The Story Of The Mayan Culture In Mexico And Guatemala

Have you heard of the Mayan Culture in Mexico and Guatemala? This Mesoamerican civilization has been noted to develop a written language, an intricate art and architecture in the pre-Columbian Americas. Mayan influences are identified in other Central American neighboring countries such as Honduras, Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, and as far as Mexico. This is one great historic civilization in Central America that you don't want to miss.

Mayan People Created Books

If you will get the chance to see their books, it's full of pictures, dots, and lines instead of words. These drawings tell a story and the dots and lines symbolized numbers. Although they had books, not all of them were trained or literate enough to understand those books. Only the priest class had the authority to read and write those books. The Mayans had a lot of books but some priests burned them when the Spanish arrived and only the four original books which they called the "codices" survived.

The Famous Mayan Calendar

Mayan Calendar

The Mayan Calendar is actually three calendars in one. The First one is called the Tzolkin that has 260 days more or less based on the nine months birth period. The second is called the Haab which happens to have 365 days based on the solar year. And the third is called the Calendar Round which comprises both the Tzolkin and the Haab together that refers to a 52 years solar period. The solar calendar of the Mayan Civilization is very accurate, even more accurate than what we use today. In some parts of Central America, people are still using these calendars. And for that reason some believed that the end of the world will be on 2012, because the Mayan Calendar only has until December of 2012 and will then reset back to zero after that.

Mayan Temples and Cities in Guatemala

Tikal in Guatemala was one of the major and predominant cities of the Mayan Civilization. Mayans inhabited Tikal for centuries reaching its highest position of influence in the whole Mayan Culture between 200AD to 900AD. Today, Tikal National Park in Guatemala covers around 222 square miles of the ruins and thick Guatemalan rainforest that the Mayans left. The portions that were excavated in 2008 revealed five large pyramids and temples. And these temples are about 138 to 213 feet in height. You can almost feel their power and superiority at that time

Mayan Ruined Cities in Mexico

There are three areas in Mexico that were inhabited by the Mayans. The largest ruin of them all is the one in Chichen Itza and it's also one of the most visited places by the travelers today. Most the Mayan architecture in this place was an arrangement of Mayan and Toltec styles because of the influence of the Iztaes in the tenth century. Another area in Mexico inhabited by the Mayans is the Talum which is believed to be the latest relic of the Mayan Civilization. It is also the most well preserved among the Mayan cities and it has a very astounding view of the Caribbean Sea. The Palenque is considered to be the medium-sized Mayan site as it's not really a big area for a Mayan city. However, Palenque contained the best example of the Mayan Culture's architecture, sculptures, and carvings. 

Mayan Great Civilization

The End of Mayan Great Civilization

Mayan culture and cities stood for thousands of years until the Spanish came to conquer the whole land of Central America. It was assumed that the Spanish power and strength are more than the Mayan's control and authority that many were killed and many got ill. Mayan medicine couldn't withstand foreign power and fight illnesses that the Mayan Civilization eventually lost all control and mysteriously disappeared and that concluded their culture's downfall.

The Mayan culture was not really defined as one big ethnically similar people. They considered themselves as one group or community but with differences in ancestry, language, and geography. These differences made them a strong community but it was also considered their downfall because of the disunity among them.