The magnificence of Tikal, ancient Mayans capital, and the cult of Kukulcán
Flying at low altitude over the tropical rainforest of the Yucatan Peninsula, it is not unusual to see in the distance some archaic pyramids rising above the dense layer of vegetation. The most majestic of the ancient cities of the Mayans is Tikal, located between the north of Yucatán and the Pacific, and between the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.
One wonders how it was possible for the emergence and flourishing of such an extensive and complex city right in the heart of the tropical jungle, where rainfall is constant (3000 mm per year), in an area infested with poisonous snakes and mosquitoes carrying malaria. However, the Tikal region was the ideal place to grow corn, potatoes and tomatoes. In the adjacent jungles there were many deer, peccaries, apes, anteaters, tapirs and birds; In the rivers and lakes there were many fish and turtles.
Approximately 600 years before Christ, people before the Mayans settled in the place where today stand the ruins of the city called Tikal. These people lived in wooden cabins, used clay and worked obsidian, but they did not know iron or the wheel. In certain aspects, however, the archaic Mayans had already evolved in the spiritual and scientific field, because they were already beginning to use a form of pictographic writing that later evolved into hieroglyphic, sculpting their symbols on stone steles, in order to leave to posterity complicated concepts about their vision of the world. In addition, they had already developed theories on cyclical chronology and astronomy, sciences that would become increasingly valuable in the following years.
This proto-city was not isolated, but rather maintained contact with neighboring towns such as those who lived in Peten, Izapa or Kaminaljuyú, with whom it exchanged agricultural products.
The first relevant construction was a 1 meter high ceremonial platform. Already around 100 BC, other ceremonial platforms of about 3 meters high were built, the access to which was made up of steep steps. However, it was only around 50 AD that the tallest and most complicated temples began to be built.
The in-depth studies carried out by the British scientist Maudslay (1882), and by the German Maler (1904), revealed many details of classical Tikal (292-869 AD). In the central area, about 16 square kilometers in area, there were about 3,000 stone buildings, most of which can be visited today. According to the latest estimates, the population of Tikal reached 100,000 inhabitants.
A characteristic of Tikal architecture was overlapping. The ancient architects built new buildings exactly on the previous foundations.
Another particularity is the ceremonial pyramids; one of the best known, called “Temple of the Great Jaguar”, which was built around 700 AD, is 45 meters high and is made up of 9 sectors. The so-called “Temple of the Masks” (also called the Temple of the Moon), made up of four superimposed ceremonial platforms, is 38 meters high. This pyramid was also built around the period of maximum splendor of Tikal, 700 AD. The ceremonial pyramid of the “Great Priest”, located to the west of the Temple of the Masks, was built in 810 AD and is about 55 meters high.
However, the tallest construction in Tikal is the so-called “Temple of the Two-Headed Serpent,” a 64-meter-high pyramid. Although it is not the tallest and most massive Mayan construction (it is La Danta, at the El Mirador site, 72 meters), it is very important because it was intended for the cult of the double-headed snake, a legendary animal, which was also venerated in the culture of the Incas, where it had the name Yawirka.
The city of Tikal was undoubtedly a commercial center of primary importance due to its favorable geographical position. Likewise, with regard to politics, it seems that Tikal had assumed a fundamental role, perhaps as the capital of the Mayan confederation and, surely, given its magnificence and opulence, it was an imposing religious and ceremonial center.
During the classical period, the city of Tikal had frequent contacts and trade exchanges with the center of the Mesoamerican world, the city of Teotihuacán. According to some scholars, the Mayan cities of Yucatán, including Tikal, depended greatly on Teotihuacán both from a commercial point of view (fabrics and obsidian were exchanged) and from a mystical aspect.
The cult of the anthropomorphic being (with light complexion and bearded), called Quetzalcoatl (feathered serpent), was known in Tikal and Chichén Itzá under the name of Kukulcán, while among the Maya-Quichés it was called Gucumatz.
In the cosmogony of the Mayans there were also other anthropomorphic beings, all light-skinned and bearded, whose characteristics were similar to those of Quetzalcoatl: Votan and Itzamná.
Hence, many scholars of comparative cosmology have proposed singular parallels between Kukulcán, the anthropomorphic being whose symbol was the feathered serpent, and the Quetzalcoatl of the Mexican highlands. Others, like the Scot Graham Hancock, went further, even proposing similarities between Viracocha, the supreme figure of the Andean world, and Quetzalcoatl/Kukulcán, the feathered serpent, absolute divinity of the Mesoamerican world.
Indeed, there are some similarities between the different legends, such as the civilizing function of Viracocha and Quetzalcoatl/Kukulcán, to whom the foundation of agriculture, the calendar and writing in Mesoamerica is attributed. Furthermore, both Viracocha and Quetzalcoatl/Kukulcán left their respective towns on a raft, announcing their future return.
Strangely, the city of Tikal, along with many other Mayan cities, went into decline during the 9th century AD. The last great temple was inaugurated in 810 AD, while the last hieroglyphic inscription dates back to 869 AD. In that period, Tikal, as all Mayan ceremonial centers, was suddenly abandoned.
It is a common opinion among historians that the causes of the decline and, consequently, the abandonment of Tikal, have been several: there was probably a drop in agricultural production (especially corn), after which devastating epidemics developed. In addition to this, revolts of the lower classes against the dominant priestly elite could have been unleashed, which plunged the entire population into chaos, which suddenly found itself without political references.
Tikal was not destroyed, but simply abandoned, and remained buried under an intricate layer of vegetation for about 1,000 years. It was only in 1848 when researchers Modesto Mendes, Ambrosio Tut and Eusebio Lara discovered, near the city, a stele with hieroglyphics.
YURI LEVERATTO
