MAYAS

SINCE 25 MAY 2017

www.marqalicante.com/mayas


 

THE ENIGMA OF THE LOST CITIES
 

The exhibition immerses us in the jungle, the cradle of Mayan culture. The immense temples and palaces appear there. As silent witnesses of a lost civilisation, the cities still hold many unsolved mysteries within their walls. The Mayas inhabited the Yucatan Peninsula. Their culture developed in a territory that has its centre in Guatemala and extends into Belize, and parts of Mexico, El Salvador and Honduras. It reached its maximum development during the first millennium B.C., when the kings became divinities and governed cities such as Tikal, Palenque, Copán or Calakmul.

ROOM I: THE CREATION OF THE MAYAN WORLD

The Popol VuhThe myth of creation. When there was nothing but silence and emptiness, the gods, hidden in the deep ocean, gathered one day and filled the earth with mountains, valleys, rivers and lakes. Calling out their name, they created the animals that are the guardians of forests and mountains.

Like the pioneers of research, in the first room we are surprised by the monumental architecture of the pyramids evoked in the montage, and amazed that the secrets of a hieroglyphic writing arranged on stelae, lintels, altars or on precious ceramic vessels can be deciphered.

Mayan culture is complex. Their economy is based on agriculture and trade, carried out by porters. In the milpas, or orchards near the houses, squash, beans and maize are cultivated with their own technique, the latter being so essential that it is evoked in their main deity, the God the Corn. They built cisterns and pipes to supply water in the dry season. Cocoa was of special value, both in their celebrations and as an element of trade. Life was governed by the accuracy of their calendars, which were based on exceptional mathematical and astronomical knowledge.

Room II: SPLENDOUR AND COLLAPSE OF MAYAN CULTURE

The vaults characterise the interior of the Mayan temple. The structure is the basis of this second great environment, which deals with the apogee of the culture in the so-called Classic Period, with the development of great cities such as Tikal and Calakmul, their monumental palaces, the importance of the deified king and his court of nobles, scribes, musicians and servants.

Sovereigns would come to divide the territory by rivalling each other in wealth and power, making alliances and waging wars. The representations of the gods and their rites demonstrate the importance of a symbolic world made up of numerous deities who were worshipped through rituals that included offerings, dances and even blood sacrifices.

Between 800 and 1000 the golden age of this great culture came to an end. Successive wars and increasing droughts led to the collapse of society, with the cities being abandoned. Maya culture would continue in new forms. In the Postclassic, cities such as Chichen Itza and Mayapan would become important commercial centres.

ROOM III: THE MEN AND WOMEN OF MAIZE

After the animals, the gods created the first human beings from corn. The sky with the characteristic blue of the Mayan culture and the volumes of their constructions inspire the atmosphere of the third room. It is time to contemplate the great stone works: stelae, panels and monumental sculptures, and to approach the profound beliefs of that culture through an understanding of the paintings of San Bartolo.

The monumental sculpture of the man with jaguar attributes, emulating the stalking posture of the feline, anticipates the contemplation of different scenes collected in impressive stelae, such as the rituals of Ceibal, or Dos Pilas, which shows the young king in the middle of a blood sacrifice ritual. The power of the sovereign can be seen in the attributes that characterise the Calakmul and Machaquilá kings. The ball-playing king, and that of Lacanha as the God of Maize, warn of the enormous importance of the sovereign in the Mayan social universe, images that contrast with that of a bound captive, on his knees and stripped of his status, about to be sacrificed, an example and propaganda of victory in battle.