Monte Albán << MOHN tay ahl BAHN >> was the capital and largest city of the empire of the Zapotec Indians. It stood on a mountaintop near what is now the southern Mexican city of Oaxaca. Monte Albán means White Mountain in Spanish and also refers to the mountain on which the city’s ruins stand. No one knows what the Zapotec called the city.
The Zapotec founded Monte Albán about 500 B.C. The city developed trade links with the city of Teotihuacan in what is now Mexico and the Maya city of Tikal in present-day Guatemala. Monte Albán’s population grew to about 25,000 between the A.D. 200’s and 700’s.
The architecture and culture of Monte Albán influenced cultures in other parts of what are now Mexico and Central America. The city had many stone structures, including pyramids with temples on top, palaces, plazas, and tombs. Large stone slabs were decorated with carvings of the city’s defeated enemies and included their names in hieroglyphics (picture writing).
The decline of Teotihuacan contributed to the abandonment of Monte Albán about A.D. 750. The Mixtec Indians later buried their leaders in the deserted city. Today, Monte Albán is a major archaeological site and tourist attraction.
See also Zapotec.
