One hundred and fifty years of archaeological research does not completely solve the mystery of the Mayan civilization of the appearance, heyday and fall of the Mayan culture - a civilization that lived on the Yucatan Peninsula in Central America, and is known for its writing, art, architecture, mathematics and astronomy.
According to scientists, by the beginning of a new era, the Maya created an advanced civilization covering the territories of modern Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras. The Maya state had at least 100 large cities, the most famous of which are: Palenque, Chichen Itza, Uxmal in Mexico, Tikal and Quirigua in Guatemala, Copan in Honduras.
The descendants of the ancient Maya are not only the modern Mayan peoples who have preserved the language of their ancestors, but also part of the Hispanic population of the southern states of Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras.
The most famous of all the Mayan rulers was the "solar lord Pacal", who lived in the city of Palenque, whose burial was discovered in the Temple of the Inscriptions, in 1952 by the Mexican archaeologist Alberto Ruz Lullier. The 69 steps of the staircase of the Temple of the Inscriptions, one for each year of his reign, were carved in tribute to Pakal's illustrious reign.
By the 9th century AD, almost all of these cities had perished, and with them the Mayan Empire. In their place in the 11th century, the Toltec state arose, which existed until the Spanish conquered Central America in the 16th century.
Where did the Mayan peoples come to Mesoamerica?
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According to Mayan lore, they came to America in two stages. The first group was from the east, from the Atlantic Ocean, and Itzamna led them. Another group came from the Pacific Ocean and was led by Kukulkan, the builder of the pyramids and the city of Chichen Itza.
Information about this exists in the legends of all Indian tribes of Central and South America. Their God - Kon-Tiki Viracocha was portrayed as a white-skinned man with a long beard. According to the legends of the Indians, “Viracocha arrived in America on a boat that moved without the help of oars, with him were fair-skinned giants, bearded and red-haired, they stayed in Yucatan for 10 years, taught the Indians crafts, construction, tilling, built pyramids and sailed towards the ascending The sun, promising to return."
Perhaps that is why the Indians warmly greeted the Spaniards, in whom they saw the second arrival of Viracocha, and the Spaniards managed to easily conquer Central America. The Aztecs and Toltecs of Mexico called the white God Quetzalcoatl, the Incas - Kon-Tiki Viracocha, the Maya - Kukulcan.
There is a theory about the origin of the Maya from the inhabitants of the legendary Atlantis. According to the Mayan texts - "Book of Advice", the Maya came to America from the continent of Mu, it was a huge continent with large cities and a population of 60 million people. The continent sank to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean about 11.5 thousand years ago.
In the 30s of the XX century, American researcher James Churchward put forward the theory of the existence of the disappeared continent MU. These were sketches made from ancient stone tablets given to Churchward by an Indian priest.
The tablets were named after the legendary enlighteners, the Naakals. Churchward believed that the inhabitants of the Mu continent used technologies far superior to modern ones, including anti-gravity, which allowed them to move huge objects and construct colossal structures. He was sure that the highest knowledge that allowed building pyramids in Egypt and Mexico came from Atlantis, and earlier - from the continent of Mu, about 25 thousand years ago.
Some scholars believe that ancient Egypt, India and Babylon were the "dying embers" of the extinct civilization of the continent of Mu.
American archaeologist and historian Auguste Le Plongeon, who studied the Mayan writings found in South America, came to the conclusion that they "exported" their religious rites not only to the banks of the Nile, but also to the shores of the Euphrates and the Indian Ocean 11.5 thousand years ago …
As Peter James and Nick Thorpe write in Secrets of Ancient Civilizations: “The ancient Maya reached intellectual and cultural heights that no one else in the New World could match. The achievements in astronomy and mathematics were especially impressive. An observatory was built in Chichen Itza on the Yucatan Peninsula to observe the movement of the Sun and the planet Venus.
The Maya watched the Sun, Moon, Venus and Jupiter and calculated their relative positions with such precision that they could predict eclipses of the Moon and Sun. They calculated with absolute accuracy the value of the Earth's revolution around the Sun, and established a very accurate time for the Moon's revolution around the Earth.
Like the Egyptians, the Maya showed the greatest interest in Venus. They knew the planets Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, which supports the hypothesis that the Maya received astronomical information from space aliens, or a more advanced civilization that preceded them."
The complex astrological calculations of the Maya required an advanced mathematical system. The invention of the zero symbol gave their vague numerals such flexibility that millions of numbers could be represented using only three symbols: a dash for 5, a dot for 1, and a stylized shell for 0.
The Maya could compose the most accurate calendars for millennia to come. Modern scientists argue that it would take at least 10 thousand years to compile such calendars.
The Maya, like the Sumerians, considered time to be the soul of the universe. The Universe “breathes” - makes “inhales and exhales”. In these cycles, life arises, develops, dies and arises again. The cycle "inhale - exhale" Maya called the "Great Cycle".
According to the Maya, the next cycle of life on Earth began on August 13, 3113 BC and should end on December 21, 2012. The Maya believed that at the end of the current cycle, a new cycle would begin - the cycle of the Fifth Sun and the beginning of a new era - the era of the White Jaguar.
The Mayan calendars are chronology and a system of accurate predictions. The Maya used several calendars: the first was the Long Countdown, the second was the Tzolkin, or Sacred Calendar. The first calendar consisted of 360 days and reflected the astrophysics of the Cosmos, the second, based on the 260-day cycle, was intended for earthly life and marked the times of sowing and reaping. The calendars were calculated with such precision that they were only one day behind in 6,000 years. Both calendars complement each other and contain a complete cycle of 52 years.
The Mayan civilization disappeared as suddenly as it appeared, leaving many cities in Central America, as if people had left them for a while. Legends say that this ancient people possessed extraordinary abilities and for some reason left for a "parallel world".
Modern science claims that only 10 percent of his genetic potential is realized in a person, the remaining 90 percent are considered by scientists to be "gene trash". The ancients believed that in these 90 percent, our extraordinary abilities for clairvoyance, levitation, teleportation around the worlds were encrypted.
Perhaps December 21, 2012 will be for humanity not only the beginning of a new era of the White Jaguar, but also the beginning of new knowledge of the Laws of the Universe, received from meeting with those who left us, leaving for "parallel worlds" and taking with them extraordinary knowledge and abilities.
Palenque town
This ancient city was accidentally found by a military patrol, lost in the jungle of the Mexican state of Chiapas. The soldiers discovered in the forest the village of Santo Domingo de Palenque, the existence of which the colonial authorities did not even suspect, and at the same time the ruins of a magnificent temple center. But only 25 years later, in 1784, the colonial administration sent the first expedition to explore the ancient city, which gave brilliant results.
Palenque is splendidly nestled among a range of hills overgrown with tall rainforest. In ancient times, its buildings were decorated with stucco friezes and paintings. Only a few have survived to this day, so you have to rely on drawings made by early explorers, especially Catherwood.
Working in very difficult conditions, malaria patients. Suffering from ticks and other blood-sucking insects, Stephens and Catherwood compiled the first accurate description of the city, accompanied by many excellent illustrations.
Many things have changed in Palenque since then. But the tropical heat and mosquitoes remained unchanged. The heavy, hot air of the jungle still scares off many tourists. It is amazing how this city was built at all, despite the terrible heat and humidity.
The palace complex in Palenque is a great example of Mayan architectural taste. It is a real labyrinth, about 300 meters long and 240 meters wide, consisting of rooms and covered galleries located around courtyards. The complex is dominated by a four-story tower. There are no analogues of such a structure in any Mayan settlement.
In most cases, the temples that the Maya built on the tops of the pyramids did not survive, as they were made of wood. Palenque is a rare case, even several such temples have survived here - the Temple of the Skulls, the Temple of the Earl, the so-called group of the Cross, which includes the Temple of the Cross, the Temple of the Leaf Cross, and the Temple of the Sun.
All of these temples are located on pyramidal foundations. They got their names from the main motives of the relief on the slabs inside the temples. In the Temple of the Sun, the sun is depicted pierced by two crossing spears. In the center of the composition of the Temple of the Cross there is a cross. In the Temple of the Deciduous Cross, the center of the composition is a cross, from the crossbeams of which leaves (or tongues of flame?) Protrude. The Temple of Skulls is famous for its skull ornament, and the Temple of the Earl got its name because the explorer of the ruins Count de Waldeck lived in it for two years.
One of the most perfect pieces of monumental Mayan architecture is the Temple of the Sun (erected in the middle of the 7th century). It is located on a stepped platform and is topped by a roof with a decorative ridge.
The peculiarity of Palenque manifested itself in the decorative details of the architectural style. Unlike other cities, there are almost no steles with altars here. But on the columns and walls of its buildings, artists created an incredible abundance of wonderful stucco and carvings - the slabs of the temples are richly decorated with reliefs, covered with thousands of hieroglyphs.
Today, only a part of the ancient city is completely excavated, and the rest is covered with a tall tropical forest, in which parrots and macao flutter, and on rainy days the surroundings of the ancient settlement are filled with unusual sounds - this is the beginning of their concert of a howler monkey.
PALENKE - THE SECRET OF THE TEMPLE OF INSCRIPTIONS
For four years, the archaeologist Alberto Ruz, guided by his own intuition and scientific experience, went to the secret kept under the Temple of the Inscriptions in Palenque. Finally, he managed to snatch the secret from the pyramid, which hid the giant crypt, where the hierarch rested with his burial retinue …
The Temple of the Inscriptions stands on a nine-step 20-meter pyramid, the back of which rests on a steep slope of a high mountain. In clear weather, the white-stone pyramid, crowned with a temple, is visible from the plain for many kilometers. A magnificent staircase stretches along the facade of the pyramid. More than 70 high steps need to be overcome to get to the upper platform on which the temple rests.
Its walls were once decorated with huge slabs, completely covered with numerous bas-reliefs of extraordinary expressiveness and 620 hieroglyphic inscriptions in the form of people and mythical creatures (hence the name of the temple).
What these inscriptions were talking about is still unknown, because the combination of picture words and phonetic symbols has not yet been fully deciphered. However, it is obvious that a number of hieroglyphs refer to epochs that are thousands of years away from us in the past, and tells about people and gods - participants in prehistoric events.
The floor of the Temple of the Inscriptions is covered with large, well-polished stone slabs. One of them was of particular interest to the Mexican archaeologist Alberto Ruza, as it had two rows of holes with removable stone plugs. Moreover, the massive walls of the temple did not lie on the floor, but went deep into the interior. This suggested that there might be some kind of structure under the stone flooring.
When Ruz managed to move this slab, a secret chamber was found under it with steps going down into the depths of the pyramid. The limestone steps were narrow, wet and terribly slippery. It was incredibly difficult to lower one foot on each lower step - the ladder seemed to fall almost vertically downward. Finally, a platform appears below. Movements become more confident, but … this is not the end of the descent, but only a turn to the right, and again the same wet huge stone ledges-monoliths.
This secret dank staircase has been hidden from view since the moment it was walled up in 683. It took archaeologists four field seasons to get to the end of the staircase, since the ancient builders deliberately filled it with tons of stones and earth. Having cleared the passage, archaeologists discovered a narrow vaulted chamber located at the level of the base of the pyramid and also covered with stones. After the cell was cleared, the skeletons of six young people (probably sacrificed) were found on its floor, as well as objects stacked in boxes: earrings and other jasper jewelry, pottery, filled with red shell paint.
Scheme of the passage to the tomb of Pakal inside the Temple of the Inscriptions.
There seemed to be no further way. But after carefully examining the walls, scientists saw a clearly drawn outline of a small triangular slab. If this was the entrance, where did it lead to? On June 15, 1952, this slab was moved. What was discovered behind it amazed the entire scientific world studying ancient American cultures.
Behind the triangular slab was a remarkable tomb, or rather, a very impressive crypt; 9 meters long, 4 meters wide and 7 meters high.
According to Roose, it was "a huge room, as if carved in ice, a kind of grotto, the walls and ceiling of which looked like polished." The walls of the crypt were decorated with plaster bas-reliefs: nine richly dressed figures, apparently, symbolized the Lords of the Night (in Mayan theology - deities from the underworld). Below was a giant slab (length - 3.8 m, width - 2.2 m, thickness - 0.25 m).
At first, the slab was mistaken for a floor decorated with carved ornaments, however, there was a fairly large space between the slab and the walls of the crypt. Having looked there, the archaeologists were convinced that in front of them was not a floor, but really a slab - a five-ton lid of the sarcophagus. It took a lot of work to lift it. And then the Mexican scientists saw the most important thing: at the bottom of the sarcophagus lay the skeleton of a man of about forty or fifty.
The sarcophagus itself is made of a monolithic block with a volume of 7 cubic meters. m and is installed on six stone supports. From the inside, it was painted with red paint, the same paint lay on bones and jewelry. The deceased wore a diadem and many other jasper ornaments: earrings, several necklaces, bracelets, rings on all fingers. The tomb contained the attributes of the power of the ancient Mayans: a scepter and a shield.
A large piece of jade was placed in each hand. One jade bead lay in the mouth of the deceased. The deceased's face was covered with a magnificently made life-size mosaic jade mask with mother-of-pearl shell eyes and obsidian pupils. The jade mask is the best such item ever found.
There is no doubt that the person buried in this tomb held a high position in society. Who was he? The ruler of ancient Palenque, who is credited with building a magnificent city? Archaeologists believe that it was Vladyka Pakal who was buried in the Temple of the Inscriptions.
PALENKY COVER - PATTERN SECRETS
“The picture undoubtedly depicts a man piloting a jet apparatus for individual flights. The apparatus is shown in section, and a jet of reactive gases is clearly visible in its lower part"
The central figure is dressed in a tight-fitting suit, the sleeves and legs of which at the wrists and ankles end with elaborate cuffs. The person is reclining on a seat that supports the lower back and hips. The neck rests comfortably on the headrest. He peers ahead. His hands are as if in motion, as if moving the control levers. Bare feet are bent. With all the panels, rivets, tubes, and other details, the device in which the person is housed resembles something technical.
American aircraft designer J. Sanderson went even further. He put the reproduction of the drawing into a computer and gave the "command" to convert a flat image into a volumetric one. The result is an aircraft cockpit with an instrument panel and a propulsion system. Sanderson supplemented the computer prints with several lines, depicting the outer skin of the aircraft, and presented the resulting image to the scientific community.
The most famous is the interpretation of the Swiss writer Erich von Daniken. His hypothesis (expressed in the book "Chariots of the Gods") that the mysterious figure in the center of the lid is an atlas (a representative of a vanished civilization) sitting in the cockpit of an aircraft of that time.
“In the middle of the picture,” Daniken writes, “there is a seated person leaning forward. He has a helmet on his head, from which wires or hoses go back. A device resembling an oxygen apparatus is located in front of the face. His hands manipulate the control devices. With his right hand, he presses a button or key, and with his left hand he squeezes the lever (this is confirmed by the fact that the thumb is not visible in the figure). The heel of the left foot rests on the pedals. Attention is drawn to the fact that the “Indian” is dressed very modernly. Around his neck is a sweater collar. The sleeves are finished with knitted elastic cuffs. At the waist there is a safety belt with a buckle. The trousers fit around the legs like a leggings. But this is approximately how modern pilots dress."
Describes Daniken and the device of the aircraft itself:
“In front of the pilot strapped to the seat are breathing apparatus, a control panel for the power plant and communication devices, manual control levers and external observation devices. Even further ahead there are two electromagnets, which, most likely, create a magnetic field around the head of the device. Behind the pilot is the power plant. Next to it are schematically depicted nuclei of hydrogen and helium atoms, as well as their synthesis. Finally, a reactive flame emanates from the aft part of the apparatus”.
Mayan astrology
In the II - X centuries. AD in the southern part of Mexico and on the territory of present-day Guatemala, Honduras and Belize, there was a very high and extremely peculiar culture of the Maya Indians. The Mayan civilization was a network of city-states, most of which were destroyed at the end of the 9th century. In the XV I century. the Mayan culture was destroyed by the Spanish colonialists, who, eradicating the local religion, burned almost all the manuscripts containing both knowledge and the very history of the people. When in the XIX century. the ruins of Mayan cities began to be discovered, and the remains of colossal observatory temples were discovered. One of the most famous Mayan cities, founded in the 8th century, Chichen Itza (in the north of Yucatan) was already in ruins by the time of the Spaniards. But the remains of his grandiose religious and astronomical structures (including the Karakol observatory) amaze researchers even now.
In the only four manuscripts found so far (the so-called codes) of the Maya, dating back to different eras BC were also discovered. information about astronomical, cosmogonic and cosmological knowledge and ideas of this people. Some confusion of the surviving astronomical and astrological information can be explained by the fact that the surviving manuscripts are incomplete, and most importantly, these are mostly simplified rural priestly "reference books". A number of texts were also found on stone stele slabs.
The worship of the Mayans, Incas, Aztecs to the Sun and the Moon dates back to ancient times. The priests at their observatories - sites located on the flat tops of grandiose, tens of meters high, stepped pyramids, systematically monitored the sky, believing that all phenomena on Earth and in the state are determined by its laws.