The truth behind the mysterious golden city legend

For hundreds of years, many greedy people from Europe have perished in the pitiful forest of South America in the hope of finding the golden city of El Dorado.

>>>Found the Central American gold city

Columbus's arrival in the Americas in 1492 was the first chapter in a cultural clash that contributed to changing the world. It is a brutal war of two completely opposite styles of life and belief system.

Legend of the Europeans that El Dorado is a gold city missing and awaiting the discovery of adventurers. That reflects the endless aspirations of Europeans with gold and the motive to exploit new lands to recover wealth.

Meanwhile, the legend of South Americans about El Dorado shows the true nature of this city and the people who live there. For South Americans, El Dorado has never been a place, but a wealthy leader. This person is said to have a habit of covering the body from head to toe every morning and washing them in a sacred lake in the evening.

El Dorado is essentially a leader of the Muisca people who like it
gold, not gold city like legend.

The truth behind legends is getting clearer in recent years, when scientists combine long-standing historical documents and new archaeological research. At the heart of the golden city legend is the true story of a ritual performed by the Muisca people, who lived in Central Colombia from 800 AD to the present day.

Many different Spanish historians came to this strange continent in the early 16th century to record El Dorado's ritual and one of the best materials was by Juan Rodriguez Freyle. In Freyle's book entitled The conquest and exploration of the new kingdom of Granada was published in 1636, the historian said, when a leader in the Muisca community dies, a 'golden character' will be selected and take over the inheritance process.

The newly selected leader is often the grandson of a man who has just died, will attend a long succession ritual and culminate in rowing a boat on a sacred lake, similar to Lake Guatavita in Central Colombia.

Surrounded by the four highest priests dressed in bird feathers, the golden crown and the man with jewels, the new leader in a state of nakedness but covered in gold dust will conduct a ceremony to sacrifice jewels of gold and silver. For the gods by throwing them into the lake.

On the shore of the lake, many people watched the ceremony, played instruments and lit a fire from pots. On the raft, there are also 4 flames emitting incense and incense on the sky. When the raft floated to the middle of the lake, the priest would float a flag asking the crowd to silence. This time is when the crowd demonstrates loyalty to the new leader by chanting support from the lake.

Through some archaeological studies, many aspects of the event are confirmed to be true. There is also research showing great skills and scale of gold production in Colombia at the time of Europeans arriving in the Americas in 1537.

For Muisca people, the more specific gold is the gold, silver and even copper compound called tumbaga. These metals are highly appreciated not because of their physical value but spiritual aspects. They are thought to be able to connect with the gods and bring balance and harmony in Muisca society.

A gold item of the Muisca people.

A descendant of the Muisca man Enrique Gonzalez explained, with them gold does not symbolize prosperity.'For the Muisca today, just like our ancestors before, gold is only valid as a gift and does not represent wealth'.

Maria Alicia Uribe Villegas's recent studies at UCL Archeology show that the Muisca people created gold items to make sacrifices for the gods, to wish them to create balance in the universe. and ensure environmental stability.

According to archaeologist Roberto Lleras Perez, an expert on gold and the Muisca people's belief system, the Muisca's manipulation and use of gold is very different in South America.'As far as I know, no other society has used up to 50% of the gold produced so far as a sacrifice. I think that's special , 'Mr. Perez said.

Because all gold in every sacrifice has the same chemical characteristics and distinct characteristics, it shows that these objects are made exclusively for a sacrifice and are only bad for a few hours or days. before being thrown away.

In particular, the drawing of a golden raft is as described in the book by Juan Rodriguez Freyle, found by three people in a small cave in southern Bogota in 1969. The figure shows a man covered in gold walking out. a sacred lake. That confirms the true story of El Dorado.

Describe the El Dorado golden city according to European legends.

The fact that El Dorado is turned into a legendary golden city shows the desire for precious metal resources from conquerors from Europe. They know very little about the true value of Muisca society. The minds of Europeans simply feel overwhelmed by the sight of so many gold being thrown into the lake water and buried in sacred places in Colombia.

In 1537, the gossip about El Dorado attracted the conquering Spaniard, Jimenez de Quesada and his 800-person army, with the mission of finding a walking route to Peru and his Andean homeland. Muisca people for the first time.

Quesada and his soldiers were lured into strange, harsh lands and robbed the lives of many people. However, what Quesada's army found surprised them, because Muisca's gold items were not the same as what they had seen before. Exquisite gold items are crafted with unique techniques that have never appeared in Europe.

Unfortunately, hopeless gold hunts still exist today. Archaeologists around the world are fighting to prevent rising looting. Like those who conquered Europe in the 16th century, their copy continued to loot South America's past and take away the wonderful stories behind Muisca's gold item.

The amount of gold found by modern bandits is amazing. In the 1970s, when new sites were discovered in northern Colombia by thieves, it made the world gold market wobble.

Muisca's plundering of precious metal means a large number of gold items before Columbia's melting and making their archaeological values ​​of ancient culture disappear forever.

Fortunately, a number of other gold collections are being stored at the Museo del Oro museum in Bogota, Colombia and the British Museum in London, England. They contribute to providing a clear view of Muisca's different conceptions of material value, human awareness and, most importantly, telling us the true story of the El Dorado legend.