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Why did the Zapotecs create the Zapotec urn?
Zapotec Urn: You see, I’m not your average urn. People called the Zapotecs created me for a very special purpose. I was made to honor a noble (a person of the highest class) who died. That person was placed in a fancy tomb, and I was among the precious treasures buried with him.
Who is Cocijo?
Cocijo (occasionally spelt Cociyo) is a lightning deity of the pre-Columbian Zapotec civilization of southern Mexico. In the Zapotec language, the word cocijo means “lightning”, as well as referring to the deity.
What is a Zapotec urn?
The most typical Zapotec objects are the funerary urns of pottery which were buried in or around tombs. These tombs are in themselves admirable structures, generally consisting of a chamber with walls and roof of stone and adobe, cement floor and a doorway with a great stone lintel, all carefully carved and faced.
What is Zapotec art?
The Zapotec people are a large indigenous group concentrated in Oaxaca in Southern Mexico. Alebrije is a Zapotec word meaning ‘delightful’. They are whimsical carvings of fantastical creatures. They are made from locally sourced copal wood. They’re carved using hand tools – machetes, chisels, and knives.
What were Zapotec urns used for?
It was long thought that the urns represented deities who would guide the spirits of the deceased, but more recent scholarship suggests they reflect the Zapotec culture’s veneration of ancestors.
Are the Zapotec still alive?
The population is concentrated in the southern state of Oaxaca, but Zapotec communities also exist in neighboring states. The present-day population is estimated at approximately 400,000 to 650,000 persons, many of whom are monolingual in one of the native Zapotec languages and dialects.
How many Zapotec gods are there?
Religious Beliefs The Zapotecs were polytheistic, meaning they worshipped many gods. In fact, they worshipped at least 15 separate deities.
What artwork did the Zapotec produced?
Pottery and Statues The Zapotec crafted grey-ware which is pottery made out of grey clay that was sometimes painted. Funerary urns are one of the most commonly found representations of Zapotec pottery.
What kind of face does Cocijo have in art?
In Zapotec myth, he made the sun, moon, stars, seasons, land, mountains, rivers, plants and animals, and day and night by exhaling and creating everything from his breath. In Zapotec art Cocijo is represented with a zoomorphic face with a wide, blunt snout and a long forked serpentine tongue.
Where is the statue of Cocijo in Mexico?
An Early Classic representation of Cocijo found at Monte Albán and now in the Museo Nacional de Antropología in Mexico City. Cocijo (occasionally spelt Cociyo) is a lightning deity of the pre-Columbian Zapotec civilization of southern Mexico.
What kind of sacrifices did the Cocijo do?
Religious rites, including bloodletting, were performed to each of these four Cocijos. As payment for bringing rain Cocijo frequently received human sacrifice, mostly in the form of children but also, less frequently, adults.