Panoramic view of the acropolis north, the main square and the temple I (from left to right) from the platform of the Temple II.

Tikal (also sometimes spelled Tik'al) is a leading online archaeological Maya. It is located in Guatemala , in the region of Peten.

The emblem glyph, Tikal has the shape of a bun

Tikal was one of the main cultural centers of the Mayan civilization. Its monumental architecture began to be built around the ^fourth century BC. AD. The city flourished during the Classic Maya Period, between ^Third and ^Ninth Century ; no longer any major monument was built later, the palaces were burnt and the population gradually declined until the total abandonment of site in the late ^tenth century.

The name of Tikal means "Place of Voices", "Languages of Place", or "Place of echoes" in Maya , the Maya of the Classic Period were referring to the city known as Yax Mutal or Mutal is to say "Green Package", or perhaps metaphorically "First Prophecy."

Scholars believe the city's population could reach 100,000 or 200,000 inhabitants.

The inhabitants were mostly farmers, artisans and slaves, labor necessary to builders ignoring animal traction.

Tikal dominated the Maya Lowlands, while being constantly at war. The inscriptions mention numerous alliances and conflicts with other Mayan city-states, as Uaxactun , Caracol , Naranjo or Calakmul. The kingdom of Calakmul had become the rival of Tikal. To achieve their end, the rulers of Calakmul sought to conclude agreements with the allied kingdoms Wak Chan K'awiil , getting buy-in of most members of its confederation. This strategy isolated Tikal and rendered vulnerable to attack.

Kings

Kings of Tikal known to date are:

Stela 16 representing Jasaw Chan K'awiil I (711)

Drawing of the 3 wooden lintel of the Temple of King IV Yik'in K'awiil Chan.

• Yax Ehb 'Xook (circa 60 - founder of the dynasty)
• Yax Ch'aktel Xok (c. 200)
• Ajaw Balam ("Decorated Jaguar" - 292)
• K'inich Ehb '(c. 300)
• Chan Siyaj K'awiil I ("Storm Heaven" to 307)
• Ix A 'B'alam ("Queen Jaguar" to 317)
• "Sovereign of the Leyden Plate "(320) , ascended the throne in 379 and ruled until 411.
• Siyah Chan K'awil II (Sky Storm II - 411-456)
• Khang-Ak ("Kan Boar" - 458-486)
• Ma'Kin Chan-na (late ^fifth century )
• Chak Tok Ich'aak II ("Skeleton Jaguar Paw" - 486-508, married to "Lady Hand")
• Ix Yo K'in ("Lady Tikal" - 511-527)
• Kaloomte 'Bahlam ("curly head" - circa 511-527)
• Wak Chan K'awiil ("Double Bird" - 537-562). In 537, the nobles of Tikal attend the arrival of the Lord with great fanfare K'awiil Wak Chan, returning from a long stay in the pond. After several years of turmoil at Tikal, the new ruler comes to take possession of the throne left vacant by the death of his sister. His reign will open one of the darkest periods in the history of Tikal.
• "Lizard Head II" (he lost a battle against Caracol in 562)
• K'inich Waaw ("Animal Skull" - to 593 - to 628)
• K'inich Wayaan (first half of VII ^century )
• K'inich Muwaan Jol II (first half of VII ^century )
• Chan Jasaw K'awiil I ("Double Moon", "Lord Chocolate" - 682-734). He triumphed in the war against Calakmul in 711. He was buried in the great temple-pyramid I.
• Yik'in Kawiil Chan (734-766)
• "King of Temple VI (766-768)
• Yax Nuun Ayiin II (Chitam) (768-790)
• "Black Sun" (c. 810)
• "Jewel K'awiil" (849)
• Jasaw K'awiil Chan II (869-889)

(Names in quotes are provisional nicknames based on their glyph staff for kings whose name in Maya has not yet been definitively deciphered phonetically. The names in quotes and parentheses are the nicknames by which these sovereigns were known before the phonetic decipherment of their name)

The site

Map of the central area of Tikal

Tikal National Park covers 576 km ^. The city covers over 64 ^square kilometers, of which only one party has so far failed to be unearthed by archaeologists. Mapped by the University of Pennsylvania , the heart of Tikal, where most buildings are now cleared of vegetation and accessible, covers 16 ^square kilometers and has some 3000 structures .

This central zone includes several groups of buildings, connected by "roads" ("Causeway in English), in fact" sacbeob , "which was given the names of archaeologists who worked on the site: Maudslay, Tozzi, Maler and Mendez.

Great Place

Panoramic view of the Grand Place from North Acropolis

The heart of Tikal has a concentration of notable structures around the Grand Place: Temple I, Temple II, the North Acropolis and the Acropolis station. It was found four floors of white stucco bunk, which reflect successive renovations instead. The oldest dates back to -150 and the last at 700 . Along the North Terrace are two rows of headstones, with or without an altar. Some are carved stelae, some not. A significant portion of them have been displaced: they were placed in their current location to the Postclassic Period, that is to say after the collapse of the political system of Tikal at the end of the Classical Period . The stela 11 is the last structure with a date in long account to have been erected at Tikal (862). In the southeast corner of the square is the smallest ball playground site.

Temple I

Temple I

It lies along the east side of Great spot. This is the landmark of Tikal, which he characterized the architectural style. Officially, the archaeologists refer to as "structure 5D-1 " .

It is also popularly known as the "Temple of the Great Jaguar." Built around 734 , the temple is erected on a plinth pyramidal nine degrees and topped with a ridge crest ("roof comb" in Spanish). It is 47 meters tall. A staircase leads to a single fly to the temple itself. The latter consists of three small rooms in a row. Above each door is a wooden lintel of sapodilla.

Under the pyramid was discovered the tomb of one of the largest k'uhul ajaw (or divine lord) of Tikal, Chan Jasaw K'awiil I: Grave 116, discovered in 1962 by Aubrey Trik represents a break with tradition: rulers were buried in the North Acropolis. Several kilos of jade, shells and ceramics found in the tomb reflect the renewed prosperity of Tikal after Hiatus. The play's most sumptuous of all is a mosaic of jade vase, whose cover is a portrait of the sovereign.

Temple II

Temple II

Located along the west side of the Grand Place, it thus faces a Temple I, but the symmetry is only apparent, because the axes of the stair are different . It is also known as the "Temple of the Masks." It is dedicated to the wife of Chan Jasaw K'awiil, the Lady Lachan Unen Mo '. As the excavations have never delivered a burial, we can consider the building as a kind of cenotaph.

North Acropolis

North of the Great Square, the Acropolis is a set whose beginnings date back to the Preclassic, circa -350. A trench dug by the University of Pennsylvania can get an idea of the complexity of this set of buildings superimposed over time. She has long served as a necropolis of the rulers of Tikal. At the heart of the resort is the Burial 85, which is attributed to the founder of the dynasty.

The North Acropolis is based on a platform of 100 m x 80 m, dating to the Preclassic Period. Eight small temple-pyramids (structure 5D-20 to 27) are grouped around a patio. The south side were built more than four temples (structures 5D-32 to 35) facing the main square.

One of the most interesting buildings and most studied of Tikal is the Structure 5D-33, which there are three superimposed. The latter was built by Jasaw ChanK'awiil I.

Central Acropolis

This complex is located south of the market square of about 215 m long. Buildings which are designated as the "palace", are grouped around six courtyards connected by passages or stairs. The term "palace" does not refer to a specific function: these buildings may have served as a royal residence or have been the seat of government services . Maler Palace, where Teobert Maler stayed while he was at Tikal, and the Palace to the five-story buildings are among the most remarkable of this set which, like the North Acropolis, grew organically.

Following Tozzi Causeway to the west, we reached the Temple III.

Temple III

This is the last great pyramid-temple built at Tikal. It was built during the reign of "Black Sun". The only known date of his reign (810) figure on Stela 24 at the foot of the temple. A famous lintel of the temple is a corpulent ruler wearing a jaguar skin .

Palace of bats

This two-level structure is poorly known.

N Complexes

Altar 5

Complex N is a twin pyramid complex. This kind of sets is typical of the architecture of Tikal. They were built to celebrate the end of a "katun" (cycle of twenty years) in the Long Count. On a platform, two pyramids with four staircases are oriented in an east-west. To the south is a building with nine doors on the north an enclosure within which is a set stele / altar. The stele is the sovereign who celebrates the end of Katun, while the altar is usually a defeated enemy. Complex N is the second to have been built under the reign of Jasaw Chan K'awiil I. Stela 16, which represents the sovereign, is dated 711. The magnificent altar 5 differs from the current model: it represents Jasaw Chan K'awiil Masaalit and a lord of trying to execute a ritual that involves the manipulation of the bones of a woman of high rank .

Temple IV

It is part of the temple-pyramids of Tikal. Built during the reign of Yik'in K'awiil Chan, he is recognized as the tallest building in the Classic Maya world, 65 m . The temple itself stands on a pyramidal base three degrees. We currently reached the summit with a difficult track (the stairs having almost disappeared), he offers a remarkable perspective on the rest of the site.

Maudslay along the roadway to the north, one reaches the complexes M, P and Group H

Complex M, P and Group H

The M and P complexes are complexes of twin pyramids

Following the Maler Causeway to the south, you reach the complex O, R, and Q

Complex O, R, Q

Complexes O, R, and Q are complex pyramids binoculars. As in other parts of Tikal, there has been a geometric configuration: the altars of the complex Q and R form a triangle with the axis of Group F at the south.

Mendez along the road, we reached the Temple VI

Temple VI

Temple VI is the last of the great temple-pyramids of Tikal to be discovered. It could have been started during the reign of Yik'in K'awiil Chan and completed under his successor. It is also known as the "Temple of the inscriptions," as the central panel of the ridge crest of the temple contained one of the longest entries in the site. The glyphs of the inscription have a monumental character: they are 85 cm wide . It covers 1905 years of history and plunged into a legendary past: the first date was in -1139. At a height of 25 m, it differs significantly from other similar monuments at Tikal: it has three doors.

Temple V

Temple V

Of 59 m, Temple V is the second largest temple pyramid of Tikal. Archaeologists believe it is the burial place of an unknown king.

Complex Lost World

It comprises thirty-three structures and is one of the two oldest cores occupation of Tikal with the North Acropolis. Archaeologists have named the "Lost World" ("Lost World") because the surrounding jungle evoked the novel of the same name of Arthur Conan Doyle . This name has become the point that it is also used in Spanish ("Mundo Perdido"). 30 m high, the pyramid formed 5C-54 until ^the seventh century the tallest structure in Tikal. It forms with three small buildings located is a set E that would have astronomical significance

Grading and ditch

In 1966, archaeologists from the University of Pennsylvania discovered a ditch and an embankment formed by the debris, ranging from east to west north of Tikal over a length of 9.5 km. Another portion, 9 km long, was discovered southeast of the city. As the debris forming a slope had been discharged into the center of Tikal, the conclusion at the time it was a rampart. The work resumed in 2003 by archaeologist David Webster, handed the theory in question. The slope was longer than previously thought (24.6 km), but had major gaps and was nonexistent in the south. Webster concludes that it is difficult to date the system and the theory of the rampart is speculation that there is currently no confirmed ^, .

Museums

Tikal has two museums:

• Museo Sylvanus G. Morley. Tikal's first museum, opened in 1964, was named in honor of Mayanists Sylvanus Morley. It includes among others a reconstruction of the burial 116, Temple I.
• Museo de las Estelas. Opened in 1989, this museum is to house the stelae and altars of Tikal. In a first step, 24 monuments have been installed to protect them from weather and vandalism. It includes among others the famous Stela 16 and Altar 5 from the N complex (where they were replaced by replicas).

Modern history of Tikal

As is often the case for the monumental ruins, the site was never completely forgotten. Some entries appear at Tikal in the early ^seventeenth century and continue with the writings of John Lloyd Stephens in the early ^nineteenth century.

Lintel 3 of Temple IV wooden sapodilla

However, although known to natives, because of their remoteness from modern towns, the ruins of Tikal were not formally explored for the first time in 1848 by the Governor of the Department of Petn Ambrosio Tut accompanied by Colonel Modesto Mendez. In 1877 , a Swiss physician and naturalist, Gustave Bernoulli, visited the sites and sent to Switzerland's most beautiful lintels Wooden Temples I and IV. They are kept in the Museum of Cultures Basel. Several other expeditions were subsequently explored, mapped and photographed at Tikal ^nineteenth century and early ^twentieth century. In 1881 and 1882 , Alfred Maudslay began to clear the site of the tropical vegetation that covered him and began a work of literature published in the encyclopedia "Biologia Centrali Americana." Teobert Maler worked at Tikal on behalf of the Peabody Museum in 1895 and 1904.

In 1951 a landing was built near the ruins, which previously could be reached only after several days of travel through the jungle on foot or by mule. From 1956 to 1970 archaeological investigations were carried further by the University of Pennsylvania. In 1979 the Guatemalan government has started new excavations that continue even today.

The ruins of Tikal are among the World Heritage Sites of humanity and can be visited by the public.

They served as a backdrop to the rebel base of Yavin in the film A New Hope for George Lucas.

References

Notes

Related articles

• Maya civilization
• Maya
• List of Maya sites
• Chichen Itza

External Links

• Official site of Tikal National Park.
• Tikal at the site of the tourist office in Guatemala.
• Several points of view to 360 on 360 destinations and 360 cities.

• img alt = "Portal archeology" src = "http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/Woman_head_louvre.gif/23px-Woman_head_louvre.gif" width = "23" height = "24" /> Archaeology Portal
• Portal Pre-Columbian America
• Global Heritage Portal
• Guatemala portal

Leave a Reply

Frequently Asked Questions