Aztecs and Egyptians Entry | Four Women Minecraft Skin

Published Jun 24th, 2020, 6/24/20 5:40 am

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nerdyy
Level 35 : Artisan Nerd

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I had a hard time deciding what I wanted to do for this contest, 1. The theme being of great interest to me, and 2. It is the first contest I would enter. I finally came to a decision, that decision being (no surprise here) not to decide. I love history, especially non-eurocentric history. I also love mythology, so I had a hard time deciding whether I wanted to do a historical figure or a character from mythos. I also couldn’t pick between Team Aztec and Team Egyptians… so I chose both.

Now, I soon realized doing four skins in one would most likely be quite chaotic, but let's be honest, when have I ever done anything not chaotically? Never, the answer is never. Though, it crossed my mind that maybe there should be a theme to the four figures I chose to represent, and what better to showcase than women! I picked two notable women, one from Aztec history and one from Egyptian history. I chose (Doña) Isabel Moctezuma and Cleopatra VII Philopator because they’re both hella cool and basically the last empresses of their respective empires. (I know Cleopatra is hella cliche don't @ me she’s cool). As for mythology I chose Coatlicue, the Aztec version of mother earth, and Isis, the Egyptian mother goddess. Below I’m going to BRIEFLY sum up their backgrounds, but I’ll hardly do it justice so I recommend you do your own research because all four of these women are astonishing.

(Doña) Isabel Moctezuma was the daughter of Moctezuma II and recognized as his legitimate heir after Spanish conquest. She was married to three Aztec emperors, making her the last Aztec empress, and after that, she still went off to start a noble family in Spain, overall a legend, we stan. (she also was married 6 times in total, and widowed each time except the last)

Cleopatra VII Philopator was the last ruler of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt. I think she is probably more known than Isabel, but her various depictions are not necessarily accurate. While a lot is written that her beauty was beyond measure, a lot of historians believe she wasn’t that pretty, but people couldn’t wrap their hands of a woman being powerful or persuasive for reasons other than her beauty, which is…. grrrrrrr.

Coatlicue isn’t your typical mother nature goddess, and more generally was depicted as an insatiable monster that consumed everything that lived, which tbh is more accurate to mother nature imo. Anyways, she had a lot of children (her daughter Coyolxauhqui became the moon, her 400 sons became the stars) who got mad at her for also giving birth to Quetzalcoatl and Xolotl, so they cut off her head… which then regrew as two huge snakes cause Coatlicue is cool like that.

Isis (the Egyptian goddess) was a major goddess no doubt, but what she was exactly a goddess of is hard to narrow down since Egyptian mythology is quite dynamic, but my favorite her history was later when Ra was going more senile she stole some of his drool, made a cobra from clay, got it to bite him (which was a big deal) and swopped in to help heal him with the condition she needed his real name, he eventually broke- gave it to her (giving her his power) which she uses to heal him- and become the most powerful deity in the Egyptian pantheon and can pretty much do anything with her magic. But she actually stays being responsible and wholesome and for that I love her.

[NOTE: Cleopatra is front left, Isabel is front right, Coatlicue is back left and Isis is back right]