Mayan leader. History of discoveries and mysteries of Mexico

The Maya civilization is one of the few empires of the ancient world that managed to short story, which lasted no more than two thousand years, to make an unimaginable number of cultural and scientific discoveries. So, the Mayan period, the era of the dominance of this civilization in the territories of South and Central America, was marked by the invention of a writing system, complex architecture, calendar system, medicine, mathematics, astronomy, astrology, religion and a number of other [...]

The Mayan city was not only a fortress for the locals, but also a repository of historical heritage. Mayan and Aztec cities were and are the richest source of knowledge about the ancient world. The Maya civilization itself, along with the Sumerians, is one of the most famous empires of the ancient world, widely spread in research circles, thanks to highly developed art, mathematics, architecture and astronomy. Excavations [...]

Tikal (Tik’al in the Maya language) is today the largest archaeological site in South America, and a thousand years ago it was a religious, trading and Cultural Center Maya civilization. The ancient city is located in the archaeological area of ​​the Pitin Basin in the northern part of modern Guatemala, where the Maya and Incas used to live. Today, the part of the city located in the [...]

Epic in every sense, the culture of the Mayan Indians, which reached its peak in the 2-9th centuries AD on the territory of such states as Belize, Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras, attracted and attracts the attention of not only researchers and scientists. The widest circle of people of various specialties who are interested in architecture, history and the development of disappeared civilizations continuously follows the latest news and publications about ancient [...]

Mayan cosmology, the mythology of the ancient inhabitants of Yucatan, is based on the experience and knowledge accumulated by the ancestors. Many information, in particular Mayan mythology, has survived to this day in the form of legends and tales. Some data (the worldview of the Incas, Aztecs, and again the mythology of the ancient Maya) were obtained thanks to the Spanish chronicles of the 16th century, which have been preserved in small numbers. But in any case, as if [...]

The mythology of the ancient world, such as Sumerian mythology, is captivating and captivating. Legends and tales of ancient civilizations contain many incredible, but at the same time close to reality stories. This is explained by the fact that the mythology of the Aztecs, the Inca people and other ancient empires, was based on scientific knowledge in astronomy and mathematics accumulated over long history. Thanks to the developing [...]

The pantheon of the ancient Indians of the Mayan tribe, which included the main Mayan gods, as well as local, less significant deities who were worshiped either in individual regions or certain groups of people, for example, artisans, consisted of an incredible number of creatures. According to the chronicles of the Spanish conquistadors and records belonging to the Aztecs, Incas and Maya, the total number of deities reached 200. Deities such as the god [...]

Mayan Indians The Mayan Indians are probably the most well-known of all the classical civilizations of Mesoamerica. Mayan history, Maya culture, Maya religion begins in the Yucatan Peninsula around 2600 BC, Mayan history became known around 250 AD in modern southern Mexico, Guatemala, western Honduras, El Salvador and northern Belize. Building on the legacy of earlier civilizations such as the Olmecs, Indians [...]

The classical period of the Maya civilization in the lowland forests of Central America is marked by the appearance of such innovations in the Mayan culture as: hieroglyphic writing, which includes inscriptions on reliefs, steles, ceramics and frescoes, lintels; the Mayan calendar, the so-called Long Count calendar, going from 3113 BC; monumental architecture with a stepped vault; specific style in ceramics and [...]

The ancient priesthood was a significant social stratum in the Maya civilization. Like in most states, the Mayans had a strict church, religious hierarchy, headed by the high priests of the Maya - ah kins in the language of the Mayan Indians. A step below were the ceremonial assistants who performed the Mayan rites, and the priests of a special specialization. The latter primarily included: nakoms, [...]

Despite the fact that the Maya civilization disappeared centuries before the arrival of the conquistadors, information about some of the religious customs of the Maya still survived to this day. This happened thanks to the Indians of Yucatan, close to the Mayans and who managed to preserve the most important customs of the Indians. The information recorded by the pioneers in the middle of the 16th century allowed scientists today to get an idea of ​​all [...]

A typical day on the Yucatan Peninsula, where the Mayan people lived, began long before sunrise: at this time, women woke up, lit a fire and started cooking breakfast. The Maya are a practical people. Fire for cooking was obtained by ancient, ancient methods: the Maya Indians rotated a stick with a wooden tip. The stick was inserted into a recess in the soft wood, which served as tinder. [...]

Maya married at an early age: boys around eight years old, girls at 12-14 years old. Immediately after the girls and boys reached maturity, at the age of 12 and 14, respectively, parents thought about finding a partner for their child. The Mayans were limited in their choice of husband or wife; I had to choose from fellow tribesmen who also bore a generic name. How [...]

Copan is the largest archaeological site in Honduras. The city is located in the west of the state, in the center of the valley of the river of the same name, a few kilometers from the border with Guatemala. The ancient cities of the Mayan civilization are famous for their history, architecture, scientific and literary heritage. Copan is no exception. The city was built in the 1-2 centuries BC and existed until the heyday of the Maya [...]

Nowadays, products such as chocolate and cocoa drink have practically entered the daily diet. Chocolate plays an important role in the lives of people who have devoted themselves to flying. However, few people know that we owe the Indians of Mesoamerica the discovery of cocoa and chocolate recipes. The wild precursors of cultivated cocoa sprout throughout Central and South America - [...]

Cocoa and Chocolate are Mayan heritage. Thousands of years ago, the Maya Indians settled on the lands of the Yucatan Peninsula. This land was the beginning of Mayan science and the rich heritage of the Maya. Here, for themselves, they discovered cocoa trees, which were subsequently cultivated, and the Indians discovered the divine power and wonderful taste of the drink from the seeds of this tree. The drink was bitter [...]

The basis of any empire, and the Mayan civilization is no exception, are large cities. There were not a small number of them on the Yucatan Peninsula, and the population of some of them reached 100 thousand people. However, in the ninth century AD, the Maya civilization fell into decline, for reasons that remain unclear to this day - the Mayan era ended. IN last years [...]

Modern scientists and researchers continue to worry about the countless mysteries and mysteries of the ancient Mayan civilization, in particular the Temple of the Inscriptions, which is famous for the ancient Mayan city of Palenque. More and more research teams are sent to uncover the secrets of a nation that has sunk into oblivion. So it turned out that the ruler, who headed the Mayan city of Palenque, Pacal the Great, had another, second son, about [...]

Indian music is an integral part of Mexican rituals. One of the first Europeans who managed to immerse themselves in the sounds of Aztec music that accompanies religious rites, including sacrifice rituals, was Bernal Diaz Castillo. However, as a person accustomed to more melodic European, Christian melodies, the sounds of Aztec songs, the music of the Indians and their compositions were alien to him. Those who are fully [...]

When planning a tourist route for countries such as Guatemala and Mexico, the ruins of the cities of the ancient peoples of Central America will certainly fall into the sightseeing program. In particular, the most popular points are the ancient cities of Tikal, Palenque, Copan and Chichen Itza, where the art of the Indians once flourished. However educated people do not stop at viewing monuments alone - you always want to return home with [...]

According to the assumptions of modern scientists, Chichen Itza was founded in the 5th-6th centuries AD and was one of the largest Mayan settlements. However, by the end of the 10th century, for inexplicable reasons, life had practically left Chichen Itza. Buildings that support this theory, dating back to the 10th century AD, are mostly located in the southern part of Chichen Itza. Years later, the city was repopulated, but [...]

Without a doubt, the true heroes of the Popol Vuh are the Quiche Indians. This is directly hinted at by the final phrase of the narrative: “I have nothing more to say about the Maya-Kiche people.” The author wanted to create nothing more than a story about the glorious past of his people. Of course, this glory is perceived by him in a peculiar way and is also displayed in a peculiar way in Mayan writings. The author deliberately eliminated everything that, [...]

The literature of the Mayan civilization is an extraordinary phenomenon not only within the framework of the New World. Many hieroglyphic records and writings of the Maya contain calendar and mythological themes, commemorative and military texts. Military texts, by the way, are the oldest examples of Mayan poetic art. The dominant size, which is not surprising, is the trochee. The most common type of narration and prose among the late Maya, among Maya [...]

Symbolism and components. Maya Indians expressed their cosmic vision in architecture. Mayan architecture was unique. The Maya designed buildings in such a way that they were both practical and symbolic, fulfilling both a practical purpose and a religious one. A significant part of the religious, astronomical structures were conceived by the Maya as gigantic devices for holding and concentrating divine energies. Many buildings, according to the ideas of the Maya Indians, were [...]

The hut is the home of the Mayan Indian. Before the arrival of the Spaniards to their lands, the houses of the Mayan Indians were made of organic materials - this is the main reason why examples of the then “domestic” architecture have not survived to this day. Most researchers agree that Mayan houses were not much different from modern rural buildings. Spanish conquistadors visiting the home of an Indian [...]

The history of the Maya is full of events. Many centuries before Europeans, much earlier than all others world scientists, the Maya Indians managed to predict, calculate lunar and solar eclipses, and make the most accurate mathematical calculations. They were and remain brilliant astronomers - the Mayans managed to calculate the movement of Venus, its orbit with an error of only 14 seconds, Mayan mathematics was the first in the history of the Earth [...]

The oldest settlement on the site modern excavations, where the city of Tikal was located, dates back to 800 BC. The ancient Maya settled on a small hill, around which they later built their future capital. The name of the city of Tikal, which in translation is “Place of Sounds”, was given to the settlement later, in ancient times the city bore the name Yashmutul and was located in the center of the kingdom of Mutul. City [...]

The legacy of the Mayan civilization The legacy of the Mayan civilization, and indeed the entire Mayan civilization every year becomes more and more a mystery to history, and the disclosure of truths is an impossible task. We have at our disposal only a small, small part of the information and knowledge about the civilization of the ancient Maya, the heritage of the Mayan civilization, however, what is already known for certain is completely derived from descriptions and [...]

According to the Maya, the Yok Cub universe is worlds located one on top of the other. Above the kingdom of the earth, according to Mayan mythology, is the heavenly world. By the way, according to Mayan beliefs, the heavenly world consisted of 13 celestial layers, and under it there were 9 more underground or underworld worlds. In the center of the earth was the tree of life, the original tree. According to the four parties [...]

The second question remains on the agenda: where, from what lands could the Maya Indians come from ?! There is no doubt that at one time they left a highly developed and more ancient civilization than the Maya itself, as evidenced by the Mayan religion, like the whole culture. As it turns out, such a civilization really existed. It was found in the territories of modern Mexico. Right here [...]

The Mayan civilization, the Mayan people, is not the indigenous people of the lands of Honduras and Guatemala, according to many researchers, the Maya came to these lands from the north: scientists find it difficult to answer where exactly they came from or when the Mayans settled Yucatan. One thing is known for sure it was not done later than the first millennium BC. And from that moment on, [...]

The name of the ancient cities of the Mayans can make you laugh modern man, however, this does not take away their importance for history. Such "funny" and mysterious cities Mayans were the embodiment of a mighty ancient empire. One of such centers of Mayan civilization and Mayan culture, but in this case the religious center, was the city of Uxmal (Uxmal - Uxmal). The ruins of ancient Mayan Uxmal are located in the [...]

Ancient Mayan cities were built throughout the Yucatan. It was a huge empire. And another, albeit not central, but no less important Mayan city is the city of Tulum - a residential city that became famous for its landscapes of incredible beauty. Tulum, like many other ancient Mayan cities erected in the postclassical Maya era, served as a port for another ancient Mayan city, Coba, [...]

Perhaps the largest Mayan city is Palenque, located on the Mexican-Guatemalan border, easily accessible from the modern city of Villa Hermosa. In the seventh century AD. this Mayan city was on the western frontier of the Mayan empire. Europeans learned about its existence only in 1773, and the excavations and study of its temples and palaces, as well as the study of the rich heritage of Palenque began [...]

The land that unites the Maya of the city, stretching across the entire northern part of the Yucatan, is popular not only among archaeologists, but also among millions of tourists. Uxmal, the Mayan city of Tulum, Mayapan, Chichen Itza are all popular tourist destinations. These are just the largest and most important of them. Almost all Mayan cities, nationalities, tribes played a significant role in the history of the Mayan civilization. Mayapan, city [...]

Palenque, like many pyramid cities, was located on the western border of the “Mayan” plain. The very name of the city of Palenque, the pyramid city, comes from the name neighboring village Santo Domingo de Palenque, the village is in turn named after ancient city Bahlam (jaguar sun - the place where the sun descends into the underworld). archaeological finds in the form of earthenware show that [...]

The astrological and astronomical knowledge of the ancient Maya was preserved in stone, such as the Mayan lunar calendar. Carved on the steles that adorn Mayan ruins and slabs, they are the basis for numerous temples and pyramids today. On one of these engravings of the Mayan ruins, it was possible to find calendar calculations of extraordinary accuracy, the error was only 0.02% in relation to modern measurements. [...]

From an interview with James. A. McBride II. All the knowledge we have about the Mayan civilization was not acquired by our generation alone, much less by more than one person. These are hundreds of scientists and archaeologists, artists, thinkers and just researchers who have studied existing information or searched for new information on the Mayan ruins, and, of course, those who still [...]

Limestone structures and stucco finishes are the main hallmarks of Mayan culture and architecture. During their short history, the Maya Indians managed to introduce several unique building innovations at once. For example: false arch or cornice. Another interesting feature: some graves and burials were located on the lower floors, in basements or even in the foundations of residential buildings. Often, on the site of such burials, [...]

One of the most common artistic themes in Mayan art is the theme of a royal audience. Sometimes Mayan art was accompanied by engravings describing the people, place, or event depicted. The most interesting and significant details were always especially decorative, for example, faces and masks could be painted in catchy colors, and gestures or postures of people could be highlighted with beads [...]

Mayan art, like the art of any other civilization, is a reflection of lifestyle and culture. The art of the Indians is drawings on paper and bark, various figurines made of clay and stone, images carved on slabs and in wood, on pottery and plaster, ceramic figurines and sculptures, and much, much more. From a technical point of view, the manufacturing process [...]

The traditional garments of the Mayan Indians, sewn mainly by women, are widely known throughout the world. The most beautiful examples that the Mayan culture created were found in Chiapas, Mexico. The Maya women who lived in this region always wore huipil. This is a kind of decorative blouse, rectangular in shape, with a loose silhouette and made of light cotton. Huipil is a very common women's attire in civilization [...]

As Mayan legends say, when life was just emerging on Mayan land, the Dziú bird had multi-colored feathers, and its eyes did not yet glow red like fire. Dziú, like all birds, built a nest and laid eggs in the spring, and in the summer she raised her children and prepared them for future difficulties. Once the god of water and fertility Yuum Chaac, [...]

Some facts: First information: 250 AD (rise of the Mayan civilization) Historical territory: Central America (southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize) Followers: Once up to two million. Today, most of the local population practices Catholicism, but a small part of the population still remains an Old Believer. Texts: Dresden, Madrid, and Paris manuscripts; Books: Chilam Balam; Popul Vuh; Rituals of Bacabs Major Mayan gods: Itzamná; Kukulcán (Quetzalcóatl); Bolon Tzacab; Chac Fundamentals of Religion: Astronomy, divination, human sacrifice, polytheism, ritual [...]

Some facts: First information: 250 AD (rise of the Mayan civilization) Historical territory: Central America (southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize) Followers: Once up to two million worshipers of the Mayan rites. Today, most of the local population practices Catholicism, but a small part of the population still remains Old Believers. Texts: Dresden, Madrid, and Paris manuscripts; Books: Chilam Balam; Popul Vuh; Rituals of Bacabs Major Mayan gods: Itzamná; Kukulcán (Quetzalcóatl); Bolon Tzacab; Chac Fundamentals of Religion: Astronomy, divination, Mayan rites, human sacrifice, [...]

Some facts: First information: 250 AD (rise of the Mayan civilization) Historical territory: Central America (southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize) Followers: Once upon a time, the Mayan religion numbered up to two million admirers. Today, most of the local population practices Catholicism, but a small part of the population still remains Old Believers. Texts: Dresden, Madrid, and Paris manuscripts; Books: Chilam Balam; Popul Vuh; Rituals of Bacabs Major Mayan gods: Itzamná; Kukulcán (Quetzalcóatl); Bolon Tzacab; Chac Fundamentals of Religion: Astronomy, divination, Mayan rites, human sacrifice, [...]

Some facts: First information: 250 AD (rise of the Mayan civilization) Historical territory: Central America (southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize) Followers: Once upon a time, the Mayan religion numbered up to two million admirers. Today, most of the local population practices Catholicism, but a small part of the population still remains Old Believers. Texts: Dresden, Madrid, and Paris manuscripts; Books: Chilam Balam; Popul Vuh; Rituals of Bacabs Major Mayan gods: Itzamná; Kukulcán (Quetzalcóatl); Bolon Tzacab; Chac Fundamentals of Religion: Astronomy, divination, Mayan rites, human sacrifice, polytheism, ritual [...]

Some facts: First information: 250 AD (rise of the Mayan civilization) Historical territory: Central America (southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize) Followers: Once the Mayan beliefs numbered up to two million admirers. Today, most of the local population practices Catholicism, but a small part of the population still remains Old Believers. Texts: Dresden, Madrid, and Paris manuscripts; Books: Chilam Balam; Popul Vuh; Rituals of Bacabs Major Mayan gods: Itzamná; Kukulcán (Quetzalcóatl); Bolon Tzacab; Chac Fundamentals of Religion: Astronomy, divination, Mayan rites, human sacrifice, polytheism, [...]

Comalcalco is the name of a modern city in Mexico and also the name of an ancient Mayan ruin. Mexican Mayan cities are unique and have their own unique charm. Literally Comalcalco translates as "House of comal". Comal - A pot and pan mix for making corn tortilla. The names of the Mayan cities are amazing, but more amazing is their architecture and heritage. So Comalcalco, like many Mayan cities, meets [...]

Calakmul (the names of the ancient Mayan cities, most likely, will surprise a modern person), was located in the very center of the historical and geographical territory once occupied by the Maya Indians. The first Mayan cities began to appear here before our era. Due to its location in the center of the region ("Petén"), the city had a huge impact on the northern and southern regions. Calakmul along with such Mayan cities as [...]

Oxkintok is an ancient city, the Mayan tribes and their descendants lived there for several centuries. Oxyntok is also the site of an ancient city excavation in the Yucatán Peninsula, located at the northern end of Puuc, near Maxcanú and about 40 miles from Mérida, between Uxmal and Ruta Puuc. The ancient city, the Mayan tribes who lived there are huge and the excavation site [...]

Ceibal (Seibal) or Seibal (the locals use this name) is the Spanish word for "place of the Ceiba tree." Seibal, like many mysterious ancient Mayan cities, was located in Guatemala in the Pasión River, the main tributary of the Usumacinta River. Seibal is a city where the Mayan calendar rested for many hundreds of years - once a thriving settlement of the Maya Indians (Preclassical Period approximately [...]

Like other civilizations, the Maya created Mayan stories, legends and fables in which they interpreted, in their own unique way, the creation of the universe and the laws of life. Today, these stories will allow us to get closer to one of the greatest civilizations that ever lived on our planet. It happened a long time ago, in those days when the leader of the Mishtek tribe, Dikanyu, or as he was called Big [...]

Like other civilizations, the Maya created stories, Mayan legends and fables in which they interpreted, in their own unique way, the creation of the universe and the laws of life. Today, these stories will allow us to get closer to one of the greatest civilizations that ever lived on our planet. In one village, a hen lived happily with her husband, a rooster. They had many children - [...]

Like other civilizations, the Maya created Mayan stories, legends and fables in which they interpreted, in their own unique way, the creation of the universe and the laws of life. Today, these stories, the stories of the Maya, will allow us to approach one of the greatest civilizations that ever lived on our planet. The Maya were famous for their hunting skills, and one day the most famous hunter in his tribe started [...]

Mayan astronomy and astrology, expressed in a calendar, also includes a lunar count - a calendar lunar days Mayan. The lunar period was calculated as 2 cycles of 29 or 30 days, respectively (these cycles alternate). Thus, the average lunar period in Mayan astrology is 29.5 days, with the help of an accurate calculation of alternating cycles, the Moon was carefully caught in [...]

In Mayan astronomy, and indeed in ancient astronomy important role played by the planet Venus. Mayan astronomers observed Venus and made records of this planet. The Dresden Codex contains tables and astronomical data of the full cycle of Venus. Maya astronomy was able to calculate the cycle of Venus, five cycles of 584 days each, five components of a complete cycle of Venus. This corresponds to 2 [...]

The Maya were extremely good astronomers, observing and recording the Moon, the Sun, and other celestial bodies ah, they managed to reach unprecedented heights in Mayan astronomy. Since the first millennium of our era, the Mayan civilization used an annual calendar that includes 360 days, this calendar is extremely accurate and measures long periods of time. The ancient Maya are also known for [...]

The Maya civilization, which created the Maya writing, did not last long by historical standards, but it was a unique people, with its own unique traditions and knowledge of the world. The Maya Indians, like most ancient civilizations, had their own unique Mayan language and script. According to modern scientists, the Maya language originated around 250 BC [...]

Temple XII. Temple XII is rightfully considered the main attraction and the first place to visit among tourists in Palenque. The Mayan temple is also known as the Temple of the Skull and the Temple of the Dead Moon. During the period of primary archaeological excavations in 1992-94, it was on the territory of the temple that the most valuable exhibits were found, in total about 500 objects. Next to the temple of the moon, [...]

The architecture of Palenque was truly extraordinary. By reducing specific gravity cornice arch and minimizing the load on the load-bearing wall, the builders of Palenque managed to build houses with frontal doorways in order to increase the amount of fresh air and natural light in the house. Attic roofs, decorated carvings stucco and stucco decorations, gave the structures of Palenque a pleasing aesthetic appearance. The most famous [...]

Palenque, like most Mayan cities, is located in a mountainous area, the Mayan city is located in the foothills of the Tumbala cliffs in Mexico, the Palenque mountain ledge overlooks marshy plains that extend far north up to the coast of the bay. Perhaps it is the peculiar location of Palenque between the two worlds that gives the Mayan city its mystical charm, which attracts scientists and tourists [...]

Mayapan, like many cities in the jungle, was located on the Yucatan Peninsula, forty-seven kilometers southeast of Merida, the capital of the Yucatan. The ruins, dating back to the Postclassic period of Mayan history, include all the latest achievements of the Mayan civilization in architecture, developing up to the Spanish occupation. Mayapan, like many later jungle cities, was founded in 1007 [...]

Bul (better known as "Bull") is an ancient Mayan strategic board game. Yes, Mayan customs included games. This game using dice also called HAXBIL-BUL, HAXBIL (training) and BUL (play). Stuart Kulin, an ethnologist and curator at the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, has included the game of Bul not only in Mayan customs, but [...]

The Maya, as Mayan customs say, were excellent athletes, they built the most magnificent stadiums for their games. For example, consider the stadium in the city of Chichen Itza, 545 feet long and 225 feet wide in all directions. According to Mayan customs, the stadium has no foundation and fastening partitions between the walls, the stadium also has no roof, it is completely open to [...]

Like other civilizations, the Maya created stories, legends and fables in which they interpreted, in their own unique way, the creation of the universe and the laws of life. Mayan mythology was created. Today, these stories will allow us to get closer to one of the greatest civilizations that ever lived on our planet. One day, the Rabbit decided to leave his hole in order to find food for himself. Unfortunately, it started to rain, [...]

And the gods gathered in Teotihuacan, the city of the gods, in order to discuss which of them would become the next Sun. Darkness surrounded them, the dawn was far away. And the gods asked if there were any volunteers among them?! And he wished to become a sim of Tecusitztecatl, but one volunteer was clearly not enough, especially since Tecusitztecatl, as the Mayan legends say, was frightened. And then the gods asked [...]

The post-classical Mayan territory is Uxmal ("oosh-mahl", translated as "thrice built"), a city that was formed on the Yucatan Peninsula at the turn of the 9/10 centuries. Uxmal is considered one of the most complex and beautiful examples Puuc architecture, and for numerous tourists and travelers Uxmal is the highlight of their journey. Puuc means "hilly side", the name of a hilly area in which [...]

A city perched spectacularly on a cliff overlooking the turquoise waters of the Caribbean Sea. Tulum is a Mayan city that flourished until 1200 (the arrival of the Spaniards). The ruins of an ancient Mayan settlement, Tulum is the third most visited Mayan city in Mexico, after Teotihuacan and Chichen Itzi. The ruins of the city are located just 120 km from the popular resort of Cancun on the Yucatan Peninsula. [...]

Kabah is a Mayan city in the Yucatan Peninsula, connected to the neighboring city of Uxmal by a ceremonial road. Its construction began around the 9th century AD (most of the buildings in the city are made in the Puuc style). The Kabah is best known for its palace, which is completely covered in rain god masks and hawk face paintings. The area around the town of Kabah began to be settled around [...]

Caracol is the most important city in the Mayan civilization, flourishing until the 7th century AD, today lying in ruins in west-central Belize on the border with Guatemala. The Mayan city, hidden in the jungle until 1938 (discovery of Caracol), contains numerous pyramids, royal tombs, residences and other structures. Caracol is the largest Mayan settlement in Belize. Once the city [...]

Like other civilizations, the Maya created stories, Mayan legends and fables in which they interpreted, in their own unique way, the creation of the universe and the laws of life. Today, these stories will allow us to get closer to one of the greatest civilizations that ever lived on our planet. Once upon a time, Sac Muyal stole a young girl and disappeared with her. To save her, [...]

Like other civilizations, the Mayans created stories, Indian myths and fables in which they interpreted, in their own unique way, the creation of the universe and the laws of life. Today, these stories will allow us to get closer to one of the greatest civilizations that ever lived on our planet. Once upon a time, a brave and strong warrior lived in this world. He loved to hunt and often walked [...]

Like other civilizations, the Maya Indians created stories, legends and tales of the Indians, in which they interpreted, in their own unique way, the creation of the universe and the laws of life. Today, these stories will allow us to get closer to one of the greatest civilizations that ever lived on our planet. Once upon a time there lived a man so poor that he was always in bad mood, and mistreated [...]

Like other civilizations, the Mayan Indians, the mythology of the Indians created stories, legends and fables in which they interpreted, in their own unique way, the creation of the universe and the laws of life. Today, these stories will allow us to get closer to one of the greatest civilizations that ever lived on our planet. As Indian mythology says, once upon a time a kind but unfortunate man decided to sell his soul to the [...]

Mayan discoveries were numerous. Thus, the introduction of the symbol zero into calculations is one of the greatest achievements of the Maya civilization in its entire history. The role of zero cannot be overestimated, because while carrying the meaning of an empty set, at the same time it carries the meaning of infinity. The Mayan equivalent of the Arabic zero (0), allowed the Mayans to express any value of an integer using [...]

The city of Copan is one of the largest archaeological sites on the territory of Honduras and the most important political center of the disappeared Maya empire. The city of Copan is located in the west of Honduras, in the central part of the valley of the river of the same name (Copan), a kilometer from the town of the same name and 14 kilometers from the border with Guatemala. Copan is an ancient Mayan city, founded in the middle of the second century AD, [...]

The culture of the Maya civilization is full of contrasts and mysteries, American myths and legends: great mathematicians and astronomers, primitive farmers, friendly merchants and bloodthirsty warriors. Like other civilizations, the peoples of Central America also had their own myths of America, legends, fairy tales. They described both the life of mere mortals and mythical creatures- gods or animals. Great attention [...]

More recently, the National Institute of Anthropology and History told the world that archaeologists from Mexico have begun excavations of Mayan cities, in particular the study of a certain large Mayan city, protected for hundreds of years by the jungle, and hidden deep underground. The city was first discovered by locals in 1995 and reported to the archaeologists of Luz Evelia Campagna. Approximate [...]

It is assumed that the Mayan religion was the most cruel in the history of mankind. All of you must have heard about the bloody atrocities that took place in the Mayan civilization, I mean sacrifices, both human and not. In the numerous rituals of the Mayan religion, to tenderness to the gods, hundreds of thousands of animals and an incalculable number of human lives were sacrificed. But is it [...]

The heritage of the Mayan civilization has hundreds of thousands of samples of a highly developed culture, the ancient Indian cities were an example of majestic architecture, but the Spaniards did everything to destroy them. The heritage of the fortified cities of the Indians, which had protected the locals for hundreds of years, did not save them either. In July 1562, in Mani, Bishop Diego de Landa ordered that all Maya manuscripts and works of art be collected and burned. Tenderloin [...]

The gods of the Indians for the Indians themselves were not just idols. God Vitsliputsli - Huitzilopochtli (Huitzilopochtli, Vislipuzli) - “God of the southern hummingbird”, “hummingbird of the left side”. Initially, he was the god of the Aztec tribe (a hummingbird in Aztec and Mayan mythology, often personified the sun). According to the legends of the Aztecs, one day Huitzilopochtli was supposed to come to earth and take all the people to a blessed place where they [...]

The culture of the Mayan civilization is full of contrasts and mysteries, American tales and legends: great mathematicians and astronomers, primitive farmers, friendly merchants and bloodthirsty warriors. Like other civilizations, the peoples of Central America also had their own myths, legends, tales of America. They described both the life of ordinary mortals and mythical creatures - gods or animals. Great attention [...]

The culture of the Mayan civilization is full of contrasts and mysteries: Yucatan myths and fairy tales, great mathematicians and astronomers, primitive farmers, friendly merchants and bloodthirsty warriors. Like other civilizations, the peoples of Central America also had their own Yucatan myths, legends, fairy tales. They described both the life of ordinary mortals and mythical creatures - gods or animals. Great attention [...]

Not so long ago, a hypothesis appeared, according to which the Mayan civilization originated in Altai. Researchers were skeptical about such a theory, but not everything is so simple. Yes, yes, you were not mistaken precisely in Altai, here is such a Mayan tribe of geography. And every step in Central America only confirms this theory. Even the elders of the descendants of the Mayan civilization, without the slightest irony, [...]

In the ancient city of Waka (Waka), modern Mayan ruins, a joint expedition of archaeologists from Guatemala and the United States managed to discover a burial, possibly belonging to the founder of the local dynasty of Mayan monarchs who ruled in the third century AD. Scientists do not yet have full confidence in the belonging of the Mayan tomb, however, as the Los Angeles Times notes, the finds at the entrance to the burial chamber indicate [...]

Translations of hieroglyphs depicted on the stairs of the pyramid in Guatemala showed that at the peak of its development in the Mayan civilization of Yucatan, there was a prolonged armed conflict between the two city-states. Mayan writings and texts in Mexico. The hieroglyphs of 1300 years ago support the theories of scientists that the world of the ancient Maya, the Maya in Mexico was split by battles between two dominant rulers, and not clashes [...]

Traveling through Mayan cities and ruins is one of the most inspiring trips you will ever take. The excavations of the Mayan city, its ruins are both an incredible sight and a memory for life. Visiting ancient Mayan cities is a great way to spend your holidays. Places such as the ancient Mayan city of Chichen Itza, Palenque, Merida, Tulum, Tikal and [...]

One of the most revered gods in the Mayan civilization, in the Mayan pantheon, was Quetzalcoatl (Kukul-kan), the god of the wind, the god of the planet Venus, etc. In addition to the main deities big role Mayan religious life was played by local gods and belief in deified ancestors and heroes. Among the numerous female deities, the "red goddess" Ish-Chebel-Yash was especially revered. She was often depicted with the paws of a predatory [...]

The Mayan gods played an important role in Everyday life native americans. The Mayans were a deeply spiritual people, like all other peoples of the Mesoamerican continent. The Mayan pantheon of gods was based on the knowledge acquired over the long existence of this ancient civilization. Thoughts of the Mayan people and their actions for many millennia were determined by ideas and concepts about space and time, about the creation of man, faith [...]

Farming has played an important role throughout the history of the ancient civilization that was built by the Mayan Indians, in the history of a civilization that left behind many questions and mysteries, such as the Mayan calendar or the 2012 apocalypse according to Mayan predictions. Basically, the fields of ancient farmers were sown with numerous grains, for the most part it was corn. Legumes were also often grown, [...]

Central America, where the Maya lived, is literally littered with pyramids and ruins left by the ancient Maya civilization, whose high point fell between 250 and 900 AD, and covered the territory of modern Honduras and part of central Mexico. Archaeologists were ordered to excavate in the area of ​​El Zotz, where the Maya lived, (El Zotz translated [...]

In May of this year, in Guatemala, researchers managed to discover a burial room, a Mayan tomb, but the discovery was made public only a couple of days ago, as it became known, the grave was found in the Peten region, where extensive thickets and impenetrable jungle hid great secret Maya civilization for many hundreds of years. The tomb, a Mayan tomb, is dated 300 - 600 years [...]

Of all the empires of the ancient world, it is worth highlighting the Maya civilization, aggregating knowledge in mathematics that is in no way inferior to ours. It is believed that it was in the mathematics of the ancient Maya that the concept of the number zero was first used. The priests of the Mayan civilization, who spread the knowledge of the Maya, are the first people on our planet to use the concept of an empty set in their calculations. Also, don't forget about [...]

Tikal (or Tik'al according to modern Maya spelling) is the largest archaeological site and the center of Mayan civilization before the Columbus era. It is located in the archaeological area of ​​the Petén Basin in present-day northern Guatemala, where the Mayans and Incas used to live. Now part of Tikal located in the Petén basin is the National Park of Guatemala, and since 1979, thanks to UNESCO, it [...]

On November 15, 1533, the first Spanish soldiers set foot in the ancient Mayan city. Later, on March 23, 1534, Francisco Pizarro, who arrived in Cusco on an official visit, renames the city “Noble City of Cusco.” The ancient city, once belonging to the Maya, was rebuilt under the control of Europeans. big [...]

For more than 3,000 years, the meaning of Mayan symbols has remained a mystery to scientists around the world. The Maya was one of the few ancient civilizations that had its own writing system, the Mayan script. Their Maya symbols and hieroglyphs are original, most of the civilizations borrowed the writing system from pre-existing empires. The hieroglyphs were discovered by an American, John Lloyd Stevens, and an Englishman, Frederick Catherwood in [...]

Welcome to our corner of Mayan art. Architecture and sculpture of the ancient Indians, Maya painting, Inca architecture, memorial plaques, statues, sculptures and wall carvings (believe the Maya - this is not only fortune-telling of the Mayan Indians). About all this, including Maya painting, and not only you can read here, and not only read, but also watch. For your consideration [...]

The mysterious Maya and extraterrestrial civilizations, rumors about the possible connection of the ancient Indians with a more developed form of life have long been wandering around the net, and even before the advent of the Internet, this topic was widely discussed by many people. Some of them believe that the multi-level stone pyramids located in Central America are nothing more than star portals built by the Mayans and their extraterrestrial [...]

Mayan epochs, chronology: BC: 3000-2000, Olmec Empire. 1800-900, Early Preclassic Maya. 900-300, Middle Preclassic Maya civilization. 300 BC-250 AD, Late Preclassic Mayan period. Our era: 250-600, Early classical Mayan civilization. 600-900, Late Classic Maya period. 900-1500, Preclassic Maya civilization. 1521-1821, Colonial period. 1821, To this day, independent Mexico. Maya history, detailed chronology: BC: 11,000 BC, The first hunter-gatherers [...]

Maya beliefs, the religion of ancient American cultures, are characterized by complex, sophisticated rites, rituals, the fundamental purpose of which was to receive indulgence from the gods in the form of all kinds of benefits. The Mayan religion boasted a huge variety of rituals from the incense of fragrant resins, cult dances and chants to vigils, fasts and prayers. The religion of the ancient Maya was arranged in such a way that a special place in it was occupied [...]

The city of Chichen Itza, Tikal, Mayapan, Palenque are all little-studied settlements of the Mayan civilization. The whole history of the Mayan civilization is shrouded in riddles and mysteries. Even now, endless archaeological excavations of ancient cities and research operations do not provide all the answers to all the Mayan riddles. How did such an ancient civilization, which did not know the wheel, manage to build such majestic temples and pyramids? What [...]

The Maya people are a homogeneous group of people that have settled in the same territory for a thousand years. The Maya Indians spoke about thirty languages ​​​​(the writing of the Mayan Indians also included about 30 dialects), so similar that linguists suggested the existence of a proto-Mayan language, from which the rest later appeared, this language existed about 7 thousand years ago. [...]

Ancient Maya, Mayan culture, the secrets of Mayan architects Deep in the tropical forests of Central America are majestic monoliths, the ruins of Mayan culture, Mayan civilization, this is a whole Mayan wiki or if you want a storehouse of knowledge. Names so unfamiliar to modern man as Copan, Tikal, Chichen Itza, Monte Alban - the names of abandoned cities of the disappeared Mayan civilization, captivate our imagination. Mayan civilization, Mayan culture - [...]

The Maya heritage is rich, as is the history of this people. At its peak, the Maya civilization occupied a vast area covering southeastern Mexico and the Central American countries of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. Mayan culture, Maya religion, Maya civilization developed over a fairly long period of time, starting from the preclassic period, approximately 1000 BC. until the coming of the Spanish [...]

The ancient Maya civilization and its history. Maya, the Maya civilization is an ancient American civilization that possessed the only known and ideally developed written language of America before Columbus, as well as its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Originally erected during the Preclassic period (c. 2000 BC to 250 AD), according to Maya history, the chronology of the Maya civilization, many [...]

Today, the Maya is a tribe of Indians living in South America. Today they live in countries such as Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and Belize. And since 2000 BC, it was an ancient civilization in Central America. They obeyed all the ancient peoples and tribes that lived in this territory. Maya and civilization at that time were synonymous. The ancient Maya civilization dominated for 12 centuries. The peak of its heyday falls on the year 900 AD. After this, a long period of cultural decline begins, the reasons for which history does not reveal.

The Maya were called people who measure their lives with heaven. At the same time, the life of the tribe remained quite primitive. The main occupation was agriculture. The tools of labor were the simplest. Scientists say that the Maya did not even know the wheel. All the more striking is the fact that during its heyday, the Mayan tribe created unique works of art, temples, tombs, miracle cities and other architectural monuments. Even more striking is their knowledge of astronomy, the system they created for measuring time and writing.

At a time when the colonialists from the old world set foot on the east coast of South America, the Maya civilization came to an almost complete decline. During its heyday, it occupied all of Central America. The colonialists reacted barbarously to the works of art and architectural monuments they inherited from the Mayan civilization. They considered them "pagan idols", the heritage of pagan culture and ruthlessly destroyed them. But even what remains today of the culture and knowledge of the ancient Maya strikes the imagination of modern scientists.

By right, one of the main achievements of the Maya is considered to be their unique calendar based on precise astronomical calculations. Our scientists never cease to admire its amazing accuracy. The ancient Mayan priests used their astronomical observations both to solve pressing issues (for example, in agriculture) and to explain more global problems. So the Mayan priests very accurately calculated life cycles of our planet, which is confirmed by modern scientists. With the advent of 2012, everyone is especially worried about the Mayan prediction about the supposedly impending end of the world. Everyone decides whether to believe the ancient Mayan prophecies about the approaching apocalypse.

One thing is certain, the reasons why this ancient civilization disappeared remain mysterious and incomprehensible today. People simply left their cities en masse. There are several versions, but no one knows exactly what the real reason is. Who they are, where they came from - remains a mystery even today ...

Who wants to know more, we suggest watching the video film: “Mexico. Mayan. unknown history." in 6 parts. The film was created on the basis of materials collected during the expedition to Mexico in March 2007 and is based on facts that for a long time were hidden and hushed up. Enjoy watching.

Video film: “Mexico. Mayan. Unknown story"

The Maya peoples inhabited the territories:

• in the west - from the Mexican state of Tabasco,
• in the east, to the western outskirts of Honduras and El Salvador.

This area is divided into three areas clearly distinguishable in terms of climatic and cultural-historical features.

1. The north - the Yucatan Peninsula, formed by a limestone platform - is distinguished by an arid climate, poor soil and the absence of rivers. The only sources of fresh water are karst wells (cenotes).
2. The central region covers the Mexican states of Tabasco, part of Chiapas, Campeche, Quintana Roo, as well as Belize and the Guatemalan department of Petén. This area is made up of lowlands, abundant in natural reservoirs and crossed by large rivers Usumacinta, Motagua and others. The territory is covered with tropical rainforests with a diverse fauna, a rich selection of edible fruits and plants. Here, as in the north, there are practically no minerals.
3. The southern region includes mountain ranges up to 4000 m high in the state of Chiapas and the Guatemalan highlands. The territory is covered with coniferous forests and has a temperate climate. Various minerals are found here - jadeite, jade, obsidian, pyrite, cinnabar, which were valued by the Maya and served as items of trade.

The climate of all regions is characterized by a change in the dry and rainy seasons, which requires accuracy in determining the time of sowing, which is impossible without the development of astronomical knowledge and the calendar. The fauna is represented by ungulates (bakers, tapirs, deer), predators of the cat family, varieties of raccoons, hares and reptiles.

Maya Civilization History

Periodization of Mayan history

• ...-1500 BC - Archaic period
• 1500-800 AD BC. - Early formative
• 800-300 AD BC. - Medium formative
• 300 BC - 150 AD - late formative
• 150-300 AD - Protoclassical
• 300-600 AD - Early Classical
• 600-900 AD - Late Classical
• 900-1200 AD - Early Postclassic
• 1200-1530 - Late Postclassic

The problem of settlement of the Mayan region is still far from a final solution. Some evidence suggests that the Proto-Maya came from the north, moving along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, displacing the local population or mixing with it. Between 2000-1500 BC. began to settle throughout the zone, breaking up into various language groups.

In the VI-IV centuries. BC. in the Central region, the first urban centers appear (Nakbe, El Mirador, Tikal, Vashaktun), distinguished by their monumental buildings. During this period, urban planning takes on a form characteristic of Mayan cities - an articulation of independent, astronomically oriented acropolises adapted to the relief, representing a rectangular area surrounded by temple and palace buildings on platforms. The early Mayan cities formally continued to maintain the genus-phratric structure.

Classical period - I (III) -X centuries. n. e. - the time of the final design and flourishing of the Mayan culture. Throughout the Maya, urban centers arise with subordinate territories of the city-state. As a rule, cities in these territories were no further than 30 km from the center, which is apparently due to communication problems due to the lack of draft animals in the region. The population of the largest city-states (Tikal, Calakmul, Karakol) reached 50-70 thousand people. The rulers of large kingdoms bore the title of Ahav, and the centers subordinate to them were ruled by local rulers - Sahals. The latter were not appointed officials, but came from local ruling families. There was also a complex palace hierarchy: scribes, officials, masters of ceremonies, etc.

Despite the changing structure of social relations, power in the city-states was transferred according to the tribal scheme, which was reflected in the magnificent cult of deified royal ancestors, in addition, power could also belong to women. Since Maya acropolises and cities were of a “genetic” nature and were associated only with specific representatives of one kind or another, this was the reason for the periodic desolation of individual acropolises and the final “abandonment” of Mayan cities in the 10th century, when the invading invaders destroyed the blood-related elite. with ancestors buried within the acropolises (pyramids). Without such a connection, the acropolis lost its significance as a symbol of power.

social structure

Evidence of a trend towards centralization of power in the III-X centuries. - the usurpation by the rulers of the capital centers of the ritual ball game, the emergence of which dates back to the times of intra-tribal rotation of power and collective decision-making. The aristocracy concentrated in its hands the trade in valuable items, cocoa beans and minerals used to make jewelry and handicrafts - obsidian, jadeite, etc. Trade routes ran both over land and along rivers and seas, going far to foreign territories.

Hieroglyphic texts mention priests divided into

• priests-ideologists,
• astronomer priests,
• "seeing" and
• soothsayers.

Psychedelic practices were used for divination.

Detail of a sacred fresco from San Bartolo (Guatemala). OK. 150 BC The picture depicts the birth of the cosmos and proves the divine right of the ruler.

The basis of society was made up of free community members who settled in family households, sometimes near cities, and sometimes at a considerable distance from them, which is associated with the nature of land use and the need to change (due to a decrease in productivity) the sown areas cultivated by the family every 4 years.

In their free time from sowing and harvesting, community members participated in public works and military campaigns. It was only in the postclassic period that a special stratum of semi-professional Kholkan warriors began to stand out, who demanded "services and offerings" from the community.

Maya texts often mention warlords. Wars were in the nature of short-term raids to ruin the enemy and sometimes capture prisoners. Wars were constantly fought in the region and contributed to the restructuring of political power, strengthening some cities while weakening and subjugating others. There is no data on slavery among the classical Maya. If slaves were used, then as domestic servants.

There is no information about the Mayan legal system.

Crisis of the 10th century - political and cultural restructuring

By the X century. in the Central region, active migrations begin, while the population is sharply reduced by 3-6 times. City centers fall into disrepair, political life freezes. There is almost no construction going on. Landmarks in ideology and art are changing - the cult of royal ancestors is losing its primary importance, while the origin of the legendary "Toltec conquerors" becomes the justification for the power of the ruler.

In Yucatan, the crisis of the end of the classical period did not lead to a decline in population and the fall of cities. In a number of cases, hegemony passes from the old, classical centers to new ones. The processes of social and political change after the destruction of the traditional Mayan system of city government by the Toltecs are observed in the postclassic period in cities such as

• Chichen Itza of the Toltecs in the X-XIII centuries;
• Mayapan during the reign of the Kokoms in the 13th-15th centuries;
• postclassical Mani, in whose submission in the XVI century. There were 17 towns and villages.

By the time the Spaniards appeared in the southeast of the Yucatan, the state of Akalan (Maya-chontal) had formed, where the capital city of Itzamkanak with 76 subordinate cities and villages had already emerged. It contains the administration, temples, 100 houses made of stone, 4 quarters with their patrons and their temples, a council of heads of quarters.

Confederations of cities with their capital became a new type of political-territorial formations that controlled the political, administrative, religious and scientific spheres of life. In the sphere of spirituality, the concept of reincarnation goes into the realm of religious abstraction, which allows cities (emerging capitals) to retain their functions even after a change of power. Internecine wars become the norm, the city acquires defensive characteristics. At the same time, the territory is growing, the system of control and protection is becoming more complex.

The Yucatan Maya had slavery, the slave trade was developed. Slaves were used for carrying heavy loads and domestic work, but more often acquired for sacrifice.

In mountainous Guatemala, with the onset of the postclassic period, the “Maya-Toltec style” spread. Obviously, the nahuacultural groups that penetrated were, as in the Yucatan, assimilated by the local population. As a result, a confederation of 4 Maya tribes was formed - Kaqchikels, Quiche, Tzutihil and Rabinal, which subjugated in the XIII-XIV centuries. various Maya- and Nahua-speaking tribes of mountainous Guatemala. As a result of civil strife, the confederation soon collapsed, almost simultaneously with the Aztec invasion and the appearance at the beginning of the 16th century. Spaniards.

Economic activity

The Maya practiced extensive slash-and-burn agriculture with regular site changes. The main crops were maize and beans, which formed the basis of the diet. Of particular value were cocoa beans, which were also used as a unit of exchange. They grew cotton. The Maya had no pets, with the exception of a special breed of dogs, sometimes eaten from poultry - turkeys. The function of a cat was performed by a nosuha - a kind of raccoon.

In the classical period, the Maya actively used irrigation and other methods of intensive farming, in particular, “raised fields” similar to the famous Aztec chinampas: artificial embankments were created in the river valleys, which, during floods, rose above the water and retained silt, which significantly increased fertility. To increase the yield, the plot was simultaneously sown with maize and legumes, which created the effect of fertilizing the soil. Fruit trees were planted near the dwelling, chile pepper, which is an important component of the diet of the Indians.

Land ownership continued to be communal. The institution of the dependent population was little developed. The main area of ​​its application could be plantations of perennial crops - cocoa, fruit trees, which were privately owned.

Mayan civilization culture

Scientific knowledge and writing

The Maya developed a complex picture of the world, which was based on the ideas of reincarnation and the endless alternation of the cycles of the universe. For their constructions, they used precise mathematical and astronomical knowledge, combining the cycles of the Moon, the Sun, planets and the time of the precessional rotation of the Earth.

The complication of the scientific picture of the world required the development of a writing system based on the Olmec. The Mayan writing was phonetic, morphemic-syllabic, involving the simultaneous use of about 400 characters. One of the earliest inscriptions - 292 AD. e. - found on a stele from Tikal (No. 29). Most of the texts were printed on monumental monuments or small plastic items. Texts on ceramic vessels are a special source.

Mayan books

Only 4 Maya manuscripts have survived - “codes”, representing long strips of ficus paper (“Indian paper”) folded with an accordion (pages), belonging to the postclassic period, obviously rewritten from more ancient samples. Regular copying of books was probably practiced in the region since ancient times and was associated with the difficulties of storing manuscripts in a humid, hot climate.

The Dresden manuscript is a strip of "Indian paper" 3.5 m long, 20.5 cm high, folded into 39 pages. It was built before the 13th century. in the Yucatan, from where it was taken to Spain as a gift to Emperor Charles V, from whom it came to Vienna, where in 1739 it was purchased from an unknown private person by the librarian Johann Christian Götze for the Dresden Royal Library.

Parisian manuscript - a strip of paper with a total length of 1.45 m and 12 cm high, folded into 11 pages, of which the initial ones are completely erased. The manuscript belongs to the reign of the Kokom dynasty in the Yucatan (XIII-XV centuries). In 1832 it was acquired by the Paris National Library(Kept here and now).

The Madrid manuscript was written no earlier than the 15th century. It consists of two fragments without beginning and end of "Indian paper" 13 cm high, with a total length of 7.15 m, folded into 56 pages. The first part was acquired in Extremadura by José Ignacio Miro in 1875. Since it was suggested that it once belonged to the conqueror of Mexico, Cortés, hence its name is the "Code of Cortes", or Cortesian. The second fragment in 1869 was purchased by Brasseur de Bourbourg from Don Juan Tro y Ortolano and was called Ortolan. The pieces joined together became known as the Madrid Manuscript, and have since been kept in Madrid at the Museum of the Americas.

Grolier's manuscript was in a private collection in New York. These are rather fragments of 11 pages without a beginning or end, dating back to the 13th century. This Mayan manuscript, of unknown origin, appears to have been composed under strong Mixtec influence. This is evidenced by the specific recording of numbers and features of images.

The texts on the Mayan ceramic vessels are called "clay books". The texts reflect almost all aspects of the life of the ancient society, from everyday life to complex religious ideas.

The decipherment of the Maya letter was carried out in the 50s of the XX century. Yu.V. Knorozov on the basis of the method of positional statistics developed by him.

Architecture

Mayan architecture reached its peak in the classical period: ceremonial complexes, conditionally called acropolises, with pyramids, palace buildings and stadiums for ball games, were actively erected. The buildings were grouped around a central rectangular square. Buildings were erected on massive platforms. During the construction, a “false vault” was used - the space between the roof masonry gradually narrowed upward until the walls of the vault closed. The roof was often crowned with massive ridges decorated with stucco. The construction technique could be different - from masonry to a concrete-like mass and even bricks. The buildings were painted, mostly red.

There are two main types of buildings - palaces and temples on the pyramids. The palaces were long, usually one-story buildings, standing on platforms, sometimes multi-tiered. At the same time, the transition through the enfilades of rooms resembled a labyrinth. There were no windows and light penetrated only through doorways and special ventilation holes. Perhaps the palace buildings were identified with the long passages of the caves. Almost the only example of buildings with several floors is the palace complex in Palenque, where a tower was also erected.

Temples were placed on pyramids, the height of which sometimes reached 50-60 m. Multi-stage stairs led to the temple. The pyramid embodied the mountain in which the legendary cave of the great ancestors was located. Therefore, an elite burial could have gone mad here - sometimes under the pyramid, sometimes in its thickness, and more often right under the floor of the temple. In some cases, the pyramid was erected directly over a natural cave. The construction on top of the pyramid, conditionally called the temple, did not have the aesthetics of an internal, very limited space. The doorway and the bench placed against the wall opposite this opening were of functional importance. The temple served only as a designation of the exit from the cave of the great-ancestors, as evidenced by its external decoration and sometimes its connection with intra-pyramidal burial chambers.

In the postclassic, a new type of square and structures appears. The ensemble is formed around the pyramid. Covered galleries with columns are erected on the sides of the square. In the center is a small ceremonial platform. There are platforms for risers with poles studded with skulls. The structures themselves are significantly reduced in size, sometimes not corresponding to human growth.

Sculpture

The friezes of buildings and massive roofing ridges were covered with stucco molding from lime mortar - a piece. The lintels of the temples and the steles and altars erected at the foot of the pyramids were covered with carvings and inscriptions. In most areas, they were limited to the technique of relief, only in Copan did round sculpture become widespread. Palace and battle scenes, rituals, masks of deities, etc. Like buildings, inscriptions and monuments were usually painted.

Mayan stelae also belong to the monumental sculpture - flat, about 2 m high monoliths, covered with carvings or paintings. The highest steles reach 10 m. Steles are usually associated with altars - round or rectangular stones that were placed in front of the steles. Steles with altars were an improvement of the Olmec monuments and served to convey the three-level space of the universe: the altar symbolized the lower level - the transition between worlds, the middle level was occupied by the image of events occurring with a particular character, and the upper level symbolized the rebirth of a new life. In the absence of an altar, the plot depicted on it was compensated by the appearance on the stele of the lower, “cave”, level, or relief niche, inside which the main image was placed. In some cities, roughly rounded flat altars, placed on the ground in front of the stele, or stone figurative images of reptiles, as, for example, in Copan, became widespread.

The texts on the steles could be dedicated to historical events, but most often they were of a calendar nature, marking the periods of the reign of one or another ruler.

Painting

Works of monumental painting were created on the inner walls of buildings, burial chambers. The paint was applied either on wet plaster (fresco) or on dry ground. The main theme of the murals is mass scenes of battles, festivities, etc. The most famous murals of Bonampak are three-room buildings, the walls and ceilings of which are entirely covered with paintings dedicated to the victory in hostilities. The fine arts of the Maya include polychrome painting on ceramics, which is distinguished by a great variety of plots, as well as drawings in "codes".

dramatic art

The dramatic art of the Maya came directly from religious ceremonies. The only work that has come down to us is the drama of Rabinal-Achi, recorded in the 19th century. The plot is based on the capture of a Quiche warrior by the warriors of the Rabinal community. The action develops in the form of a kind of dialogue between the prisoner and other main characters. The main poetic technique is rhythmic repetition, traditional for oral Indian folklore: the participant in the dialogue repeats the phrase spoken by his opponent, and then pronounces his own. Historical events- Rabinal's wars with Quiche - superimposed on a mythological basis - a legend about the abduction of the goddess of the waters, the wife of the old god of rain. The drama ended with the real sacrifice of the protagonist. Information came about the existence of other dramatic works, as well as comedies.

The Maya are an Indian people who, before the Spaniards conquered Central America, lived in a cultural and geographical area called Mesoamerica.

Mayan civilization - city-states that appeared in the 1st millennium BC. e. in southeastern Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala. Created hieroglyphic writing, palace and temple architecture, 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 XII 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 are Chichen Itza, Copan, Mayapan, Uxmal, Tikal.

Disputes about the origin of the Mayan civilization, their culture and history of occurrence do not subside. Mysterious ghost towns, built only with the use of muscle strength in the jungles of southern Mexico, beckon archaeologists and adventurers of all kinds.

What do we know. Mayan mysteries

Mayan settlements occupied vast territories in the south of present-day South America and the neighboring countries of Central America. The spaces inhabited by modern descendants of the Maya include the Yucatan Peninsula, Guatemala, British Honduras, the western regions of Honduras and El Salvador, and certain areas of the Mexican states of Chiapas and Tabasco.

The Maya civilization was the most advanced and long-lived in South America. The Yucatan Peninsula was its center. For a century and a half, this people has been of genuine interest to historians and researchers.

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 habitable place, but the Mayans decided to settle there. Why? Mystery.

The Maya 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 flourishing, living almost in the Stone Age .

Until the tenth century A.D. e. The Maya did not know such achievements as metal smelting (except for iron), breeding of pack and draft animals, plow farming, and the wheel.

Another of the most mysterious mysteries is connected with the Mayan civilization. For unknown reasons, this people left their inhabited lands and suddenly moved to the far undeveloped north. The cities were deserted, they were swallowed up by the thickets of the jungle, magnificent palaces began to collapse from time to time and the trees that grew in their faults. The mystery is all the more unclear because at the time of the resettlement this empire was at the peak of its prosperity.

The territory occupied by the Mayan civilization is highlighted in red.

So who are they, Maya?

What did the Maya look like?

The height of the Mayan Indians averaged about 150 cm. Immediately after birth, the head of a Yucatan baby was clamped between two planks so that over time the cranial bones became flat due to deformation. flat skull, long hair hairless front part of the head, amber was inserted into the nostrils pierced through the cartilage, bracelets made of sea oyster shells - this is how the Maya looked like. To this can be added painted bodies and faces, with the color of the paint being of great importance. Warriors wore red, unmarried youths wore black, captives wore yellow, and priests wore blue. Teeth sawn in a triangle, sometimes decorated with inlaid stones, were added to a peculiar idea of ​​​​beauty. Surprisingly, the Maya considered strabismus 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 squinted his eyes at him. Another distinguishing feature of the Maya is the tattoo. Her absence was considered indecent.

The rise of the Mayan civilization

There is an opinion that the ancestors of the Maya appeared in the Mexican highlands (zones of Chiapas and Guatemala) in the first half of the 3rd millennium BC. e., to which the first sprouts of the Mayan culture are related. This can be evidenced by ceramics discovered by archaeologists, stone tips for throwing weapons, coarse utensils in the form of burnt clay vessels and massive clay figurines.

From the middle of the II millennium BC. e. large settlements appear on the territory of the Maya, begins to develop Agriculture. The Maya build huts out of wood and clay in the jungle. The high roofs of their dwellings were made of palm leaves.

So, from 1500 BC. e. the so-called preclassic period begins, which gave the starting count of the historical existence of the most developed civilization of Ancient America - the Maya. And it lasts from 1500 BC. e. to 250 AD e. During this time, people gained agricultural experience, began to build rural-type settlements.

Story

There are several periods of this ancient civilization:
Early Preclassic (2000-900 BC)
Middle Preclassic (899-400 BC)
Late Preclassic (400 BC - 250 AD)
Early Classic Period (AD 250-600)
Late Classic Period (600-900 AD)
Decline of the Maya civilization
Postclassic period (900-1521)
Colonial period (1521-1821)
Post-colonial period
Maya today

Astrology

Maya astrology, using the zodiac circle as its main support, was a way to predict the future. Knowledge about the movements of celestial bodies also served as tools, among which a special place was given to the Moon: a waning or growing satellite of the Earth showed how successful this or that period of time was for a certain kind of undertakings.

Mayan natal astrology, which predicted the nature of the child, his behavior and inclinations during adulthood, is closely related to the Tzolkin calendar, each day of which could determine the character. For example, those who were born on the Imish day, according to the Maya, led a dissolute life, neglecting social foundations, while the babies of the Chuen day became good craftsmen and artisans. The fate determined by astrology was predetermined, but the priests had the opportunity to change it, linking the fate of a person with the day they were brought to the temple.

Mayan culture

It should be noted that the culture of the ancient peoples of Mesoamerica has some similarities. This gives grounds to assume the exchange between these peoples of certain achievements of their cultures, which led to some of their 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 parent culture is hieroglyphic writing, books folded like an accordion, the use of cocoa beans instead of money, a ritual ball game, a cult hero - the Feathered Serpent and cult rites, one of which was. Thus, the culture of the great Mayan civilization, since ancient times, has been influenced by other cultures.

In the preclassical period, Maya 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 from the 3rd century BC. e. The letter was continuously used until the arrival in the 16th century AD. e. Spanish conquistadors, and in some of the more isolated areas, such as Tayasala, for some time after that.

Mayan writing was a system of verbal and syllabic signs. The term "hieroglyphs" in relation to Maya 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 evidence that some Spanish priests who arrived in the Yucatan managed to study it. But soon the Bishop of Yucatan, Diego de Landa, as part of a campaign to eradicate pagan customs, ordered the collection and destruction of all Maya 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 full texts were found in pottery in Maya graves, and on monuments and steles in cities abandoned or destroyed after the Spanish arrived. The knowledge of writing was completely lost by late XVI centuries. Interest in it arose only in the 19th century, after reports of the destroyed cities of the Maya were published.

Weapon

Maya weapons were not a special achievement of technical thought. During the many centuries of the existence of the Mayan civilization, it has undergone minor changes. For the most part, the art of war has improved more than the weapon itself.

In battles, the Maya fought with spears of different lengths (the height of a man or more), darts and flat clubs-swords, the edges of which were seated with dense rows of embedded obsidian blades. By the end of the New Kingdom period (XV - XVI centuries), the Maya had metal battle axes (from an alloy of copper and gold) and a bow with arrows, borrowed from the Aztecs. As protection, ordinary Maya warriors wore plump, quilted wadded shells. The nobility used armor woven from flexible branches and defended themselves with willow (less often - from tortoise shell) large or small shields of round or square shape. A small shield (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 Maya civilization

At the end of the power of the Olmecs, the flowering of the southern trading cities of the Maya begins. During this period, major centers of the Mayan civilization arose - El Mirador, Tikal, Nakbe, Vashaktun. The Maya 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, since the 5th century A.D. 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 - the ruler of Smoke-Jaguar, who was the royal descendant of Pakal, ascended the throne. He ruled for 67 years, 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 the rulers and their merits; the development of hieroglyphic writing, the creation of magnificent temples with sculptural images of the gods.

Maya today

In our time, about 6.1 million Maya live on the Yucatan Peninsula, including Belize, Guatemala and Honduras. In Guatemala, about 40% of the population belong to the Maya, 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 be poultry, spices or candles. Some Mayan groups identify themselves by specific elements in their traditional dress that distinguish them from other Maya.

The Lecandon Maya group living in Chiapas (Mexico) is known as faithful to the preserved traditional way of life. Representatives of the group wear cotton clothes, which are decorated with traditional Mayan motifs. Christianity was able to exert a superficial influence on the representatives of this group. But tourism and, first of all, technical and economic progress are gradually beginning to erase the identity of the group. More and more Maya wear modern clothes, have electricity, radios and televisions in their homes, and often cars. Some of the Maya, meanwhile, live off the income from tourism, as more and more people want to get to know the world and culture of the ancient Maya.

Temple of the Cross, Temple of the Sun on the territory of the ancient city of Palenque

Maya civilization - interesting facts

There is no evidence that the Maya had aircraft or cars, but they certainly had a complex paved road system. They possessed advanced astronomical knowledge about the movement of celestial bodies. Perhaps the most surprising proof of this is the domed building called El Caracol in the Yucatan Peninsula.

Archaeological excavations may indicate that the Maya actually practiced human sacrifice, and for the victims this was considered a favor.

They believed that one still had to get to paradise: first, one had to go through 13 circles of the underworld, and only then would a person receive eternal bliss. And this path is so difficult that not all souls manage to get there. However, there was also a “direct road to paradise”: women who died in childbirth, victims of wars, suicides, those who died while playing ball and ritual victims could receive it.

According to one of their interpretations of the codes, the Maya came from the 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 Maya 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, the Tzolkin was used, which included 20 months of 13 days each, and the whole cycle, therefore, was 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 Maya went in a circle, everything repeated again and again. There was no such thing as "the end of the year" for them - only the rhythm of planetary cycles.

The Maya invented sports. One thing is for sure - the Maya loved the ball game. Long before the Europeans began to dress in skins, the Maya had already made a ball court at home and came up with the rules of the game. Their game appears to have been a tough mix 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 settlements were also found.

The Maya loved saunas. An important cleansing element for the ancient Maya was a 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.

The disappearance of the Mayan civilization

Named the reason why the Maya could disappear. Historians from the Technical University of Vienna have figured out the reason for the decline of the Maya 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 Maya could be an extreme drought that lasted about 100 years.

There are other versions that name the possible reasons for the disappearance of civilization: the collapse of the local agricultural system, terrible epidemics of diseases (for example, yellow fever), the arrival of conquerors from Mexico, social cataclysms, the forcible capture of people by the Tultek rulers of Yucatan, and even earthquakes and the decline of the solar activity.

Mayan- the civilization of Central America, known for its writing, art, architecture, mathematical and astronomical systems. It began to form in the preclassical era (2000 BC - 250 AD), most of its cities reached their peak in the classical period (250-900 AD). The Maya built stone cities, many of which were abandoned long before the arrival of Europeans, others were inhabited after. The calendar developed by the Maya was used by other peoples of Central America. The hieroglyphic writing system, partially deciphered, was used. Numerous inscriptions on the monuments have been preserved. They created an efficient system of agriculture, had deep knowledge in the field of astronomy. The descendants of the ancient Maya are not only the modern Mayan peoples, who have preserved the language of their ancestors, but also part of the Spanish-speaking population of the southern states of Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras. Some Mayan cities are included in the list of UNESCO sites world heritage: Palenque, Chichen Itza, Uxmal in Mexico, Tikal and Quirigua in Guatemala, Copan in Honduras, Joya de Seren in El Salvador - a small Mayan village that was buried under volcanic ash and is now excavated.

Territory
The territory where the development of the Mayan civilization took place is part of the states: Mexico (the states of Chiapas, Campeche, Yucatan, Quintana Roo), Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras (western part). About 1000 settlements of the Mayan culture were found, but not all of them have been excavated or explored by archaeologists, as well as 3000 settlements.

Story
In ancient times, the Maya represented various groups that had a common historical tradition. As a result of the research carried out in relation to the Maya language, it was concluded that approximately around 2500-2000. BC e., in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bmodern Huehuetenango (Guatemala), there was a Protomayan group whose members spoke the same language, also called Protomayan researchers. Over time, this language has been divided into different languages Mayan. Subsequently, the speakers of these languages ​​emigrated and settled in different areas, where the Maya zone was later formed and a high culture arose. The migrations of the population led both to the alienation of various groups, and to their rapprochement with representatives of other cultures. The periodization of the Maya culture is similar to the chronology of the entire Mesoamerica, although it is more accurate due to the decoding of temporary hieroglyphs and their comparison with the modern calendar. The history and culture of the Mayan people are usually divided into three main periods, the boundaries between which are very mobile:
- the period of formation (1500 BC - 250 AD);
- Old Kingdom (250 - 900 AD);
- New Kingdom (900 AD - XVI century).
The Maya civilization developed on the Mexican Yucatan Peninsula and mountainous Guatemala. There were three major language groups in the Mayan area: Yucatec, Tzeltan, and Quiche. At the beginning of the 1000s. The Quiche were the most powerful union of the Mayan tribes. The Mayan tribes began their cultural development around the 2nd millennium BC. During this period, two cultures replaced each other in the Yucatan and adjacent areas - "okos" and "kvadros", at that time excellent ceramic products appeared, the surface of clay vessels was covered with a stamped pattern of stripes, which was created using agave fibers. The history of the Maya begins from 500 BC. by 300 years
AD Maya culture begins its formation. This is especially noticeable on humanoid figurines made of clay, where the physical characteristics of the population of that era are present. Ornaments decorating the first Maya buildings are also a model. It was then that large cult centers began to appear in the southern regions of Guatemala. Izapa is rapidly developing on the Pacific coast and the mountainous regions of Guatemala. In the late archaic period, Kaminaljuyu appears - the oldest center of the Mayan culture, not far from the current Ciudad de Guatemala. At this time, the "miraflores" culture was born in Guatemala, and, apparently, Kaminaljuyu became a military opponent of Izapa. To the north, at the same time, the Olmec and Mayan cultures come into contact. By the 1st century n. e. all traces of the Olmec culture, the decline of which began three centuries earlier, completely disappear. In the early Preclassic period, Maya society was made up of groups of families united by the same language, customs and territory. They united for soil cultivation and fishing, hunting and gathering in order to obtain food for survival. Later, with the development of agriculture, irrigation systems were built, and the range of cultivated crops expanded, some of which were already on sale. Population growth accelerated, the construction of cities and large ceremonial centers began, around which the people settled. As a result of the division of labor, classes appeared. From the Preclassic period, the Maya began to build separate structures, in which the influence of other cultures is guessed. Later Maya architecture began to express mystical and religious ideas; therefore, temples and palaces, ball courts were erected in the central part of the cities, and residential buildings were located in the vicinity. 250 Beginning of the Early Classic period. This year, Teotihuacan and Kaminalhuyu form a trade alliance with Tikal. In 400 years. AD Kaminalhuyu completely falls under the control of the Teotihuacan merchants of the post office - Teotihuacans come to the city and in its place build a miniature copy of their capital, which becomes the southeastern outpost of the empire. During the "Esperance" phase, the Mayan mountain region is under the protectorate of the Teotihuacan dynasties and of course under the influence of the Teotihuacan artistic styles. Then, to the north of Kaminalhuyu, the first cyclopean Mayan structures began to be erected, which at first served as the mausoleums of the Teotihuacan "governors" - the postman. hallmark This stage is thin "orange" ceramics. It is covered with geometric patterns, clearly of Teotihuacan origin. Tripod vessels appear. Similar products were common in Central Mexico. Subsequently, when the hegemony of Teotihuacan in the Mayan lands ends, the stage of "esperance" passes into an equally noticeable stage in the history of the Maya - "tsakol". During the Tsakol phase, the influence of the Teotihuacan culture on the Petén and the Mayan highlands is still great.
Classic period:
From 325 to 925 AD e. It is subdivided into the Early Classic (325-625 AD), when outside influence ceased and its own features appeared. The heyday (625-800 AD), when mathematics, astronomy, ceramics, sculpture and architecture reached their maximum brilliance, and the Period of Crisis (800-925 AD) - the time when culture came to decline and ceremonial centers were abandoned.
The classical era is the time of the true heyday of the Maya, both in the mountainous Guatemala, both in Peten and in the North of the Yucatan. The classical Maya culture arises, hieroglyphic writing develops, cyclopean limestone structures are erected. There is a flourishing of sciences - astronomy, mathematics, medicine. During the Classic period, the Maya developed their own elements in architecture, such as, for example, a false vault, built-on terraces, stucco decorations, ridges on ridge roofs, which, mixing, led to the emergence of what is called the Petén style in architecture. It is characterized by structures on the foundations of stepped terraces, thick walls, stairs outside the façade, high ridges over the back wall, and plaster decorations in the form of grotesque masks. In Guatemala, powerful dynasties of primordially Mayan rulers replace each other - at the beginning late period Classical era is the rise of Tikal. Not far from Copan, in the east of Guatemala, is the "city" of Quirigua. He is no less remarkable than Copan and is quite similar to him in his architectural style. Quirigua's most majestic monument is undoubtedly the "E" stele, which reaches an impressive height and is covered with exquisite reliefs that have baroque redundancy. Apparently Quirigua was the main city of the region, and Copan was its protectorate. Copan is a unique city. But the true greatness of the "city" of the Maya was reached in the 8th-9th centuries. Tikal defeated Calakmul, and begins to rule over all Peten. At the same time, Palenque, Bonampak, Yaxchilan, Piedras Negros flourish in the Ousamancita river basin. In these places, Maya art reached its highest peak. In Bonampak, magnificent wall paintings are created that tell about the victory of the local ruler over the army of Yaxchilan.

Postclassic period:
In the postclassic period, the high Mayan culture was preserved only in the north of the Yucatan, but in synthesis with a completely different civilization - the Toltec. The cities of Peten and mountainous Guatemala fell into disrepair, many were abandoned by the inhabitants, others turned into tiny villages. The north of Yucatan flourished even in the classical era - several large regions developed there: Chenes, Rio Bec, Puuc. The center of the first was the "city" of Chikanna, the second - Calakmul, El Mirador, Seros, in the third Uxmal, Koba, Sayil, the "necropolis" of the island of Haina flourished. In the classical era, these were the richest cities of the Yucatan, as they had the opportunity to trade with the Toltecs. But towards the end of the classical era, these cities were destroyed by the invasion of the Chontal Maya people, who were at a lower stage of development than the Yucatecs and Quiche. They were influenced by the Toltec culture more than the Mayan culture. A cult center was established shortly after the chontal invasion Chichen Itza. The city was founded, it is believed, in V-VI centuries and was one of largest cities Mayan. By the end of the 10th century, however, for unknown reasons, life here practically ceased. Buildings belonging to this period are located mainly in the southern part of modern Chichen Itza. Then the city was occupied by the Toltecs, who came to the Yucatan from central Mexico. The arrival of the leader of the Toltecs, obviously, was not a peaceful event: in the inscriptions from Chichen, we are talking about the invasion of the invaders who overthrew the Mayan dynasty. The most famous religious buildings of Chichen are a huge ball court, the Well of Sacrifices - a karst breach and, of course, the famous El Castillo, the temple of Kukulkan. Period from 1200 to 1540 AD e. The era of conflicts, when intertribal alliances are broken and a series of armed clashes take place, which divided the people and further impoverished culture. The Yucatan enters a period of fragmentation and decline. On its territory, the states of Waimil, Campeche, Champutun, Chikinchel, Ekab, Mani-Tutuk-Shiu, Chetumal, etc. are formed. These states are constantly fighting among themselves, and when the Spaniards arrived in the Maya zone, large ceremonial centers had already been abandoned, and culture was in complete decline.

Art
The art of the ancient Maya reached its peak during the classical period (about 250 - 900 AD). Wall frescoes in Palenque, Copan and Bonampak are considered among the most beautiful. The beauty of the depiction of people on the frescoes makes it possible to compare these cultural monuments with the cultural monuments of the ancient world. Therefore, this period of development of the Mayan civilization is considered to be classical. Unfortunately, many of the cultural monuments have not survived to this day, as they were destroyed either by the Inquisition or by time.

Cloth
The main attire of men was a loincloth, it was a palm-wide strip of fabric, which was wrapped several times around the waist, then passed between the legs so that the ends hung down in front and behind. The loincloths of eminent persons "with great care and beauty" were decorated with feathers or embroidery. Pati was thrown over the shoulders - a cape made of a rectangular piece of fabric, also decorated according to the social status of its owner. Notable people they added to this along with a long shirt and a second loincloth, similar to a winter skirt. Their clothes were richly decorated and probably very colorful, as far as the surviving images can tell. Rulers and military leaders sometimes wore a jaguar skin instead of a cape or fastened it on a belt. Women's clothing consisted of two main items: a long dress, which either began above the chest, leaving the shoulders open, or was a rectangular piece of cloth with slits for the arms and head, and an underskirt. Outerwear, like for men, was a cape, but longer. All garments were decorated with multicolor patterns.

Architecture
Mayan art, which found expression in stone sculpture and bas-reliefs, works of small plastic arts, wall paintings and ceramics, is characterized by religious and mythological themes, embodied in stylized grotesque images. The main motifs of Maya art are anthropomorphic deities, snakes and masks; it is characterized by stylistic elegance and sophistication of lines. chief building material for the Maya, stone served, primarily limestone. Maya architecture was characterized by false vaults, rising facades and ridged roofs. These massive facades and roofs that crowned palaces and temples created an impression of height and majesty.

Mayan writing and timekeeping
The exceptional intellectual achievements of the pre-Columbian New World were the systems of writing and time calculation created by the Mayan people. Maya hieroglyphs served both for ideographic and phonetic writing. They were carved on stone, painted on ceramics, they wrote folding books on local paper, called codes. These codices are the most important source for the study of Mayan writing. The Maya used "Tzolkin" or "tonalamatl", counting systems based on the numbers 20 and 13. The Tzolkin system used in Central America is very ancient and was not necessarily invented by the Maya people. Among the Olmecs and in the culture of the Zapotecs of the formative era, similar and sufficiently developed time systems developed even earlier than the Maya. However, the Maya were much more advanced in the improvement of the numerical system and astronomical observations than any other indigenous people of Central America. The Maya had a complex and fairly accurate calendar system for their time.
Writing
The first Maya monument with hieroglyphs carved on it, discovered by archaeologists in the territory of the modern Mexican state of Oaxaca, dates back to about 700 AD. e. Immediately after the Spanish conquest, Mayan writing was tried to be deciphered. The first explorers of Mayan writing were Spanish monks who tried to convert the Maya to the Christian faith. The most famous of these was Diego de Landa, the third Bishop of the Yucatan, who in 1566 wrote a work entitled Reports on Affairs in the Yucatan. According to de Landa, the Maya hieroglyphs were akin to the Indo-European alphabets. He believed that each hieroglyph represents a certain letter. The greatest success in deciphering Mayan texts was achieved by the Soviet scientist Yuri Knorozov from the Leningrad Institute of Ethnography of the USSR Academy of Sciences, who made his discoveries in the 1950s. Knorozov became convinced that de Landa's list was not an alphabet, but he did not reject it. entirely for this reason. The scientist suggested that de Landa's "alphabet" was in fact a list of syllables. Each sign in it corresponded to a certain combination of one consonant with one vowel. The signs joined together were the phonetic notation of words.
As a result of the discoveries of the 20th century, it became possible to systematize knowledge about the Maya writing system. The main elements of the writing system were signs, of which about 800 are known. Usually signs look like a square or an oblong oval; one or more characters can be placed together, forming the so-called hieroglyphic block. Many of these blocks are arranged in a certain order in a rectilinear grid, which defined the spatial framework for most of the known inscriptions.
The ancient Mayan counting system
The Mayan counting system was based not on the usual decimal system, but on the twenty-decimal system common in Mesoamerican cultures. The origins lie in the method of counting, in which not only ten fingers were used, but also ten toes. At the same time, there was a structure in the form of four blocks of five digits each, which corresponded to five fingers and toes. Also interesting is the fact that the Maya had a designation for zero, which was schematically represented as an empty shell from an oyster or snail. The notation zero was also used to denote infinity.

Mayan religion
Among the ruins of Mayan cities, buildings of a religious nature dominate. It is assumed that religion, along with the servants of the temples, played a key role in the life of the Maya. Between 250 and 900 A.D. e. at the head of the city-states of the region were rulers who, if not the highest, then at least a very important religious function. Archaeological excavations suggest that representatives of the upper strata of society also took part in religious rituals. Like other peoples who inhabited Central America at that time, the Maya believed in the cyclical nature of time and astrology. For example, their calculations of the motion of Venus differed from modern astronomical data by only a few seconds per year. They imagined the universe divided into three levels - the underworld, earth and sky. Religious rituals and ceremonies were closely linked to natural and astronomical cycles.
According to astrology and the Mayan calendar, the "time of the fifth Sun" will end on December 21-25, 2012 (winter solstice). The "Fifth Sun" is known as the "Sun of Movement" because, according to the Indians, in this era there will be a movement of the Earth, from which many will die.
Gods and sacrifices
Like other peoples of Central America, human blood played a special role among the Maya. According to various household items that have survived to this day - vessels, small plastic and ritual tools - one can speak of a specific ritual of bloodletting. The main type of ritual bloodletting in the classical period was a ritual in which the tongue was pierced, and this was done by both men and women. After piercing the organs (tongue, lips, palms), a cord or rope was threaded through the holes made. According to the Maya, the blood contained the soul and Vital energy. The Mayan religion was polytheistic. At the same time, the gods were mortal beings similar to people. In this regard, human sacrifice was considered by the ancient Maya as an act that contributes to a certain extent to prolong the life of the gods. Human sacrifice was common among the Maya. A person was sacrificed by hanging, drowning, poisoning, beating, and also by burying alive. The most cruel type of sacrifice was, like the Aztecs, ripping open the stomach and tearing out the still beating heart from the chest. Both captives from other tribes captured during the wars and representatives of their own people, including members of the upper strata of society, were sacrificed. It is well established that representatives of other tribes captured during the wars, including members of the upper strata of the enemy, were sacrificed on a huge scale. However, it is still unclear whether the Mayans waged bloody wars to obtain more prisoners of war with the aim of sacrificing them in the future, as the Aztecs did.
Political and social structure of society
The Maya were primarily strongly oriented towards foreign policy. This was due to the fact that individual city-states competed with each other, but at the same time had to control trade routes in order to obtain the necessary goods. Political structures differed depending on the region, time and people living in cities. Along with hereditary kings under the leadership of "ayawa" (ruler), there were also oligarchic and aristocratic forms of government. The Quiche also had noble families who performed various tasks in the state. Also, democratic institutions took place at least in the lower stratum of society: the procedure for electing a burgomaster every three years, the “Maya burgomaster”, that still exists to this day, has existed, presumably, for quite a long time. In the social structure of society, any member of Maya society who reached the age of 25 could challenge the leader of the tribe. In case of victory, the tribe had a new leader. This usually happened in small towns.