Mexico: Zapotec 'Cloud People' tomb found

(NewzTech20) The "Cloud People" (Be'ena'a) of Mexico [AI podcast mode starts at ]

• IN THIS STORY: Mexican officials are calling the discovery of a Zapotec (Be’ena’a) tomb one of the country’s greatest archeological discoveries of the last decade.
• The tomb, dated to 600 C.E., features colorful murals that experts hope they can soon decipher.
• Other architectural highlights within the tomb include friezes and carvings in doorposts.

(WDRB News - Official) Mexico unveils 1,400-year-old Zapotec tomb and colorful mural

Tomb features colorful murals that experts hope they can soon decipher (Lelia Valduga/Getty)

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Mexican Pres. Lopez Obrador and Sheinbaum

Officials are lauding a newly unearthed tomb, tucked into the Central Valley of Oaxaca [pronounced \wah-hah-kah\] in Mexico [Mesoamerica], as the greatest archeological find made in the country in the last decade.

 

Dated to 600 C.E.—a pre-Hispanic [Pre-Columbian era, pre-arrival of Spain and European Conquistadors] period during which the Zapotec culture ruled the region—experts believe the architectural and cultural meanings they can extract from the find will reveal unknown elements of Zapotec life 1,400 years ago.

Claudi Curiel de Icaza (INAH)

“This is an exceptional discovery due to its level of preservation and what it reveals about Zapotec culture: its social organization, its funerary rituals, and its worldview, preserved in the architecture, and mural paintings,” Mexico’s Secretary of Culture Claudi Curiel de Icaza said in a translated statement from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH).

The tomb features sculptural elements and mural paintings that contain symbols often associated with power and death, while friezes and tombstones bear inscriptions which appear to reference calendars.

Pres. Claudia Sheinbaum in front of MX flag

“This is the most important archeological discovery in Mexico in the last decade due to its level of preservation and the information it provides,” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo said at a press conference, according to INAH.

The murals and architecture start at the entrance to the antechamber. An owl, which symbolized night and death for the Zapotec people, covers the painted face of a lord. Experts with INAH believe that the portrait may be of the ancestor to whom the tomb was dedicated. His descendants may have hoped that he would serve as an intercessor with deities. More

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Who are the "Zapotecs," the "Cloud People," how did they build underground?

Zapotec civilization funerary art

The Zapotec civilization (the Be'ena'a or "The people who came from the clouds," circa 700 BC–1521 AD) is an advanced indigenous pre-European (pre-Columbian, pre-Hispanic, pre-invasion) civilization that flourished in the Central Valleys of Oaxaca in Mesoamerica (part of North America above Central America, mostly comprised of modern Mexico). Archaeological evidence shows that their culture, now replaced by Mixtec culture, originated at least 2,500 years ago. The Zapotec archaeological site at the ancient City of Monte Albán has pyramids, monumental buildings, ball courts, tombs, and grave goods, including finely worked gold jewelry. Monte Albán was one of the first major cities in Mesoamerica. It was the center of a Zapotec state that dominated much of the territory which today is known as the Mexican state of Oaxaca [1, 2]. The Zapotecs are their modern Mexican descendants. More

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The ancient Egyptians preferred the androsphinx

The Sphinx before and after excavation (with touch ups and refinements), circa 1926

MEXICO CITY, Sept. 4. -- Mexican Boy Scouts exploring the wildest parts of the State of Guerrero discovered ruins which experts believe will lead to unearthing another buried city in this republic.

The members of the expedition, which was working under the patronage of the Minister of Education, found themselves a few days ago on one of the highest mountain ranges in Guerrero.

Nearby were numerous mounds, varying in size. Digging into one of the largest mounds, the Boy Scouts found an enormous stone head like that of the Egyptian sphinx.

• AP reported in 1930 that Boy Scouts discovered "a large stone sphinx bearing a marked resemblance to that in Egypt" in Guerrero, Mexico: Link to archived newspaper and related claim of finding ancient ruins 30 feet beneath the ground (allegedly making it 50,000-years-old) in the same region in comments. : r/HighStrangeness (Is this Tehuacalco, Guerrero?)
• 1926: THE [Egyptian] SPHINX EMERGES FROM THE SANDS OF TIME; Some of Its Secrets Revealed After Six Months of Excavation -- Mammoth Lion, Hewn Out of Solid Rock, Comes to Light (The New York Times)
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They did not uncover the body, which is believed to be immense. Authorities say the stone head has extraordinary similarity to the archaeological treasures found at Gizen [Giza], Egypt.

The eyes of the image are deep cavities. Nearby was unearthed a huge round stone covered with hieroglyphics.

Nubia (modern Sudan) has more pyramids.

The many small mounds in the district under exploration are believed by government experts to be the summits of a series of pyramids.

The stone head which was uncovered is thought to have been that of some God [ruling deity], carved by the Indians [Indigenous people] in ancient times and surrounded by pyramids.

The Mexicans built giant pyramids on temples?

The head of the image is about 10 feet long and proportionately wide.

Alfonso Caso, a lawyer; Luis Fabela an architect, and Señor Escobar, a guide, will leave here in a few days to survey the district and begin excavation work on a limited scale.

Source: BOYS FIND SPHINX IN MEXICAN WILDS; Scouts See Traces of Buried City and Pyramids on Hike in State of Guerrero. EXPERTS TO STUDY REGION Lawyer, Architect and Guide, Will Go From Mexico City to Begin Excavations. - The New York Times

(Paranormal Research Paul Stonehill) Sphinx, ancient discs and bracelets: Enigmatic finds in Mexico

Sphinx, ancient discs, and bracelets: Enigmatic finds in Mexico

Egypt: The Great Sphinx of Giza in 1858, mostly buried and preserved by sand.

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(Paranormal Research Paul Stonehill) April 25, 2025: ...has revealed an archaeological treasure that could rewrite... ...the total to 14 registered archaeological pieces... ...Archaeological Problems in Guerrero, Mexico...

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