10
Jul
2009
Puuc Hills – Uxmal & Kabah Prints
If you’re ever planning a trip into the Yucatan to see ruins, you should really try to get into the Puuc Hills. From Mérida, Uxmal and Kabah are an easy day trip, but there are more Puuc Hill ruins to see to the extent I wish I had more time when I visited to travel a bit further afield. None-the-less, the ruins I did see were excellent. The ruins in this area of the country have the distinction of having a style of Maya architecture named for them. They are also different from their low land counterparts in not being built over Cenotes (sink hole access points to the underground rivers of the Yucatan). Instead, the Maya built large cisterns in these cities to capture rain water for the dry months. If the theory that droughts were largely responsible for the end of the Maya way of life, these people were probably the first to suffer.
Uxmal, the first place I visited is still touristed but not nearly so heavily as Chichen Itza. People were living at Uxmal around 500 AD. It flourished for sometime as the main city in the region, but it’s star dropped after the fall of Chichen Itza. By the time the Spanish arrived, Uxmal was already largely abandoned.
Uxmal - The Nuns Quadrangle
This is part of a large complex of buildings adjacent to the main pyramid at Uxmal. The first Spaniards to study this location thought that it looked like a nuns convent, hence the name. It’s believed that these buildings may have been a school for princes. This was the last building of the quadrangle, note the masks on the corner, these are masks of Chac Mool, the rain god, and are on each corner of this building. Also note the elaborated decorations. This is typical of the Puuc style. The prominence of Chac Mool highlights the importance of rain to the people living here.
Palacio del Gobernador - Uxmal, Mexico
This is another of the buildings at Uxmal, said to be one of the best examples of the Puuc style. Built in the 9th an 10th centuries, it was probably an administration building for the region. As with other Maya buildings, it is aligned with the heavens, the main door lines up with the planet Venus.
Inheritance of the Maya
The site of Kabah is yet less touristed and there’s been far less reconstruction here. There was a city here as early as the 3rd century which reached it’s height around the 8th. By the 11th century, the site was abandoned. This palace appears to have had 30 or more rooms and is remarkably intact considering how long it’s been since it was inhabited.
Uxmal is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Kabah is not listed, but should be on the list of anyone who appreciates the ruins of our past cultures.
More photo prints from both sites are available at my Mexico Prints.
8
Jul
2009
Chichen Itza Prints
It’s been a couple of years since I visited Chichen Itza. At the time, I spent a week in Mérida, the capital of the Yucatan taking day trips out to see the sights, including possibly the most well known of the Maya ruins. Many Americans visiting Cancun will take a tour to see these ruins and learn about the Maya.
The topography and soil of the Yucatan causes the formation of cenotes, typically open pits where underground water is accessible. It’s not surprising that the ancient Maya built their cities around these cenotes, which they considered magical and gateways to the afterlife. Chichen Itza or, Chich’en Itzá in Maya, translates basically as ‘at the mouth of the well of the Itza.’ The Itza were a particiular group of the Maya. This is apparently not the first name of Chichen Itza but there’s a lack of consensus on what the first name was.
These cities, like our cities today, are not built at once, they are built, torn down, and built again, inhabited by successions of people with different tastes and beliefs over the centuries. Chichen Itza was at its peak from roughly 600 AD to 1,000 AD. It was sacked and the focus moved to Mayapan sometime between 1,000 and 1,200, but even by the time the Spanish arrived, there were still people living there and making pilgrimages to the centotes. So, when we look at these ruins, we’re looking at around 1,000 years of human habitation but primarily with the buildings of the last of its prosperous times.
Lost - Pyramids of Chichen Itza
This view is of El Castillo, the main pyramid at Chichen Itza. This temple to Kukulcan was built on top of an earlier temple to Chac Mool, the rain god. The earlier temple has been excavated and was once open to the public but no longer is. The later temple shows Toltec influences. In fact, Kukulcan is the Maya version of the Toltec god, Quetzalcoatl. There are stories of the arrival of a Toltec king around 987 who set up a new court at Chichen Itza. If true, it’s possible this explains the cultural influence. It’s hard to look at these ruins without thinking of the culture that flourished and vanished here so long ago. The craftsmanship is amazing.
Kukulcan Temple
This is a close up of the top of the pyramid. It has been restored by the Mexican Government in the 1920’s and 30’s and restoration activities continue. Still, we have not restored these temples to their original appearance. The buildings were not bare stone originally but were plastered and were likely painted colorfully. Even in their muted forms, these buildings still speak to us of a talented and creative people.
El Castillo Steps
These are the northern steps to El Castillo. There are 4 stairs, one on each side, each with 91 steps. If you were to add these four sets of stairs, they total 364. The final step, the floor level of the temple at the top makes a total of 365, the number of days in a year. There are many such astronomical connections to these temples. On the north side, there are two plumed serpents (Kukulcan) carved into both sides. On the spring and autumn equinox, the sun casts shadows that make the snakes appear to slither down the pyramid. I’m told the nightly light show recreates this view. Even today, this is an imposing edfice!
Chichen Itza is UNESCO World Heritage site.
There are more prints available from Chichen Itza and Mexico in my Mexico Prints
27
Mar
2008
Egyptian Temple Blur
At some point in the awesomeness that was Egypt, I finally hit the point that the Temples began to blur together. For the most part, they were awe-inspiring sites, but even awe can become a blur.
On our second day in Aswan, we journeyed to the island of Philae after our visit at Abu Simbel. Philae is another of the Nubian treasures that was moved. The island was already submerged part of the year thanks to the first dam at Aswan. The high dam would have meant it’s loss. So, another island was landscaped to match Philae, which was more or less a holy site in ancient times, with many temples. The temples were moved to the higher island.
This is one that was not a blur and stands out in my mind still…
