Montezuma became a great Aztec emperor partly due to his diligence in pleasing the Sun god, who apparently revealed his commands to the emperor in meditation sessions. The voracious god required a continual supply of sacrificial victims, whose blood and body parts fed the god to ensure the daily journey of the sun across the sky. He was so voracious that up to 20,000 victims were sacrificed to Aztec deities every year.
The room where Montezuma received some of those directives may now be revealed to the 21st century as Mexican archeologists are unearthing the remains of an Aztec palace where they believe Montezuma I and II once lived. Montezuma I (1397-1469) ruled the Aztecs from 1440 to 1469 and is best known for his expansion of the empire and for his building projects. After Montezuma died, he was succeeded by his 19-year-old cousin Axayacatl. Axayacatl was the father of Montezuma II, the ruler of the Aztecs at the time of the Spanish invasion and conquest in the 1520s.
The palace complex was situated in Tenochchtitlan, today’s Mexico City. According to archeologists, it consisted of five buildings that housed the emperor’s office, chambers for children and several wives, and a zoo. It also included a dark room where Montezuma meditated. That room was uncovered during a routine renovation project when experts discovered pieces of a wall and a basalt floor.
The basalt floor likely belongs to the Casa Denegrida, or the Black House, which Spanish conquerors described as a windowless room painted in black, Hernandez said. The emperor was believed to have reflected there on visions recounted by professional seers and shamans.
Although the Spaniards razed the buildings, archeologists have long thought the palace would be found close to the capital city’s National Palace – the place where, in fact, it was discovered. The find is "another piece of a puzzle, (and) we hope to find several pieces," archeology team leader Elsa Hernandez said. Tbe team plans to excavate beneath several parts of the colonial building, which now houses the Museum of Culture, she said.
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