The Mayans

Popol Vuh

"Book of the community" - written by Fray Francisco Ximénez (1701) - Mayan Genesis (creation myth) - It was actually a book, and Fray Ximénez wrote what the guy (orator) said from memory

Chilam Balam

"Mouth of the jaguar" - 16th century book written from the orations of a priest that "speaks for the jaguar"

David Stuart

"The kid" that deciphered the Mayan glyphs - figured out that they're phonetic substitutions - also saw that Knrozov was right - won the Macarthur Genius Grant

Mayan stelae

(Not specific)

League of Mayapán

Association of three city-states: Chichén Itzá, Uxmal, and Mayapán (which was the runt of this litter) - Capital at Mayapán (neutral-site, between Uxmal and Chichén Itzá) - 1000-1200 AD

Palenque

Classic southern Maya city - Pakal ("sun shield") was its most famous ajaw (ruler) - Pyramid of the Cross (weird slope-and-panel system with a broken-up staircase) - Temple of the Inscriptions (Pakal's tombstone, bones are in there) (right next to the temple, there's another that has the remains of a woman, dubbed the "Red Queen") - typically associated with stonework and stucco - The Palace (has a tower, which might've been an observatory; half of it seems to have been leveled during a war; The Warrior's Patio) - Temple of the Skull

Copán

Classic southern Mayan city that was originally famous for its beautiful and plentiful stelae - Staircase of the Hieroglyphs (covered by tent, lots of stelae and glyphs) - Temple of Rosalila (inside the pyramid with the Staircase of the Heiroglyphs; nesting-doll-type steup) - stelaes are more rectangular than in other places, and are super detailed

Tikal

Classic, southern Maya city whose name translates to "the place of tongues" (as in, where language originated) - Landmarks include: Pyramid of the Great Jaguar (super steep staircase, slope and panel, temple, has a baby pyramid in it, roof comb), Temple of the Masks, and Temple of the Two-Headed Serpent (just a touch taller than Great Jaguar, or it's on a hill, huge roof comb)

Pakal's Tombstone, Palenque

Does NOT show a Mayan ruler riding a rocketship

Chac Mool

Figure that was originally thought to be the personification of the rain god Chac but now we think that ain't it, chief - always holding a plate over his stomach, depicted with breastplate/chest armor, cupped ears, helmet, etc. - also thought to be a donation stone for offerings (food) at temple - maybe he's dressed as a ball player or warrior - maybe for leaving blood sacrifices - may be a sacrificial altar

Sir J. Eric Thompson

Guy that codified all the Mayan glyphs (classifying them with his namesake number system) - figures out the meanings of some glyphs - was often wrong, but he got a lot of stuff right

Pyramid of the Two-Headed Serpent

He said we didn't need to know it, but just in case...

Tayasal (Nojpeten)

Last remaining city for the Maya, falling in 1697 - small island

Tulum

Main Mayan port - likely a launching point for Caribbean trade, since it was so close - as a city, Mickey Mouse

Limestone

Main building material for the Mayans - very pourous - caused lots of sinkholes - water wouldn't stay in topsoil (which was very thin), leading to drought

Pyramid of Kukulkán

Massive pyramid at Chichén Itzá dedicated to the Plumed Serpent - angles cast shadow on Staircase of Kukulkán during the equinox, making it look like a (moving-ish) snake - secret passageway under it that leads to a massive cenote (they built there because caves with water are sacred as hell) - 91 steps per side + 1 at the very top = 365 (WOW!) (some combination gets them to add up to 260, too) —> it's a calendar - two altars (one to jaguar god and another is a chac mool)

Sacrifices, calendar, divination

Maya priests were a part of the upper class - could perform __________________ - knew the __________________ - __________________

Venus

Mayan Star Wars were meant to take place at night, coordinated to occur while _________ (the heavenly body associated with war) was passing overhead.

Calakmul

Mayan city that's home to the most voluminous/massive structure of the culture - also fought a big ol' war against Palenque

Ah Puch

Mayan god of death (and rebirth) - usually depicted as a skeleton - not evil

Huracán

Mayan god of storms and fire - evidenced contact between Maya and Taíno (who called their storms "juracán"); maybe the word crossed over - one of the 13 original creator gods - usually depicted as tne one-legged god - not evil (but you can fear him)

Chac

Mayan rain god - usually depicted with swirly nose

Ceiba tree

Mayan world tree - roots represented the 9 levels of the underworld - branches reached the 13 levels of the heavens

war, environmental collapse, drought

Most Mayanists agree that these are the 3 main factors that caused the decline of the Maya: - _____________ - __________________________ - _____________

Jade

Most widely used material for art, masks, jewelry, etc.

Pitz/Pok-a-tok

Name of the Mayan ball game - the hoop is more of a northern city, late-Classic/early-Post-Classic thing - could've just been volleybal with the hips, and the hoop may not have even been used - ball size (between softball and basketball) and number of players varied - some balls infused with morning glory (plant) to make them bouncier

Maize, gourds, salt, honey, chicle

Name some good ol' Mayan crops

Jade, obsidian, salt, shells, ceramics, feathers, turquoise, cacao (mostly as a good, not as a currency)

Name some good ol' Mayan trade goods

Suicide, sacrifice, in battle

Name three types of death that the Mayans thought were badass

Mayan Vault (false arch, corbel vault), roof comb (mostly found on pyramids)

Name two very prevalent techniques in Mayan architecture

Cross-eyed, flattened forehead

Name two weird facial deformities that Mayans found hot, and even forced upon some of their children

Mayapán

Northern Maya city that's renown for murals and stone depictions of Chac - "Mini Epcot," because it's got lots of stuff from other places, particularly Chichén Itzá (Observatory, Pyr. of Kukulkán, etc.)

Uxmal

Northern Mayan city - Pyramid of the Dwarf/Magician (legend is that a dwarf asked the ruler for his daughter's hand in marriage and the ruler said that he would have her only if he built a pyramid by the next day, and he did; entrances to older pyramids/temples inside left open) - Nunnery Quadrangle (religious/administrative?; decorations show Toltec influence and differences between northern and southern styles) - The Turtle House - The Great Pyramid

Chichén Itzá

Northern Mayan city whose name means "at the mounth of the well of the enchanters" - The Castle (Pyramid of Kukulkán) - El Caracol (Observatory) - Temple of 1,000 Columns (Temple of the Warriors) - Ball court (very wide, very long; small, but steep ramp; decorated with images of players, balls, the game, etc.; special acoustics for floor/walls) - tzompantli ("the wall of skulls", original,y loaded with posts that had the heads of sacrificed folks on 'em) - Chac's Temple (The Church) - Venus Platform - Sacred Cenote (used for sacrifices, mostly ladies)

Yucatán

Peninsula where the northern Maya lived

Preclassic (2500 BC - 200 AD)

Period during which the Maya were predominantly merging with the Olmecs in the Petén region

Postclassic (900-1200 AD)

Period when it started to die down - major cities included Chichén Itzá, Uxmal, and Mayapán (all in the north)

Classic (200-900 AD)

Period where the Maya really hit their stride - Major cities of the time include (in the South) Tikal, Palenque, Copán, Bonampak, (in the North) Tulúm, and Cobá - cities start getting abandoned around 700 AD (civil war, drought, famine, etc.) - in the south, most cities are abandoned by 900 AD, with the people either going into the jungle or going north

Blood, nobles

Sacrifices were a way to keep order and appease the gods, being centered around the taking of _______________ (which was the most sacred substance for the Maya) - were made hallucinogenic through fasting - usually took from the tongue, ears, or sex organs - _______________ were the best for sacrificing - children, animals, and objects were also sacrificed - usually done by either letting the sacred juice or just murdering people

Petén

Southern region of Guatemala, eastern Mexico, and El Salvador (-ish) where the southern Maya lived

Yuri Knorozov

Soviet soldier who figured out that the glyphs are syllables - Thompson tried to discredit him (and kinda succeeded)

Fray Diego de Landa

Spanish fray that initially tried to understand and translate the Mayan "alphabet" into the Spanish one - eventually, he saw some symbols, got freaked out, and claimed the langage was the work of the Devil (it also didn't help that the Mayan language was one of the things standing in the way of the Mayans' conversion to Christianity) - burned all the codices

Temple of 1,000 Columns (Temple of the Warriors)

Structure in Chichén Itzá that clearly shows Toltec influence - chac mool at the top - columns at the front (on top) have a very particular structure (Toltec) - Chac is on the wall (swirly nose; Mayan stuff depicted in Toltec style) - would've had wood and plaster roof - square columns might be more important than the round ones (they're around the edge of the building and have designs etched into them)

T

T or F: Maya is considered one of the 8 original language isolates. It was read left-to-right, then diagonal by columns of 2.

F (All marriages were fixed, usually including a one-year period where the prospective husband would live with the prospective wife's father to see if the marriage would pan out.)

T or F: Mayan folks were free to marry whoever they wanted.

Madrid, Dresden, Paris, Grolier (Mexico)

The 4 remaining Mayan codices in the world, named after the place where they were located (except for one of them, which is named after the dude that bought it for preservation) - the last two on this list are more fragments than anything else, while the first two are whole codices

Nahua

The Mayan concept of a spirit animal is also called a _____________ animal.

165,

The Mayan religion had over ______ deities.

Logograms, syllabary, 800,

The Mayan writing system was the original writing system of Mesoamerica - __________________ (symbols = words) and __________________ (symbols = syllables) - _________+ syllables, with there being multiple ways to represent different syllables

Kukulkán

The Plumed Serpent; thr Mayan creator god - one of the 13 original creator gods - also god of civilization, life, etc. - Humanoid, feathered-snake

Teotihuacan

The conquest of Tikal by this city-state, and the resulting combined dynasty, resulted in the burgeoning status of Tikal as a political and economic power.

Codices

The pamphlet-type Mayan "books" - because there were also books (written in Spanish)

2000 BC - 1697 AD

The years during which the Maya civilization was still chuggin'

El Tajín

This Mexican city and culture is NOT Mayan, but... - they had a ball court, pyramids, etc. - waterways in their structures (typically for drainage) - Pyramid of Niches - Pyramid 3 (obelisk at base, flushed staircase, wall around the entrance of the thing on top, also had niches)

Tatiana Proskouriakoff

Woman that figured out that the glyphs were also historical, instead of purely decorative and undecipherable like Thompson had thought

Murals at Bonampák

[NOTE: Evidence of war, sacrifice]