The National Museum of Korea through Aug. 28 holds the exhibition "Aztecs" to mark the 60th anniversary of relations between Korea and Mexico. (National Museum of Korea)
By Lee Jihae
A museum in Korea is displaying artifacts from the once-prosperous Aztec civilization in Mexico.
The National Museum of Korea (NMK) on May 3 opened the exhibition "Aztecs" to mark the 60th anniversary of the nation's ties with Mexico.
Located in Seoul's Yongsan-gu District, the museum through Aug. 28 will display 208 cultural relics from National Museum of Anthropology and the Museum of Templo Mayor in Mexico and nine museums in European countries such as Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland and Belgium. Among the displayed items are those that have not been exhibited even in Mexico, the birthplace of the Aztec civilization.
This exhibition is Korea's first large-scale event of its kind on Aztecs.
The leading Aztec sculpture "Sun Stone" vividly conveys the Aztec worldview and their wondrous mythology. The Codex Mendoza, which is composed of pictograms, vibrantly conveys the civilization's culture through its images.
The NMK held an exhibition on the Incas in 2009 and one on the Mayans in 2012.
The Aztecs had about 40 city-states and millions of people. The civilization collapsed in August 1521 when its capital Tenochtitlan was captured by Spanish conquistadors led by Hernan Cortes (1485-1547).
NMK Director General Min Byoung-chan told a May 2 media event, "Based on the results of the latest excavations in Mexico, we wanted to show the true aspects (of the Aztecs) before the conquistadors distorted and exaggerated them."
jihlee08@korea.kr
