276
human sacrifices,” as literally depicted in the Codex Tudela.
24
When Cortés’ troops
destroyed the Aztec capital on August 13, 1521, the famed four-story House of
Birds was set ablaze. Most of the precious occupants burnt to death. A few managed
to escape, flying back into the jungles.
25
The spirituality and deification of avifauna in ancient Egypt was a colossal blind
spot perpetuated for millennia. All those archaeologically lionized tombs are both
sacred and profane, the killing fields, and superfund sites of birds. It is amazing that
any avifauna species survived the massacres in the name of civilization.
26
One thing
is certain: Notwithstanding Egyptian hypocrisies over 3000 years ago, the twentyfirst century is proving to be the most hostile century in the history of human–avian
interactions. We have learned nothing from the Book of the Dead, an implicit and
intoxicated tribute to our most sacrosanct pact with and subsequent betrayal of
Nature: taking everything from, but learning nothing of, history (Fig. 29.2).
24 See “Montezuma’s Zoo: A Legendary Treasure of the Aztec Empire,” by Natalia Klimczak,
Ancient Origins, March 18, 2020, https://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-americas/montezuma-zoo-legendary-treasure-aztec-empire-005090, Accessed July 13, 2020. See also “Aztec
capital falls to Cortés,” This Day In History, History.com Editors, February 9, 2010, https://www.
history.com/this-day-in-history/aztec-capital-falls-to-cortes, Accessed July 13, 2020.
25 See History of the Conquest of Mexico: With a Preliminary View of the Ancient Mexican
Civilization, and the Life of the Conqueror, Hernando Cortés, Volume II by William Hickling
Prescott, edited by John Foster Kirk, George Routledge and Sons, London, 1884, p. 278.
26 “Ancient Egyptians May Have Corralled Millions of Wild Birds to Sacrifice and Turn Into
Mummies,” Nicoletta Lanese, Live Science, November 14, 2019, https://www.livescience.com/
ancient-egypt-millions-of-wild-bird-mummies.html, Accessed March 15, 2020. The data taken
from “Mitogenomic diversity in Sacred Ibis Mummies sheds light on early Egyptian practices,” by
Sally Wasef, Sankar Subramanian, Richard O’Rorke, Leon Huynen, Samia El-Marghani, Caitlin
Curtis, Alex Popinga, Barbara Holland, Salima Ikram, Craig Millar, Eske Willerslev and David
Lambert, PLOS One, November 13, 2019, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0223964, https://
journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0223964, Accessed March 15, 2020.
29 Book of the Dead
human sacrifices,” as literally depicted in the Codex Tudela.
24
When Cortés’ troops
destroyed the Aztec capital on August 13, 1521, the famed four-story House of
Birds was set ablaze. Most of the precious occupants burnt to death. A few managed
to escape, flying back into the jungles.
25
The spirituality and deification of avifauna in ancient Egypt was a colossal blind
spot perpetuated for millennia. All those archaeologically lionized tombs are both
sacred and profane, the killing fields, and superfund sites of birds. It is amazing that
any avifauna species survived the massacres in the name of civilization.
26
One thing
is certain: Notwithstanding Egyptian hypocrisies over 3000 years ago, the twentyfirst century is proving to be the most hostile century in the history of human–avian
interactions. We have learned nothing from the Book of the Dead, an implicit and
intoxicated tribute to our most sacrosanct pact with and subsequent betrayal of
Nature: taking everything from, but learning nothing of, history (Fig. 29.2).
24 See “Montezuma’s Zoo: A Legendary Treasure of the Aztec Empire,” by Natalia Klimczak,
Ancient Origins, March 18, 2020, https://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-americas/montezuma-zoo-legendary-treasure-aztec-empire-005090, Accessed July 13, 2020. See also “Aztec
capital falls to Cortés,” This Day In History, History.com Editors, February 9, 2010, https://www.
history.com/this-day-in-history/aztec-capital-falls-to-cortes, Accessed July 13, 2020.
25 See History of the Conquest of Mexico: With a Preliminary View of the Ancient Mexican
Civilization, and the Life of the Conqueror, Hernando Cortés, Volume II by William Hickling
Prescott, edited by John Foster Kirk, George Routledge and Sons, London, 1884, p. 278.
26 “Ancient Egyptians May Have Corralled Millions of Wild Birds to Sacrifice and Turn Into
Mummies,” Nicoletta Lanese, Live Science, November 14, 2019, https://www.livescience.com/
ancient-egypt-millions-of-wild-bird-mummies.html, Accessed March 15, 2020. The data taken
from “Mitogenomic diversity in Sacred Ibis Mummies sheds light on early Egyptian practices,” by
Sally Wasef, Sankar Subramanian, Richard O’Rorke, Leon Huynen, Samia El-Marghani, Caitlin
Curtis, Alex Popinga, Barbara Holland, Salima Ikram, Craig Millar, Eske Willerslev and David
Lambert, PLOS One, November 13, 2019, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0223964, https://
journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0223964, Accessed March 15, 2020.
29 Book of the Dead