112 
the ruins of the pyramid by a name equivalent to 
that of a castle, or citadel. The great analogy 
between the form of this kind of citadel, and the 
teocallis, leads me to think, that the hill of 
Xochicalco was merely a fortified temple. The 
pyramid of Mexitli, or the great temple of 
Tenochtitlan, contained also an arsenal, and 
served during the siege as a fort, sometimes to 
the Mexicans, and at others to the Spaniards. 
We learn from Scripture, that, in the earliest 
times, the temples of Asia, such as that of Baal 
Berith at Shechem^ in Canaan, were not only 
buildings consecrated to worship, but also en- 
trenchments, in which the inhabitants of a city 
defended themselves against the attacks of an 
enemy. Nothing indeed is more natural to men, 
than to fortify the places, which contain the tu- 
telary gods of the country. What more animat- 
ing when the state is in danger, than to fly to 
the foot of their altars, and fight under their im- 
mediate protection ? Among the nations whose 
temples were built like the pyramid of Belus, 
one of the most ancient in its figure, the struc- 
ture of the edifice might serve the double pur- 
pose of worship and defence. In the Grecian 
temples, the wall which formed the peribolos 
alone afforded an asylum to the besieged. 
The natives of the neighbouring village of 
Tetlama are in possession of a map, drawn 
before the arrival of the Spaniards, but to which 
