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by Mark Cartwright
published on 20 September 2015

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Maya architecture is best characterized by the soaring pyramid temples and ornate palaces which were built in all Maya centres across Mesoamerica from El Tajin in the north to Copan in the south. The Maya civilization was formed of independent city-states and, consequently, there are regional variations in architecture but almost all buildings were constructed with a precise attention to position and layout and a general style prevails.

Features of Maya architecture include multi-level elevated platforms, massive step- pyramids, corbelled roofing, and monumental stairways. Exteriors were decorated with sculpture and mouldings of Maya glyphs, geometric shapes, and iconography from religion such as serpent masks. Interestingly, unlike in many other cultures, Maya architecture makes no particular distinction between religious and non-religious buildings.

Influences & Materials

The Maya were certainly aware of, and were often admirers of, the Mesoamerican cultures which had gone before them, especially the Olmec and at Teotihuacan, and so they took inspiration from this Mesoamerican heritage when developing their own unique architecture.

Maya architects used readily available local materials, such as limestone at Palenque and Tikal, sandstone at Quiriguá, and volcanic tuff at Copan. Blocks were cut using stone tools only. Burnt-lime cement was used to create a form of concrete and was occasionally used as mortar, as was simple mud. Exterior surfaces were faced with stucco and decorated with high relief carvings or three-dimensional sculpture. Walls might also have fine veneers of ashlar slabs placed over a rubble core, a feature of buildings in the Puuc region. Walls in Maya buildings are usually straight and produce sharp angles but a notable idiosyncrasy is seen at Uxmal's House of the Governor (10th century CE) which has outer walls which lean outwards as they rise (called negative batter). The whole exterior was then covered in stucco and painted in bright colours, especially red, yellow, green, and blue. Interior walls were often decorated with murals depicting battles, rulers, and religious scenes. Mansard roofs were typical and made in imitation of the sloped thatch roofing of the more modest wooden and wattle dwellings of the majority of the population.

Maya buildings were positioned to take advantage of solar and other celestial events or sight lines.

The earliest monumental Maya structures are from the Petén region, such as the 1st century CE pyramid at Uaxactun known as E-VII-sub, and are low pyramids with steps on all four sides rising to a top platform. Postholes in the platforms indicate superstructures of perishable material once stood there. The pyramids also carry sculptural decoration, masks in the case of E-VII-sub. Even at this early stage buildings were constructed on precise plans according to such events as the winter and summer solstices and equinoxes. In addition, the outline of structures when seen from above was also deliberate and could form or resemble Maya glyphs for, for example, completion and time. Indeed, many structures were built to specifically commemorate the completion of important time periods such as the 20 year katun.

Town Planning

Maya sites display evidence of deliberate urban planning and monuments are often laid out on a radial pattern incorporating wide plazas. Topography usually determined where larger buildings were constructed - see, for example, Palenque where use was made of natural rock rises - but they could also be connected via elevated and stuccoed roadways ( bajos) within a single sacred complex. Buildings themselves were oriented along, for example, a north-south axis, and were so positioned to take advantage of solar and other celestial events or sight lines. Buildings might also be sited to take advantage of natural panoramas or even mimic the view itself such as in the ballcourt at Copan.

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Pyramids

Maya pyramids soaring above the surrounding jungle, such as the 65-metre high Temple IV at Tikal (8th century CE), are amongst the most famous images from the ancient Americas. Pyramids were used not only as temples and focal points for Maya religious practices where offerings were made to the gods but also as gigantic tombs for deceased rulers, their partners, sacrificial victims, and precious goods. Pyramids were also periodically enlarged so that their interiors, when excavated, sometimes reveal a series of complete but diminishing pyramids, often still with their original coloured stucco decoration. In addition, individual shrines could be amalgamated into a single giant complex over time as Maya rulers attempted to impress their subjects and leave a lasting mark of their reign. A good example of this development can be seen at the North Acropolis of Tikal.

Palenque's Temple of the Inscriptions, built c. 700 CE, is a model example of a Maya temple structure. A single steep staircase climbs several levels to reach a top platform topped by a single structure with several chambers. The pyramid is rich in symbolic meaning with nine exterior levels representing the nine levels of Xibalba, the Maya underworld, and a 13-level secret passageway descending to the tomb of King Pakal in the interior representing the 13 levels of the Maya heavens. In contrast to this standard approach, the Pyramid of the Magician at Uxmal (after 600 CE) is distinctive for its rounded corners which make it almost oval in shape when seen from above, making the pyramid unique in Maya architecture. Another two common Maya features of pyramids are a chamfer or deep horizontal groove running around each platform and rounded inset corners. The overall effect of these huge monuments is of a mountain, a feature of the landscape which the Maya held as sacred.

Palaces

The larger Maya buildings used as palaces and administrative centres, like the temples, very often have sections with corbelled roofing - that is flat stones were piled one upon another, slightly over-lapping so that they formed a narrow enough gap that it could be spanned with a single capstone. Further support to these unstable vaults was given by the addition of wooden crossties. This technique was further refined at Palenque where the central wall of parallel corbelled passageways could support exterior roof comb structures which presented a lattice-work effect in stone. The use of corbel roofs can also be seen in the inner burial chambers of some pyramids, notably the tomb of Kink Pakal deep within Temple of the Inscriptions at Palenque. A further innovation for increasing the structural integrity of roofing is found at Uxmal and especially in the Nunnery Quadrangle building (pre-1000 CE), which has boot-shaped stones in its vaults.

The Nunnery complex at Uxmal is also a good reminder that Maya royal residences too had religious functions and were designed, like the temple pyramids, to visually represent the Maya view of the cosmos. The north building of the Nunnery has 13 doorways - the levels of the heavens, the south building has 9 - the levels of Xibalba, and the west building has 7 - the Maya mystic number of the earth.

Larger Maya buildings could have colonnades (or more commonly piers) and towers. The best surviving example is the palace at Palenque with its unique three-storey tower. Doorways are often multiple and of the post and lintel type in wood (usually sapodilla) or stone. They can also present relief carvings of rulers; especially fine examples are found at Yaxchilan. Alternatively, doorways could be carved to represent, for example, the mouth of a fierce monster, as in Structure 22 at Copan and the Pyramid of the Magician at Uxmal. These portals represented the mouths of sacred caves, traditionally considered portals to another world. Finally, besides halls, sleeping quarters, cooking areas, and workshops, some palaces, as at Palenque, also had luxury features such as lavatories and steam rooms.

Ballcourts

Used to play the ballgame of Mesoamerica which involved two teams of players trying to bounce a rubber ball through a single ring without the use of hands or feet, the most splendid Classic Maya ballcourt is to be found at Copan. Built in c. 800 CE its elegant sloping sides perfectly frame the distant view of the hills. The ballcourt at Uxmal is unusual in that its sides are vertical and one example at Tikal has a unique triple-court. The ballgame could have a religious significance with losers being sacrificed to the gods, and the orientation of the court is, therefore, typically positioned between the north and south - the celestial and underworlds respectively - and an integral part of the city's sacred complex.

Legacy

Maya architecture would, then, pass on the architectural baton from older Mesoamerica to subsequent cultures such as the Toltec civilization and Aztecs, especially at the noted centres of Xochicalco, Chichen Itza, Mitla, and Tenochtitlan. Maya influence even stretched into the 20th century CE when such noted architects as Frank Lloyd Wright and Robert Stacy-Judd incorporated elements of Maya architecture into their buildings.

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Maya architecture is best characterized by the soaring pyramid temples and ornate palaces which were built in all Maya centres across Mesoamerica from El Tajin in the north to Copan in the south.

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by Maria C. Gomez
published on 29 July 2015

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Maya religious beliefs are formed on the notion that virtually everything in the world contains k'uh, or sacredness. K'uh and k'uhul, similar terms which are used to explain the spirituality of all inanimate and animate things, describe the most divine life force of existence. Maya belief establishes the creation and sanctity of human beings, the earth, and all things sacred. This divine sanctity can be translated into Maya creation myths as well.

The Maya Creation Myth

Before explaining the Maya creation myths, it is important to understand the difference between the two sources that the Maya creation stories have been found in. These sources include the and the Books of Chilam Balam. The Popol Vuh is associated with the highland Maya of what is today Guatemala. It contains text about human creation, prophecies, and traditional myths and histories. TheBooks of Chilam Balam are normally associated with the lowland Maya of the Yucatán area of Mexico. There are several books of Chilam Balam which are named for the area in which they were written. The most famous and influential books include the books of Chumayel, Tizimin, Mani, Kaua, Ixil, Tusik, and Codex Pérez. The books are written by a Jaguar priest, a literal translation for Chilam Balam. These books date to colonial Spanish times, circa 1500s CE, and there is a clear influence of Spanish colonialism on the creation stories of the Chilam Balam.

For the Maya the creation of the earth is said to have been a deed of Huracán, the wind and sky god. The sky and earth connected, which left no space for any beings or vegetation to grow. In order to make space, a Ceiba tree was planted. The tree grew roots in all the levels of the underworld and its branches grew into the upper world. The tree trunk grew to leave space on earth for animals, plants, and humans. According to Maya belief, animals and plants were extant before humans. The gods were not satisfied with only the animals because they could not speak to honor them. From there, humans were made in order to honor the gods.

The Many Epochs of the Maya

According to Maya texts, thus far, there have been three creations. Two of these creations have ended or, in other words, the creatures have been destroyed. There are many variations of the three creations. Some have been influenced by Christianity, however, the basic events of the creations are detailed in the following explanation from the Popol Vuh of the highland Maya.
Built from Mud
The first creation saw the people who were made of mud. The mud people were not the most productive as many were not able to think in the capacity that modern-day humans do and, according to Maya sacred texts, these men "spoke but had no mind." They could not move because they were made of mud and they also were not technically mortal. The gods were not happy with their first creation, so they destroyed the mud people with water.
Built from Wood
For the second creation, the deities made men from wood and women from reeds. These people could function as humans do, but had no souls and did not honor the gods. They were also immortal. When they died, they only remained dead for three days and would rise from the dead. The destruction of the tree men and reed women was caused by an inundation of boiling hot water. The few who may have survived this apocalypse are thought to have become the monkeys that exist today.
Built from Maize
The third creation saw the birth of modern-day humans. These humans are made of white and yellow maize dough and the blood of the gods. The first humans were four men and four women. These men and women were deemed too wise by the gods. The Maya deities believed these intelligent humans were a threat to their authority and almost destroyed them as well. However, Heart of Heaven (also known as Huracán, but in the creation story he is the Heart of Heaven, Heart of Earth, or Heart of Sky) clouded their minds and eyes so that they would become less wise.

The most important concept to understand about Maya religious belief is that time and the creation of humans are thought to be cyclical.

The different Maya groups believe in a variety of creation myths. The most important concept to understand about Maya religious belief is that time and the creation of humans are thought to be cyclical. This means that some Maya believe that contemporary humans will be destroyed and another creation is imminent. However, this does not necessarily equate to the popularized notions that the Maya believed in an "end of the world" event. Belief in the end of humanity isn't the end of the world, it is the end of an era and, perhaps, the beginning of a new epoch of the gods.

The gods destroyed the different versions of "humans" because they either could not or would not worship their creators. This is a crucial consideration for the gods. They could not afford to have creations which were unworthy and incapable of providing sustenance to the gods.

Major Maya Gods & Goddesses

Typically, Maya gods are fluid and have diverse personalities. This sometimes makes it difficult to distinguish one god from another. However, it may be simpler to keep in mind that although the Maya deities are numerous, the most consequential gods sometimes morph with the less notable gods and share characteristics of both deities. The incorporation of connectivity in Maya culture, not surprisingly, applies to Maya deities as well. Some deities even have conflicting personality traits.

The multiplicity of the deities' personalities are furthered by their appearance. Many gods are an amalgamation of a human and particular animal. They are also associated with different cardinal directions and an individual god's importance can vary depending on historical context. This fluidity is precisely why scholars refer to some Maya deities with the letters of the Latin alphabet.
Itzam Ná & Ix Chebel Yax
Itzam Ná is the god attributed to creation. Not much is known about him and the same can be said of his counterpart, Ix Chebel Yax. Itzam Ná is often depicted as a squinty-eyed, long-nosed old man or sometimes even an iguana. Ix Chebel Yax was the wife of Itzam Ná and is also depicted as an iguana. Both she and Itzam Ná are considered to be high in the hierarchy of gods. The spelling of their names can vary, as can the spellings of many Maya names can.
Huracán
Huracán, another significant Maya god, is often referred to as the Heart of Heaven, Heart of Sky, or Heart of Earth. While there is not much direct evidence about Huracán being the supreme creator god, the Popol Vuh does imply in one of its prayers that Huracán is a "giver of life." The same prayer also refers to Huracán as the Heart of Heaven and Earth, which also suggests his importance as a creator. Due to the fluidity of Maya gods, it's not vital to make an absolutely clear distinction between the creator gods. Having said that, however, Huracán is typically associated with the Quiché Maya of Guatemala. The Quiché believe that Huracán formed the earth and created it for humans. He, too, formed people by making them out of maize dough and is lord of fire, storms, and wind.
K'inich Ajaw
K'inich Ajaw (pronounced Ah-how), sometimes known as God G or Kinich Ahau, is the "Sun-faced Lord." K'inich Ajaw is typically portrayed as rising or being born in the East and aging as the sun sets. This fierce sun deity would then turn into a jaguar and become a war advisor in the underworld. The sun deities are both worshipped and feared because, while they offer the life-giving properties of the sun, they can sometimes provide too much sun and cause a drought.
Hun H'unahpu
The maize god, Hun H'unahpu, is perhaps the most important of the celestial beings as well. Also referred to as God E, Hun H'unahpu is considered to be the creator of modern humans by the lowland Yucatec Maya. This is because his maize and blood are what made humanity possible. He is a symbol of life and fertility and is portrayed as a young, long-haired man.
Chak
Chak, the seeming counterpart of K'inich Ajaw, is the rain god or God B. Chak is both part human and part reptile and he is usually shown with a lightning bolt, a serpent, or an axe. This fearsome god sometimes is shown painted in blue and with snake-like whiskers protruding from his face. The Maya believe that Chak lived in caves where he would make lightning, thunder, and clouds. Chak, too, was both feared and worshipped. He brought the needed rains for the people, but also produced floods, threatening lightning, and behaved much like a wild storm. He also demanded blood sacrifices in payment for the rains that he provided.
K'awil
God K, or K'awil, is the keeper of the scepter. He is predominantly the protector of the royal line and is known for being linked to lightning as well. He is usually pictured with a piercing of a smoking torch or a grisly axe blade. In addition to his frightful piercings, he also has a snake as one foot and an upturned snout for the other. K'awil is credited with discovering cocoa and maize after striking a mountain with one of his lightning bolts.
Kisim
Kisim, or God A, is known as the "flatulent one." Don't let the humorous name fool you, though. This deity is a terrifying god of death and decay. Kisim has been portrayed as a veritable decomposing skeleton or zombie. Sometimes, Kisim was accompanied by an owl. In Maya belief, owls are messengers of the underworld.
Ix Chel
God O, or Ix Chel, is the goddess of rainbows. While rainbows may symbolize goodwill in western culture, Ix Chel should not be confused as a god of goodwill. The Maya actually believe that rainbows are the "flatulence of demons," and bring bad luck and disease. Ix Chel also represents these things because of her association with rainbows. In her typical form, Ix Chel is a fanged, clawed, and dilapidated crone. However, in conjunction with the duplicity of Maya beings, Ix Chel also has a more benevolent form. She occasionally represents fertility and childbirth and, in these contexts, she is pictured as youthful and beautiful.
The Hero Twins
Finally, the legend of the Hero Twins entails the adventures of two brothers, Xbalanque and Hunahpu, through the underworld. The legend, chronicled in the Popol Vuh, begins with the conception of the brother-gods. The Twins' father was the god Hun H'unahpu. Hun H'unahpu and his brother were lured to the underworld to be sacrificed through decapitation. However, because Hun H'unahpu was immortal, his decapitated head survived and turned into a fruit on a tree. Hun H'unahpu's fruit head spit into the hand of the goddess Xquic, who ultimately gave birth to Xbalanque and Hunahpu, the Hero Twins.

The twins faced many challenges, but the most epic story is of their journey through Xibalba (pronounced Shee-bahl-bah), the Maya underworld.

The twins were summoned to the underworld after playing a raucous and loud ballgame above the heads of the lords of Xibalba. The lords challenged the twins many times, but through wit and cunning, the twins were able to best the lords of Xibalba. Xbalanque and Hunahpu grew tired of the endless challenges and devised a way to escape the underworld. They disguised themselves as travelers and entertained the underworld gods with tricks and games. The lords were so impressed with their trick of bringing a person back to life after they were sacrificed that they asked the twins to sacrifice them and bring them back to life. However, instead of bringing the gods back to life, the twins left them dead and made the underworld a place for the wretched. The Hero Twins and the lords of Xibalba now reside in the night sky as stars. Kings were thought to follow the trials of the Hero Twins after their death and make their journey to the heavens or upper world.

There are many more celestial beings, but the aforementioned are those which occur most frequently. They can come in many forms and their multiplicity is a pillar of the connective ideals of Maya religion.

Heaven, Hell, & The Cardinal Directions

Contrary to contemporary western ideas of heaven and hell, the Maya believed in different levels of these realms. There are three main areas to distinguish from one another, however. The Maya understand supernatural levels not as heaven and hell, but as the upper world, middle world, and underworld.

The upper world consists of thirteen levels, the middle world is one level, and the underworld is nine levels. The Ceiba tree is believed to grow through all of the realms, from the highest level of the upper world to the lowest level of the underworld. The Ceiba tree is vital to understanding the importance of the cardinal directions in the Maya world.

Maya deities, in particular, are linked to the cardinal directions. While we are familiar with the four cardinal directions, the Maya understood that there were five elements to the cardinal directions, the four directions and the center. Arguably, the most meaningful cardinal direction to the Maya is the east. The east is where the sun rises and it is associated with birth because of the Maya belief that the sun is born daily from the east.

These principles were also part of Maya daily life. Homes were designed to reflect the cardinal directions and the Ceiba tree. The Maya even built hearths at the center of their homes in order to represent the Ceiba-tree center of the cardinal directions.

Maya Rituals

The Maya participated in various religious rituals. Not all of these were related to human sacrifice, although sacrifice was a common practice in religious ceremonies. Contrary to popular belief, ritual sacrifice was not restricted to the gruesome death of a poor captive. While this did happen in the Maya world on a few occasions, it was a relatively rare occurrence. By far the most common sacrifice ritual was bloodletting.

By far the most common Maya sacrifice ritual was bloodletting.
Bloodletting
Bloodletting is precisely as it sounds, the spilling of blood as a practice of sacrifice. In the case of the Maya, bloodletting was constrained to the royal line. The gods demanded blood because of the initial creation where the gods spilled their blood in order to give life to humanity. Also, but not as often, bloodletting was performed in order to communicate with ancestors.

The practice of bloodletting marked significant dates in the Maya world. Royals participating in the practice would spend, sometimes, days performing purification rituals in order to prepare for bloodletting. Both men and women of royal lineages were expected to perform these rituals. Maya kings and queens would participate in varying forms of bloodletting, even making sacred tools to perform the ritual. Blood was usually taken from different parts of the body with specialized tools designed to produce more blood and perhaps more pain as well. The tools were typically made of stingray spines and adorned with different glyphs to show their religious significance. One frightful instance of sacrifice noted by Rubalcaba described how women, typically royal women, would use a thorned rope to pierce their tongue and draw blood to scatter over Maya icons. Men, on the other hand, would do the same, except on the penis rather than the tongue.

The practice of bloodletting would often serve to commemorate and sanctify important events such as births, ascents to the throne, and anniversaries. On the other hand, human sacrifice was reserved for the greatest Maya events.
Human Sacrifice
While wars were usually fought for reasons other than religion, when wars did occur, religion would become involved. Oftentimes, shamans or priests would help plan war strategies. A war priest was called a nacom. The Maya would often combine aspects of warfare and religion. Typically, this was in the form of taking prisoners for sacrifice.

Sacrifices were important in keeping the gods satisfied and were also vital in ensuring a military victory. When a king or queen would ascend to the throne and a political prisoner had been captured, they would commemorate the life-altering event with a human sacrifice. Typically, these prisoners would be royals or elites of an enemy state. The most high-up royals were saved for the sole purpose of recreating events from the Popol Vuh.

These sacrifices were performed in many ways, but there were three methods that were most common. The first method was through decapitation. The next method was the popularized method of removing the heart from the living person. The final, most popular, method was to throw a living person into a cenote, or natural well, as an offering to the gods.
Other Offerings & Rituals
While the most prevalent ritual associated to the ancient Maya is the practice of sacrifice, they also performed other kinds of rituals. Not all Maya offerings were so bloody and gruesome. While they may not seem quite logical to westerners, the alternative offerings do provide interesting ways to communicate with and satisfy the deities.

One rather startling and overlooked means of communication with the gods involved lowering children into cenotes. Children were placed in the wells in order for them to speak to the god or gods. After a few hours of being in the well, the children would be retrieved so that the message from the deities could be heard. Of course, the Maya also participated in offering to the gods precious items such as jade, gold, masks, shells, carved human bone, and ceremonial or sacred tools.

Marriage was another religious ritual and a cause for celebration. Maya marriages were typically arranged marriages within the same social class. Age at the time of marriage varied, but experts speculate that the marriage age was related to population growth and decline. When the Maya population declined, youths would marry at a younger age. Couples would be matched at a very young age, sometimes even when they were infants.

Marriages were performed by priests at the bridal home. Priests would burn incense to bring a fortuitous marriage and then a feast or other type of celebration would ensue. If the marriage was not deemed successful by either husband or wife, the couple could "divorce." There is no known ritual for divorce, but it is intriguing that divorce was, more or less, an acceptable action.

Dance is another overlooked ritual. Dance rituals were performed to communicate with the gods. The dances would feature lavish costumes which depicted the visages of divinities. Often the Maya would wear or include ornaments such as staffs, spears, rattles, scepters, and even live snakes as dance aids. The Maya believed that by dressing and acting as a god, they would be overtaken by the god's spirit and therefore would be able to communicate with him or her.

The ancient Maya maintained a complex religion. The multifaceted gods and rituals have even persisted in today's Maya culture, however syncretized they have become. Their ideologies of creation, sacrifice, sacredness, and multiplicity are key to understanding the Maya religion.

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Maya religious beliefs are formed on the notion that virtually everything in the world contains k'uh, or sacredness. K'uh and k'uhul, similar terms which are used to explain the spirituality of all inanimate and animate things, describe the most divine life force of existence.

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by Mark Cartwright
published on 12 February 2014

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The celebrated hieroglyphic writing system of the Maya was a sophisticated combination of pictographs directly representing objects and ideograms (or glyphs) expressing more abstract concepts such as actions or ideas and even syllabic sounds. Maya writing has survived in stone carvings, on stucco, wood, pottery and cloth artefacts, and in codices. These artefacts derive from across Mesoamerica covering territories in modern-day Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Belize. The writing was deciphered in the 20th century CE and now around 75% of surviving texts can be understood.

Origins

The hieroglyphic writing system of the Maya may have developed from the less sophisticated systems of earlier Mesoamerican civilizations, such as the Olmec, which used only literal images (pictographs) or it may have developed completely independently; scholars are not in agreement on the point. More certain is when the Maya began their writing system: the second half of the Middle Preclassic period, c. 300 BCE. However, the more sophisticated writing system of this time almost certainly would have had earlier, less complex precedents present in the preceding centuries of Mayan culture. From the Early Classic period onwards there was a significant increase in stone monuments bearing inscriptions and the language reached full maturity and flourished throughout the Classic period (250-900 CE).

Sources

The best preserved examples of Maya writing are often from stone monuments, most commonly altars, stelae and elements of architectural sculpture, especially around doorways and stairs. Pottery is another important source of script as vessels often carry either painted or inscribed writing. Examples of painted writing, although much rarer, also survive in caves and on some interior walls of buildings. Another source, albeit with shorter examples of text, are inscribed artefacts made from jade, greenstone, shell, and bone. Finally, there are written books. These screen-fold volumes written on bark paper had always been in use and, from the 9th century CE, they became the preferred medium for Mayan writers as inscriptions on monuments all but disappeared. Unfortunately for posterity, only three examples have survived the ravages of a tropical climate and zealous spanish priests, and these all date from the late Postclassic period. The three surviving codices - interestingly, written using only black and red ink - are currently housed in museums in Paris, Madrid and Dresden. A few pages from a fourth Mayan text also survive and are housed in the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City.

The System

The meaning of a given text has to be interpreted from a triple combination of images which literally represent real objects or actions (pictographs); symbols (glyphs) which symbolically refer to objects or actions (and which can also indicate adjectives, prepositions, plurals, and numbers); and phonetic glyphs which represent sounds (for example a vowel or a consonant and a vowel together), correct pronunciation, pre-fixes, suffixes, pronouns and tense. The Mayan script is, therefore, a combination of signs representing syllables (syllabograms) and words (logograms). Sometimes, concepts could be represented in alternative ways, for example, a jaguar could be indicated by a picture of a jaguar head or by the phonetic glyphs ba-la-ma or by a combination of a jaguar head and the glyph ma.

Although there are around 1,000 different symbols in the Maya script, scribes of any one period used a range of between 300 to 500 signs. Despite the fact that there are only five vowels and nineteen consonants in the Maya language, there are actually 200 syllabic signs. This is because combinations of vowels and consonants could be indicated and a single sound could also be represented by several different signs. In addition, the language evolved over time to produce symbols more aesthetically pleasing for certain inscriptions and innovations could combine, or reduce by simplification, older symbols which made the signs more and more abstract. However, symbols representing whole words always remained more common than syllable symbols, a fact perhaps explained by the Mayan reverence for tradition, the sacred nature of language, and the desire to make the text as accessible as possible to all readers.

Maya text is read by starting from the top left & reading horizontally across two blocks & then moving down to the row below.

Signs and symbols were arranged in blocks which were placed in double columns. The text is read by starting from the top left and reading horizontally across two blocks and then moving down to the row below. In very short texts the glyph blocks are placed in a single line and are read from top to bottom in vertical texts or left to right in horizontal texts. Sentences follow the structure verb-object-subject and when necessary adverbs are placed before the verb.

Maya Literacy

It is probable that only a small elite of the Maya population could read, possibly only the nobility and priests. Interestingly, women of such status were not barred from learning to read and write. This restriction on just who acquired literacy fitted with the belief that writing was sacred. Indeed, the Maya believed that writing was invented by the god Itzamna and in the sacred text the , the Monkey Scribes - the gods Hun Batz and Hun Chuen, brothers of the Hero Twins - are the patrons of writing and the arts in general. These two gods are often depicted on Maya pottery sat together with pen or brush in hand writing in a codex. Although literacy was, then, almost certainly limited, it may be that the general populace could recognise common symbols such as those representing dates and rulers.

The actual production of texts was probably limited to priestly scribes assigned to the workshops of royal palaces. The high frequency of artists' signatures on stelae, pottery and sculptures and their notable absence in written texts suggests that scribes did not enjoy the status of other artisans. Indeed, it may be that scribes were not regarded as authors but, rather, as recorders of the declarations of the gods and divine rulers. This is also indicated by the very formulaic nature of Maya writing where formalised phrases are often repeated and the fact that the most common subjects of Maya texts are histories of both the real world and mythology, texts which declare ownership of particular objects, and texts dedicating buildings and monuments to specific gods.

Legacy

The Maya system of writing would go on to influence that other great Mesoamerican civilization the Aztecs who would build upon the progress made by the Maya by incorporating even more phonetic elements into their writing. The Maya writing system continued to be used up to the Spanish Conquest but then this 'pagan' text was prohibited. Despite the deliberate destruction of Maya texts and the prohibition of the language the Maya did, though, continue to use it in secret well into the 18th century CE.

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The celebrated hieroglyphic writing system of the Maya was a sophisticated combination of pictographs directly representing objects and ideograms (or glyphs) expressing more abstract concepts such as actions or ideas and even syllabic sounds. Maya writing has survived in stone carvings, on stucco, wood, pottery and cloth artefacts, and in codices.

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The Maya were an advanced society that flourished in Mesoamerica long before the arrival of the Spanish in the sixteenth century. They were skilled architects, building great cities of stone that remain even a thousand years after their civilization fell into decline. The Maya built pyramids, temples, palaces, walls, residences and more. They often decorated their buildings with intricate stone carvings, stucco statues, and paint. Today, Maya architecture is important, as it is one of the few aspects of Maya life that is still available for study.

Maya City-States

Unlike the Aztecs in Mexico or the Inca in Peru, the Maya were never a unified empire ruled by a single ruler from a single place. Rather, they were a series of smaller city-states who ruled the immediate vicinity but had little to do with other cities if they were far enough away. These city-states traded with and warred upon one another frequently, so cultural exchange, including architecture, was common. Some of the more important Maya city-states were Tikal, Dos Pilas, Calakmul, Caracol, Copán, Quiriguá, Palenque, Chichén Itzá and Uxmal (there were many others). Although every Maya city is different, they tended to share certain characteristics, such as general layout.​

Layout of Maya Cities

Maya tended to lay their cities out in plaza groups: clusters of buildings around a central plaza. This was true of the impressive buildings in the city center (temples, palaces, etc) as well as smaller residential areas. These plazas are rarely neat and orderly and to some, it may seem as if the Maya built anywhere they pleased. This is because they Maya built on the irregularly-shaped higher ground to avoid floods and dampness associated with their tropical forest home. In the center of the cities were the important public buildings such as temples, palaces, and the ball court. Residential areas radiated out from the city center, growing sparser the further they got from the center. Raised stone walkways linked the residential areas with each other and the center. Later Maya cities were built on higher hills for defense and had high walls surrounding most of the city or at least the centers.

The Maya kings lived in stone palaces in the city center near the temples, but the common Maya lived in small houses outside the city center. Like the city center, the homes tended to be bunched together in clusters: some researchers believe that extended families lived together in one area. Their modest homes are thought to be much like the homes of their descendants in the region today: simple structures constructed mostly of wooden poles and thatch. The Maya tended to build up a mound or base and then build upon it: as the wood and thatch wore away or rotted they would tear it down and build again on the same foundation. Because the common Maya were often forced to build on lower ground than the palaces and temples in the city center, many of these mounds have been lost to flooding or encroaching wilderness.

The City Center

The Maya built great temples, palaces, and pyramids in their city centers. These were often mighty stone structures, over which wooden buildings and thatched roofs were often built. The city center was the physical and spiritual heart of the city. Important rituals were done there, in the temples, palaces, and ball courts.

Maya Temples

Like many Maya buildings, Maya temples were built of stone, with platforms on the top where wooden and thatch structures could be built. Temples tended to be pyramids, with steep stone steps leading to the top, where important ceremonies and sacrifices took place. Many temples are graced by elaborate stone carvings and glyphs. The most magnificent example is the famous Hieroglyphic Stairway at Copán. Temples were often built with astronomy in mind: certain temples are aligned to the movements of Venus, the sun or the moon. In the Lost World Complex at Tikal, for example, there is a pyramid which faces three other temples. If you're standing on the pyramid, the other temples are aligned with the rising sun on equinoxes and solstices. Important rituals took place at these times.

Maya Palaces

The Palaces were large, multi-storied buildings which were home to the king and royal family. They tended to be made of stone with wooden structures on top. Roofs were made of thatch. Some Maya palaces are spacious, including courtyards, different structures that were possibly homes, patios, towers, etc. The palace at Palenque is a good example. Some of the palaces are quite large, leading researchers to suspect that they also acted as a sort of administrative center, where Maya bureaucrats regulated tribute, trade, agriculture, etc. This was also the place where the king and noblemen would interact not only with the common people but also with diplomatic visitors. Feasts, dances, and other community social events could also have taken place there.

Ball Courts

The ceremonial ball game was an important part of Maya life. Common and noble people alike played for fun and recreation, but some games had important religious and spiritual significance. Sometimes, after important battles in which important prisoners were taken (such as enemy noblemen or even their Ahau, or King) these prisoners would be forced to play a game against the victors. The game represented a re-enactment of the battle, and afterward, the losers (which were naturally the enemy nobles and soldiers) were ceremonially executed. Ball courts, which were rectangular with sloped walls on either side, were prominently placed in Maya cities. Some of the more important cities had several courts. Ball courts were sometimes used for other ceremonies and events.

Surviving Maya Architecture

Although they were not on a par with the legendary Inca stonemasons of the Andes, Maya architects built structures which have withstood centuries of abuse. Mighty temples and palaces at places like Palenque, Tikal, and Chichen Itza survived centuries of abandonment, followed by excavation and now thousands of tourists walking and climbing all over them. Before they were protected, many ruin sites were scavenged by locals looking for stones for their homes, churches or businesses. That the Maya structures have survived so well is a testament to the skill of their builders.

The Maya temples and palaces that have withstood the test of time often contain stone carvings depicting battles, wars, kings, dynastic successions and more. The Maya were literate and had a written language and books, of which only a few survive. The carved glyphs on temples and palaces are therefore important because there is so little remaining of the original Maya culture.

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What Was Ancient Mayan Architecture Like?

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The Maya were an advanced society that flourished in Mesoamerica long before the arrival of the Spanish in the sixteenth century. They were skilled architects, building great cities of stone that remain even a thousand years after their civilization fell into decline. The Maya built pyramids, temples, palaces, walls, residences and more.

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The sport known simply as the Ball Game was popular across Mesoamerica and played by all the major civilizations from the Olmecs to the Aztecs. The impressive stone courts became a staple feature of a city's sacred complex and there were often several playing courts in a single city. More than just a game, though, the event could have a religious significance and featured in episodes of Mesoamerican mythology. The contests even supplied candidates for human sacrifice, for the sport could, quite literally, be a game of life or death.

Origins

The game was invented sometime in the Preclassical Period (2500-100 BCE), probably by the Olmec, and became a common Mesoamerican-wide feature of the urban landscape by the Classical Period (300-900 CE). Eventually, the game was even exported to other cultures in North America and the Caribbean.

In Mesoamerican mythology the game is an important element in the story of the Maya gods Hun Hunahpú & Vucub Hunahpú.

In Mesoamerican mythology the game is an important element in the story of the Maya gods Hun Hunahpú and Vucub Hunahpú. The pair annoyed the gods of the underworld with their noisy playing and the two brothers were tricked into descending into Xibalba (the underworld) where they were challenged to a ball game. Losing the game, Hun Hunahpús had his head cut off; a foretaste of what would become common practice for players unfortunate enough to lose a game.

In another legend, a famous ball game was held at the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan between the Aztec king Motecuhzoma Xocoyotzin (r. 1502-1520 CE) and the king of Texcoco. The latter had predicted that Motecuhzoma's kingdom would fall and the game was set-up to establish the truth of this bold prediction. Motecuhzoma lost the game and did, of course, lose his kingdom at the hands of the invaders from the Old World. The story also supports the idea that the ball game was sometimes used for the purposes of divination.

The Court

Courts were usually a part of a city's sacred precinct, a fact which suggests the ball game was more than just a game. Early Preclassic playing courts were simple, flattened-earth rectangles but by the Late Formative Period (300 BCE onwards) these evolved into more imposing areas which consisted of a flat rectangular surface set between two parallel stone walls. Each side could have a large vertical stone ring set high into the wall. The walls could be perpendicular or sloping away from the players and the ends of the court could be left open but defined using markers or, in other layouts, a wall closed off the playing space to create an I-shaped court. The court at Monte Albán, Oaxaca is a typical example of the I-shaped court. The length of the court could vary but the 60 m long court at Epiclassic El Tajín (650-900 CE) represents a typical size.

The flat court surface often has three large circular stone markers set in a line down the length of the court. Some of these markers from Maya sites have a quatrefoil cartouche indicating the underworld entrance which has led to speculation that the game may have symbolised the movement of the sun (the ball) through the underworld (the court) each night. Alternatively, the ball may have represented another heavenly body such as the moon and the court was the world.

Surviving courts abound and are spread across Mesoamerica. The Epiclassic city of Cantona has an incredible 24 courts with at least 18 being contemporary. El Tajín also has a remarkable number of courts (at least 11) and it may well have been a sacred centre for the sport, much like Olympia for athletics in ancient Greece. The earliest known court is from the Olmec city of San Lorenzo whilst the largest surviving stone playing court is at the Mayan- Toltec city of Chichén Itzá. With a length of 146 m and a width of 36 m, this court seems almost too large to be actually played in, especially with the rings set at the demanding height of 8 m.

The Rules

The exact rules of the game are not known for certain and in all probability there were variations across the various cultures and different periods. However, the main aim was to get a solid rubber (latex) ball through one of the rings. This was more difficult than it seems as players could not use their hands. One can imagine that good players became highly skilled at directing the ball using their padded elbows, knees, thighs and shoulders. Teams were composed of two or three players and were male-only. There was also an alternative version, less-widespread, where players used sticks to hit the ball.

The ball could be a lethal weapon in itself, as measuring anywhere from 10 to 30 cm in diameter and weighing from 500 g to 3.5 kg, it could easily break bones. Remarkably, seven rubber balls have been preserved in the bogs of El Manatí near the Olmec city of San Lorenzo. These balls range from 8 to 25 cm in diameter and date from between 1600 and 1200 BCE.

The Players

Players could be professionals or amateurs and there is evidence of betting on the outcome of important games. The game also had a strong association with warriors and war captives were often forced to play the game.

Players were frequently depicted in Mesoamerican art, appearing in sculpture, ceramics and architectural decoration - the latter often decorating the courts themselves - and these depictions often show that the players wore protective gear such as belts and padding for the knees, hips, elbows and wrists. The players in these works of art also typically wear a padded helmet or a huge feathered headdress, perhaps the latter being for ceremonial purposes only. Zapotec relief stones at Dainzú also depict ball players wearing grilled helmets as well as knee-guards and gauntlets.

Winners of the game received trophies, many of which have been excavated and include hachas and palmas. A hacha was a representation of the human head (early ones might have actually been heads) with a handle attached and was used as a trophy for a winning player, a piece of ceremonial equipment or as a marker in the court itself. A palma was also most likely a trophy or element of ceremonial costume worn by ball players. They are frequently represented in stone and can take the form of arms, hands, a player or a fan-tailed bird. Other trophies for game winners include stone yokes (typically u-shaped to be worn around the waist in imitation of the protective waist gear worn by players) and hand stones, often elaborately carved. All of these trophies are frequently found in graves and are reminders of the link between the sport and the underworld in Mesoamerican mythology.

As games often had a religious significance the captain of the losing team, or even sometimes the entire team, were sacrificed to the gods. Such scenes are depicted in the decorative sculpture on the courts themselves, perhaps most famously on the South ball court at El Tajín and at Chichén Itzá, where one relief panel shows two teams of seven players with one player having been decapitated. Another ominous indicator of the macabre turn that this sporting event could take is the presence of tzompantli (the skull racks where severed heads from sacrifices were displayed) rendered in stone carvings near the ball courts. The Classic Maya even invented a parallel game where captives, once defeated in the real game, were tied up and used as balls themselves and unceremoniously rolled down a flight of steps.

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The sport known simply as the Ball Game was popular across Mesoamerica and played by all the major civilizations from the Olmecs to the Aztecs. The impressive stone courts became a staple feature of a city's sacred complex and there were often several playing courts in a single city.