The ancient Maya people from the territory of Mesoamerica a thousand years ago had no idea what a commotion one of their three calendars would cause in the 21st century. The Maya confidently guided themselves in all solar and lunar eclipses and even called the date of the end of the world - in December 2012. Why this year, we will tell about it below.
Mayan temple in the ancient city of Palenque
About the Maya people, history is brief
The Maya are a group of related Indian peoples: the Aztecs, Mayans, Olmecs and others. And each part has succeeded in creating their own civilizations. Even schoolchildren know about the Mayan civilization. Actually, the concept of "Maya", "Indian" and "Yucatan" (the locality of the people) in 1502 was invented by Christopher Columbus, mooring to the shore of the tribe. The peak of development fell on the first millennium of our era. But at this time interval, the whole history of the people ended. Civilization disappeared, the once united national community disintegrated. But the people did not disappear.
Mayan temple in the ancient city of Tikal
The Maya people scattered across the Latin American states of about eight million people. Some have assimilated with the local population and speak Spanish, others have retained their identity and speak in everyday life in a language that vaguely resembles their ancient language. People are still interested in their culture and origins to this day. You can find tons of videos on the Internet about the Maya people and history.
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Where has civilization gone?
The Maya lived massively and compactly for a thousand years on the Mexican Yucatan Peninsula, almost in the middle of the American continent. It was an amazing corner of Mesoamerica. Warm, cozy, food was corn (maize) and cocoa beans, fruits, game collected in the jungle. They did not raise livestock, they were engaged only in agriculture, because they did not have wheels.
Tikal Mayan Temple. Height 47 meters
In addition to the peninsula, the Maya occupied other territories. For example, in the Cordillera, the tropics of Methen - the vast modern valley of today's Guatemala and Honduras.
In reality, it was a Stone Age civilization. But the people tried and proved that they were subject to the various cases that he started. It is not yet clear whether they used their knowledge and skills or used the knowledge of a previous civilization. Nevertheless, the Maya had an accurate solar calendar, developed writing in hieroglyphs, and introduced "zero" into mathematics.
Ruins of a building in Copan
Despite the subtropics, the fields needed moisture. Therefore, they came up with irrigation to supply water. But at the same time, the ancient urbanism was fully formed by the people. He built a dozen unique cities - Tikal, Palenque, Piedras Negras and others. Not to mention the pyramids, akin to the Egyptian ones, only stepped and with the tombs of the nobility.
863 AD is a tragic date for the Mayan people. Cities were emptied overnight, fields were overgrown, irrigation canals collapsed, the pyramids became ownerless, the priests also disappeared.
Necropolis of the ancient Mayan city of Bonampak
Why did the center of civilization go out?
The Spanish invaders should not be blamed for the death. The conquistadors arrived on the continent at the beginning of the 16th century, and already in the ninth the south of civilization began to lose people. From this time on, stone buildings no longer appear.
Historiographers see two causes of the disaster: ecological and non-ecological. First, the balance in nature is disturbed by man. The number of residents increased, there was a lack of drinking water, as well as fertile soil. The experiment of scientists has proved that even one drought was enough for such a disaster. Second: wars of conquest are not excluded, possibly with the Toltecs.
Mayan calendar
How the Mayans predicted the Day of Judgment
The main calendar of the Maya - the guides of the pre-Columbian era of America - was calculated for 144 thousand days. Thus, it ended on December 21, 2012. Since the Maya, the smartest people, chose this date, it means that something was invested in it. Now contemporaries have already created another myth about this people.
Stella in the ancient Mayan city of Copan
The ancient history of the Maya people is unlikely to be remembered by its present representatives, all the more so they, naturally, do not know about the abandoned calendar. And if they know anything, then, while maintaining the same caste isolation, they will not tell outsiders anything. The Maya learned about Doomsday 2012 from the media, as well as what it meant to their distant ancestors. But on that day, Mayan families in Mexico and Guatemala, where these people are concentrated, organized mass celebrations.
Frescoes in Bonampak
The educated Maya were better guided in this event, therefore, on the eve of December 21, 2012, the media told the media that this date was twofold for them. First, the end of the 13th baktun in civilized countries will cause changes in socio-political terms. Which ones were not distributed. Secondly, those who live in the tropical jungle expect regular rainfall or environmental changes. Only experts in these fields can shed light on whether those modern predictions have come true.
