Posted on 08/13/2016 6:43:09 PM PDT by MtnClimber
The ambitious Snake kings used force and diplomacy to create the most powerful alliance in their culture’s history.
The ancient city of Holmul isn’t much to look at. To the casual observer it’s just a series of steep, forested hills in the middle of the jungle in northern Guatemala, near the Mexican border. The jungle here in the Petén Basin is thick and warm but drier than you might expect. And silent, except for the drum of cicadas and the occasional calls of howler monkeys.
Take a closer look, and you may notice that most of these hills are arranged in massive rings, like travelers huddled around a fire on a cold night. An even closer look reveals that parts of the hills are made of cut stone, and some have tunnels carved into their sides. In fact they’re not hills at all but ancient pyramids, left to decay after the collapse of the Maya civilization a millennium ago.
The site was a thriving settlement during the Classic Maya period (A.D. 250-900), a time when writing and culture flourished throughout what is today Central America and southern Mexico. But it also was a time of political upheaval: Two warring city-states were locked in perennial conflict, grappling for supremacy. For a brief period one of those city-states prevailed and became the closest thing to an empire in Maya history. It was ruled by the Snake kings of the Kaanul dynasty, which until just a few decades ago no one even knew existed. Thanks to sites around this city-state, including Holmul, archaeologists are now piecing together the story of the Snake kings.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalgeographic.com ...
Interesting photographs at link
The cavernous limestone water reservoirs beneath the Mayan Pyramids tells the story of how they thrived in an area with no rivers nearby. Once these were found then much of the Mayan history made more sense.
I visited Chichen Itza a few years back...The Mayans were incredible mathematicians. And also blood thirsty for sacrifices and games...
amazing. and all without metal.
Thought you might like photos at link. The 3-D viewer is really nice.
The locals either died of thirst or left the area.
Their lust for blood couldn't do much against gun-power so, in the end, they would have been doomed no matter what.
Did you ever see that movie APOCALYPTO? It was about just those folks over there. No English, all subtitles in their native language.
Great movie.
MEL GIBSON, of all people, produced and directed it.
I didn’t...I’ll place it on my list...Thanks...
Climate change sure has been around a long time.
The great pyramid at Chichen Itza has a wall going down the steps to the top and has a snake head at the bottom...
On the equinox, the sun casts a shadow of the corners of the pyramid along that wall and forms perfect diamonds along the wall depicting a rattlesnake’s markings...Only happens on that day that it is perfectly aligned...
Remarkable...
Those are very interesting figurines. Thanks for the post.
I wonder what the math folk thought about the sacrifices.
And let’s not forget the Maya’s greatest contribution.....mayanaise.
Without them, no potato salad and then what would you eat with barbecued chicken? Rice? Forget it!
They were the high priests overseeing the sacrifices.
I don’t know...
The grotto where they tossed the young tied up virgins has water so blue it hurts your eyes...
Makes sense /s
Well, the Germans were brilliant but sadistic also, during WWII.
I guess the two are not mutually exclusive.
I believe the nazis also had a big thing for the occult.
odd.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.