1508 Solar Eclipse: A Sign of Future Fall of the Aztec Empire

In the year 1508, there was an eclipse in the Valley of Mexico that would foreshadow the fall of the Aztec empire a decade later. Since the Sun, also known as the deity Huitzilopochtli, was the main god of worship, eclipses were seen as major events in Aztec history. Often associated with tragedy and striking fear upon the empire, Aztecs kept detailed records of eclipses. According to Dr. Milbarth, the magnitude of the eclipse of 1508 had much change in the depiction of the sun on sculptures and other artwork, like the Bilimeck Vessel. With its knife-like tongue and many arms reaching from the sides of the image, it is clear that the event struck fear in the hearts of the Aztec priests, and would later be identified as the eclipse that predicted the fall of the Aztec Empire.

Major monuments of the Mexica (Aztec) are analyzed in terms of possible eclipse imagery. We could not know whether the Mexica astronomers could accurately predict eclipses, but they were probably able to tell that an eclipse was possible in a given year. Mexica astronomers feared the eclipse event for as the empire drew to a close, there were more and more eclipses visible in Central Mexico. In the final 100 years of the Mexica empire, between 1425 and 1525, there were a total of eight solar eclipses recorded when before this time period, there were only two solar eclipses previously. The astronomers may well have been concerned about the fate of the Mexica nation, for its history was closely tied to that of the sun, and its demise was to be accompanied by a solar eclipse.

It is assumed that perhaps, in some way, these eclipses fulfilled the ominous cycle of the birth and death of the fifth sun, 4 Olin. By 1531, only 10 years after the conquest, plagued of European diseases had cut the population of the valley of Mexico almost in half, effectively bringing the Mexica world to an end.

This is a reputable source as Dr. Milbarth has researched mesoamerican festivities and their connections to astronomical events. In this article, she examines Mexica sculptures that depict the sun and how the sculpture the Bilimick vessel differs in its portrayal of the sun during the New Fire Ceremony of 1507.