The Xiuhtecuhtli Mask, currently on display at the British Museum in London, is one of the turquoise artifacts that the Spanish conqueror Hernán Cortés took from the Aztec Empire and brought back to Europe as a treasure in the early 16th century.
According to experts at the British Museum, the turquoise mask may symbolize the cycles of renewal in Aztec history in the Americas. The mask is carved from cedar wood and adorned with turquoise inlays, with eyes made of pearl bordered in gold, and teeth crafted from mother-of-pearl shell.
The mask made from wood and turquoise inlays symbolizes Xiuhtecuhtli, the fire god of the Aztecs. (Source: PA Images).
Inside the mask, a layer of cinnabar—a red mineral that contains mercury—has been applied. The mask stands approximately 16.8 cm tall and features small holes at the temples, indicating that it was once tied on for wearing.
Xiuhtecuhtli, meaning “Lord of Turquoise” in Nahuatl, is the name of the Aztec fire god. The Aztecs maintained a “sacred fire” that burned continuously in the Temple of Fire in the city of Tenochtitlan. All other fires in the city were lit from this flame.
Every 52 years, the Aztec priests would extinguish the fire. The highest-ranking priest would wear the turquoise mask symbolizing Xiuhtecuhtli and then perform the Xiuhtlalpilli, or “new fire ceremony”, to pray for the renewal and continued development of the Aztec civilization for another half-century.
The darker turquoise inlays on the cheeks and nose of the mask form the shape of a butterfly, another symbol of renewal in Aztec culture.
Researchers suggest that the turquoise inlays on the mask may represent the god Nanahuatzin from Aztec mythology, who sacrificed himself by jumping into the fire and subsequently transformed into the Sun.
| The Aztecs were a Central Mesoamerican culture that thrived in central Mexico during the late Postclassic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec civilization was organized into city-states (altepetl), often allied together in the form of an empire or federation. |
