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Friday, March 29, 2024

Mayan Ace

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Alright, I have to admit that I wanted the titles of all my columns this October to sound different. I made the others alliterative, while this one is melodious. In fact, I had to make myself a nice tuna-and-egg sandwich while writing this column because the title made me hungry, as it reminded me of a basic sandwich ingredient. But, that’s digressing from my topic. This week, I actually want to showcase a most respected Indian tribe.  

The majestic Kukulcan Pyramid in Chichen Itza, a Mayan masterpiece

The Mayans were regarded as one of the more intelligent tribes in the Americas’ pre-Spanish era. Historical records show that they excelled at mathematics, and were the first ones to use the number “0” as a mathematical value in computations. They were superior in agriculture, hieroglyphics, and built many temples with impressive architecture adorned with symbolic artwork. Their medical practices were quite advanced; they used human hair to suture wounds and even made prosthesis. They also had saunas or, at least, what functioned as one, to rid their bodies of external and internal impurities.

But, what’s interesting is that, although their civilization is respected by anthropologists and archaeologists alike, what was learned of their nobility raised not a few eyebrows. They were discovered to have altered their physical appearance resulting in not too pleasant images. Parents would flatten their babies’ forehead by pressing a board on it. They also dangled objects in front of their babies’ eyes until the baby became cross-eyed, as flat forehead and crossed-eyes were considered desirable features of nobility. The bridge of the nose of a nobleman was tweaked to look like a beak and his teeth were inlaid with jade. Goodness gracious! I’ve always equated nobility with dignified countenance, but this?

A stellar achievement of the Mayans was the very detailed Long-Count calendar which is highly sophisticated because it even records lunar and solar cycles, eclipses and movements of planets with great accuracy.  However, the calendar never predicted the end of the world. It’s just that it has 13 cycles totaling 2,880,000 days which ended on December 21, 2012.  Another 13 cycles started the day after, which is why you and I are still around. I bought myself a sample of this Mayan calendar because, even if I don’t know how to read it, it makes for a very attractive wall décor.  It has been eliciting praises and admiration from my office visitors since I returned from my Mexican sojourn.

The spectacular Spring Equinox demi-elliptical shadow “carving” the body of the snake connected to the head at the bottom
 

But what stands out among the valuable legacy from the Mayan civilization is the Kukulcan Pyramid, also known as El Castillo, at Chichen Itza, in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. It is one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World.  Named after the Feathered Serpent Deity of that civilization, the pyramid has 91 steps on each of the four sides. On top of the pyramid, there is a small temple perched on a platform. All the steps on the four sides, counting the top platform as the final “step,” totals 365. 

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Here’s what makes this pyramid the “ace” among Mayan structures.  A sculpture of the head of a serpent is found at the bottom of the stairs on the front side of the pyramid. During the Spring Equinox (around March 20 or 21) and Autumn Equinox (around September 22-24), the late afternoon sun strikes off the front corner of the pyramid and casts a chain of demi-elliptical shadows against the front side steps, connecting to the sculptured serpent’s head at the bottom, creating the illusion of a giant snake “crawling” down the pyramid. This unique solar-umbral display on these two dates in the year attracts tens of thousands of visitors to Chichen Itza, making the Kukulcan Pyramid the most recognized and widely visited pre-Spanish structure in present-day Mexico.

In fact, I agree with those researchers who believe that this pyramid is not only a tribute to the ingenuity of the Mayans, but is also the reason why everybody thought the world would end when the cycles in the Mayan calendar ended. Why? The pyramid was built with bare hands, without the use of sophisticated measuring instruments. The Mayans must have been so intelligent and gifted with almost superhuman mental skills and engineering acumen. They were able to perfectly position the pyramid, and the stone carvings all around it, for the sun to hit at a certain angle at a particular time of the year, creating those shadows that would “frame” the snake’s “body” and connect to its head at the bottom of the stairs. 

The colorful Mayan Long-Count calendar perking up my office wall

The common belief is that, if the Mayans knew how to build something as “perfect” as that, they probably also knew when the world would end through their calendar which, people believed, counted the days of our planet’s existence. Thank goodness, we were all wrong on this one.  

There are still millions of Mayan descendants living in Central America today. They probably are still as smart as their ancestors. Maybe I should seek them out and befriend some of them. Who knows, their superhuman intelligence could still rub off on me. It’s never too late for anything. 

Meantime, the Spring and Autumn Equinoxes beckon the curious traveler to witness the spectacular umbral-solar display at the Kukulcan Pyramid. If you prefer to go any time of the year, daily flights are available from Manila to Cancun, Mexico, which is only a two-hour drive to Chichen Itza. Entonces, estás listo para presenciar algo mágico? (So, are you ready to witness something magical?)

For feedback, I’m at [email protected]

 

YOUR MONDAY CHUCKLE:

Boy: “I got an F in Arithmetic.” 

Father: “Why?” 

Boy: “The teacher asked ‘How much is 2×3?’ and I said ‘6’” 

Father: “But that’s right!” 

Boy: “Then she asked me ‘How much is 3×2?’” 

Father: “What’s the fucking difference?” 

Boy: “That’s exactly what I said!”

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