# Travels in Mexico and life among the Mexicans/Chapter 16

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XVI.
A DAY IN THE MUSEUMS.
ONE need never be at loss where to go in Mexico for evidences of its past civilization, as some object hoary with antiquity rears its head at every corner. In a portion of the immense building known as the Palace is the Mexican Museum, El Museo Nacional, into which are gathered all the "finds" in archaeological fields. Entering the court, one sees, through a drapery of vines, the famous "sacrificial stone," occupying the centre of a lovely garden of flowers; beyond and above it towers the once-dreaded Huitzilopochtli, the great war-god of the Aztecs; while each side is flanked by a statue, the one on the left obtained in Tlascala, and that on the right in Yucatan. A nondescript monument rises in the eastern part of the garden, with frogs and snakes of stone squatted and coiled about its base; idols lie scattered over the pavement of the courts and in the shrubbery, and images of stone and marble, possessing great value for their antiquity and the skill shown in their workmanship.
A miscellaneous lot of gods, goddesses, and objects of worship, fare yet worse than the greater deities; for, piled up against
​the side of a building, they are exposed to the rude assaults of man and beast. A horse was stabled in that quarter of the garden at the time of my visit, close by these valuable antiquities, and, judging by the appearance of some of them, he had given expression to his contempt by kicking off their noses and ears.
Leaving this court, where two palms give a tropic cast to the complexion of the garden, we seek access to the museum. Entrance once gained, through a gallery lined with portraits of the famous viceroys of Mexico, with a full-length of Maximilian on horseback in the background, one soon sees what a valuable collection this is, which has been accumulated during the past ninety years. There is an authentic portrait of Cortes; opposite is his banner,—that silken pennon so often in peril from the savage hordes it was borne amongst. One room is filled with the silver service of Maximilian, some antique armor and relics of the conquerors, while valuable portraits of the viceroys and bishops of Mexico adorn the walls above. Entering the largest room, one sees some fine specimens of that famous picture-writing of the Aztecs, such as they used for conveying to Montezuma the intelligence of the arrival of the white strangers on his coast, in those fateful years of the conquest. There are images here, and gods of every known shape and kind, for the ancient Mexicans rejoiced in a greater variety of gods than any other nation existing at that time. It is related, I remember, that when Cortes proposed to the Tlascalans to abjure their gods, and set up the Virgin Mary instead, they made reply that "they could not do that, but they would give her a fair show with the rest." Whole or none was the policy of Cortes, and he later compelled them to cast down their idols and set up an image of his own choice.
This is a benevolent government, and encourages the learned and scientific men of all countries to come here and study. It opens to them its vast fields of archaeological treasures, and says, "Come and investigate"; it points out pyramids and mounds, and says to those wise men from other lands, "Come and dig"; and then it swoops down upon the findings of those wise men and carries them to the Museum. ​Yet who can blame it? An antiquarian is not like the wise man, who found a treasure and went straightway and hid it; but he, immediately he discovers anything of value, sets up such a howl of self-glorification that the attention of the whole world is directed thereto. Then, while the excavator is absent, looking for some means of conveying his treasure out of the country, the government steps in and quietly carries it off. Thus Mexico is enriched. The government is apathetic in regard to ruins and antiquities—till somebody finds something, then it is wide awake at once. It does not even gather in the monuments, minor and greater, that lie scattered about the fields.
A case in point occurred in the summer of 1881. The Chicago Times sent out an expedition to Mexico for the purpose of unearthing buried monuments. Captain Evans, who comprised the expedition, was here two months, and during that time was not idle. He found in Tezcoco, the ancient capital of art and civilization before the conquest, a "calendar stone,"—or the half of one,—some five or six feet long and three or four wide. This stone had been discovered some six months previously by the poor man who owned the mound, yet no one in the city of Mexico knew of it till announced by Captain Evans. It is a valuable sculpture, but the Mexican government will make no attempt to house it. It will wait till some one less wary than Captain Evans comes along, purchases it of the owner, and tries to carry it away; when it reaches a railroad leading to Mexico, it will be quietly drawn into the Museum, and there remain. There is here a small collection of earthen ware, that reminds us of the exploits of a foreign archæologist in Mexico,—one who came there with a great flourish of trumpets, but who departed without a great deal of pottery.
Some of the people of Mexico are afflicted with a complaint known as the mañana fever. If you ask them anything, the answer is mañana,—to-morrow. They eat, drink, and sleep to-day, but do their work and grant their favors—mañana.
And speaking of this mañana sickness reminds me that it is contagious. The most notable instance is that of this well-known archæologist. Read his communications, and they are ​found breathing the very spirit of "mañanaism." He came to Mexico, stopped at the best hotel, entertaining strangers with descriptions of the excavations—that he was going to make. Now and again he skipped out of town for a few days, dug a hole somewhere, and brought back fragments of pottery that indicated valuable deposits to be found—mañana. He was always going to find a buried city—to-morrow; a palace—to-morrow; he will draw you a plan of his work and make all clear—to-morrow; his photographs, the best in the world, are not now to be seen, but—to-morrow; his casts, to enlighten the world, may be seen—mañana; and it is not surprising to find that he finally left the country to the tune of mañana music.
Lest it should be inferred from the foregoing that the Mexican government does not extend a helping hand to the cause of science, I hasten to add that the contrary is the fact. Although revolutions have shaken this country terribly in the past, fair Science walks serenely on, its eye fixed steadfastly upon the stars. A rapid sketch of the history of this institution, the National Museum, will prove this. It is translated from the annals of the Museum itself.
In November, 1822, the national government established in the same edifice a conservatory of antiquities and cabinet of natural history; in 1831, upon motion of Don Lucas Alamán, both establishments were reconstructed under the name of the National Museum. Later, in December, 1865, the Archduke Maximilian removed the Museum to its present quarters in the national palace, formerly occupied by the mint.
At the organization of the national government, in 1867, a sum of five hundred dollars per month was voted for the expenses of this establishment. The Museum comprehends, and is divided into three departments,—Natural History, Archæology, and Bibliography.
A valuable feature of this institution is the publication of its "Annals," containing descriptions of the historic objects in the Museum, and of all antiquities pertaining to Mexico. The first of these Anales del Museo Nacional de Mexico appeared in 1877, containing articles by Señores Mendoza, Sanchez, Orozco y Berra, and Bárcena. They have appeared with regularity, and constitute a most valuable addition to the literature of Anahuac. The lithographic plates, executed in Mexico, beautifully colored, are the admiration of all who see them. There ​have been in all about twenty parts issued, which are exchanged for the publications of the scientific societies of other countries, and also sold at one dollar each.
But enough of the history of this institution, though it is necessary to a complete understanding of HUITZILOPOCHTLI, GOD OF WAR. its collections. We have merely glanced over these, since to describe them would demand the space of a volume devoted especially to antiquities. It is only recently that they have been catalogued, and the student made acquainted with the locale of some of the rarest historical objects on the American continent.
The most celebrated of these antiquities have been already mentioned,—the sacrificial stone, and the image of the Aztec war god, Huitzilopochtli. As to the latter, let his picture speak for him; it is not known when he was sculptured, but it is known that he was found buried in the great square, in 1790,—that he was again interred, for fear that he might tempt the Indians to their ancient worship, but again exhumed in 1821. Fruitless discussions have been had, as to whether it is Huitzilopochtli, or Teoyaomiqui, goddess of death. It matters not; the ​statue was worshipped, rivers of blood have flowed before it, and innocent men and maidens have perished in its presence, for the hearts of human victims were kept smoking on its altar night and day.
The sacrificial stone is inseparably connected with the name of Huitzilopochtli, since it was upon it that the victims gave up their lives. Of this we have data, which enable us to state when it was hewn out from the quarry of Coyoacan and sculptured, with its endless procession of conquering kings. I need not call the reader's attention to what Prescott has written regarding this very stone, to what all the historians of Mexico have said in confirmation of the statement that upon this stone, in a single year, sixty thousand human victims were offered up in sacrifice! It is nine feet in diameter, three feet in height, and carved on top and sides, with a deep bowl in the centre, and a channel leading to the edge. This is suggestive, this gutter for the blood of the victim to flow in, and self-explanatory.
Another great monolith, illustrating the advancement of the Aztecs in the art of sculpture, is the calendar stone,—not in the Museum, but cemented into the western wall of the cathedral. We know, from reading Prescott, Clavigero, Humboldt, and others, that the ancient Aztecs, and before them the Toltecs, were in a measure civilized. It is claimed that they could calculate the recurrence of their cycles, the solstices, etc., and that this "Calendar Stone" was indeed a perpetual calendar. Such has been the result of the interpretations of the hieroglyphs on its face by the learned Gama, Gallatin, and others; but more recent writers advance the opinion that it was solely intended to commemorate the feast-days, and to preserve in the memory of man the years of the cycles that had passed at the time it was engraved. This latter interpretation would seem to be the correct one, but we will not enter into the discussion. It is on record that this stone was also hewn from a block of basalt ​quarried in Coyoacan, and was brought to the city with attendant feasts, and songs, and dancing, in the year 1479, during the reign of the great and bloody Axayacatl. Its face is eleven feet eight inches in diameter, and the whole mass is said to weigh twenty-six tons.
As to the picture-writing, some specimens of it are preserved here, though the best examples are to be found scattered abroad in some of the libraries of Europe. THE CAVE PERIOD. (Aztec Picture-writing.) Both pictorial and symbolic in its character, the Aztec manuscript was prepared from, and its characters written on, either deer-skin or maguey paper. One is mentioned over sixty feet long, a narrow strip, folded after the manner of a book, with wooden slips at the extremities, which formed the covers when closed.
Although the best and most valuable Aztec manuscripts, or picture-paintings, were destroyed by Zumarraga, first Bishop of Mexico, some remained, and others—as soon as the Spaniards became sensible of their error—were produced by learned Indians, by order of the Viceroy. We know that the Mexicans were very apt at depicting scenes and representing occurrences, and that the landing of the Spaniards, in 1519, with all its attendant circumstances, was transmitted to Montezuma by his skilful painters before the bustle of that event had subsided.
In the great book by Lord Kingsborough we may find the various "Codices" produced in fac-simile, with all the bright colors of the originals. I have in my possession a lithographed chart in black and white, of some five metres in length, ​prepared by direction of that indefatigable archaeologist, Mr. Squier, so well known as an authority on Central America.
Four "maps," or charts, are given; the first, a history of the sovereign states and the kings of Acolhuacan, is a non-chronological map, belonging to the collection of Boturini. It is on prepared skin, and represents the genealogy of the Chichimeque
emperors, from Tlotzin to the last king, Don Fernando Ixtlilxochitl, and has a number of paragraphs in Nahuatl, or Mexican, It belonged, according to an inscription on the back, to Don Diego Pimental, descendant of King Nezalhualcoyotl. It gives a summary of the wars, pestilences, etc., which destroyed the Toltecs, and depicts the journeyings of the barbarous Chichimecs who invaded the valley of Anahuac, and finally established themselves at Tezcoco. ​I produce here fragments of two of the pictures, showing them as having in the caves of Chicamoztoc, their subsequent migration, and their barbarous nomadic life, when they subsisted entirely upon the chase and the wild plants of the field. The second series pictures them as having settled at Tezcoco, and engaged in the pursuits of agriculture, being surrounded by figures of the maguey, cultivated cactus, and other plants. The third gives us a glimpse of their later life, after they had assimilated the remnant of the Toltecs remaining in the valley, and had learned from them the arts for which the latter people had been distinguished, such as the casting of metals, the manufacture of jewelry, copper utensils, etc. The most valuable of the series is called "Map Tepechpan," also one of the Boturini collection, and consists of synchronous annals of the principalities of Tepechpan and Mexico, commencing with the year 1298, and ending at the conquest; subsequently extended by less skilful hands to 1596. Like the two manuscripts before spoken of, these go back to the savage era of the Chichimecs, but give the leading events in the Tepanec and Mexican tribes until the establishment of the Mexican empire, thence relating exclusively to the latter. Wars, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, inundations, etc., are all accurately recorded under the date of their occurrence. The coming of Cortés, the death of Montezuma and his nephew, and the accession of Guatemotzin, are all intelligibly set down here in unmistakable characters.
Among the many attractive articles in the Museum is Montezuma's feather-covered shield, below and beyond which are cases of carved stone, in every shape the fertile Indian imagination could suggest; to describe them would require a catalogue.
That rare volcanic glass, obsidian, was early used by the Mexican aborigines in the manufacture of arrow and spear heads, and even mirrors and curious masks are shown here, carved and polished. Vases of clay, black, and painted in many colors, with grotesque figures wrought, we also find, of which the finest, perhaps, is that bearing the image and symbols of the goddess Centeotl, the Mexican Ceres. Of the thousand and one gods possessed by the Aztecs, there were thirteen which held ​high rank. The supreme being was Teotl; but their greatest god represented by earthly symbol was Tezcatlipoca, or "the Shining Mirror," while Ometeuctli and Omecihuatl were respectively god and goddess only a little less powerful than the second. The god of storms and master of paradise was one Tlaloc, whose residence on earth was the volcano Popocatapetl.
VASE IN THE MUSEUM.
Of the tepitoton, or little gods, the Mexican penates, there were a vast number in olden times, for each noble was entitled to six in his house at once, and of these Bishop Zumárraga destroyed, it is said, at least twenty thousand.
So many and so various are the objects collected here, that it must have taken centuries of toil and the slow development of inventive genius to produce them. We can well believe the statement of an English antiquarian collecting in Mexican fields, that he often made trial whether it were possible to stand still in any spot where there was no relic of Old Mexico within sight, and found he could not. Carved objects are numerous, as shown by the masks, the teponaztli, or Mexican drum, and the so-called "sacrificial collars." These latter reminded me of some I had seen in Porto Rico, of which the Smithsonian Institution has the only complete series, and which are described and figured in the Reports of the Institution by Professor Mason. There seems to be the same doubt as to the use of these strange stones as hangs over those "collars" from Porto Rico. A teacher in the Jesuit college at San Juan, ​in that island, told me that Indian tradition related that these stones, which in Porto Rico are oval, and shaped exactly like horse-collars, were the private property of persons of rank, and were made by them during life to be buried with them at death, being placed over the head and upon the breast of the corpse.
One other object claims my attention here, as I speak of that famed island in the West Indian group, where Columbus first found Indians approaching in their mode of life to civilization, and this is the celebrated perro mudo, "SACRIFICIAL COLLAR." or dumb dog. There is, or was, a statue of him, and I think he was the animal of all others most worthy this honor, for he could neither bark nor bite. Now this animal, the alco, or wild dog, the Spaniards found in Mexico, Peru, and the West India Islands. It was a cherished object of affection with the Indians of Haiti especially, who carried it in their arms wherever they went, and equally esteemed was it by the Aztecs and other Mexicans, though as an article of food. It was called by them Techichi, and by the Spaniards el perro mudo, or the silent dog. After the conquest, the Spaniards, having neither cattle nor sheep, provided their markets with this animal, and soon, though once numerous, it became extinct; but it is said to exist among the Apaches to-day. The Aztecs held the belief that the Techichi acted as a guide through the dark regions after death. As none of these dogs have been ​seen for quite three hundred years or more, it is presumed that the entire race is employed in this duty of guiding the spirits of departed Aztecs through the shades of purgatory.
Some visitors to Mexico have complained, through their writings, that there is little to be seen here or elsewhere of that work of the goldsmiths in which the Mexicans excelled. Where, says one, are the calendars of solid gold and silver, as big as great wheels, and covered with hieroglyphics? where the golden birds and beasts and fishes? They have all gone to the melting-pot centuries ago. This is indeed true, for the kings of Spain, though the conquistadores sent them many, many rare and curious works in silver, gold, and gems, were wofully lacking in the antiquarian spirit, and put these priceless treasures to ignoble uses. To-day the native Mexican excels in the production of filigree work in silver, but in little else.
The ancient Aztecs, at the time of their discovery by Europeans, in 1520, were acquainted with many arts that are lost at the present day. Their works in silver and gold were the admiration of all who beheld them; and when brought to the notice of the goldsmiths of Europe, they declared they could not equal them; they cut gems and wrought precious metals in the forms of fishes, birds, and beasts, imitating, in fact, nearly, every object in nature. Their numberless idols testify to their skill in carving stone, and their wonderful picture-writings remain to attest their fertile fancy in the invention of symbols for ideas. They possessed in a high degree the true artistic instinct, and nothing will so well confirm the truth of this statement as their remarkable feather pictures. When the Spanish conquerors invaded Mexico, they were struck with the exquisite beauty of the plumaje, or feather-work, of the Aztecs. Even the stout old soldiers, who fought through all the battles in which Cortes was engaged, make mention of it as among the beautiful objects that first greeted their eyes in the markets of Mexico.
Though the race that then occupied that country was nearly exterminated, and the skilful artists and artisans dispersed, this art survived even the persecutions of centuries, and is among the few relics preserved of Aztec refinement and civilization. It has ​been handed down from father to son, guarded as a secret so closely that but few of the Mexican Indians of the present day are adepts at it. The feather pictures produced by them are as much works of art as the best paintings; and the beautiful feathers of trogon, paroquet, and humming-bird are as delicately laid on and as skilfully blended as the colors from the hand of a master.
Another evidence of refinement of taste in the Indian is to be found in the "rag figures," which have a reputation that is not less than world-wide. The French, in their invasion of Mexico, went into raptures over these marvellous imitations FIGURE IN WAX. of life scenes that were passing before their eyes every day, and declared they excelled the work of the best Chinese, Genoese, and Japanese workmen. The Aztec is patient; therein lies the secret of his success. Whether he be engaged in blending the metallic scales from the humming-bird's throat in one of those wonderful feather pictures, or whether moulding an image from plastic material, he puts his whole soul into the work, and considers not time nor labor till the thing is accomplished. The vast multitudes that throng the streets and markets of Mexico furnish him with subjects for his patient fingers. Upon a core of carefully-manipulated wax he moulds a skin of thin, specially-prepared cloth, tinted the exact color of the tawny people he purposes to represent. He does not draw upon his imagination for material, but imitates exactly the figures that move through the street before his workshop door.
Thus we have speaking likenesses of every type in Mexico, from the poor Indian, whose nakedness is barely concealed by a tattered shirt or leather breeches, to the gayly decorated caballero, mounted upon his silver-bespangled steed. There is the charcoal-seller, with a donkey-load of coal upon his back; it may be man or woman, and if the latter, she will have, in ​addition to the burden on her shoulders, a baby suspended in the rebozo. Another woman, from the canal and the "floating gardens," has immense bouquets in her hands, and a tray of tropical fruits balanced upon her head. Then there is the vender of crockery, who has on his back a huge crate of all sorts of earthen ware; one group represents him chaffing with a customer, so natural in execution that we are transported at once to the markets of Mexico, and mixing in the busy throng in the Plaza Mayor. A lepero closely follows, a mongrel Mexican, with hand outstretched for alms, and his mouth open, from which we may almost imagine we hear the cry, "Por dios, señor." He has one eye closed as if blind, and his tattered leather breeches barely hang together. He passes, and a white-headed Indian trots in sight, bearing a load of fireworks on his shoulders, and all the paraphernalia for the celebration of Holy Week. A basket-maker comes next, then a man with tunas, or prickly-pears, for sale, and all sorts of vegetables and flowers, colored by the artist to exactly imitate the natural article.
While Mexico is fast becoming modernized, it is fortunate, perhaps, that the customs and costumes of the people are thus perpetuated. It will not be many years before the traveller will have to go many a mile, and seek through many a city, for the gorgeous caballero who is a common sight in the capital today; for the advent of railroads is producing a great change, not only in the face of the country, but in the habits and costumes of the people. They are gradually adopting European styles of dress, and throwing off the garb of their forefathers, which has stamped them as the most original and picturesque people on the face of the earth. The only consolation of the future traveller lies in the fact, that among these people dwell those skilful artists who have reproduced in wax and plaster perfect types of these unique costumes, which are fast becoming obsolete.
The archæological fields of Mexico are exceeding rich, but ​we cannot linger in them longer; let us hasten to visit another place. It is only a block away from the Museum that we find a public institution which shows yet more forcibly what a truly munificent government has at some time or other ruled over Mexico. This is the Academy of Fine Arts, the Institute of San Carlos, founded in 1781, "We are astonished," says Humboldt, "at seeing here that the Apollo of Belvedere, the group of Laocoön, and still more colossal statues, have been conveyed through mountain roads at least as narrow as those of St. Gothard; and we are surprised at finding these masterpieces of antiquity collected together under the torrid zone, in a table-land higher than the convent of the great St. Bernard." The casts are scarcely worthy of notice in these later times, but there seems to me much to admire in the five saloons devoted to paintings. The first and second are crowded with the works of the old Mexican painters, and contain some very worthy productions, mostly treating of sacred subjects; several dating from a period nearly three centuries ago, but more of two hundred years back.
The European school is well represented in the third by copies and originals, containing, among others, three by Rubens, one a large Descent from the Cross; a Saint John of God, by Murillo; one Titian; three paintings from the school of Leonardo da Vinci; the Olympic Games, by Charles Vernet; an Episode of the Deluge, by Coglieti; Saint Jerome, by Alonzo Cano; a Saint Sebastian, attributed to Van Dyck; a Virgin by Perugino; and another by Pietro de Cortona; an Odalisque, by Decaen; and several pictures from the Flemish and Dutch schools.
But though an artist might linger longest in these galleries, the fourth and fifth saloons possess greater charms for the lover of Mexico and the student of her progress, for they are devoted to the works of the modern Mexican school. The fourth contains those beautiful paintings of the valley of Mexico, rendered so faithfully, pictured so entrancingly, by the renowned Velasco, and which were exhibited by the government at the Centennial Exposition in the United States. One would not need go to ​Mexico to see that wonderful valley, if he could obtain those glorious paintings. The ceiling of the fifth and largest is adorned with medallions containing men famous in science and art. In the centre is a grand painting, one I have long desired to see placed upon canvas by an American descendant of the mother of the New World,—Columbus presenting the fruits of his first voyage to Isabella and Ferdinand. Such a Columbus, and such a queen! And the Indians, timorous, yet with their native dignity clothing them as with a mantle. They bring to mind the picture painted by the poet, where Madoc describes them to his friends in Wales:—
"What men were they? Of dark brown color, tinged With sunny redness; wild of eye; their brows So smooth, as never yet anxiety Nor busy thought had made a furrow there; Beardless, and each to each of lineaments So like, they seemed but one great family. Their loins were loosely cinctured, all beside Bare to the sun and wind; and thus their limbs, Unmanacled, displayed the truest forms Of strength and beauty."
At the farther end, by itself, as if worthy a special niche in this Mexican temple of fame,—as it is,—one sees the famous work of the young artist, Felix Parra, "Las Casas Protecting the Indians,"—Las Casas, good Bishop of Chiapas, whose life was passed fruitlessly fighting the enemies of the Indian. It must have been a genius of more than ordinary grasp (though it requires not much study to find a conception worthy one's highest effort in the history of oppressed Mexico) who could thus have pictured the immortal Bishop and his down-trodden people. It seems, indeed, that the Mexican artist succeeds best when he devotes himself to historic scenes, for which he has a rich field in the conquest of his own country. In the "Massacre in the Temple" we have a confirmation of this. How vividly he has succeeded in portraying the leading figures in that ruthless slaughter, when Alvarado, taking advantage of the absence of Cortes from the city, fell upon the Mexican nobles, their wives and children, and murdered them mercilessly. ​"The Capture of Cortés" at Xichimilco is strong and spirited. It brings to mind that dreadful day when the Aztecs wellnigh gained a victory, and Cortés himself, struggling in the grasp of brawny Indians, would have been hurried to the temple of sacrifice but for the opportune arrival of two of his brave soldiers. It is to be hoped that the sons of Mexico will henceforth break away from blindly copying saints, cherubs, angels, and ecclesiastics, and devote their genius to the study of the thousand stirring episodes in the history of their own country. Already we see that it was not in vain that the king of Spain established here this school of art; although its disciples owe him and his successors allegiance no longer, yet the world at large will receive the benefit.
* ↑ See page 108 20
* ↑ See "Calendario Azteco, Ensayo Archæologico, por A. Chavero," Mexico, 1876; and "The Mexican Calendar Stone," by Philipp J. J. Valentini, Proc. Amer. Ant. Society, October, 1878.
* ↑ I deem it a duty to our museums and antiquarian societies to call attention to this series of Aztec manuscripts in possession of Mr. Frank Squier, of 84 Duane Street, New York. This gentleman has assured me that he would willingly dispose of his duplicate copies, at a very low price, in order that these valuable reproductions might be disseminated.
* ↑ The author would call attention to the fact that he has enumerated and particularly described (for the first time, it is believed) all the principal ruins, and groups of ruins, in Mexico, of interest to the student of American archæology. A reference to the Index, under the head of Ruins, or Antiquities, will enable the curious reader to trace and locate this line of ancient cities.