Uxmal City: Ancient Mayan civilization is still unknown

Although Mayan civilization is very famous and has been known for a long time, it is still at an early stage. There are many places in the deep forest so far that have not been discovered.

Along with other areas in the north like Chichen Itza, the ancient city of Uxmal survived the collapse that affected most of the Mayan civilization's other cities. The city has long been one of Mexico's Mayan cultural and political centers, throughout the Yucatan Peninsula.

The ancient history of the city is still a mystery, but some research results are known that by the end of the X century century Uxmal was ruled by Tutul Shiv, and from the 13th century to the 15th century Uxmal participated into the bloody wars with the cities of Chichen-Itsoy and Mayapanom to dominate the peninsula. The war on the peninsula ended in 1441, with the collapse of the Mayapana dynasty occupying the city of Uxmal in the 13th century.

The Maya and the losses cannot be recovered

Speaking of Mayan civilization people often think of the 2012 apocalyptic disaster and the Maya pyramids. Actually, the strange things of this mysterious civilization are not only that.

In 1521, the Spaniards invaded the Mayan lands, but the deserted city without a shadow, the Mayans left the city where nobody knew from a few hundred years ago, in the 9th century and ten.

The Spanish Crusaders and especially the bishop of Diego de Landa destroyed many texts, burning all the manuscripts found, destroying a lot of Mayan cultural and scientific heritages. Only 3 manuscripts are kept to this day. However, only a few remaining books have surprised the whole human race, because they show that the Mayan knowledge is very high.

Talking about the rarity of the remaining Maya texts, linguists and literaryists, Professor Dr. Michael Douglas Coe of Yale University once said: 'Our knowledge of ancient Maya is just a small piece of the whole picture, because of the thousands of books about their knowledge and rituals recorded, only a few still exist to the modern times. '

According to statistics, before suddenly disappearing, Mayan civilization has established more than 100 different cities, with a total population of up to about 14 million people. The truth seekers are still struggling on the journey to find Atlantis - the ancestor of mysterious civilizations in Central and South America, one of which is Mayan civilization .

Overview of Uxmal Ancient City.

Maya civilization was built by an Native American tribe on the land of Cuello 4,000 years ago. From this land, the Mayans divided into many branches, of which the largest branch reached the land of today's Gulf of Mexico.

Uxmal City of the Mayan civilization is located on the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico is one of the cities of the late Mayan period and is considered an important archaeological site to decipher the Mayan mysteries. The ruins of Uxmal city are located in the Puuc area, which is really impressive because of the marvelous architecture.

In the period of prosperity (around 800-900 AD) there were an estimated 20,000 people living in and around the city. There has been much controversy around the question of how Uxmal city was built. Mayan legends believe that a dwarf magician, born from an egg, built Uxmal city in just one night.

The Mesoamerica pyramid functions more as a place of worship and worship than tombs like in ancient Egypt, although there are some exceptions, as in Palenque is the place to hold the remains of the rulers. Religion plays an important role in the spiritual life of Mayans.

The gods like the Sun god and Water god are always respected because they believe these gods have a great influence on bumper crops. Many of the stone carvings that remain today (Mayan called tetun, or tree-stone), carved hieroglyphs describe the rule of genealogy, the victories of the war, and other achievements.

Each of the Mayan pyramids has a sacred chamber on top which is a place to practice religious ceremonies. The scale of the pyramids, with complex patterns depicting the Mayan gods, and the ruler is the mediator of the gods.

Large urban centers such as Uxmal demonstrate a complex understanding of city planning. The hilltops are built to enhance famous buildings, such as palaces of dignitaries and ritual architectures. Stone architectures are reserved for dignitaries and priests, while ordinary people live in small grass huts.

Architecture expresses thinking

In contrast to many ancient Mayan cities, Uxmal is not built with geometry in mind. Instead it was set out to focus on astronomy, with adjustments to fit hilly terrain. Uxmal's limestone buildings are built on the north-east axis with fortress walls surrounding the sacred center. Most buildings have been designed in Puuc architectural style.

Accordingly, the buildings are divided into two horizontally, with a flat bottom and a splendid decoration like a mosaic. Houses of people in social positions often have sculptures on doors and at corners.

Painting depicts the scene in the Four Corners Nunnery.

The 35-meter-tall Magician's pyramid with rounded corners is a unique Mayan architecture. The architecture with rounded corners makes it almost oval when viewed from above. The Magician pyramid has a steep staircase with a doorway to the west.

The carved doorway makes visitors imagine as entering a giant snake's mouth. To the east of the pyramid carved fewer and lower patterns, there is an entrance and a less steep staircase through the only room on this side. The central part of the Magician pyramid is built of limestone and sweeps plaster painted in red, blue, yellow and black.

The Governor's Palace at Uxmal is a 24-room building built in the 10th century at the time of the last ruler of Uxmal, Lord Chahk. The Governor's Palace was once the administrative center of Uxmal city. It is 15.2 meters high, and about 5 acres wide. The remarkable thing is not the size but the decoration of more than 20,000 specially made stones, with beautiful mosaic touches depicting Chahk warlords, snakes, astrological symbols.

A large courtyard surrounded by four separate rectangular buildings with a monumental staircase to the south leads to the large domed entrance. The northern building of the nunnery is the highest and also has a wide staircase leading into the inner courtyard. It has 13 doors, probably representing 13 floors of the Mayan conception.

Opposite is the southern building with 9 doors, symbolizing the Mayan 9 (Xibalba), it is also the lowest building. The west building has 7 gates, reflecting a mystical Mayan figure about the earth.

There is a symbolic image of the Earth god in the form of a tortoise (Pawahtun) as in legend when the sun of the central world falls into darkness. East building with carved figures denoting where the sun rises. Decorative elements on all four buildings include stone masks, ice in the sky, two-headed snakes, thatched roof houses, and statues.

The Spanish named these architectures 'Nunnery' because it resembled the monastic architecture in Spain. Researchers believe that the buildings surrounding the Four Corners Nunnery are places of study and study of healers, magicians, priests, astrologers, military training, etc., these buildings were built. In the order from North, South, East and finally to the West.

In addition to the major monuments just mentioned, Uxmal ancient city also includes a football field to play Central American ball games, cemeteries, and a set of construction structures around a pyramid and turtle house. . The four-level square pyramid is the oldest structure in Uxmal.

The cities of the ancient Mayan empire developed extremely flourishing in southern Mexico and north of Central America for about 6 centuries. Then, around 900 AD, Maya civilization collapsed. There have been many explanations for the decline of this civilization such as deforestation, causing drought; terrain changes; Socio-political factors such as changing the way of transportation from road to ship .

According to a study published in the journal PNAoS: Maya's collapse and abandonment on the Yucatan Peninsula is the result of a complex human-environmental correlation.