Tales from the Island of Serendip 4 4

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There are a number of "triadic" structures (around 35 structures), consisting of large artificial platforms topped with a set of 3 summit pyramids.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The most notable such structures are huge complexes; one is nicknamed "El Tigre", with height 55 metres (180 ft); the other is called "La Danta" (or Danta) temple.

 

 

 

 

 

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The La Danta temple measures approximately 70 metres (230 ft) tall from the forest floor, and considering its total volume (2,800,000 cubic meters) is one of the largest pyramids in the world. When the large man-made platform that the temple is built upon (some 18,000 square meters) is included in calculations, La Danta is considered by some archeologists to be one of the most massive ancient structures in the world

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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By A.D. 900 most of their cities were abandoned.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Overpopulation, drought, warfare - there are many competing theories. Drought is currently favored but we may never know for certain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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By the time the Spanish invaders arrived, however, most Maya were living in agricultural villages, their great cities buried under a layer of rainforest green.Only a few cities such as Chichén Itzá, Uxmal and Mayapá remained in the highlands of Yucatan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Their resistance to the invaders was far more stubborn than the Aztec or the Inca, in part because their communities were very scattered.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Their civilization survived, though knowledge of their writing system took centuries to reconstruct. Today over 5 million people count themselves as Mayan and speak their languages.

 

 

 

 

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In 2005 the Rabinal Achí, a play written in the Achi language, was declared a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Most of what historians know about the Maya comes from what remains of their architecture and art, including stone carvings and inscriptions on their buildings and monuments.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Guided by their religious ritual, the Maya also made significant advances in mathematics and astronomy, including the use of the zero and the development of a complex calendar system based on 365 days.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Maya were keen astronomers and produced extremely accurate astronomical observations; their charts of the movements of the moon and planets were used to predict eclipses and other celestial events such as the time between conjunctions of Venus.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Maya believed in a cyclical nature of time.

 

 

 

 

 

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The Maya also believed that the cosmos had three major planes, the Earth, the underworld beneath and the heavens above.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Maya underworld, called Xibalba ("place of fear"), is reached through caves and deep tunnels.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Divers exploring a maze of underwater caves on Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula have identified what may be the longest underground river in the world. The waterway twists and turns for 95 miles (153 kilometers) through the region's limestone caverns. This was Xibalba.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The night sky was considered a window showing all supernatural doings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The life-cycle of maize lies at the heart of Maya belief. The Maya maize god is a central religious figure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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There is a strong tradition of "world ages" in Mayan literature. The Popol Vuh describes the gods first creating three failed worlds, followed by a successful fourth world in which humanity was placed. In the Maya Long Count, the previous world ended after 13 b'ak'tuns, or roughly 5,125 years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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In 1966, Michael D. Coe wrote in The Maya that "Armageddon would overtake the degenerate peoples of the world and all creation on the final day of the 13th b'ak'tun. Thus our present universe would be annihilated in December 2012 when the Great Cycle of the Long Count reaches completion."

 

This led many people to believe that the world would end.