Days 11-12 June2-3
part 2
The so-called North Acropolis, a ruined palace complex comprising the north side of the main plaza (view from Temple 1). Maya "palaces" were probably not used as habitation by the royalty, but instead employed for ritual or religious purposes. The Maya frequently constructed new buildings over old edifices, and this group of structures is just one among many examples of such reuse in Tikal alone. |
The South Acropolis (view from Temple 1). The roof-comb of Temple 5 can be seen seen in the distance.
The Maya gods were obviously not smiling on me when I descended the steep Temple 1. It was a harrowing experience. I struggled on all fours along its ultra-narrow steps, and to make it worse, rain began to pour like mad! |
Temple and stelae near the Main Plaza. This was the first ruin I saw on the
walk from the campground. Apparently, stelae were often placed behind round stone "altars".
Some stelae commemorate the deeds of Tikal's rulers, while others were erected at regular time intervals
(for example, katuns or twenty-year periods)
to celebrate sacred dates. With a calendar more exact than our own, the Maya venerated time:
their units of time were deities who bore the burden of a cyclical history. Their esoteric calendar
was the key to seeing into the future by recalling the events of past katuns.
The name "Tikal" itself probably means "Place of the Count of the Katun", and
may well be one of the very few original Maya site names known today. (It seems that
the ancient city was never completely forgotten by the inhabitants of the Petén, who
were squatting on its ruins as late as the 19th century. In
contrast, Palenque, a famous site in Chiapas, Mexico, derives its name from
the Spanish for "palisade"-- its original name has been lost.)
Breathing in the dense, narcotic jungle air, I began imagining this spot more than a thousand years ago. Priest-nobles attired in jaguar skins and plumes of quetzal feathers droned out strange incantations while holding high their grim obsidian knives. Sprawled on the altars were victims with their hearts torn out, sacrificed to appease capricious and bloodthirsty gods. But then, perhaps I was not being so fanciful. Were such cruel rituals any worse than the horrific violence of Guatemala in the 1980s? |
Stucco mask in an excavated pit facing the North Acropolis. It probably represents
the rain god Chac, one of the many deities in the complex
Maya pantheon. The ancient Maya venerated many terrestrial or cosmic phenomena.
For example, they saw constellations such as the Big
and Little Dippers, Gemini, Orion, and even our own Milky Way, as
mythological beings.
Excavations continue in this rich archaeological site that, undoubtedly, has barely revealed its deepest secrets. The tomb of a Maya king, Hasaw (also known as Ah Cacau), was discovered underneath the massive Temple 1. Near the North Acropolis, the opulent tombs of the ruler First Crocodile, probably a foreign lord who brought Teotihuacan influence and war techniques to Tikal, and his son Stormy Sky, attest to Tikal's wealth and complex history. |
An exquisite jade mosaic vase from Tikal; it is now in the National Museum
in Guatemala City. This is quite possibly the likeness of King Hasaw's
wife. Hasaw Chan K'awil ("Heavenly Standard Bearer") was Tikal's greatest ruler: his reign enjoyed a renaissance
that brought back greatness and strength after more than a century of domination
by rival city-state Calakmul. He introduced the unique Tikal architectural style of
narrow, vertically-imposing temple-pyramids; Temples 1 and 2 are the chief examples.
Facing each other across the Great Plaza, these temples may well speak of a great
love. Temple 1 is Hasaw's mausoleum; his remains (Burial 116), along with an
opulent funerary cache, were discovered underneath the building. Temple 2 was
probably dedicated by Hasaw himself to the memory of his wife, who was originally
interred outside Tikal. A scene on Altar 5 depicts Hasaw reclaiming his
wife's exhumed remains.
The key to Tikal's wealth was, as in many polities, trade and commerce. According to an influential theory, Tikal was at the center of an excellent porterage route that connected trade between the Yucatan and the Caribbean on one hand, and the states of Central Mexico, on the other. |
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