So I'm finally posting my first round of pictures of Copan Ruinas . . . from April. Yes, the blog moved to the back-burner for awhile there but now that research papers are graded, classes are done, exams are proctored and I'm in the Mitten, I'M FREE, FREE AT LAST.
These pics are straight out of Holy Week 2012. In Honduras, semana santa (Holy Week) is the biggest holiday of the year, especially for traveling. Most Hondurans travel to a warm place and crash on the beach. I decided to travel to Copan Ruinas with IST's two student teachers, Stephanie and Becca. We left on Sunday and returned Wednesday night. We couldn't have done more in those few days. I snapped around 890 pictures and over 20 short videos.
Centuries ago, Copan was the religious capital of the Mayan empire. Apart from Tikal (Guatemala), Copan is the biggest Mayan city. Today, Copan is considered the treasure of the Honduras and is one of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites.
Being tourists, we paid for the whole gamet - the guided tour of the Ruins, the tunnels under the Ruins, and tickets to tour the museum. Below is a 3D model of the ruins.
The Ruins were discovered in the 1590's, after the Mayans abandoned it, but excavation didn't start until the 19th century. According to Nery, our fearless tour guide, 85% of Copan remains un-excavated.
Some mounds on the way to the main ruins.
The first two temples we visited were actually the last ones constructed. Archeologists now know that the Mayans abandoned Copan early in the 9th century due to a drought that lasted over 100 years. The last leader built two temples in a desperate attempt to appease the gods.
The first two temples we visited were actually the last ones constructed. Archeologists now know that the Mayans abandoned Copan early in the 9th century due to a drought that lasted over 100 years. The last leader built two temples in a desperate attempt to appease the gods.
On the left was the temple for the celestial gods. There are thirteen windows representing all 13 realms of heavens.
To the right of the celestial temple, we have the temple for the underworld. The lighter stone is actually plaster added to the ruins to hold the original structures together.
These skulls, like many of the carvings, are replicas. The real statues and sculptures are in the museum.
Trees such as the one pictured below seem out of place next to the ancient ruins, but their presence has become too integral to the structures to replant them elsewhere.
A view from the front of the temple of death.
The square structure in front is a sculpture made by the last leader of Copan. It depicts all 16 rulers of Copan symbolically passing the scepter of leadership to one another, starting with the first. The actual structure carved by the Mayans is located in the museum for protection against the elements. Here, in the middle, the first and the last leader meet. It is believed that the last leader of Copan wanted to show closure as he left his city.
Some more leaders. Each leader is sitting on his name. For example, second from the left is "Smoke Jaguar"
The hieroglyphs on top. Probably just some stuff about impending doom and all that.
Then we walked to the second acropolis. The piles of rock on the left and right used to be stairs.
A view of the whole acropolis. This, folks, is when I discovered the "wide" option on my camera. The picture above was taken while walking towards the entrance of the acropolis (top middle of the picture below). On the top right, one can see the entrance to the tunnels under the temples.
View of the stairs on the right.
This is a close-up picture of the sun god found on the top of the above stairs.
This jaguar is located at the bottom left of the stairs above. Nery (our tour guide) said people always say this guy looks like Tony the Tiger (Hint: Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat!) In reality, he said that the Mayans wanted him to look fierce. They felt the jaguar gave strength to sun god so that he/she could pull the sun into the sky every day.
View from the stairs. In the background, you can see the building archeologists say was used for political meetings, almost like a mini-Capitol Hill. Probably more organized too.
A little to the left.
Some more views.
Sorry for the excess in pictures, but remember:
1. I have carefully chosen these from 890 crazy-cool pictures.
2. These are the MAYAN-FRICKIN'-RUINS people. At least that's what I tell myself as I look through all 890 of my pictures.
Moving on.
Tunnel time! We were able to tour inside the temples through a series of tunnels. These tunnels were not actually made by the Mayans. Archaeologists have created them in order to see the temples hidden underneath. Each Mayan ruler built his temple on top of his predecessor's temple as a way of demonstrating his power. Copan boasts about 8 layers of temples. What a sandwich!
This is the entrance to the tunnels.
This face is a part of Rosalila (rose-colored lilac). Rosalila is what archaeologists have named one such buried tunnel that remains quite intact. The name refers to the original pink color of the temple, a paint created by the Mayans themselves.
The outer wall of Rosalila.
Original Mayan stairs are located under the modern cement (in between the wall and the stairs). This stairway connect two tunnels.
The museum contains a life-size Rosalila replica.
Lookin' back.
The layers in the rock are the different layers built by the Mayans.
The magnificent hieroglyphs staircase. Upon discovery, the stairs were a mess with only a few pieces found together. The figures in the middle are the leaders of Copan. Harvard University brought a team of archaeologists to Copan to restore the staircase. As payment, the government allowed Harvard to take the statue of the 14th ruler, which is why it is missing from the staircase. Darn smarties.
Layers of recently made bricks and plaster.
It was at this point, while looking at this special sculpure, that Nery explained to us the Mayan's use of hallucinatory substances. For the Mayans, these substances were not evil, but allowed them to view the earth as it should be. There is evidence that the Mayans also smoked the leaf (you know what I mean). The figure below is supposed to have been created as a result of a hallucination. Sounds about right to me.
We're now headed to the ball court. This is where the ball players suited up for the big game.
And here we are. The game is played with a heavy cantalope-size rubber ball. The ball is not supposed to touch the ground for fear of disturbing the underworld. Players score points by launching the ball up the inclined stone and hitting the stone statues on either side of the court. The stone is inclined so that the ball always returns to the playing field. The spectators sat on the stone "bleachers" in back of the court.
Archeologists know that the ball court boasted nine macaws, all of which appear to be mid-squawk with their talons ready to land. Below is a replica.
This is a real Mayan macaw from the museum.
Mayan myth claims that the game was developed by twin brothers who were then asked to play the game in the underworld. During the game, one of the underworld bats bit off one of the brothers' arms and the macaws were said to have screamed in shock. Hence, the screaming macaws surrounding the ball court. Below is a reinactment of the incident.
These sculptures are said to be depictions of the brothers.
A bat. I can see where he'd bite someone's arm off. Plus, he's packing a lot of power. Can you guess where?
Random faces, obviously Mayan supermodels. I'm living in the wrong millennium.
The is the Mayan version of a sting wray's stinger. Supposedly, the Mayan priests used these for medicinal blood-letting and for punishing themselves (how priests are wont to do). They are especially painful because, like a fish hook, once they are inserted into the skin, they cannot easily be removed. According to Nery, the priests even used the stingers on their -eh hem - manhood.
This is a picture of me making ancient Mayan sculptures even better.
This is a statue of a young man. Many of the Mayan sculptures and structures were painted this sort of red. The effect is beauiteous even today. Unfortunately, the red "paint" contained high amounts of mercury and many a painter died as a result.
On the other side of the young Mayan statue one finds the old Mayan statue. The sun rises on the young side and sets on the old side, symbolizing the life-death aging cycle.
On to the juicy stuff. This giant turtle was used during animal sacrifices. At the very top is a small stone basin where the animal heart was placed.
And, of course, the human sacrifice stone. The Mayans aren't as famous for this as the Aztecs, but it happened, sure. For example, the best player of the aforementioned ball game was always sacrificed to the gods. Why the best player, you ask? Sounds I asked Nery the same thing. He explained that the Mayans believed that whoever was sacrificed to the gods needed to be strong enough to travel through the underworld and rise with the sun. The "sacrificee" was charged with the task of speaking to the sun god on behalf of his people .
As with animal sacrifices, there is a basin at the top of the stone to hold the heart. One the sacrifice occurred, the blood would run down the grooves on the side to form what Nery astutely pointed out as a . . .
Ying yang! Creepy, huh? I got chills when Nery observed that the ancient Chinese symbol and the Mayan sacrificial stone are eerily similar and represent the same sort of concept: the balance of good and bad, of life and death.
To conclude, a picture of me, Nery, Stephanie, and Rebecca. We are sweating profusely yet happily, I think.
There you have it, folks. My little virtual tour of the Mayan ruins at Copan. Nery, please let me know if I have screwed up any ancient details. I still have pictures of the bird park, the Mayan sepulchers, and the canopy tour to post. Also, there happened many more mini-adventures right in Tegus that I have yet to include.
At the moment, I'm hanging out in White Cloud, MI with my brother, Mike, his wifey, Tracy, and my nephew and niece, Gavin and Sophie. We've been living it up playing catch in the lake, painting nails, watching my brother cook us delicious food, photographing nature, arting around, and just generally enjoying life. Next week I fly to DC to visit my good friend Estee and then my next stop is Honduras (ETA August 14).
I hope everyone is enjoying the summer!
