It is now well known that the pyramid is not an exclusive ancient Egyptian invention, but a universal type of religious buildings known in various parts of the world. But in the 19th - first half of the 20th centuries, the world was just discovering the monumental pyramids of the Mayan civilization, which may well be compared with many of the pyramids of Egypt, and even surpass them in the complexity of their engineering design and implementation. Since then, researchers have been constantly learning something new and very informative about the Mayan pyramids.
Maya loved the pyramids
Many pyramids are adorned with a magnificent design, usually representing the Spider Woman: a very important goddess in the Mayan pantheon who created the world. Spider-Woman is also found in the mythology of the modern Navajo and Pueblo Indians.
Of course, in comparison with the ancient Egyptian "relatives" of the Mayan pyramids, much less survived: the fact is that there were not so many of them originally erected, and their living conditions are much more severe - it is quite possible that unidentified pyramids are still hiding in the jungles of Central America, and in the course of various wars many of them were destroyed. Nevertheless, those Mayan pyramids that are already known are quite impressive. All these pyramids represent an architectural and cult complex, consisting of a stepped pyramid and an altar temple at its top. In fact, the Mayan pyramids are several temples-steps erected one on top of another, or one temple in the form of a pyramid with an altar at the very top.
According to scientists, the height of the pyramids was supposed to remind the subjects of the kings that the gods are constantly watching them. In addition, the pyramids served as a kind of lighthouses that towered over the jungle.
The most famous Mayan pyramid is located in the famous city of Chichen Itza on the Yucatan Peninsula, dedicated to one of the main gods of the local pantheon and named after him the pyramid of Kukulkan. This is a huge temple, consisting of nine "steps", reaching a height of 30 meters and having a length of 55 meters on each side. From each side, oriented strictly to the cardinal points, stairs of 91 steps, divided into 18 flights (according to the number of months in the Mayan calendar), lead to the top. Not far from the pyramid of Kukulkan, right there, in Chichen Itza, there is another pyramid - the so-called temple of warriors, which is a four-stage pyramid of a smaller size, but with a much larger temple at the top. Another famous Mayan pyramid is located in another ancient city of Uxmal. This structure, consisting of five temples erected one on top of the other,has a total height of 38 meters, has an original almost oval base and is called the Sorcerer's Pyramid (according to legend, a powerful magician erected it in one night).
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Since there is a pyramid, someone needs to be buried in it
Mayan pyramids until the middle of the last century it was believed that the Mayan pyramids were used in any way, just not as tombs - as temples, as altars, as observatories, as giant calendars, and so on. In this they saw their fundamental difference from the pyramids of Ancient Egypt, the only proven function of which was precisely to be a tomb and a device for the transition of pharaohs to another world. But since the fifties of the XX century, archaeologists began to find disguised tombs of rulers and priests in the Mayan pyramids, which made it possible to add cult funeral ceremonies to the functional list of these objects.
The first in a series of such finds was the Pyramid of Inscriptions (Or Temple of Inscriptions) in the ancient Mayan city of Palenca (modern name). This pyramid of nine levels with a total height of 24 meters first became famous for numerous inscriptions on its walls, most of which have not been read about to this day. But in 1952, a tunnel was opened in the annex located on the eighth level, which led to the tomb of the famous ruler of one of the Mayan city-states of the 7th century, Pakal. The walls of the crypt were painted with frescoes depicting scenes of burial and the afterlife, and in a carved stone sarcophagus, the body of the ruler and many ornaments, including jade ones, were found, as well as a portrait burial mask made of mosaics. After that, archaeologists began to more closely examine other Mayan pyramids, and in some of them they found burials of priests and nobles.
Spectacular observatories
But the Mayan pyramids are not only tombs and in their multifunctionality leave far away the pyramids of Ancient Egypt. In addition to the functions of permanent temples, these pyramids were often astronomical observatories of amazing accuracy. So, the pyramid of Kukulkan in Chichen Itza has four stairs, the total number of steps of which is 364, and if you add the upper platform as a step, you get the number of days in a solar year.
But the most amazing thing can be observed on the Kukulkan pyramid on the days of the spring and autumn equinox and on the days of the winter and summer solstices. As a result of the fact that all sides of the pyramid are turned to the cardinal points at an angle of 18 degrees. On the days of the spring and autumn equinox, at 17.15 local time, the visual effect begins and lasts for about three hours, as a result of which the shadow cast on the pyramid stairs takes the form of a writhing living snake (Kukulkan is a god in the form of a feathered serpent). When the days of the summer and winter solstices come, the pyramid is divided by the falling shadow exactly in half: in winter, the south and west sides remain in the light, in summer - the north and east.
Continuation: "Mayan Pyramids: General Purpose Structures - Who Built"