Copan Ruinas, Honduras
Have spent the day wandering around the best-preserved stelae and statues of the Mayan world.
Indeed, several days have been spent in major Mayan sites so far. As noted by this blog´s sister site, the generally wittier and far more accessible Gullible´s Travels, this trip has encompassed many, many Mayan ruins. Some better than others. Indeed, rather than subject you to all of them, Gullible´s has prepared a selection of some of the best seen so far. They include ruins from Tulum, Belize, and Guatemala, including the mighty (and frankly marvellous) Tikal. More here: http://lindafullalove.blogspot.com/
Back at JHBsbigtrip, this presents an excellent opportunity to catch up on a bit of....
What Afterlife?
Have spent the day wandering around the best-preserved stelae and statues of the Mayan world.
Indeed, several days have been spent in major Mayan sites so far. As noted by this blog´s sister site, the generally wittier and far more accessible Gullible´s Travels, this trip has encompassed many, many Mayan ruins. Some better than others. Indeed, rather than subject you to all of them, Gullible´s has prepared a selection of some of the best seen so far. They include ruins from Tulum, Belize, and Guatemala, including the mighty (and frankly marvellous) Tikal. More here: http://lindafullalove.blogspot.com/
Back at JHBsbigtrip, this presents an excellent opportunity to catch up on a bit of....
What Afterlife?
Part 17, possibly. The Maya
The Mayan civilisations have come and gone, but wherever they happened to set up a pyramid or two, they were obsessed with power, succession, sacrifice, and glorification. That meant lots of blood and guts, a bit of a ball game, and some more pyramids for the next-in-line. And quite an acceptable quality of life-after-death, if you happened to be one of the select few.
First off, the Maya creation myth.
Basically, there were, somewhere, a bunch of idle gods who messed around with different recipes for making people, and of which flopped. Until, one day, they hit upon a potent mixture of corn and blood. Add 10 parts blood to one part corn, mix in a large clay pot, and, hey presto, Man is born.
Also, it would seem, the world is actually a giant crocodile standing in a sea of water (sounds a bit like the giant turtle favoured by myths elsewhere, and not just those in Terry Pratchett´s imagination). Man and the animals live on the crocodile´s back, but it´s not yet clear to those of a questioning nature whether the crocodile had always been there before the gods started messing around with recipes.
Corn and blood is the way to go, and thus whipped into existence, Mayan Man is keen to offer up lashings of the same mixture as a sacrifice to the Gods who created him.
Basically, there were, somewhere, a bunch of idle gods who messed around with different recipes for making people, and of which flopped. Until, one day, they hit upon a potent mixture of corn and blood. Add 10 parts blood to one part corn, mix in a large clay pot, and, hey presto, Man is born.
Also, it would seem, the world is actually a giant crocodile standing in a sea of water (sounds a bit like the giant turtle favoured by myths elsewhere, and not just those in Terry Pratchett´s imagination). Man and the animals live on the crocodile´s back, but it´s not yet clear to those of a questioning nature whether the crocodile had always been there before the gods started messing around with recipes.
Corn and blood is the way to go, and thus whipped into existence, Mayan Man is keen to offer up lashings of the same mixture as a sacrifice to the Gods who created him.
Especially blood. Lots of it. Gallons.
So, what afterlife?
So, what afterlife?
When the time of dying came, the big chief, the city-state ruler who handed down power to his sons for a dynasty lasting hundereds of years, El Top Dogo (not his real name: he was actually known as something like Eighteen Rabbits, Four Turtle Doves, or Two Dogs Urinating), had a big ceremony, was laid to rest with some pots and tools, a fancy plume of feathers and a nice pair of large green earrings, and sent off to a ritzy afterlife in the underworld, with a honking great pyramid for a mauseleum. All well and good. If, that is, you happen to be a ruler.
What of the thousands of poor locals who were sacrificed? Well as usual, there were plenty more where they came from. For most of the proles, it must have been a case of keep your head down, as any of the king´s henchmen, or any roving band of Mayans from a competing city-state, on capturing your live ass would be keen to bind you like a hog, march you back to their own city, throw you in the holding pen and feed you meagre rations till the time came for a ritual sacrifice. Meanwhlile, wherever Two Dogs Urinating and his son happened to hold court, they were looking forward to a major gorefest and another big pyramid.
The takeaway for What Afterlife pop-pickers? Not worth a look-in unless you're extremely well connected.
Why, one has to ask, did the proles fall for this kind of rough-and-ready treatment? How did the kings maintain power and how did they keep the system going? I haven´t seen any mention yet of police, troops, or gangsters in the reported translations of Mayan codex or the textbooks.
Although not well understood, the reasons for the collapse of Mayan civilisation are not thought to be due to war or invasion, but rather to social factors and environmental unsustainability. The puzzling question for me is, how did it ever get started?
Millions of Mayans still live today in the region of Guatemala-Belize-Southern Mexico, and seem to have chosen Catholicism as a much more attractive option than what went before. I suppose it must be easy to understand what the Pope is all about. Even if the actions of a carpenter on another continent, long before the Mayans really got going in Central America, and the concept of monotheism, may seem a little obscure.
Although not well understood, the reasons for the collapse of Mayan civilisation are not thought to be due to war or invasion, but rather to social factors and environmental unsustainability. The puzzling question for me is, how did it ever get started?
Millions of Mayans still live today in the region of Guatemala-Belize-Southern Mexico, and seem to have chosen Catholicism as a much more attractive option than what went before. I suppose it must be easy to understand what the Pope is all about. Even if the actions of a carpenter on another continent, long before the Mayans really got going in Central America, and the concept of monotheism, may seem a little obscure.
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