The Ancient Maya

My Ebook Publishing House

• Publisher: My Ebook Publishing House
• ISBN:
  9781311270917
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Ancient History
• Index: History

"The Ancient Maya" creates a portrait of life in the ancient Mayan civilization. Describes the history, language, social classes, customs, culture, religion, and warfare of the ancient civilization of the Mayas.
Easy to read and very interesting, providing first an overview, then a chapter by chapter journey through major events in Maya history, concluding with a separated portion of highlighting major aspects in Maya knowledge and ancient ways.

VI. Location

Unlike town, the small Mayan settings were placed in sheltered locations, often in forest glades. In certain regions, the houses – better said, the huts – were round, in others, rectangular or oval, but they all had a plant roof something of the kind of reed or from palm leaves.

In such a hut, all the belongings of the family were found: mealing stones (corn grinding stones), ceramic pots, noddle, and firewood. The furniture was very simple: one or two beds with mats placed directly on the boards and a few lower stools. Herein there were also found plaited bags containing corn grains and weaved bags for beans; there were no windows or fireplaces; on a shelf, a few small clay graven images were kept. All huts were equipped with looms, whereat the woman would work, using agave and American cotton fibers.

Instruments for lighting a fire by friction – a hardwood stick and a piece of soft and dry wood – were used fairly rare, because the evening fire was thus inflamed that, until dawn, embers would remain.

Sometimes, from the ceiling of the hut, wooden plates and clay pots would hang. In the center of the hut, a primitive staircase was often located, with which you could get to the attic, where the corn, the pumpkins and the beans would be stored.

The thicker winter garments would be used during nighttime, as cover. In a corner of the hut, the instruments wherewith the man would work: obsidian or silex tips, animal traps, a lance, 2 or 3 skins, small bags with pottery paints. The dogs would sleep in the hut, along with the children.

A hut as the one described above is characteristic for the married individuals.

The unmarried girls would work and live in their parents’ house, but the boys, when turning 15, would move in the “house of the men”, located at the border of the village, and lived there until marriage, which usually took place around the age of 20.

The marriage customs of the ancient Mayans are somewhat similar to the ones of some African nations, but also to some older wedding customs that are seen in various European regions (in our regions also); in order to evoke them and show them how the life of the simple people, corn growers and huntsmen, from the small settings located in the proximity of the great Mayan cities, we allow ourselves to address to the archeologist John Eric S. Thompson, which includes in his interesting study of the old Mayan civilization (The rise and the fall of the Maya civilization, University of Oklahoma Press) a few stories, reportages from that era, we could say – from the daily life of the Mayans, proving once again that the scientist can be doubled by the man of letters.

In two stories (which we render below in an autonomous adaptation) it is about a young pair of peasants, Ix Bacal and Ah Petz Uic (Ix is the particle that the old Mayans would use in before a woman’s name, and Ah before a man’s name). The narration doesn’t have the character of a short story or sketch, it doesn’t expose a conflict or an uncommon event, it exposed the life of some simple individuals, with its routine, with its small joys and problems.

“The young man Ah Petz Uic was lately passing through an anxiety state that he considered to have because of his companions from the men house. One by one, all his young friends, being of the same age as he was, left to get married. In the house, only the boys of 16 and 17 remained, boys that he patronized, because he himself was approaching the age of 20. For now however, he didn’t have concerns: if everything will devolve as it should be, he will too leave soon, as the conversations about his marriage were notably advanced.

The first time Uic noticed Ix Bacal when going for a dip with his friends in the cenote. At the crossing of two forest paths, he saw her passing, accompanied by a few friends; he had gotten to see her well before the girls having turned their backs to him, as the customs required; besides, he wouldn’t have been able to turn too quickly, because they had filled with water jugs on their heads.

After this meeting, Uic has returned to this path parting every time the water bearers came back from the cenote. After that, he discussed about marriage with his father; in the meantime, his mother would pretend to be very absorbed of weaving, but in fact, she paid attention to every word of the conversation.

The idea of not having the support of his son when working on the field, hunting or gathering wood didn’t please the father, but he had married his older daughter shortly before, and her husband was now working alongside him; therefore, he allowed for a suitor to be sent to talk with the parents of Ix Bacal.

The suitor returned bearing good news and they agreed to pay a visit together to the hut of the family of Ix Bacal.

The visit was planned in the 1^st day of Kaba – the day of the Moon’s goddess, the patroness of marriages.

Ah Petz Uic and Ix Bacal haven’t spoken in the meantime, but the boy had the impression that the girl liked him and won’t go against the marriage. A few days after, he had a confirmation of this opinion: passing past the girl’s hut a few hours before the planned visit, he saw her weaving at her loom a drawing representing corn husks and flowers. Or, everyone who knows the Yucatec language knows that Uic means “small flower” and bacal, “corn husk”. It was the only manner in which Ix Bacal could express her feelings, because the custom required for the fiancée-to-be to have no say in the choosing process of her husband, a matter of such importance having to be resolved by the parents, with the consultation of the priest.

The visit of the suitor and of Uic’s parents has unfurled in favorable circumstances. Adequately, in the beginning, no word in conjunction with the marriage proposal was uttered. They have only talked about the state of the corn fields, about the disparagement of the crop if the weather will be droughty or too humid, about the manner in which they would have to fight against the locust invasion, about the fact that the sacrifices made last year for ending the drought didn’t have a positive outcome, which wasn’t surprising considering the fact that this year started with the baneful day of Kawoq (Cauac). The arrival of the cocoa squash mixed with peppery corn flour constituted a sort of signal and the conversation took on a new course because in Yucatan, cocoa was not excessively cultivated and it is not accustomed to serve such an expensive beverage in a family like the one of Ix Bacal, which didn’t appertain to the city’ aristocracy.

Therefore, it was a sign that the endeavor wasn’t disliked by the owner of the hut, but in the same time, that it was considered that being part of a more superior family, and that, in consequence, the worth of the fiancée will be increased. However, the suitor was prepared to face this requirement also.

Ably changing the subject of the conversation from crop to the in-fact purpose of the visit, he had issued the idea that the Uic and Bacal families can unite through the marriage of their descendants, and then explained at large the qualities of the young man, an excellent cultivator and hunter; he had said all these with the superfluity of a merchant from the south that offered a gemstone for sale.

The elder Ah Bacal pretended to be astonished when hearing this proposal, but did not forget to mention that, in fact, he shouldn’t be surprised, because the extraordinary talents of his daughter, which knows to weave and cook beyond comparison, make her to be wanted as a wife by all the young men of the vicinity.

– Besides this, he added, after her aspect it is clearly seen that she will be able to have many children. On the other hand, her beauty allows her to compare herself with the young goddess of the moon. We, the ones from the family, he concludes, have surnamed her Yx Kukul, “The Quetzal feather damsel”, that precious is she by beauty and by her qualities.

The suitor responded by an ample array of Uic’s virtues, and after a general discussion on the merits of both youngsters, a discussion that prolonged quite enough, they got to some actual matters and the suitor had proposed:

– Uic has so many qualities that his parents think it’s of no use to pay the usual price; but, conformable to the custom, he will serve his father-in-law for 3 years after the marriage, helping him with the field labors, hunting with him, seeking honeycombs and making sure that the family would constantly have firewood. Apart from that, he would pay a quarter of cocoa beans load, 8 8 separated from the red gemstone, 13 packs of copal of the thickness of a corn cob and 2 loads of paddy cotton.

Ah Bacal immediately said that this payment is much too small. Then, he called his daughter and asked her in front of everyone if he would accept to marry Uic, naturally if they agreed on the price. She responded affirmatively, but pretending that she didn’t grant too much interest to the fact. Then, Ah Bacal proposed to increase the previously mentioned period of 5 years for the service provided by the son-in-law and to double the quantity of cotton and cocoa.

The suitor politely declined, and then added:

– You, Ah Bacal, don’t have boys; we mustn’t forget that you are not as vigorous as you were in your youth, and a sturdy son-in-law will be a blessing to you.

The haggling continued; eventually, they agreed on 4 years of service, with merchandise quantities initially proposed. During an ulterior visit, the transaction was completed with a noddle and decorated ceramic objects exchange and then celebrated with a meal composed of courses brought by the visitors.

After the festive meal, Uic’s father went to the men’s house, delivered the news to his son and handed him an embroidered apron – a gift from his future wife.

The only matter that had to be done was to announce the priest of the village. The suitor went the next day to him, bringing with him a noddle filled with maize flour, as a gift. The priest declared that there is no serious conflict among the gods that have presided over the birth of the two youngsters.

On the contrary, their union is announced to have extremely favorable auspices: Uic was born in the 3^rd day of Kan and as it is well-known, Kan is the day of the god of corn, and 3 is the amount of the rain’ gods and lightning favorable to crops.

There is no better kind for a girl whose name means “corn husk”. The day of her birth, 7 Yaxkin, is under the symbol of the Jaguar god and the sacrifice god, which could have been considered neutral in terms of marriage. Ultimately, after having made a few calculations, the priest suggested certain favorable days for celebrating the marriage.

It has been a while until the parents were able to reunite a certain amount of relatives and friends for the construction of the new hut. It has been built behind the one of Bacal and the construction has only lasted two days, after which Uic, helped by his father-in-law, has built a bed with wooden pieces tied with lianas and a few shelves.

The fireplace – three stones placed in the shape of a triangle – was easy to build, but it was also necessary to consolidate the table destined to receive the mealing stone of Ix Bacal, so that it sustains the battledore. Then, the ...

Table of contents

• I. The Maya People
• II. The mistey of their cities
• III. The new empire
• IV. The quetzal
• V. Legends
• VI. Location
• VIII. The scripture
• IX. The arhitecture
• X. The believes
• XI. Rituals