San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1925-09-06

November next. The occasion IS
the 600th anniversary of the
foundation of Mexico City.
They will enjoy a unique op-
portunity to view all the antiq- -
uities and beauties of the City of
Mexico and the surrounding -
country, which are even more 49,
numerous and interesting in that
vicinity than anywhere else in
the republic. Here there are
pyramids antedating those of The
Egypt, temples, Floating gar Aztec
dens," prehistoric inscriptions
rivaling those of Babylonia and
Assyria, catacombs as interesting as
those Of Rome, and, coming down to later
times, Christian churches of singularly
original and beautiful architecture.
The Sacred Pyramids of the Sun and
Moon at San Juan Teotihuacan City of
the Gods are perhaps the most imposing
of all Mexican antiquities. They lie TWEEN
ty-seven miles northeast of Mexico City
and can be reached in a few minutes over
excellent roads. Their origin is buried in
the remote past. Native legends date their
foundation from the epoch Of the gods,
but modern historians attribute them to
the Toltecs. A great Toltec city once
surrounded the pyramids and was de-
stroyed by barbarous tribes.
The House of the Sun at Teotihuacan
is about 761 feet at the base and 216
feet high. On the summit once stood
splendid temple containing a gigantic
statue Of the sun. made of a single block
Of porphyry, adorned with a heavy breast
plate Of gold.
About half mile to the north of the
Pyramid Of the Sun is the Pyramid Of
the Moon. Recent excavations have
brought to light great stairways in the
pyramid, which zigzag to the summit;
beautiful polychrome decorations and a
mysterious dark well faced with square
stones. Into this it is believed sacrificial
victims were thrown as harvest offer
ing. South Of the Pyramid of the Moon
is the curious avenue called Meocatl-
Path Of the Dead"
Some of the skulls exhumed here bear
a striking resemblance TO ancient Egyp-
tlsns, thus supporting theory once held
by many that the first Mexicans were of
Egyptian origin. But now it seems equal
ly probable that the Egyptians were Of
Mexican origin.
Professor BYRON Cummings, of the Ma
tional Geographical Society, discussing the
ruins Of Cuicuco, in the Valley Of Mex
leo, says that the pyramids discovered
there are 5000 years old. This means
that a thousand wears before Pharaoh
forced his slaves TO erect the giant Pyra-
mids Of Egypt, and more than twice as
long ago as King Tutankhamen had his
now notorious funeral prearrangcd and
his body laid away in a paatial tomb.
some ancient monarch Of the Valley Of
Mexico forced his subjects TO erect
mighty monument to strange gods which
have long since been forgotten by man.
When the fierce explorer COrtcz first
burst into the Valley Of Mexico he en-
COuntered the luxurious cOUrtiers Of Mon
tezuma, wearer Of shoes with golden sOleg.
The known history of Mexico goes back
first TO the AZtecs, then TO the Toltecs.
then to the Mayas. Before that there was
a race known as 'the primtives," aud
even before that there was another civil
zation.
"The mansions Of the Mexican nobility
at the time Of the Spanish conquest were
on a scale of great magnificencr," SAYS
the historian Prescott. They were spread
over a wide extent Of ground, arranged in
a quadrangular form, with a court in the
center, and were surrounded by pOrticos
of portals embellished with porphyry and
Jasper, while fountain of crystal water
in the centre shed a grateful GOODNESS
through the air
''The principal street, conducting from
the great southern causeway, afforded a
noble vista in which the long lines Of low
stone edifiees were broken occasionally by