Mayan civilization. Empire history

We are talking about civilization in the wilds of the rainforest. The ruins of a mysterious civilization that existed for more than a thousand years.

Ancient Maya. They built majestic pyramids, magnificent palaces and spacious squares. In the jungle they were masters.

They effectively used energy sources and created amazing engineering structures and works of art for one and a half thousand years.

But suddenly ancient civilization with centuries of history has disappeared: the noisy cities were empty, and the jungle closed over them.

maya code

Tikal was one of the few cities that gained strength in the preclassic period, and successfully existed until the end of the classical period. The history of this city has not been interrupted.

But in the 6th century, Tikal had a rival: the star of the city called .

The Maya had two cities with strong rulers: Calakmul and Tikal. Between them there were conflicts. As a rule, Calakmul was their initiator: he constantly made alliances with Tikal's neighbors against a common enemy.

Ikin Chan Cavil and Temple of the Great Jaguar

Calakmul became a powerful state thanks to a decisive and far-sighted ruler. His name was Ikin Chan Cavil.

He built one of the most famous Mayan structures, this pyramid has survived the centuries:.

The construction took a lot of effort. The pyramid was not only a temple, but also a symbol of power and authority of the ruler: it was assumed that, convinced of the power of the ruler, people would go over to his side.

Building in the rainforest is not easy today, but they built the pyramids with Stone Age tools. Most of the technologies that we use in the construction of large structures were unknown to the Maya: they there were no draft animals, there were no metal tools.

The Maya had only practically inexhaustible reserves of limestone and working hands. Every citizen of the state was must work annually for the ruler certain time.

From the quarry to the construction site stone had to be dragged or carry on your back. To do this, they had baskets with a strap, or, as it is also called - forehead harness. In this way, it was possible to carry tens of kilograms of stones.

Step by step the pyramid grew upwards. As necessary, they erected and rearranged wooden "forests". Blocks were hewn with stone chisels and wooden mallets.

The inner surface of the walls was left untreated, but the outside was polished: they were coated with a solution - the so-called "mayan stucco" and painted red.

They knew about the wheel, about the metal, but in practice they did not use either one or the other. Apparently, they believed that the more labor expended, the greater the value of the structure.

The façade of the Temple of the Great Jaguar faces west towards the setting sun. The temple on the main square of Tikal was a symbol of the power of the ruler, who paid the debt of the people to the gods.

Ikin-Chan-Kavil built it in honor of the victory over the main rival, Calakmul, in 736. Then, in 743-744, he defeated the allies of Calakmul, who threatened Tikal: in the west and in the east. The noose that squeezed Tikal's "throat" was broken.

In honor of this victory, he rebuilds and expands the palace, erects new pyramids. Tikal in its current form is basically the fruits of that victory.

Most likely, it was he who started the construction the tallest building in Tikal – Temple IV. Pyramid with a volume of 200 thousand cubic meters of stone 65 meters high with a 22-storey building. From its top, towering over the tropical forest, there was a magnificent view of the city.

In other cities, the Maya also built tall buildings, but during the reign of Ikin-Chan-Kavil Tikal was the most powerful city Maya civilization. But not the only one.

Mysterious Ruler

400 kilometers to the west, another dynasty was building its acropolis. In the 7th century, an outstanding ruler appeared there. He turned one of the wettest cities in the world into the "Mecca" of New World architecture.

He enters the sanctuary, looks around and sees in the floor holes with stone plugs. He suggests that ropes were threaded through these holes to lift a massive slab like the current drop doors. He shifts the slab and walks down the stairs, which are clogged with dirt and rubble.

No one has seen such Mayan pyramids before, and he begins to dig. He walks up the wet steps, gets to the landing, and sees the stairs turn. He keeps digging and finds secret doors and false passes – clear sign that the construction plan was carefully thought out.

Finally, after a long 3 years, he gets to the base of the 25-meter staircase. In front of him is a small passage and a stone sarcophagus with 6 skeletons - the remains of those who were sacrificed to protect the one who built this temple. But he does not yet know the name of this person.

And finally, he sees a door in front of him - a huge triangular stone. Together with his assistants, he opens the door and goes inside.

There is crypt measuring 9 meters in length and 7 in height. And in it- massive sarcophagus from a single piece of limestone with a carved lid depicting a ruler.

Its edge is painted with cinnabar - red paint and smeared with poison against possible robbers. If the Egyptians had used this method, perhaps more ancient treasures would have come down to us.

Here we see shield image, the same shield is depicted in the sanctuary. In the language of the ancient Maya, the shield sounds like "pakal". Alberto Rus opened the tomb of an outstanding Mayan ruler - Pacal Great.

Pacal the Great

The discovery of the Temple of the Inscriptions changed our understanding of the Mayan pyramids: they were not just tombs.

In addition to the stairs, the builders led to the tomb well in the form thin-walled pipe. Through this pipe, any word spoken at the top of the pyramid could be heard in the crypt. Thus, it was possible to communicate directly with Pacal, lying in the tomb.

The 20-ton sarcophagus was supposed to survive eternity. To put the body inside, it was necessary to move the lid to the side. After Pakal's death, the lid was put back in place, the entrance was walled up, and the stairs were filled up.

The stone cutters depicted on the lid a symbolic picture of Pacal's rebirth in the underworld. And also a kind of table in which 640 hieroglyphs were placed with a narrative of the history of Pakal's reign.

In most Mayan pyramids there are practically no texts, with the Temple of Inscriptions the situation is the opposite: literally every stone, both outside and inside, reminds that here is the resting place of the founder of one of the greatest Mayan dynasties.

In 683, in the 68th year of his reign, at the age of 80 the great Mayan ruler Pacal passed away. The body was dyed with cinnabar and studded with jewels. The faces were covered with a jade mask.

Can Balam

Pacal was a great ruler, but his son patiently waited his turn - almost 50 years.

Something great had to be done. The laws of physics and Mother Nature came to the rescue.

684 year. The great ruler Pacal turned Palenque into a city that the Mayan culture had never known before. After 68 years in power, he was buried in a tomb that was not inferior to the tombs of the Egyptian pharaohs. It was up to his son to continue the work begun by his father. His name was Can Balam.

Pacal founded the dynasty, but strengthened the state and thus created the conditions for its continuation by his son.

48 year old ruler started building three temples at once. This complex immortalized his name.

He built "Group of the Cross"- one of the most complex and elegant temple complexes in the history of the Maya. His creation towered over his father's palace. There is an opinion that this complex reflects the character of its creator: he wanted to leave a memory of himself, as his father also wanted.

He ordered the construction of three buildings: Temple of the Cross, Temple of the Leafy Cross and Temple of the Sun.

Mayan number system

In this era, architecture reached a qualitatively new level. Mayan number system allowed to make complex calculations that were not available to other cultures.

The Maya were ahead of the rest of mankind, by entering a character to represent zero. A set of three characters: shells, which denoted zero, dots - ones, and dashes - five in various combinations, made it possible to perform operations with huge numbers.

The Greeks and Romans were great engineers, but their mathematical system was limited because it didn't have a zero. Oddly enough, the great builders, philosophers, compared to the Maya, were useless mathematicians.

It is possible that the architects of Kan-Balan were able to extract from among square root and knew about the golden ratio, the proportions inherent in inanimate nature, animals and even humans - 1 to 1.618.

The ratio of the distance from the crown to the navel and from the navel to the soles corresponds almost exactly.

Scientists find this proportion in structures erected thousands of years ago: in the Egyptian pyramids, in the Greek. I studied it: there is an opinion that the golden ratio is present in the features.

It is possible that with the help of sticks and rope alone, the engineers of Kan-Balam were able to extract. In the Temple of the Cross, the pylons at the entrance, the gates themselves and the walls of the interior are close to this proportion. The dimensions of the side walls and facades when viewed from above are related as 1 to 1.618.

The alternation of squares and rectangles creates an amazing geometric picture on the floor of the Temple of the Cross, full of mythological and historical symbols.

Water supply Palenque

But not all buildings in Palenque were built with the afterlife in mind, the architects thought about more practical things.

Between 800 and 1050 Chichen Itza becomes a large and powerful city. People flocked here from all over the country, and he benefited from this.

Caracol - astronomical observatory

In the city, among other buildings stands out caracol, astronomical observatory. Time and stars the Maya were extremely interested, in the sky they were looking for answers to their questions.

Most likely the Maya used such a device as vizier. Watching the passage of stars through the crosshairs of the reticle, they drew certain conclusions.

Despite primitive instruments, the Maya accurately calculated the movements of the stars and planets and the passage of time.

Caracol does not fit into the general layout of the city, but a deviation of 27.5 degrees to the northwest corresponds to northernmost position of Venus in the sky.

The building is focused on celestial bodies and phenomena, namely: the movement of Venus and the equinox.

Judging by the fact that the proportions and orientation of Karakol do not fit into the overall layout, we can judge roles of Venus in Mayan thought.

Venus behaves differently from other celestial bodies, it moves across the sky first in one direction, then in the other. Apparently, Caracol indicated the days when Venus changes direction.

Knowing the patterns of movement of celestial bodies, the Maya created two interconnected calendars: ritual and solar These were the most accurate calendars of the ancient world.

The Mayan solar year had 365 days.. In addition, they determined the periods of revolution of Venus and lunar eclipses with no less accuracy.

Mayan new era

Maya took only 200 years to revive the civilization that had fallen into decline in the south. But, as it turned out, in the north was waiting for them no less formidable enemy: He destroyed the Mayan culture, leaving the cities intact.

In the 9th century AD the cities of the classical Mayan period, for some unknown reason, are empty, and the new era heyday.

With the revival of culture in the north, the Maya, as never before, were able to put into practice their knowledge of astronomy. Mayan admiration for celestial mechanics left its mark on the architecture of Chichen Itza.

The main building of Chichen Itza was, or "Castle", built in the 9th-10th centuries AD.

365 steps, according to the number of days of the year of the Mayan civil calendar. 52 plates symbolize the 52-year cycle, and 9 steps - the 18-month cycle of the solar calendar.

The temple is oriented so that twice a year the shadow from the Sun falls in a certain way. When looking at the balustrade and the northwest corner of El Castillo at sunset, one could observe amazing shadow play. The illuminated triangles of the ledges of the pyramid ended at the foot with a stone head of a snake. A “serpent” descended from heaven to earth, and this meant the onset of the rainy season.

The Maya saw this as a manifestation of the will of the god, the "Feathered Serpent".

The Maya knew how to determine - days when the duration of day and night is the same. Every year on March 21, the descent of Kukulkan could be observed.

The layout of the city around El Castillo has acquired a new quality - space: temples, market, ball court, colonnades.

Most likely, the sides with colonnades served not only ritual purposes. Perhaps, they were either specially invited here, or everyone could come to see how processions of ambassadors and merchants from other cities arrive in the city.

These columns are similar to Greek and Roman ones, but for the Maya it was completely new type building structure, they made it possible to make the roof flat. No need for step masonry, which did not give 100 percent certainty that the vault would not collapse.

The structure of the columns is simple: cylindrical drums put one on top of the other on a layer of gravel. A square slab was laid on top, and the roof was made of wood and covered with lime mortar.

Now what was happening inside the temples was available to a greater number of people than in the era of the classical Mayan pyramids. Only the chosen ones climbed those pyramids, temples were placed on top, and from below it was not visible what was happening in them, and buildings with columns were more accessible.

The death of the Mayan civilization

However, this did not last long, the heyday of Chichen Itza lasted 200 years, and then it suffered the fate of its southern neighbors: it mysteriously depopulated.

When the Spaniards landed in the Yucatan in 1517, all Mayan cities were abandoned and abandoned. The heirs of a collapsed civilization lived in scattered settlements, but courageously resisted .

It turned out to be difficult to subdue them: instead of taking the ruler prisoner, they had to capture the villages one by one. Leaving, they left in the rear potential hotbeds of rebellion.

Mayan warriors killed thousands of conquistadors, but their weapons were powerless against another enemy: disease. For 100 years, 90% of the population of the New World died. The survivors were expected to be persecuted.

Came from Spain to convert the Maya to Christianity, and in his zeal did not know mercy.

Landa was an idealist. He arrived at New World to save souls, to convert the natives to the true faith. But the Maya were by no means going to abandon their beliefs.

July 12, 1562 Landa burned all Mayan manuscripts, believing them to be diabolical writings. The knowledge accumulated by the Maya over a thousand years was destroyed, for history it was great tragedy.

By good fortune, four codes escaped destruction in flames and not lost over time. In the 19th century, some of these manuscripts were rescued from the hands of the monks, and over time they became known to the general public.

Mayan archeology is just beginning

The ancient Maya tried to find answers to questions by looking from the earth to the sky, and now we are looking for answers by looking from the sky to the earth.

Recently NASA and with the help modern technologies tried to find new, unknown Mayan cities. The forested hills may well be the ruins of ancient cities abandoned hundreds of years ago. Perhaps the solution to the mysteries of the Maya lies under our feet.

Mayan archeology is just beginning: an incredible number of cities, temples and other structures have not yet been explored. The "golden" age of Mayan archeology is ahead: by the end of the century, it will be one of the most studied civilizations of the Ancient World.

The Maya were smart, resourceful, but notable for their propensity for violence. What is it that attracts scientists generation after generation to this highly developed and at the same time mysterious civilization? The architecture of majestic palaces and temples? Intricate characters? Or amazing knowledge in astronomy and mathematics with the concept of zero unprecedented for antiquity? Or a people who managed to build not a village, not a town, but magnificent cities in one of the most inhospitable corners of the planet?

In the tropical rainforests between and the Yucatan, they are still hidden hundreds of unknown Mayan cities. One and a half thousand structures have not yet been excavated in Palenque alone. If you imagine what archaeological treasures await scientists in cities like Tikal and Palenque, it becomes clear that the jungle keeps many more secrets of the mysterious Mayan civilization.

Today, the Maya is a tribe of Indians living in the territory 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 they inherited from the Mayan civilization and architectural monuments. 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 their unique calendar, which is based on accurate astronomical calculations. Our scientists never cease to admire its amazing accuracy. The ancient Maya 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 the 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 what exactly real reason no one knows. 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 Mexican state 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 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 Maya 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 social relations, power in the city-states was transferred according to a 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 in early XVI V. Spaniards.

Economic activity

The Maya practiced extensive slash-and-burn agriculture with regular site changes. main culture 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

Maya designed complex picture 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, the 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 National Library of Paris (it is kept here today).

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 structure on top of the pyramid, conventionally called a temple, did not have the aesthetics of a very internal 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 exterior decoration and sometimes a 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 the worlds, average level 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 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.

2012... People in my town are buying candles, stew and soap in bulk. They think that this will save them from the end of the world, which should come on December 21st. Mayan calendar. Although I am a sober-minded person, I still felt a nervous tic. But the day passed quietly and, apparently, the world is still standing still. The Maya were wrong.

Maya civilization: where is it located

For some reason, I thought that the Mayans, Incas and Aztecs lived at the same time. But this is a mistake. The Aztecs experienced all the joys of the conquest by the Spaniards, while the Mayan civilization at that time was almost dead. Mayan civilization was very highly developed and today her descendants cherish what is left of their culture.

This civilization is very ancient. Its roots go back to 2nd millennium BC. A peak of development fell on 250-900 AD. The Maya lived in the territories:

• southern states of Mexico;
• Guatemala;
• Belize;
• western Honduras;
• El Salvador;
• the Yucatan Peninsula.

These areas are very diverse in their landscape. Maya knew how turn drylands into fertile soils. They grew cocoa, corn, beans, pumpkins, fruits, and even cotton. Their society was divided into independent tribes, headed by a leader. Mayan population amounted to almost 3 million people. Medicine was very advanced. The Maya even knew how to fill their teeth. And their astronomers could very accurately calculate the cycles of the sun and other planets.

Mayan secrets

But scientists are still struggling with one question. Why did the Mayan civilization disappear? After all, this civilization has reached incredible heights in construction, art, and intellectual development. But early 10th century Maya start leave their cities. Scientists put forward various versions - from epidemics to natural disaster. But so far no one has been able to unravel this mystery.

And another mystery of this civilization are cenotes. This natural wells. It is believed that the Maya built their cities, given their location. Around these wells sacrifices were made and the Mayans considered them entrance to the underworld. Also Maya for some reason tried change your body. For example, they deformed the forehead - they made it flat. They deliberately formed strabismus in children or made their nose in the shape of a beak.

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 modern peoples Maya, who retained the language of their ancestors, but also part of the Spanish-speaking population of the southern states of Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras. Some Mayan cities are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List: 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 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 later formed and arose high culture. 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. In the Maya region, three major language groups developed: 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. Late archaic period Kaminaljuyu appears - the oldest center of 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 architecture Maya 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 highlands were under the protectorate of the Teotihuacan dynasties and of course influenced by 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. A distinctive feature of this stage is the 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.
classical era - time true heyday Maya, as in the mountainous Guatemala, as in Peten, and in the North of Yucatan. Arises classical culture Maya, 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 also flourished in the classical era - several large regions developed there: Chenes, Rio Bec, Puuk. 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 richest cities Yucatan, because 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. Soon after the chontal invasion, a cult center was established Chichen Itza. The city was founded, it is believed, in V-VI centuries and was one of the largest cities of the Maya. 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. Noble people added to this outfit a long shirt and a second loincloth, similar to a full 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. The main building material for the Maya was stone, primarily limestone. Mayan 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. Greatest Success in deciphering Maya texts, the Soviet scientist Yuri Knorozov from the Leningrad Institute of Ethnography of the USSR Academy of Sciences, who made his discoveries in the 1950s, achieved. 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 not based on the usual decimal system, but on the twenty-decimal 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 numbers 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 religious rituals were also attended by representatives higher strata society. 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 Maya 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 social structure society, any member of the Mayan 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.