The Mayan civilization is unique. Their writing, calendar system, and knowledge of astronomy amaze even modern cosmology specialists. The Mayan Indians are one of the most ancient and mysterious civilizations that ever existed on Earth.
Birth of the Mayan civilization
Scientists have determined where the Indians lived. According to theory, after the end of the last ice age, the tribes who lived in the north went south to develop new lands. Today it is the territory of Latin America.
Then, over the next 6 thousand years, the Indians created their own culture - they built cities and farmed.
By 1500 BC, the Mayans lived in the Yucatan Peninsula, present-day Guatemala, the southern states of Mexico, and the western parts of El Salvador and Honduras.
Mayan Indians: history of the development of civilization
The first major centers were the cities of El Mirador, Nakbe and Tikal. The construction of temples flourished, calendars were widely used, and hieroglyphic writing developed.
The photo below shows the ancient Mayan cultural center in the ancient city of Tikal.
The Indians created own system, including architecture with unique buildings - pyramids, monuments, palaces, politics and social hierarchy. Society was divided into the masses and the elite, consisting of rulers.
The Mayans believed that their rulers were descended from the gods. The status was emphasized by robes with a mandatory attribute - a breast mirror. “Mirror of the people” - this is what the Mayans called their supreme ruler.
Mayan ruling class
The ancient Mayan civilization numbered more than 20 million people.
A whole system of 200 cities was created, 20 of them were megacities with a population of more than 50 thousand people.
Economic development of the Mayans
Initially, the Mayans were engaged in slash-and-burn agriculture - they cut down the forest on the site that they planned to cultivate, then burned the trees and shrubs, and fertilized the soil with ash. Since the land in the tropics is infertile, its resources were quickly depleted, and the fields ceased to be cultivated. They words were overgrown with forest. Then the whole process began again.
But as the population increased, new methods were required, and the Indians began to use hillsides for terrace farming. Swamps were also developed - raised fields were built on them by building beds a meter high above the water level.
They installed irrigation systems, and water flowed into reservoirs through a network of canals.
They traveled on the water in canoes made of red wood. They could accommodate up to 50 people at the same time. They traded fish, shells, shark teeth and other seafood. Salt was like money.
Salt production
Obsidian imported from Mexico and Guatemala was used to make weapons.
Jade was a ritual stone, it was always in price.
Jade products
Those who lived on the plain traded food supplies, cotton, jaguar skins and quetzal feathers.
Art and architecture
During the "classical" early and late periods(250 - 600 AD and 600 - 900 AD) a huge number of temples were built, wall paintings depicting rulers appeared. Art is flourishing.
Below is a photo of a Barel'ev with the image of the ruler.
Copan and Palenque become new cultural centers.
Migration
Beginning in 900 AD, the southern plains gradually emptied, leaving settlements in the northern part of Yucatan. Until 1000 AD, the influence of Mexican culture grew, and the cities of Labna, Uxmal, Kabah and ChiChen Itza flourished.
Below is a photo of the pyramid in the city of ChiChen Itza
After the mysterious collapse of Chichen Itza, Mayapan becomes the main Mayan city.
Why did the Mayan civilization disappear?
No one knows for sure the reason for the disappearance of the Indian people. There are only hypotheses on this matter. According to the main one, in 1441 there was an uprising of the leaders who lived in the cities neighboring Mayapan. This caused the degeneration of civilization and its transformation into scattered tribes. Drought and famine also had an impact. Then the conquistadors appeared.
Below in the photo is the last center of civilization.
In 1517, Spanish ships landed on an unknown shore. In the battle with the Indians, the conquistadors saw gold. This began the extermination of the Mayan people, since the Spaniards believed that gold should belong to their rulers. In 1547, the Mayans were conquered, but some of the tribes managed to escape and hide in the center of the Yucatan Peninsula, where they lived for 150 years.
The diseases that the Spaniards brought with them caused outbreaks of epidemics. The Indians had no immunity to influenza, measles and smallpox, and they died by the millions.
The culture and religion of the Indians was exterminated by everyone possible ways: temples collapsed, shrines were destroyed, idolatry was punishable by torture.
In the 100 years since the Europeans arrived in Latin America, the Mayan civilization was completely eradicated.
See below documentary BBC channel about the mysterious Mayan civilization
Michael Ko::: Maya. Vanished civilization: legends and facts
Up to this point, we have mainly talked about ceramic vessels, jade products and the ruins of settlements, that is, about the material culture of a once great civilization. We also know a lot about how the daily life of the Mayan people proceeded. We know especially much about the life of the peoples who inhabited Yucatan on the eve of the conquest. Fortunately, the Spanish missionaries working in Yucatan during this period were quite educated people who sought to understand as deeply as possible the life of the peoples they wanted to convert to Christianity. They left us magnificent anthropological descriptions of what the local culture was like before the arrival of Europeans. It is thanks to these documents that modern scientists can correctly interpret finds dating back to the Postclassic period.
FARMING AND HUNTINGThe economic basis of the Mayan civilization, as mentioned in Chapter 1, was agriculture. They grew maize, beans, squash, chili peppers, cotton, and various varieties of fruit trees. There is no doubt that the lowlanders practiced slash-and-burn agriculture, but it is not entirely clear how they cut trees before they developed copper axes during the Postclassic period and, after the Spanish conquest, steel axes. Most likely, Mayan farmers made ring-shaped notches in the trees and left them to dry out. The time of planting was regulated by a kind of agricultural calendar, examples of which can be found in all three Mayan codes that have come down to us. According to Diego de Landa, the fields were communally owned. They were processed jointly by groups of 20 people, but, as we will soon see, this is not entirely true.
In Yucatan, the Mayans stored their harvests in wooden barns raised above the ground, as well as in “beautiful underground chambers,” which were most likely the aforementioned chaltans, so often found in settlements of the classical era. It cannot be said with certainty that in those days the Mayans of the lowland region already knew how to prepare flat tortillas, but the sources that have reached us mention many other ways of preparing dishes from maize. This is “atole” - porridge cooked from grains, to which chili pepper was supposed to be added; it was usually eaten during the first meal. And posol - a drink made with sour leaven, which was usually taken with you to the field to maintain strength, as well as the well-known tamails. Most of all we know what simple farmers ate. Their menu was not very varied, they were content with simple food, although sometimes a stew made from meat and vegetables, to which pumpkin seeds and peppers were added, appeared on their table. We know very little about how the elite ate.
Industrial crops played a very important role in the economy of Yucatan. Cotton was grown in many areas. Yucatan was famous for its fabrics, which were exported even to very distant regions. In the south of Campeche and Tabasco, as well as in British Honduras, cocoa trees were grown in areas along river channels, but in areas further north, planting of these trees was limited. They could only grow where there were cenotes or natural depressions. From the cocoa beans that were collected from these trees, a drink was prepared that was very highly valued by members of the ruling class, and, in addition, even during Spanish rule, cocoa beans were used in local markets as money. They were highly valued. There is a story that Mayan merchants, whose canoe collided with Columbus’s caravel off the coast of Honduras, were so concerned about the safety of their “treasures” that they rushed for any of the beans that fell to the bottom of the canoe with such haste, as if they were not beans, but theirs. own eyes.
Next to each of the Mayan dwellings there was a plot of land with a vegetable garden and an orchard. In addition, entire groves of fruit trees grew near the villages. The Mayans grew avocados, apple trees, papaya, sapodilla and breadfruit trees. When the ripening season arrived, large quantities of wild fruits were eaten.
The Mayans had dogs of several breeds, each of which had its own name. Dogs of one of these breeds did not know how to bark. Males were castrated and fed grain, and then either eaten or sacrificed. Another breed was used for hunting. The Mayans were intimately familiar with both wild and domestic turkeys, but they used only domestic ones for religious sacrifices.
Since ancient times, Mayan farmers have bred a local breed of stingless bees. In the times we are interested in, bees were kept in small hollow logs, which were covered with clay on both sides and mounted on trestles shaped like the letter “A”. The Mayans also collected wild honey.
Large mammals, such as deer and peccaries, were hunted by the Mayans with bows and arrows. Dogs were used to track animals. It should probably be recalled here that throughout the classical era the main weapons of the Mayan warriors were spears and javelins.
Birds such as wild turkeys, partridges, wild pigeons, quails and ducks were hunted using blowpipes. Images of various hunting snares and traps that the Mayans used for hunting can be seen on the pages of the so-called Codex Madrid. There you can also see an image of a trap designed to catch armadillos.
Fish in Yucatan was caught mainly in coastal waters. Fishing equipment included seines, drags, and hooks tied to strings. In addition, in shallow lagoons, fish were hunted with a bow and arrow. Inside the mainland, especially in mountainous areas, drugs were thrown into the water to stun the fish. When the fish, stunned in this way, swam into special artificial dams, they were simply collected by hand. An image on one of the carved bone items found at Tikal, which dates back to the Late Classical period, proves that this method fishing was also common in Peten. On sea coast the catch was salted, dried in the sun or over fire, preparing it for subsequent sale.
In the wild forests of the Mayans, copal tree resin was mined, which was of great value and was used (together with rubber and sapote tree resin) for incense. This substance was so revered that one of the local Indian chronicles describes it as “the fragrance of the center of heaven.” Special bark was collected from other trees, which was intended to flavor “balchi,” a “strong and stinking” honey drink, huge quantities of which were consumed during the holidays.
CRAFT PRODUCTION AND TRADEYucatan was the main supplier of salt in Mesoamerica. Salt beds stretch along the entire coast of Campeche and along the lagoons located on the northern side of the peninsula, all the way to Isla Mueros in the east. The salt, which Diego de Landa described as “the best I have ever seen in my entire life,” was collected at the end of the dry season by people living along the coast. They held a monopoly on the entire salt industry, which at one time was completely in the hands of the lords of Mayapan. There were salt mines in several other places inland, such as the Chixoy Valley in Guatemala, but it was salt from the coastal regions that was in greatest demand. It was exported to many regions of the Mayan region. Other exports included honey and capes made from cotton fabric, which were also highly valued. It can be assumed that it was not the cultivation of maize, but the supply of precisely such goods that formed the basis of the Yucatan economy. In addition, Yucatan also supplied slaves.
In Mayan markets one could find things from a variety of places: cocoa beans, which could only be grown where there was an abundance of moisture; feathers of the quetzal bird, which were imported from Alta Verapaz; flints and siliceous shale, mined from deposits in the central region; obsidian from the mountainous regions northeast of modern Guatemala City, and colorful shells, mainly spiny oyster shells, which were imported from the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Jade and a huge amount of small green stones were also sold there, most of which were delivered from deposits located in the Motagua River basin. Some of the items that were traded in the markets were simply stolen from ancient burials.
Since cargo was heavy and roads other than narrow trails did not exist in the area at that time, the vast majority of goods were transported by sea. This type of trade was concentrated in the hands of the Chontal people, who were such good sailors that Thompson called these people the "Phoenicians of Central America." Their voyage route went along the coast. It stretched from the Aztec trading port of Xicalango, located on the coast of the state of Campeche, and, skirting the entire peninsula, descended to Naito, located near Lake Izabal, into which they entered in their huge canoes to exchange goods with the Mayans who lived in the interior of the mainland.
There were also traders who traveled overland, along dangerous paths, guided by the North Star and relying on the protection of their god Ek Chuah, otherwise called the “black god.”
In Mexico, the markets were so large that their size amazed the Spaniards. One source tells us that in the mountainous regions of Guatemala at that time the markets were also “huge, famous and very rich,” as they are in these areas to this day. But when it comes to the Mayans living in the lowlands, markets are rarely mentioned. It is possible that in the flat zone the markets did not play significant role, since people did not need to engage in such hard work to obtain their livelihood, trying to establish commodity exchange in these regions, which were very homogeneous in their culture.
It was trade that served as a link between the Mayan regions and Mexico, since each of these regions had many things that were highly valued in the other. Most often, cocoa beans and tropical bird feathers were exchanged for copper tools and jewelry. It is possible that it was the implementation of these operations, which were carried out by the same Chontal Indians, that saved the Mayans from enslavement by the Aztecs, who by that time had already captured many other, less cooperative, peoples of Mesoamerica.
LIFE OF PEOPLEIn Yucatan, the child was washed immediately after birth and then placed in the cradle. The baby's head was clamped between two planks in such a way that after two days the skull bones were permanently deformed and became flat, which was considered a sign of beauty among the Mayans. Parents sought to consult with the priest as soon as possible after the birth of the child and find out what fate awaited their offspring and what name he should bear until the official naming.
The Spanish priests were quite surprised that the Mayans had a ritual very similar to the Christian ritual of baptism, which was usually performed at an auspicious time when the settlement had a sufficient number of boys and girls aged three to twelve years. The ceremony was held in the house of the village elder, in the presence of parents, who on this occasion had to observe various fasts before the holiday. While the priest performed various cleansing rituals and blessed them with aromatic incense, tobacco and blessed water, the children and their fathers were inside a circle bounded by a thin rope held by four elderly, venerable men representing the rain god Chaka. It was from the moment of such a ritual that it was believed that older girls were ready to get married.
In both the mountainous and lowland Mayan regions, boys and young men lived separately from their parents, in special men's houses, where they were taught the art of war and other necessary things. Landa reports that these houses were often visited by prostitutes. Other youthful pastimes were gambling and playing ball. The Mayans had double standards of morality - girls were raised strictly by their mothers and were subjected to severe punishment for deviations from the prescribed rules of chaste behavior. Marriages were arranged by matchmakers.
Just like all peoples who practice exogamous marriages, that is, marriages outside their tribe or clan, the Mayans had strict rules about who could or could not marry whom. Marriages between paternal relatives were especially strictly prohibited. Marriages were mostly monogamous, but the exception was for important people who could afford to support several wives. Among the Mayans, as well as in Mexico, treason was punishable by death.
The Maya's ideas about external attractiveness were very different from ours, although the beauty of their women made a strong impression on the Spanish monks. In both sexes, the front teeth were filed in such a way as to create different patterns. Many ancient skulls belonging to Mayan people have been found, with teeth inlaid with small jade plates.
Before marriage, young men painted their bodies black. Mayan warriors did the same at all times. Tattoos and decorative scars, which generously “decorated” the upper half of the body of both men and women, appeared after marriage. A slight squint was considered very beautiful, and parents tried to ensure that the appearance of their children met this criterion of beauty, for which purpose small beads were attached to the children’s noses.
All Mayans were very afraid of death, because, in their opinion, death did not mean an automatic transition to better world. Ordinary people They were buried under the floors of their own houses, and food and jade beads were placed in the mouths of the dead. Ritual objects and things that the deceased used during life were buried along with the bodies. There is information that books were placed in their graves along with the dead priests. The bodies of representatives of the highest nobility were burned. It is possible that this custom was borrowed from Mexico. Funeral temples were erected above the urns containing ashes. But there is no doubt that in the early stages the burial of the body in tombs under mausoleums was the general rule. During the reign of the Kokom dynasty, there was a custom to mummify the heads of deceased rulers. These heads were kept in the family shrine and were "fed" regularly.
SOCIAL ORDER AND POLITICSThe ancient Mayan state was not a theocracy, not a primitive democracy, but a class society with strong political power concentrated in the hands of a hereditary elite. To understand the basis of the state that existed in the 16th century. on the Yucatan Peninsula, one should study very carefully what kind of relationships existed between people then.
In Yucatan, every Mayan adult had two names. The first he received from the mother, and it could only be transmitted from a woman to her child, that is, through the maternal line. A person inherited his second name from his father, that is, through the male line. There is now a wealth of evidence to suggest that these two names were something like cross-references to which of the many hereditary groups, paternal and maternal, a particular person belonged to. At the time of the Conquista, there were approximately 250 groups in the Yucatan, united by a common descent through the male line, and from the reports of Diego de Landa we know how important belonging to such a group was for the Maya. For example, marriages were prohibited within such groups, property inheritance was exclusively patrilineal, and people united by a common descent through the male line formed a group bound by strict obligations of mutual assistance. The titles, which can be traced back to early colonial times, prove that such groups had ownership of the land, and perhaps this is what Landa means by arguing that the fields were communally owned. As for origin on the second, maternal line, it may have played an important role in the system of regulating marriage opportunities. The Mayans allowed marriage with a woman who was the daughter of an uncle or aunt, but more closely related marriages were prohibited. Among many peoples of the earth who are at a lower stage of development, all members of such large births have equal rights, but this was not the case with the Mayans.
For the Maya, it was very important to be able to trace the origins of each person back to his very distant ancestors, and a person's social status was determined precisely by his belonging to one or another genealogical line. Origin was taken into account on both the paternal and maternal sides.
There were strictly defined classes of people. At the top of the Mayan social hierarchy were noble people - “almehens”, whose pedigree was impeccable on both lines. These people owned land, held responsible positions in the state and senior positions in the army, they were wealthy landowners, merchants and representatives of the highest clergy.
People of humble birth were free citizens of society who, perhaps, as was customary among the Maya-related Aztec people, received from their noble relatives related to them by common paternal descent the right to use a piece of land that they could clear from the forest and use like agricultural land. This layer was also heterogeneous; among them there were both rich and poor.
There is evidence that the Mayans had serfs who worked the lands that belonged to the nobility. At the very bottom of the social hierarchy were slaves, who were mostly commoners captured during hostilities. High-ranking prisoners were usually sacrificed. Children of slaves also became slaves. These people could be ransomed with fees collected by their paternal relatives.
By the time the Spaniards arrived in America, political power in the Maya region was in the hands of castes originating from Mexico. The entire politics of Yucatan was under the control of such groups, which, of course, proclaimed that they descended straight from Tula and Zuihua, the legendary ancestral home located in the west. There was a custom according to which any person aspiring to occupy a high position had to pass a certain occult examination known as the “Language of Zuihua.”
In each of the small regions of Yucatan there was a local ruler, who was called “halach uinik” - “real man”, who received his post by inheritance, through the male line, although more early eras the Mayans living in the mountainous region had real kings - “ahau”, who had power over fairly vast territories. The residences of the Halach Uiniks were located in large cities. Each of these rulers existed both on the funds that his own land, cultivated by slaves, brought him, and on the collected tribute.
The rulers of small provincial towns were “batabs”, whom the Halach Uiniki appointed from among the noble people related to them by common descent on their father’s side. The Batabs ruled the cities through a local council consisting of elderly wealthy people. The head of such a council was usually a person of humble birth, who was chosen every four years from among the inhabitants of the four quarters that together formed the settlement.
In addition to performing administrative and judicial duties, each of them was also a military leader, but he shared command of the troops with Nakom, a man who was subject to a huge variety of taboos and who usually held this position for three years.
The Mayans were simply crazy about war. The Chronicles of the Kaqchikel Indians and the epic Popol Vuh tell of a small conflict that broke out between the inhabitants of a mountainous region, which then led to the fact that all 16 states of Yucatan were drawn into an endless war with each other, the cause of which was both territorial claims and desire to defend the honor of one's family. If we add to these chronicles of bloodshed the data obtained from the study of architectural monuments and inscriptions of the classical period, materials and eyewitness accounts that have come down to us - the Spanish conquistadors, we can imagine exactly how the Mayans waged their wars. The "Blokans", meaning "brave", were foot soldiers. These warriors wore armor made from quilted cotton fabric or tapir skin. They were armed with spears with flint tips and darts with devices for throwing them - atlatls, and in the postclassical era bows and arrows were added to their weapons. Hostilities usually began with an unannounced guerrilla raid into an enemy camp to capture prisoners, and major battles were preceded by a terrifying cacophony of pounding drums, screeching whistles, shell trumpets and battle cries. The leaders and idols of each of the fighting sides were accompanied by several priests, who were located on the flanks of the infantry, whose warriors fired at the enemy a whole rain of darts, arrows and stones, which were thrown using slings. If the enemies managed to invade enemy territory, then guerrilla methods of warfare came to the fore, which included ambushes and various traps. Unknown people who were captured became slaves, and noble captives and military leaders had their hearts cut out on a sacrificial stone.
The Mayans are an Indian people who, before Central America was conquered by the Spaniards, lived in a cultural-geographical region called Mesoamerica.
Mayan civilization - city-states that appeared in the 1st millennium AD. e. in southeastern Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala. Hieroglyphic writing, palace and temple architecture were created, art etc. After the conquest by the Toltecs in the 9th - 10th centuries. The center of the state becomes the city, from the end of the 12th century - the city of Mayapan. The Mayan civilization was destroyed in the 16th century by the Spanish conquerors. The ruins of more than 100 cities have been preserved, the largest being Chichen Itza, Copan, Mayapan, Uxmal, and Tikal.
Disputes about the origin of the Mayan civilization, their culture and history do not subside. Mysterious ghost towns, built only with the use of muscle power in the jungles of Southern Mexico, attract archaeologists and various adventurers.
What do we know? Mysteries of the Mayans
Mayan settlements occupied vast territories in the south of what is now South America and the neighboring countries of Central America. The spaces inhabited by modern descendants of the Mayans include the Yucatan Peninsula, Guatemala, British Honduras, the western regions of Honduras and El Salvador, and certain areas mexican states Chiapas and Tabasco.
The Mayan civilization was the most developed and longest existing in South America. The Yucatan Peninsula was its center. This people has been of genuine interest to historians and researchers for a century and a half.
The culture of this great civilization gave rise to many questions, many of which remain unanswered to this day, for example, the jungle of Southern Mexico is not a very suitable place for life, but the Mayans decided to settle there. Why? Mystery.
The Mayan civilization used the concept of zero much earlier than the Arabs and Hindus, created a complex hieroglyphic writing system, surpassed its contemporary civilizations in the accuracy of astrological calculations, had a complex system of calendars, erected amazing temples, pyramids and palaces, reached its unprecedented heyday, living almost in the Stone Age .
Until the 10th century AD e. The Mayans did not know such achievements as metal smelting (except iron), breeding pack and draft animals, plow farming, and the wheel.
Associated with the Mayan civilization is another one of the most mysterious secrets. For unknown reasons, these people left their inhabited lands and suddenly moved to the distant, undeveloped north. The cities were deserted, they were swallowed up by the jungle, the magnificent palaces began to collapse due to time and the trees that grew in their cracks. The riddle is all the more unclear because at the time of the resettlement this empire was at the peak of its heyday.
The territory occupied by the Mayan civilization is highlighted in red.
So who are they, Mayans?
What the Mayans looked like
The average height of the Mayan Indians was approximately 150 cm. Immediately after birth, the head of a Yucatan baby was pressed between two planks so that over time the cranial bones became flat due to deformation. A flat skull, long hair styled in a hairstyle, a hairless front part of the head, amber was inserted into the nostrils pierced through the cartilage, bracelets made from sea oyster shells - this is what the Mayan Indian looked like. To this can be added painted bodies and faces, while the color of the paint had great importance. Red was worn by warriors, black by unmarried youths, yellow by prisoners, blue by priests. To the unique idea of beauty were added teeth filed in a triangle, sometimes decorated with inlaid stones. Surprisingly, the Mayans considered squinting to be a sign of beauty. That is why a thread with a resin or wax ball was attached to the baby’s hair so that he would squint his eyes at him. Another distinctive Mayan feature is tattooing. Her absence was considered indecent.
The emergence of the Mayan civilization
There is an opinion that the ancestors of the Mayans appeared in the Mexican highlands (zones of Chiapas and Guatemala) in the first half of the 3rd millennium BC. e., to which the first shoots of the Mayan culture are related. This can be evidenced by ceramics discovered by archaeologists, stone tips for throwing weapons, rough utensils in the form of baked clay vessels and massive clay figurines.
From the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. e. Large settlements appeared in Mayan territory, and agriculture began to develop. The Mayans build huts out of wood and clay in the jungle. The high roofs of their homes were made of palm leaves.
So, from 1500 BC. e. the so-called preclassical period begins, which gave the starting point for the historical existence of the most developed civilization Ancient America- Maya. And it lasts from 1500 BC. e. to 250 AD e. During this time, people acquired agricultural experience and began to build rural-type settlements.
Story
There are several periods of this ancient civilization:
Early Preclassic period (2000-900 BC)
Middle Preclassic period (899-400 BC)
Late Preclassic period (400 BC - 250 AD)
Early Classical Period (250-600 AD)
Late Classical Period (600-900 AD)
Decline of the Mayan civilization
Postclassical period (900-1521)
Colonial period (1521-1821)
Post-colonial period
Maya today
Astrology
Mayan astrology using as the main support zodiac circle, was a way to predict the future. Knowledge of movements also served as tools celestial bodies, among which a special place was given to the Moon: the waning or growing satellite of the Earth showed how successful a particular period of time was for a certain kind of undertaking.
Mayan natal astrology, which predicted a child's character, behavior and inclinations in adulthood, is closely related to the Tzolkin calendar, each day of which could determine character. For example, those born on the day of Imish, according to the Maya, led a dissolute life, neglecting social principles, while the babies of the day of Chuen became good craftsmen and artisans. The fate determined by astrology was predetermined, but the priests had the opportunity to change it by connecting the fate of a person with the day of bringing him to the temple.
Mayan culture
It should be noted that the culture of the ancient peoples of Mesoamerica has some similarities. This suggests an exchange between these peoples of certain achievements of their cultures, which led to a certain homogeneity, which, in turn, indicates that there was a mother culture from which the roots of the Mayan culture could come.
The main evidence of this ancestor culture is hieroglyphic writing, accordion-folded books, the use of cocoa beans instead of money, a ritual ball game, a cult hero - the Feathered Serpent, and cult rituals, one of which was. Thus, the culture of the great Mayan civilization, starting from ancient times, was influenced by other cultures.
In the preclassic period, Mayan culture bears the imprint of the Olmec civilization (hence the monumental sculptures, knowledge of mathematics, calendars). It is known that the Olmecs were able to create a calendar that was superior in accuracy to the European one.
Writing
The earliest inscriptions date back to the 3rd century BC. e. The letter was used continuously until the arrival in the 16th century AD. e. Spanish conquistadors, and in some of the more isolated areas, such as Tayasal, for some time after that.
Mayan writing was a system of verbal and syllabic signs. The term “hieroglyphs” in relation to Mayan writing was used by European researchers of the 18th and 19th centuries, who could not understand the signs and found them similar to Egyptian hieroglyphics.
In the early colonial era there were still people who knew the Mayan script. There is information that some Spanish priests who arrived in Yucatan managed to study it. But soon, Bishop of Yucatan Diego de Landa, as part of a campaign to eradicate pagan customs, ordered the collection and destruction of all Mayan texts, as a result of which this led to the loss of a significant part of the manuscripts.
Only 4 Mayan codices survived the conquistadors. More complete texts have been found on pottery in Mayan tombs, as well as on monuments and steles in cities abandoned or destroyed after the Spanish arrived. The knowledge of writing was completely lost by the end of the 16th century. Interest in it arose only in XIX century, after reports of destroyed Mayan cities were published.
Weapon
Mayan weapons were not a special achievement of technical thought. Over the course of many centuries of the existence of the Mayan civilization, it underwent minor changes. Much of the improvement has been in the art of war than in the weapons themselves.
In battles, the Mayans fought with spears of various lengths (the height of a man or more), darts and flat club-swords, the edges of which were lined with dense rows of embedded obsidian blades. By the end of the New Kingdom period (XV - XVI centuries), the Mayans had metal battle axes (made of an alloy of copper and gold) and bows and arrows, borrowed from the Aztecs. For protection, Mayan warrior rank and file wore plump, quilted cotton shells. The nobility used armor woven from flexible branches and defended itself with willow (less commonly, tortoiseshell) large or small round or square shields. A small shield (about the size of a fist) was used not only for defense, but also as a striking weapon.
El Caracol Observatory, Chichen Itza - Mexico
Rise of the Mayan civilization
After the end of the Olmec power, the southern trading cities of the Maya began to flourish. During this period, large centers of Mayan civilization emerged - El Mirador, Tikal, Nakbe, Vashaktun. The Mayans created a system of calendars (solar, lunar and ritual), with the help of which they recorded important historical moments, and also made astrological forecasts.
The southeastern city of Copan attracts special attention. He, starting from the 5th century AD. e., for 400 years it was ruled by one dynasty, the founder of which was the ruler Yash-Kuk-Mo, who came to power in 426 AD. e.
626 - Ruler Dym-Jaguar, who was a royal descendant of Pakal, ascended the throne. He reigned for 67 years and was a long-liver. He was called the Great Instigator. Perhaps, with the help of territorial wars, this ruler greatly expanded the possessions of Copan, which contributed to its prosperity. This era includes the appearance of many steles praising rulers and their merits; the development of hieroglyphic writing, the creation of magnificent temples with sculptural images of gods.
Maya today
Today, about 6.1 million Mayans live on the Yucatan Peninsula, including Belize, Guatemala and Honduras. In Guatemala, about 40% of the population is Mayan, in Belize - about 10%. Today, the Mayan religion is a mixture of Christianity and traditional Mayan beliefs. Each Mayan community today has its own religious patron. Donations can include poultry, spices or candles. Some Maya groups identify themselves through special elements in their traditional dress that distinguish them from other Maya.
The Lecandon Maya group living in Chiapas (Mexico) is known to be faithful to the preserved traditional way of life. Representatives of the group wear cotton clothes that are decorated with traditional Mayan scenes. Christianity was able to exert a superficial influence on representatives of this group. But tourism and, above all, technical and economic progress are gradually beginning to erase the group’s identity. More and more Mayans wear modern clothes, have electricity, radios and televisions in their homes, and often cars. Some of the Mayans, meanwhile, live on income from tourism, as more and more people want to get acquainted with the world and culture of the ancient Mayans.
Temple of the Cross, Temple of the Sun on site ancient city Palenque
Mayan civilization - interesting facts
There is no evidence that the Mayans could have aircrafts or cars, but they certainly had a complex system of paved roads. They possessed advanced astronomical knowledge about the movement of celestial bodies. Perhaps the most amazing evidence of this is the building with a domed roof called El Caracol located on the Yucatan Peninsula.
Archaeological excavations may indicate that the Mayans actually practiced human sacrifice, and this was considered a favor for the victims.
They believed that one still had to get to heaven: first one must go through 13 circles of hell, and only then a person will receive eternal bliss. And this path is so difficult that not all souls can reach it. However, there was also a “direct road to heaven”: women who died during childbirth, victims of wars, suicides, those who died while playing ball and ritual victims could receive it.
According to one interpretation of the codes, the Mayans came from a place that is now hidden under water, they were even mistaken for the children of Atlantis. Atlantis is, of course, a strong word. But scientists, relatively recently, managed to discover what may be the remains of ancient Mayan cities on the ocean floor. The age of the cities and the cause of the cataclysm cannot be determined.
The Mayans used three calendars. The civil calendar, or Haab, consisted of 18 months of 20 days each - for a total of 360 days. For ceremonial purposes, Tzolkin was used, which included 20 months of 13 days each, and the entire cycle was thus 260 days. Together they made up a single complex and long calendar, which contained information about the movement of planets and constellations.
There was no beginning or end in the calendar - time for the Mayans went in a circle, everything was repeated again and again. There was no such thing as “end of the year” for them - only the rhythm of planetary cycles.
The Mayans invented sports. One thing is for sure - the Mayans loved playing ball. Long before the Europeans began to dress in skins, the Mayans had already made a ball court at home and came up with the rules of the game. Their game appeared to be a tough combination of football, basketball and rugby.
About 1,000 Mayan cities have been discovered (as of the early 1980s), but not all of them have yet been excavated or explored by archaeologists. About 3,000 villages were also found.
The Mayans loved saunas. An important cleansing element for the ancient Mayans was the diaphoretic bath: water was poured onto hot stones to create steam. Everyone used such baths, from a woman who had recently given birth to a king.
Disappearance of the Mayan civilization
The reason why the Mayans could have disappeared has been named. Historians from the Technical University of Vienna have discovered the reason for the decline of the Mayan Empire. As it turned out, irrigation technologies that saved crops from drought could make society more vulnerable to natural disasters. 2014 - geologists from America suggested that the cause of the extinction of the Mayans could have been an extreme drought that lasted about 100 years.
There are other versions called possible reasons disappearance of civilization: the collapse of the local farming system, terrible epidemics of diseases (for example, yellow fever), the arrival of conquerors from Mexico, social cataclysms, the forced capture of people by the Tultek rulers of Yucatan, and even earthquakes and a decline in solar activity.
MAYAN
historical and modern Indian people who created one of the most highly developed civilizations of America and the Ancient World in general. Some cultural traditions of the ancient Maya preserve ca. 2.5 million of their modern descendants, representing more than 30 ethnic groups and linguistic dialects.
ANCIENT MAYA
Habitat. During the 1st - early 2nd millennium AD. The Maya people, speaking various languages of the Maya-Kiche family, settled over a vast territory that included the southern states of Mexico (Tabasco, Chiapas, Campeche, Yucatan and Quintana Roo), the present-day countries of Belize and Guatemala, and the western regions of El Salvador and Honduras. These areas, located in the tropical zone, are distinguished by a variety of landscapes. In the mountainous south there is a chain of volcanoes, some of which are active. Once upon a time, powerful coniferous forests grew here on generous volcanic soils. In the north, the volcanoes give way to the limestone Alta Verapaz Mountains, which further north form the Petén limestone plateau, characterized by a hot and humid climate. Here the center of development of the Mayan civilization of the classical era was formed. The western part of the Petén plateau is drained by the Pasion and Usumacinta rivers, which flow into the Gulf of Mexico, and the eastern part by rivers carrying water to the Caribbean Sea. North of the Petén plateau, humidity decreases with the height of forest cover. The northern Yucatecan plains are humid rainforests are replaced by shrubby vegetation, and on the Puuk hills the climate is so arid that in ancient times people settled here along the shores of karst lakes (cenote) or stored water in underground reservoirs (chultun). On the northern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, the ancient Mayans mined salt and traded it with the inhabitants of the interior regions.
Early ideas about the ancient Maya. It was initially believed that the Maya lived in large areas of tropical lowlands in small groups, practicing slash-and-burn agriculture. With the rapid depletion of soils, this forced them to frequently change their settlement sites. The Mayans were peaceful and had a special interest in astronomy, and their cities with tall pyramids and stone buildings also served as priestly ceremonial centers where people gathered to observe unusual celestial phenomena. According to modern estimates, the ancient Mayan people numbered more than 3 million people. In the distant past, their country was the most densely populated tropical zone. The Mayans knew how to maintain soil fertility for several centuries and transform lands unsuitable for agriculture into plantations where they grew maize, beans, pumpkins, cotton, cocoa and various tropical fruits. Mayan writing was based on a strict phonetic and syntactic system. The decipherment of ancient hieroglyphic inscriptions has refuted previous ideas about the peaceful nature of the Mayans: many of these inscriptions report wars between city-states and captives sacrificed to the gods. The only thing that has not been revised from previous ideas is the exceptional interest of the ancient Mayans in the movement of celestial bodies. Their astronomers very accurately calculated the cycles of movement of the Sun, Moon, Venus and some constellations (in particular, the Milky Way). The Mayan civilization, in its characteristics, reveals commonality with the nearest ancient civilizations of the Mexican Highlands, as well as with the distant Mesopotamian, ancient Greek and ancient Chinese civilizations.
Periodization of Mayan history. In the Archaic (2000-1500 BC) and early Formative periods (1500-1000 BC) of the Preclassic era, small semi-wandering tribes of hunters and gatherers lived in the lowlands of Guatemala, feeding on wild edible roots and fruits, as well as game and fish. They left behind only rare stone tools and a few settlements that definitely date back to this time. The Middle Formative Period (1000-400 BC) is the first relatively well-documented era of Mayan history. At this time, small agricultural settlements appeared, scattered in the jungle and along the banks of the rivers of the Peten plateau and in the north of Belize (Cuelho, Colha, Kashob). Archaeological evidence suggests that in this era the Mayans did not have pompous architecture, class divisions or centralized power. However, during the subsequent Late Formative Period of the Preclassic era (400 BC - 250 AD), major changes occurred in Mayan life. At this time, monumental structures were built - stylobotes, pyramids, ball courts, and rapid growth of cities was observed. Impressive architectural complexes are being built in cities such as Calakmul and Zibilchaltun in the north of the Yucatan Peninsula (Mexico), El Mirador, Yashactun, Tikal, Nakbe and Tintal in the jungle of Peten (Guatemala), Cerros, Cuello, Lamanay and Nomul (Belize), Chalchuapa (Salvador). There was a rapid growth of settlements that arose during this period, such as Kashob in northern Belize. At the end of the late formative period, barter trade developed between settlements remote from each other. The most prized items are items made from jade and obsidian, sea shells and quetzal bird feathers. At this time, sharp flint tools and the so-called appeared for the first time. eccentrics are stone products of the most bizarre shape, sometimes in the form of a trident or the profile of a human face. At the same time, the practice of consecrating buildings and arranging hiding places where jade products and other valuables were placed was developed. In the subsequent Early Classic period (250-600 AD) of the Classical era, Mayan society developed into a system of rival city-states, each with its own royal dynasty. These political entities showed commonality both in the system of government and in culture (language, writing, astronomical knowledge, calendar, etc.). The beginning of the early classical period approximately coincides with one of the oldest dates recorded on the stela of the city of Tikal - 292 AD, which, in accordance with the so-called. The "long count of the Maya" is expressed in numbers 8.12.14.8.5. The possessions of individual city-states of the classical era extended on average 2000 square meters. km, and some cities, such as Tikal or Calakmul, controlled significantly larger territories. The political and cultural centers of each state were cities with magnificent buildings, the architecture of which represented local or zonal variations of the general style of Mayan architecture. The buildings were located around a vast rectangular central square. Their facades were usually decorated with masks of the main gods and mythological characters, carved from stone or made using the technique of piece relief. The walls of long narrow rooms inside buildings were often painted with frescoes depicting rituals, holidays, and military scenes. Window lintels, lintels, palace staircases, as well as free-standing steles were covered with hieroglyphic texts, sometimes interspersed with portraits, telling about the deeds of the rulers. On lintel 26 at Yaxchilan, the wife of the ruler, Shield of the Jaguar, is depicted helping her husband put on military regalia. In the centers of Mayan cities of the classical era, pyramids rose up to 15 m high. These structures often served as tombs for revered people, so kings and priests practiced rituals here with the goal of establishing a magical connection with the spirits of their ancestors.
The burial of Pakal, the ruler of Palenque, discovered in the “Temple of the Inscriptions”, provided a lot of valuable information about the practice of honoring the royal ancestors. The inscription on the lid of the sarcophagus says that Pacal was born (according to our chronology) in 603 and died in 683. The deceased was decorated with a jade necklace, massive earrings (a sign of military valor), bracelets, and a mosaic mask made of more than 200 pieces of jade. Pakal was buried in a stone sarcophagus, on which were carved the names and portraits of his illustrious ancestors, such as his great-grandmother Kan-Ik, who had considerable power. Vessels, apparently containing food and drinks, were usually placed in burials, intended to nourish the deceased on his way to the afterlife. In Mayan cities, the central part stands out, where the rulers lived with their relatives and retinue. These are the palace complex in Palenque, the acropolis of Tikal, and the Sepulturas zone in Copan. The rulers and their immediate relatives were exclusively engaged in state affairs - they organized and led military raids against neighboring city-states, organized magnificent festivities, and took part in rituals. Members of the royal family also became scribes, priests, soothsayers, artists, sculptors and architects. Thus, scribes of the highest rank lived in the House of Bakabs in Copan. Outside the cities, the population was dispersed in small villages surrounded by gardens and fields. People lived large families V wooden houses, covered with reeds or thatch. One of these classical-era villages survives in Serena (El Salvador), where the Laguna Caldera volcano allegedly erupted in the summer of 590. Hot ash covered nearby houses, a kitchen fireplace and a wall niche with painted plates and pumpkin bottles, plants, trees, fields, including a field with corn sprouts. In many ancient settlements, buildings are grouped around a central courtyard, where production was carried out. collaborations. Land ownership was communal in nature. In the late classical period (650-950), the population of the lowland regions of Guatemala reached 3 million people. Increased demands for agricultural products forced farmers to drain swamps and use terrace farming in hilly areas, such as along the banks of the Rio Bec. In the late classical period, new cities began to emerge from the established city-states. Thus, the city of Himbal left the control of Tikal, which was announced in the language of hieroglyphs. architectural structures. During the period under review, Mayan epigraphy reached the peak of its development, but the content of the inscriptions on the monuments changed. If earlier messages about the life path of rulers with dates of birth, marriage, accession to the throne, and death prevailed, now the main attention is paid to wars, conquests, and the capture of captives for sacrifices. By 850 many cities in the south of the lowland zone had been abandoned. Construction stops completely in Palenque, Tikal, and Copan. The reasons for what happened are still unclear. The decline of these cities could be caused by uprisings, enemy invasion, epidemic or environmental crisis. The center of development of the Mayan civilization moves to the north of the Yucatan Peninsula and the western highlands - areas that received several waves of Mexican cultural influences. Here on short term The cities of Uxmal, Sayil, Kabah, Labna and Chichen Itza flourish. These magnificent cities surpassed the previous ones with tall buildings, multi-room palaces, higher and wider stepped vaults, sophisticated stone carvings and mosaic friezes, and huge ball courts.
Mayan ball game. The prototype of this game with a rubber ball, which requires great dexterity, arose in Mesoamerica as early as two thousand years BC. The Mayan ball game, like similar games of other peoples of Mesoamerica, contained elements of violence and cruelty - it ended with human sacrifice, for which it was started, and the playing fields were framed with stakes with human skulls. Only men participated in the game, divided into two teams, which included from one to four people. The players' task was to prevent the ball from touching the ground and to bring it to the goal, holding it with all parts of the body, with the exception of the hands and feet. The players wore special protective clothing. The ball was more often hollow; sometimes a human skull was hidden behind the rubber shell. The ball courts consisted of two parallel stepped stands, between which there was a playing field, like a wide paved alley. Such stadiums were built in every city, and in El Tajin there were eleven of them. Apparently, there was a sports and ceremonial center here, where large-scale competitions were held. The ball game was somewhat reminiscent of gladiator fights, when prisoners, sometimes representatives of the nobility from other cities, fought for their lives so as not to be sacrificed. The losers, tied together, were rolled down the stairs of the pyramids and fell to their deaths.
The last cities of the Maya. Most northern cities built in the Postclassic era (950-1500) lasted less than 300 years, with the exception of Chichen Itza, which survived until the 13th century. This city shows architectural similarities with Tula, founded by the Toltecs ca. 900, suggesting that Chichen Itza served as an outpost or was an ally of the warlike Toltecs. The name of the city is derived from the Mayan words "chi" ("mouth") and "itsa" ("wall"), but its architecture is in the so-called. Puuc style violates classical Mayan canons. For example, stone roofs of buildings are supported on flat beams rather than on stepped vaults. Some stone carvings depict Mayan and Toltec warriors together in battle scenes. Perhaps the Toltecs captured this city and over time turned it into a prosperous state. During the Postclassic period (1200-1450), Chichen Itza was for a time part of a political alliance with nearby Uxmal and Mayapan, known as the League of Mayapan. However, even before the arrival of the Spaniards, the League had collapsed, and Chichen Itza, like the cities of the classical era, was swallowed up by the jungle. In the Postclassic era, maritime trade developed, thanks to which ports emerged on the coast of Yucatan and nearby islands, for example, Tulum or a settlement on the island of Cozumel. During the Late Postclassic period, the Mayans traded slaves, cotton, and bird feathers with the Aztecs.
Ancient Mayan calendar. According to Mayan mythology, the world was created and destroyed twice before the third, modern era began, which began in European terms on August 13, 3114 BC. From this date, time was counted in two chronology systems - the so-called. long count and calendar circle. The long account was based on a 360-day annual cycle called tun, divided into 18 months of 20 days each. The Mayans used a base-20 rather than a decimal counting system, and the unit of chronology was 20 years (katun). Twenty katuns (i.e. four centuries) made up a baktun. The Mayans simultaneously used two calendar time systems - a 260-day and a 365-day annual cycle. These systems coincided every 18,980 days, or every 52 (365-day) years, marking an important milestone at the end of one and the beginning of a new time cycle. The ancient Mayans calculated time forward to 4772, when they believed the end of the current era would come and the Universe would be in Once again destroyed.
Mayan customs and social organization. Rite of bloodletting.
The families of rulers were entrusted with the obligation to perform the ritual of bloodletting every time important event in the life of city-states - be it the consecration of new buildings, the onset of the sowing season, the beginning or end of a military campaign. According to Mayan mythology, human blood nourished and strengthened the gods, who, in turn, gave strength to people. It was believed that the blood of the tongue, earlobes and genitals had the greatest magical power. During the bloodletting ceremony, thousands of people gathered in the central square of the city, including dancers, musicians, warriors and nobles. IN climax During the ceremonial event, the ruler appeared, often with his wife, and with a plant thorn or an obsidian knife he bled himself, making a cut on the penis. At the same time, the ruler's wife pierced her tongue. After this, they passed a rough agave rope through the wounds to increase the bleeding. Blood dripped onto strips of paper, which were then burned in the fire. Due to blood loss, as well as under the influence of drugs, fasting and other factors, ritual participants saw images of gods and ancestors in puffs of smoke.
Social organization. Mayan society was built on the model of patriarchy: power and leadership in the family passed from father to son or brother. Classic Maya society was highly stratified. A clear division into social strata was observed in Tikal in the 8th century. At the very top of the social ladder were the ruler and his closest relatives, then came the highest and middle hereditary nobility, who had varying degrees of power, followed by retinues, artisans, architects of various ranks and status, below were rich but humble landowners, then simple farmers - community members, and on the last steps there were orphans and slaves. Although these groups were in contact with each other, they lived in separate city neighborhoods, had special duties and privileges, and cultivated their own customs. The ancient Mayans did not know the technology of metal smelting. They made tools mainly from stone, but also from wood and shells. With these tools, farmers cut down forests, plowed, sowed, and harvested crops. The Mayans did not even know the potter's wheel. When making ceramic products, they rolled clay into thin flagella and placed them one on top of the other or molded clay plates. Ceramics were fired not in kilns, but on open fires. Both commoners and aristocrats were engaged in pottery. The latter painted vessels with scenes from mythology or palace life.
Writing and visual arts. The Spanish Franciscan bishop Diego de Landa (1524-1579), who arrived in Yucatan in 1549, worked with a Mayan scribe on a system for transmitting hieroglyphs in the Latin alphabet when translating the catechism. However, ancient Maya writing differed from alphabetic writing because individual characters often represented a syllable rather than a phoneme. As a result of discrepancies between the artificial alphabet of Landa and the Mayan script, the latter was considered indecipherable. It is now known that Mayan scribes freely combined phonetic and semantic signs, especially when such combinations opened up possibilities for wordplay. The scribes who formed the intellectual elite of Mayan society produced hundreds of manuscripts. They wrote with bird feathers on sheets of paper made from tree bark, which were folded like an accordion under bindings covered with jaguar skin. Catholic missionaries considered these books heretical and set them on fire. Only four Mayan manuscripts survive, known as the Madrid, Paris, Dresden and Grolier codices. The Dresden Codex contains a section containing something like a farmer's calendar, where predictions are given for next year and the sacrifices necessary to obtain a good harvest are indicated. The prediction of drought is conveyed both in writing and in a drawing of a deer dying from the heat with its tongue hanging out. In addition, the Dresden Codex presents calculations of the movement of the planet Venus. The Madrid Code provides advice on how the best way combine various activities with the calendar cycle, such as hunting or carving masks. Scribes demonstrated their art not only on paper, but also on stone, shells, and ceramic vessels. Inscriptions made using the stuka technique guaranteed greater safety, and therefore the Mayan royal genealogies preferred to be imprinted on stone. Texts on ceramics, also made by the nobility, were more personal in nature. Pottery often included the name of the owner, the purpose of the item (plate, dish with legs, container for liquid), and even the contents, such as cocoa or maize. Ceramics painted in this way were often given as gifts. Ceramic artists sometimes worked together with masters of stone writing. The colors used for painting were red, blue, green and black. The best preserved Mayan wall paintings are in the city of Bonampak in what is now Mexico. It depicts preparations for battle, the battle itself and warriors with long spears fighting side by side, the sacrifice of captives and a festive ritual dance.