Translation:True History of the Profound Mexico/2

by Guillermo Marín Ruiz

1.0 THE WORLD´S OLDEST CIVILIZATIONS.

We are but a tiny spot in the immeasurable universe.

It is estimated that the age of the universe is 13,500 billion years^[1] and that of Earth is only 5,000 million years.^[2] The presence of Homo sapiens^[3] on earth, our oldest closest relative, is approximately 150 thousand years. To compare and have an idea of the time humans have been present on earth in relation to the age of the planet, suppose that 5,000 million years equals one year, humans only appeared on December 31 of that year at about 11:59 P.M. In other words, mankind’s presence is just an "instant", in the life of this wonderful, splendid and generous living being known as planet Earth. However, in a millionth fraction of a second, that is, the past 50 years, human beings are endangering the planet, by their erroneous way of life.

The six civilizations with autonomous origin.

The origin of Earth’s oldest civilizations occurred about 10 thousand years ago. Experts use the emergence date of a culture by the invention of agriculture, since humans ceased being nomadic hunter—gatherers to remain, for generations, in the same place. Thus, they were able to observe, experiment and discover the miracle of plant cultivation, philosophy, science, crafts, art and religion. In fact, Egypt and Mesopotamia^[4] began settlement processes and agricultural techniques, approximately eight thousand years BCE; followed at about 6,000 years BCE by China, India, Mexico^[5] and the Andean^[6] region. (Leon Portilla. 1980).^[7]

These six civilizations are the most ancient, but above all, they had an autonomous development; that is, none received external cultural contributions. They were able to access, invent and develop all their knowledge base without external input. Thus, Mexico started its Cultural development approximately six thousand years B.C.E. with the discovery of agriculture, but above all, we must emphasize, the hybridization of corn, and reached surprisingly high levels of knowledge until the European arrival in 1519. During approximately 7,500 years of independent development, the Mexican ancestors established the foundations of one of the oldest and most important world civilizations. Moreover, our Old Grandfathers bequeathed the sons of the sons of the ancient Mexicans, “a face of our own and a true heart", where it still lives on.

Here we must make an observation: the “European civilization” is not among the oldest in the world nor does it have an autonomous origin, because its development depended on Egypt, Mesopotamia, India and China. Therefore and properly speaking, Europe is —neither old, nor a continent— because Europe is part of the Euro—Asian—African continent.^[8]

1. EFE. Washington.- A NASA probe sent deep into space has determined that the universe was born 13.7 billion years ago, according to the Big Bang astronomical theory.
2. THE BIG BANG THEORY. The solar system began as a diffuse mass of gas and dust that rotated and was slowly concentrated by gravitational forces. The heat generated by this process produced a small sun which weakly shone at the center. From this sun, a flat gas disk broke away and remained in orbit. Gas concentrated inside the disk and eventually formed planets, while the sun contracted and gradually heated. Close to the sun the heavier elements condensed, forming the inner planets, like Earth. Outwards, lighter atoms condensed forming the outer planets.
3. Although there are antecedents, like: Paranthropus (Man of East Africa); Homo-Habilis, who was a tool maker; Australopithecus Africanus; Java Man, Homo Erectus, Homo Sapiens, and Pithecantrhopus Neanderthalis, the best known example of prehistoric man and which appeared in Europe, Asia and Africa 150,000 years ago, and knew the use of fire, carved stones, and manufactured utensils, tools, and hunting weapons, and begun to draw and carve. However, Homo Sapiens, during the last 30,000 years has been the only true human species in the world.
4. In antiquity, there were a number of towns along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, this region is known as Mesopotamia which means "land between rivers". It occupied the current territory of Iraq. Its oldest culture was the Sumerian.
5. Recent discoveries of maize, squash and chili seeds in the Tlacolula Valley in Oaxaca, some dating back 10,000 years, place Anahuac civilization among the oldest in the world, along with Mesopotamia and Egypt.
6. The territory on the Andes mountain range currently occupied by Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Chile.
7. Miguel León-Portilla (Born in Mexico City, February 22, 1926) is a Mexican Anthropologist and Historian, and a prime authority on Nahuatl thought and literature. Since 1988 he is an emeritus researcher at the National University of Mexico. His 1956 doctoral thesis, “Nahuatl Philosophy Studied from its Sources” written under the tutelage of Fr. Ángel María Garibay K., a Nahuatl speaker. León-Portilla has spearheaded a movement to understand and re-evaluate Nahuatl literature, not only from the pre-Columbian era, but also contemporary works, since Nahuatl is still spoken by 1.5 million people. He has contributed to the establishment of bilingual education in rural Mexico. Leon Portilla has also contributed to the discovery of the works of Fray Bernardino de Sahagún, a primary source about Aztec civilization, whom he called the first Aztec anthropologist. Zahagún gathered the knowledge of the Aztec wise men, (Tlamantinime), and wrote it down in vernacular Spanish. At the request of the Spanish authorities, he wrote a Castillian Spanish version of said knowledge in his work “General History of theThings of New Spain”, but his principal work, The Florentine Codex was never published. Before León Portilla, the Codex had only been translated once, (into German), and it was an incomplete version. In November, 1998, the Association Juchimanes de Plata A.C. granted him the Prize “Juchimán de Plata”, housed at the Autonomous Juárez University of Tabasco.
8. Continent: is one of several large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, although surrounded by water; these are not necessarily peninsulas or islands.