The Descent of the Sun into the Underworld. Iconographic Analysis of the Murals of Patio 3 of the Palacio del Sol, Teotihuacan

Abstract

Through the iconographic analysis of the murals of Patio 3 located in the Palace of the Sun, the Butterfly Bird God is presented associated with a solar disk that I point out here as a characteristic attribute of this deity. In the scenes of these murals, the same theme is represented in different ways: the descent of the Butterfly Bird God to the underworld, which constitutes a specific moment in the myth of this god, narrating his death and rebirth in that underground world. Likewise, in the murals of Patio 3, the representatives of the underworld are also captured, through the images of the reticulated jaguar and the only mortal characters - the Sacrificers of the Rain God -, while they receive the descending solar disk. As a result of the analysis, the descent of the god is represented in four different variations, which are divided into two groups: on the one hand, there are murals that refer to the action of the descent itself, and on the other hand, scenes are observed that probably represent the final point of the process, understood as the moment in which the sun lies in the underworld.