their country in faith of speedy conquest, and at times, it seemed as if the elements were against them.
Xochitl [ˈʃoːtʃitɬ], pronunciation r. 877–916) was a Toltec Queen and wife of Tecpancaltzin Iztaccaltzin. Her existence beyond legend is questionable, and accounts of her life are mainly based on the writings of indigenous historian Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxochitl. Xochitl was a mistress of the Toltec Emperor Tecpancaltzin, bearing him a son. (Tecpancaltzin had only daughters by his first wife, Maxio). After Maxio died, Xochitl became recognized as queen. Her son became heir and was known as Topiltzin-Meconetzin. When she was elderly, civil war erupted in the Toltec Empire. Xochitl called upon other women to join her in battle, and created and led a battalion made entirely of women soldiers. She died on the battlefield. The son of Xochitl and Tecpancaltzin, Topiltzin, was the last of the Toltec kings, before he was overthrown in the civil war. It was during the final stand of the Toltecs at Tultitlan that Tecpancaltzin and Xochitl were slain in battle.
The Tollan of Aztec mythology was renowned for its sumptuous palaces and awe-inspiring buildings made from gold, jade, turquoise, and quetzal feathers. The city was also thought to have been flooded with wealth generated by the gifted Toltec craftsmen, highly skilled in metallurgy and pottery – so much so that their potters were said to have ‘taught the clay to lie’ (Coe, 156) and later Aztec metal-workers and jewellers were even known as tolteca. The Toltecs were also credited with mastering nature and producing huge maize crops and natural coloured cotton of red, yellow, green, and blue. Unsurprisingly, following centuries of looting, no artefacts survive to attest this material wealth except indications that the Toltecs did do a major trade in obsidian (used for blades and arrowheads) which was mined from nearby Pachuca.
The archaeological ruins of Tula (now known as Tula de Hidalgo or Tula de Allende) are located in the southwestern part of the Mexican state of Hidalgo, about 45 miles northwest of Mexico City. The site is located within the alluvial bottoms and adjacent uplands of the Tula and Rosas Rivers, and it lies partially buried beneath the modern town of Tula de Allende. Tula is considered the likely candidate for Tollan, the legendary capital of the Toltec Empire between the 10th and 12th centuries. Also, Tula’s construction bridges the Classic and Postclassic periods in Mesoamerica, when the power of Teotihuacan and the southern Maya lowlands were fading, to be replaced by political alliances, trade routes, and art styles at Tula, and at Xochicalco, Cacaxtla, Cholula and Chichén Itzá. Tollan/Tula was established as a fairly small town (about 1.5 square miles) around 750, as the Teotihuacan empire was crumbling during the Epiclassic period (750 to 900). During the height of Tula’s power, between 900 and 1100, the city covered an area of some 5 square miles, with a population perhaps as high as 60,000. Tula’s architecture was set in a diverse environment, including a reedy marsh and adjacent hills and slopes. Within this varied landscape are hundreds of mounds and terraces that represent residential structures in a planned cityscape with alleys, passageways, and paved streets.
The archaeological site of Tollan, sitting on a limestone promontory, although not quite as splendid as the legend, nevertheless, has an impressive number of surviving monuments. These include two large pyramids, a collonaded walkway, a large palace building, and two ball-courts, all surrounded by a dense area of urban housing. The domestic housing is arranged in groups of up to five flat-roofed residences with each group centred on a courtyard with a single altar and the whole surrounded by a wall. Surviving architectural sculpture on the pyramids includes large columns, each consisting of four drums, carved as warriors standing atop the five tiers of the 10 m high Pyramid B. The warriors would once have held up a roof structure. The warriors are dressed ready for battle with a drum headdress and butterfly pectoral and each holds an atlatl or spear-thrower at their side. In addition, feathered-snake columns survive from the original doorway. The warrior columns are near-identical and suggest sophisticated workshops capable of mass production.
“THE TOLTEC WERE A WARLIKE PEOPLE, NO DOUBT CONQUERING SURROUNDING TRIBES & IMPOSING TRIBUTE WITHOUT ANY CONCERN FOR INTEGRATION.”
FACTS ABOUT THE ANCIENT TOLTECS
THE RELIGIOUS WARRIORS WHO DOMINATED MESOAMERICA FROM 900—1150 A.D.
THEY WERE GREAT WARRIORS
The Toltecs were religious warriors who spread the cult of their God, Quetzalcoatl, to all corners of their Empire. The warriors were organized into orders representing animals such as jaguars and gods including Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca. Toltec warriors wore headdresses, chest plates, and padded armor and carried a small shield on one arm. They were armed with short swords, atlatls (a weapon designed to throw darts at high velocity), and a heavy curved bladed weapon that was a cross between a club and an ax.
THEY WERE ACCOMPLISHED ARTISTS AND SCULPTORS
Unfortunately, the archaeological site of Tula has been looted repeatedly. Even prior to the arrival of the Spanish, the site had been stripped of sculptures and relics by the Aztecs, who greatly revered the Toltecs. Later, beginning in the colonial era, looters managed to pick the site nearly clean. Nevertheless, serious archaeological digs have recently uncovered several important statues, relics, and stelae. Among the most significant are the Atlante statues that depict Toltec warriors and the columns that show Toltec rulers dressed for war.
THEY PRACTICED HUMAN SACRIFICE
There is a great deal of evidence that the Toltecs regularly practiced human sacrifice (including children) to appease their gods. Several Chac Mool statues—figures of reclining humans holding a bowl on their bellies that were used for offerings to the gods, including human sacrifice—were found at Tula. In the ceremonial plaza, there is a tzompantli, or skull rack, where the heads of sacrificial victims were placed. In the historical record of the period, a story is told that Ce Atl Quetzalcoatl, the founder of Tula, got into a disagreement with the followers of the god Tezcatlipoca regarding how much human sacrifice was necessary to appease the gods. Ce Atl Quetzalcoatl was said to have believed there should be less carnage, however, he was driven out by his more bloodthirsty opponents.
THEY HAD A CONNECTION TO CHICHEN ITZA
Although the Toltec City of Tula is located to the north of present-day Mexico City and the post-Maya city of Chichen Itza is located in the Yucatan, there’s an undeniable connection between the two metropolises. Both share certain architectural and thematic similarities that extend far beyond their mutual worship of Quetzalcoatl (or Kukulcan to the Maya). Archaeologists originally surmised that the Toltecs conquered Chichen Itza, but it’s now generally accepted that exiled Toltec nobles likely settled there, bringing their culture with them.
THEY HAD A TRADE NETWORK
Although the Toltecs were not on the same scale as the Ancient Maya with regard to trade, they nevertheless did trade with neighbors near and far. The Toltecs produced objects made from obsidian as well as pottery and textiles, which Toltec merchants might have used as trade goods. As a warrior culture, however, much of their incoming wealth may have been due to tribute than trade. Seashells from both Atlantic and Pacific species have been found at Tula, as well as pottery samples from as far away as Nicaragua. Some pottery fragments from contemporary Gulf-Coast cultures have also been identified.
THEY FOUNDED THE CULT OF QUETZALCOATL
Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Serpent, is one of the greatest gods of the Mesoamerican pantheon. The Toltecs did not create Quetzalcoatl or his worship: images of Feathered Serpents go back as far as the Ancient Olmec, and the famous Temple of Quetzalcoatl at Teotihuacan predates the Toltec civilization, however, it was the Toltecs whose reverence for the god accounted for the proliferation his worship far and wide. Adoration of Quetzalcoatl spread from Tula to as far as the Maya lands of the Yucatan. Later, the Aztecs, who considered the Toltecs the founders of their own dynasty, included Quetzalcoatl in their pantheon of gods.
THEIR DECLINE IS A MYSTERY
Sometime around 1150 A.D., Tula was sacked and burned to the ground. The “Burned Palace,” once an important ceremonial center, was so named for the charred bits of wood and masonry discovered there. Little is known about who burned Tula or why. The Toltecs were aggressive and violent, and reprisals from vassal states or neighboring Chichimeca tribes is a likely possibility, however, historians do not rule out civil wars or internal strife.
AZTEC EMPIRE REVERED THEM
Long after the fall of the Toltec civilization, the Aztecs came to dominate Central Mexico from their base of power in the Lake Texcoco region. The Aztecs, or Mexica, culture revered the lost Toltecs. Aztec rulers claimed to be descended from the royal Toltec lines and they adopted many aspects of Toltec culture, including the worship of Quetzalcoatl and human sacrifice. Aztec rulers frequently sent out teams of workers to the ruined Toltec city of Tula to retrieve original works of art and sculpture, which likely accounts for an Aztec-era structure that was found at the ruins of the Burned Palace.
ARCHAEOLOGISTS MAY STILL TURN UP HIDDEN TREASURES
Although the Toltec city of Tula has been extensively looted, first by the Aztecs and later by the Spanish, there may yet be buried treasures there. In 1993, a decorative chest containing the famous “Cuirass of Tula,” armor made of seashells, was unearthed beneath a turquoise disc in the Burned Palace. In 2005, some previously-unknown friezes belonging to Hall 3 of the Burned Palace were also excavated.
THEY HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE MODERN TOLTEC MOVEMENT
A modern movement led by writer Miguel Ruiz is called “Toltec Spirit.” In his famous book “The Four Agreements,” Ruiz outlines a plan for creating happiness in your life. Ruiz’ philosophy states that you should be diligent and principled in your personal life and try not to worry about things you cannot change. Other than the name “Toltec,” this modern-day philosophy has absolutely nothing to do with the ancient Toltec civilization.
Indigenous Peoples Literature 