The Mayans

By Vitaly Capitaine

About the Mayas

La civilizacin maya habit una gran parte de la regin denominada Mesoamrica, en los territorios actuales de Guatemala, Belice, Honduras, El Salvador y en el comprendido por cinco estados del sureste de Mxico: Campeche, Chiapas, Quintana Roo, Tabasco y Yucatn, con una historia de aproximadamente 3000 aos. Durante ese largo tiempo, en ese territorio se hablaron cientos de dialectos que generan hoy cerca de 44 lenguas mayas diferentes. Hablar de los "antiguos mayas" es referirse a la historia de una de las culturas mesoamericanas precolombinas ms importantes, pues su legado cientfico y astronmico es mundial. Contrariamente a una creencia muy generalizada, la civilizacin maya nunca "desapareci". Por lo menos, no por completo, pues sus descendientes an viven en la regin y muchos de ellos hablan alguno de los idiomas de la familia mayense. La literatura maya ilustra la vida de esta cultura. Obras como el Rabinal Ach, el Popol Vuh, los diversos libros del Chilam Balam, son muestra de ello. Lo que s fue destruido con la conquista es el modelo de civilizacin que hasta la llegada de los primeros espaoles, haba generado tres milenios de historia.

La conquista espaola de los pueblos mayas no se consum hasta 1697, con la toma de Tayasal, capital de los mayas Itz, y Zacpetn, capital de los mayas Ko'woj, en el Petn (actual Guatemala). El ltimo estado maya desapareci cuando el gobierno mexicano de Porfirio Daz ocup en 1901 su capital, Chan Santa Cruz, dando as fin a la denominada Guerra de Castas.
Los mayas hicieron grandes e impresionantes construcciones desde el Preclsico medio y grandes ciudades como Nakb, El Mirador, San Bartolo, Cival, localizadas en la Cuenca del Mirador, en el norte del Petn, y durante el Clsico, las conocidas ciudades de Tikal, Quirigu (ambas las primeras en ser declaradas Patrimonio de la Humanidad por la Unesco, en 1979 y 1981 respectivamente), Palenque, Copn, Ro Azul, Calakmul, Comalcalco (construida de ladrillo cocido), as como Ceibal, Cancun, Machaquil, Dos Pilas, Uaxactn, Altn Ha, Piedras Negras y muchos otros sitios en el rea. Se puede clasificar como un imperio, pero no se sabe si al momento de colonizar impusieron su cultura o si fue un fruto de su organizacin en ciudades-estado independientes cuya base eran la agricultura y el comercio. Los monumentos ms notables son las pirmides que construyeron en sus centros religiosos, junto a los palacios de sus gobernantes (lugares de gobierno y residencia de los nobles), siendo el mayor encontrado hasta ahora el de Cancun, en el sur del Petn, muchas de cuyas estructuras estaban decoradas con pinturas murales y adornos de estuco. Otros restos arqueolgicos importantes incluyen las losas de piedra tallada usualmente llamadas estelas (los mayas las llamaban tetn, tres piedras), que muestran efigies de los gobernantes junto a textos logogrficos que describen sus genealogas, entronizaciones, victorias militares, y otros logros. La cermica maya est catalogada como una de las ms variadas, finas y elaboradas del mundo antiguo.

Los mayas participaban en el comercio a larga distancia en Mesoamrica, y posiblemente ms all. Entre los bienes de comercio estaban el jade, el cacao, el maz, la sal y la obsidiana.

The Mayan myth

Once upon a time, a long time ago, there lived two brothers. The brothers tried very hard to be good gardeners. But even the rabbit that rooted in their garden for food each day knew they were not very good at gardening. What they were good at, great at, absolutely excellent at, were ballgames.

 Onlookers cheered so loudly whenever the boys played ball that the noise attracted the attention of the Lords of Death. The Lords of Death lived in the Underworld. They liked to trick people into dying. They especially liked tricking people who were bothering them, and the boys were bothering them. They were far too noisy!

 The Lords of Death sent a message to the brothers praising their wonderful talent. The message included an invitation to play a ballgame in the Underworld. The brothers were instructed to bring their ball and their protective gear as none could be provided. No one played ball in the Underworld normally, so this would be a great treat for everyone.

 The brothers did not trust the Lords of Death. They hid their ball and protective gear under the rafters in their mother's house. Perhaps without gear they would not have to play and thus could avoid whatever trickery the Lords of Death had planned.

 The boys set out for the Underworld. They made it safely across the river of spikes. They made it safely across the river of blood. They made it safely across the river of pus. They arrived safely at the house of the Lords of Death.

 There, a Lord waited for them to say hello. It was a trick. That Lord was only a wood statue. When the boys said hello to a wood statue, the real Lords rushed out from where they had been hiding. They shook their heads in pretended shock. "Do you think our heads are filled with wood?" they cried. The brothers had been royally tricked. They had failed a test. "Now wait," interrupted one of the real Lords. "They did get across all three rivers safely."

 "Hum," said one of the other Lords thoughtfully.

"You're right, of course. Hardly anyone ever does that! That's quite an accomplishment and needs to be taken into consideration." "Have a seat while we think about what to do with you," a third Lord nodded to the brothers.

 Feeling hopeful that perhaps they would not be killed after all, the brothers sat down on a bench. The bench was burning hot. The boys leaped up, but it was too late. They had failed another test. For failing two tests, the boys were immediately sacrificed. Their bodies were buried under a ball court back on earth.

THE END OF THE STORY

MAYAN PICTURES

Some Gods and Goddesses

Acat Description: God of life. Rules Over: Life, development of children in the womb. Ek Ahau Description: War God. Also referred to as the Black Captain. Rules Over: War. Ixchel Description: A goddess who is the consort of Itzamna. Rules Over: Childbirth, medicine, the moon, pregnancy, floods, weaving, domestic arts.

Xaman Ek Description: The North Star. Rules Over: Business, peace, plenty.

Traditional cloths and textiles

About clothes and textiles

Some of the most beautiful weaving is done in the Mexican state of Chiapas. Maya living there frequently wear their traditional clothing whose designs and colors identify their native village. Maya clothing is different in every region, and even varies from village to village. Women The huipil is a garment worn as a blouse by Mayan women since ancient times. It is a square or rectangular piece of cloth with a hole in the center. It is generally embroidered around the neck, in the shape of a cross. The garment is then folded in half and the sides stitched up. The stitching stops on the sides to allow for armholes. The huipil is worn over a skirt which is tied with a woven belt. The neck is elaborately embroidered with designs representing the cosmos, the gods and their helpers. When a Mayan woman puts on her huipil, she becomes the axis of this symbolically represented universe. In the cooler mountainous areas, such as Chiapas, women also wear a tzute. This rectangular cloth can be thrown across the shoulder for decoration, or fastened around the neck as a shawl. During festivals, it is worn as a cape. In warmer months, it is used as a sun hat. Women sometimes wear jewelry such as necklaces, rings, and earrings. Men For political and economic reasons, the costume of Maya men has changed more over the centuries. Although Maya women commonly wear the traditional huipil, Maya men have adopted more Spanish and modern influenced dress. Some traditional styles have been adapted to modern times. For example, the embroidered loincloth of pre-Colombian times is now worn as a sash or belt. Single men generally wear brighter colored clothes than married men. In some reasons, they wear a less decorated huipil like over shirt. The shirts are decorated differently than women's huipil. Men's belts are woven on a blue or red background, and sometimes decorated. The ends are fringed or have pompons. Wider belts called mecapal are used to carry heavy loads. This cloth or leather strip has ends which are joined together by cord. The cord is used to secure the bundle and the strip is place on the forehead. Men also wear tzute, decorated with embroidery and worn over the shoulder. Men also wear hats, especially for ceremonial events, which vary by region. Some are straw hats decorated by ribbons or pompons. Men do not wear jewelry, but they carry a bag called a morral.

Traditional jewelry

About Mayan jewelry

The Mayans, who began making jewelry around 5,000 years ago, were one of the first civilizations in the Americas to do so. Using jade, gold, silver, bronze and copper, the Mayan people made exquisite jewelry that is now considered a vital part of this ancient culture. Inspired by Mayan jewelry, these necklaces, pendants and bracelets are a combination of jade, semi-precious stones, leather and pewter beads. They are bathed in silver and hand tooled to perfection with fine detailed glyphs of the Mayan civilization.

Maxa

Hieroglyphics
The Mayan civilization lasted from about 500 BC to 1200 AD, with a classical period from 300-900 AD. The earliest known writing in the Mayan script dates from about 250 BC, but the script is thought to have developed at an earlier date. Recent archeological finds indicate that the Mayan civilization started much earlier: around 3,000 BC. In about 1566, the first bishop of Yucatan, Diego de Landa, compiled a key to the Mayan syllabary consisting of 27 Spanish letters and the Mayan glyphs with similar sounds. This became known as the Landa Alphabet and helped with the decipherment of the script, even though it was based on the false premise that the script was alphabetic. For a long time many scholars believed that the script did not represent a language at all, or that it wasn't a complete writing system. The first major breakthrough in decipherment came during the 1950s when a Russian ethnologist, Yuri Valentinovich Knorosov, proposed that the Mayan script was at least partly phonetic and represented the Yucatec Mayan language. His ideas were not welcomed by other Mayanists, but he was eventually proved correct. Further progress in the decipherment was made during the 1970s and 1980s when more linguistics began to take an interest in the script. Today most Mayan texts can be read, though there are still some unknown glyphs. A gripping account of the decipherment of the Mayan script can be found in Breaking the Maya Code, by Micheal D. Coe. The Yucatec Maya continued to use the Mayan script until at least the 16th century. Recently, their descendants have started to learn the script once again from the scholars who have deciphered it.

The end