WALL PAINTINGS OF MITLA" 



Bv Eduari) Seler 



DESCRIPTION OF MITLA 



In the broad valley of Tlacolula, which, rising in a succession of 

 terraces, inclosed by mountain ranges, and intersected by flat-topped 

 ridges and isolated peaks, forms the eastern part of the wide and 

 beautiful Valle de Oaxaca, lies the place which is called Yoopaa,'' or 

 Lioo-baa, by the Zapotecs, and Mictlan by the Mexicans. It is situ- 

 ated near the highest eastern end of the valley, at the foot of the 

 mountain chain which separates it from the valley of Villa Alta and 

 the mountainous regions of the Mixes. The two names of this place 

 have the same meaning, " burial place ", or " place of the dead '\ It 

 was the burial cit}'^ of the Zapotec kings and priests. 



It was a custom among the Zapotecs and the kindred tribes, 

 Mixtecs, Cuicatecs, and their neighbors, the Mixes, to bur}^ their 

 dead chiefs and nobles in caves. There was probably a double reason 

 for this custom. Throughout the world caves have been looked upon 

 as entrances to the interior of the earth, to the underworld, to the 

 kingdom of the dead. Among the Zapotecs and Mixtecs, however, 

 there existed also the belief, which is met w^ith among several other 

 aboriginal tribes of America, that the ancestors of their race had 

 risen from the inner depths of the earth to the light of the sun. 

 Thus it was, in a certain way, the realm of the forefathers, their 

 ancient home, in which they buried their dead when they laid them 

 to rest in the sacred caves. 



" Wandmalereien von Mitia, eine mexikanischen Bilderschrift in fresko, nach elgenen an 

 Ort iind Stelle anfgenommenen Zeichnungen, herausgegeben und erliiutert von Dr 

 Ednard Seler. Berlin, 1895. Tlie dedication may be translated as follows : To His 

 Excellency the Duke of Loubat, the generous promoter of the infant science of the new 

 continent, these results of earlier journeys and studies are gratefully dedicated by the 

 author. Steglitz, July, 1895. 



' Burgoa translates it Lugar de Descanso, " resting place ". Indeed the meaning " rest- 

 ing ", " taking breath ", is contained in the root paa. For paa, and the allied form pee, 

 means " breeze ", " wind ", " breath ", and the extended meaning " happiness ", " blessed- 

 ness ", " peace ", " wealth ", can doubtless be traced back to this root. I'au also contains, 

 by implication, the meaning " burial place " ; paa or queto-paa, sepultura, " tomb " ; paa- 

 quie, sepultura de piedra, " stone tomb " ; paa-tfio, sepultura labrada a poste, a " sepulcher 

 made of posts " ; and it is perhaps most natural to accept this especial meaning here. 



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