The pyramids at Teotihuacán comprised one of the largest cities in the Aztec empire.  Not only did it house a vast number of people but it was a religious holy ground.  A series of six hundred pyramids are encased in the large city.  Some designed to praise the Aztec gods and some uses are still a mystery today.  The pyramids at Teotihuacán should be preserved because they contain information still not known about the powerful Aztec empire.
	The pyramids at Teotihuacán were both innovative and unusual for the time period.  Even the Aztecs who had lived there or close by were un aware of how the immense city was actually built.  All that is known is that the pyramids had already been constructed once they arrived there hundreds of years later.  Some had told Spanish missionaries that giants had built the city for who else could logically build so many massive structures.  One of the main pyramids was the Temple of the Sun which was over 200 feet tall and had a width of 700 feet.  There were 600 hundred pyramids that made up the city not to mention thousands of other residences and city structures built into the intricate city.  Out of the pyramids along with other structures archaeologists have been able to see that the leaders of the city were very well versed in the art of engineering and astronomy. (Benson)  The vast amount of residences were apartment like as most were occupied by an extended families and had a shared courtyard in the middle.  Many of the lords of Teotihuacán lived in lavish palaces as well consisting of many courtyards in which their family lived. (Benson)  Not only the pyramids but the city as a whole was very innovative and modern for its time.
	The most interesting piece of information for the future to know is that to this day no one knows who built the pyramids and the city.  Obviously work was done by the people of Teotihuacán to expand upon the city, but the foundation and especially the large pyramids are still a mystery.  Teotihuacán along with being architecturally beautiful and massive was an epicenter for religion.  It was thought of as a holy city that had strong ties to the gods, for reasons which were never really known.  Aztec gods were constructed and placed into the sides of some of the temples in the city.  In 1971 there was an excavation at the city, and during this it was found that one temple was built and incorporated some caves into the actual infrastructure.  Some scholars think that the reason for doing so was this was the place where man first emerged. (Benson)   
	As mentioned in one of my prior paragraphs this was also a religious epicenter for many of the Aztec people.  If this was simply lost to time or allowed to be laid to ruin it would be as if a whole race had simply been forgotten.  It provides us with a look into how they went about satisfying their gods, and the amount of time and love that was devoted to them.  This system of pyramids also showed us that for a society so dependent on nature the population flourished, and in fact was bigger than most cities today.
	The city as a whole to me is absolutely breathtaking and interesting.  Viewing the pictures of what a vast city was built and how large the pyramids are in comparison to people climbing the litany of steps is amazing.  The best part I find is that there is no account for how these grThe pyramids at Teotihuacán comprised one of the largest cities in the Aztec empire.  Not only did it house a vast number of people but it was a religious holy ground.  A series of six hundred pyramids are encased in the large city.  Some designed to praise the Aztec gods and some uses are still a mystery today.  The pyramids at Teotihuacán should be preserved because they contain information still not known about the powerful Aztec empire.
	The pyramids at Teotihuacán were both innovative and unusual for the time period.  Even the Aztecs who had lived there or close by were un aware of how the immense city was actually built.  All that is known is that the pyramids had already been constructed once they arrived there hundreds of years later.  Some had told Spanish missionaries that giants had built the city for who else could logically build so many massive structures.  One of the main pyramids was the Temple of the Sun which was over 200 feet tall and had a width of 700 feet.  There were 600 hundred pyramids that made up the city not to mention thousands of other residences and city structures built into the intricate city.  Out of the pyramids along with other structures archaeologists have been able to see that the leaders of the city were very well versed in the art of engineering and astronomy. (Benson)  The vast amount of residences were apartment like as most were occupied by an extended families and had a shared courtyard in the middle.  Many of the lords of Teotihuacán lived in lavish palaces as well consisting of many courtyards in which their family lived. (Benson)  Not only the pyramids but the city as a whole was very innovative and modern for its time.
	The most interesting piece of information for the future to know is that to this day no one knows who built the pyramids and the city.  Obviously work was done by the people of Teotihuacán to expand upon the city, but the foundation and especially the large pyramids are still a mystery.  Teotihuacán along with being architecturally beautiful and massive was an epicenter for religion.  It was thought of as a holy city that had strong ties to the gods, for reasons which were never really known.  Aztec gods were constructed and placed into the sides of some of the temples in the city.  In 1971 there was an excavation at the city, and during this it was found that one temple was built and incorporated some caves into the actual infrastructure.  Some scholars think that the reason for doing so was this was the place where man first emerged. (Benson)   
	As mentioned in one of my prior paragraphs this was also a religious epicenter for many of the Aztec people.  If this was simply lost to time or allowed to be laid to ruin it would be as if a whole race had simply been forgotten.  It provides us with a look into how they went about satisfying their gods, and the amount of time and love that was devoted to them.  This system of pyramids also showed us that for a society so dependent on nature the population flourished, and in fact was bigger than most cities today.
	The city as a whole to me is absolutely breathtaking and interesting.  Viewing the pictures of what a vast city was built and how large the pyramids are in comparison to people climbing the litany of steps is amazing.  The best part I find is that there is no account for how these great structures came to pass.  Aztecs showed up and no one was there so they populated the area.  However structures such as these even in modern day society would take years to build.  It is baffling how in a time where none of the technological advancements of today were available that so many massive structures could have been made.  I also enjoy how it can be seen that it was laid out in a grid like system, and not only that but residences, temples, and marketplace structures that were put in place.  They had a city of one hundred to two hundred thousand people.  My biggest interest and movement about this piece is how do you create a city that can have that many thriving occupants and not know where it came from. 
	It would be safe to say that the pyramids are not very typical of the era.  However on the other side of the world there was only one place that would have some similar structures.  This would be the pyramids of Egypt.  They pre-date the pyramids at Teotihuacán but some are quite similar to the pyramids at Teotihuacán.  Most of them were around the same size.  The pyramid of Menkaure was one of two tinier pyramids that was built in Egypt. (Selin) It was around the same size as the pyramids found at Teotihuacán said to be 213 feet tall.(Egypt secrets of an Ancient World) Neither of these are what one would call "typical" but alike in construction.  Other than both being pyramids great intricacy was put into the building of them.  Menkaure has precise angles of its slopes along with the points facing the cardinal directions.  The pyramids at Teotihuacán also were intricate both inside and out with murals and pictures of their gods.  Not only to mention the connection between both having profound role in the religion and beliefs of both races.  One for the after life and one to praise the gods that provided them with this life
	Today the pyramids are still not completely figured out.  Some excavations have taken place recently just to discover or look at more of the pyramids to figure out purpose.  As said earlier even today no one knows who built these massive structures.  There was one excavation that took place recently in 2006 by Manzanilla and López Lujan et al..  They went to look at the Xalla complex.  Even after looking through and trying to figure out it's purposes this particular pyramid is still described as "Enigmatic". (Cowgill)  Others who look at the hierarchy that might have existed in the city have tried to figure out what the leaders were like.  As of now other than seeing different sized living quarters for the elite, they have no real idea as to what type of rulers were in place. (Cowgill) The difference between today and then is we have more tools to attempt and discover facts about Teotihuacán.  However back when first seen the Aztecs had no idea where these massive structures had emerged from, and as said before when the Spanish first arrived and asked they were told it was built by giants.  All of these facts do not assist us today in trying to understand or document these mysterious pyramids.
	As said work of this magnitude has only a few rivals one being the pyramid of Menkaure.  A pyramid built for a Egyptian king.  Both are roughly around the same size and shape, but the other very interesting comparison is they are both intricate.  Both have chambers that were used for religious purposes, and both are complex on the outside.  The Aztecs placed murals and sculptures all over, and the pyramid in Egypt had hieroglyphics and it's points point in all the cardinal directions.(Jones)  Serious thought and careful planning was taken with both of these structures to insure they did not fall short of their purpose. It is uncanny looking at how both are ancient structures that remain today.  It is assumed that one was built before the other but with no one knowing who built the pyramids at Teotihuacán they might rival in age as well.



















Work Cited

Benson Ed Sonia G., Baker Deborah J., Hermsen Sarah. Early Civilizations in the Americas Reference Library. Detroit. Gale, 2005. 

Selin, Helaine. Encyclopedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures. Berlin, Germany. Springer, 2008.

Jones, Lindsay. Encyclopedia or Religion. Detroit. Gale. 2005 Gale, Cengage Learning.

Cowgill, George L. "An update on Teotihuacan." Antiquity 82.318 (2008): 962-975. Religion and Philosophy Collection. EBSCO. Web. 15 Sept. 2011.

Egypt secrets of an Ancient World. National Georgraphic. Web. 12 Spetember 2011 http://www.nationalgeographic.com/pyramids/menkaure.html
