Tikal

The settlement of the Indians existed from the VII century BC. e.

In the I - IX centuries AD e. the city was one of the most important centers of Mayan civilization . According to researchers, its population at that time ranged from 100 to 200 thousand people. By the end of the X century, after a series of uprisings, the city was finally abandoned by the inhabitants. The name Tik'al in Mayan means "a place where the voices of spirits are heard." The hieroglyphic inscriptions mention the more ancient name of the city of Yash-Mutul - "green bunch."

Tikal and its environs are included by the government of Guatemala in the national park of the same name. In 1979 , the national park was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List .

The ruins were used as a backdrop, as a rebel base in Hollywood Star Wars .

Tikal was one of the most significant places where it was celebrated on December 21, 2012 . However, as a result of this, according to the authorities, the monument suffered significant damage ^[2]

International Relations

Tikal and Teotihuacan established diplomatic relations immediately after the end of the reign of Chak-Tok-Ichak , they ended shortly before the termination of Khasav-Chan-Kavil’s reign (that is, they went from the II century AD to the 730s) ^[3] .

Traders from Teotihuacan worked in Tikal ^[3] .

Residential development of the city occupied about 60 km² ^[1] . The settlement contains hundreds of stone structures, of which only a small part has been excavated. The city was built on rough terrain, where limestone hills were interspersed with swamps, because of which the structures had to be built in groups, and then connected by roads “ sakbe ” ^[4] .

Maya erected buildings of limestone, which was mined directly in the city (the resulting ditches were later used to supply water) ^[5] . The wooden structural elements are made of heavy sapodilla wood and have survived, despite their age.

The heart of the city is the central square , bounded by two famous temples, I and II , to the north of it there is the Northern Acropolis , where there are many pyramids with altars and steles, and to the south - the Central Acropolis, 45 two- and three-story buildings, supposedly serving as rulers of the rulers and their families ^[6] . In the distance stands the Fifth Temple , behind which lies the unexplored Southern Acropolis. Next is the area of ​​the seven temples and the complex of temples Mundo-Perdido ("the lost world") ^[4] . Among other structures, one can distinguish the rulers' palaces, smaller churches, the observatory in Mundo Perdido ^[5] , the building, which apparently served as a prison (lattices made of wooden bars on the windows have been preserved), and areas for playing the ball .

Well-preserved inscriptions helped establish the dates of construction of buildings and the names of the rulers of the city .

• Temple I was built around 695,
• Temple III in 810,
• the largest pyramid temple IV , 72 meters high, was completed by 720.
• Temple V - 750 year.
• Temple VI - 766

All the largest temples were built as funerary ^[1] . The Mayans considered the pyramids to be analogs of the mountains, on which, according to their beliefs, the spirits of the dead live ^[7] . Apparently, models of structures were made from limestone before construction ^[8] .

The Northern Acropolis was a burial-temple complex of the most ancient, pre-classical rulers of Tikal. Around 250 BC e. the acropolis was razed to the ground and started to be built up again ^[5] .

Another preclassical complex, Mundo-Perdido (“the lost world) was mainly studied in the 1970s by Guatemalan archaeologists ^[5] . There was an observatory, and with it the center of the ritual life of the city ^[9] .

The twin pyramids are a typical example of the expression of a model of the world in Mayan architecture: next to two sites for observing the stars in the south is a building with nine doors, symbolizing the underworld, and in the north - a fenced area with a stele. Similar plots were found on the lids of sarcophagi in Pakal : World tree with a fence in the north, in the south - a building with nine doors and a mouth of the underworld. The northern acropolis and the central square also constituted such an ensemble, and the temples I and II later built were the role of double pyramids ^[10] .

The first references by Spanish authors to the ruins of Tikal date back to the 17th century. In 1848 , the first scientific expedition was organized to explore the ancient city.

In the XIX - early XX centuries there were several of them, drawings were removed from the bas-reliefs and inscriptions. In 1951, an airstrip was built to facilitate access to the facility. In 1957-1970, a large amount of work was carried out by the staff of the University of Pennsylvania at Tikal. In 1979, the Government of Guatemala organized a new archaeological project in Tikal, work continues.

• List of Mesoamerican Pyramids

• Drew, David. The Lost Chronicles Of The Maya Kings. - Weidenfield & Nicolson, 1999 .-- ISBN 0-297-81699-3 .
• Nikolai Grube: “Lady Ti” und die Liebe. Die „Frau von Tikal“ genannte Herrscherin gibt der Forschung Rätsel auf ... in: Abenteuer Archäologie . Spektrum der Wissenschaft Verlagsgesellschaft, Heidelberg 2005.1. ISSN 1612-9954
• Nikolai Grube: Maya. Gottkönige im Regenwald . Könemann-Verlag, Köln 2000, ISBN 3-8290-1564-X
• Rudolf Oeser: Shield Skull: Der Maya-Herrscher Nuun Ujol Chaak von Tikal, Zeitschriftenartikel in: Amerindian Research Nr. 1, 2006
• John Montgomery: Tikal - an illustrated history. Hippocrene, New York 2001, ISBN 0-7818-0853-7 .
• James & Oliver Tickell: Tikal - city of the Maya. Tauris Parke Books, London 1991, ISBN 1-85043-223-6 .
• Joyce Kelly: An Archaeological Guide to Northern Central America: Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. Univ.of Oklahoma Pr., Norman 1996, ISBN 0-8061-2858-5 , S. 129-145.

•   Tikal Wikimedia Commons Media Files
• Website MesoAmerica.ru | Mayan Cities - Tikal
• History of the city of Tik'al (Yashmutul) of the kingdom of Mutul
• Tikal - a particle of the Mayan world (Information about the Mayan city. Author E. Yu. Lykova)
• "History of the Mayan Kingdoms" - Mutul Kingdom
• 2004 photos
• Tikal National Park Tik'al National Park