#mesoamerican
A #Mayan legend says that the #Quetzal or #Kuk was born of the breath of the gods #Kukulkan and #Tepeu ..
With the divine breath, the leaves of the #Guayacan tree fell. As they fell, they took the shape of this bird.
In the #MesoAmerican #cosmology the quetzal is a symbol of fertility, abundance, and power,.
The quetzal is sacred, and the legend tells that prior to colonization, this bird used to sing beautifully.
Once the Spaniards colonized MesoAmerica, the quetzal became silent, its song has not been heard if since.
It will sing once more when the land is truly free again.
#decolonize
Post link
Maya jadeite earflare, 3 cm high (1 ¼ in)
Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, 3rd–9th century
These two nesting ornaments represent one half of a pair of earflares. Set into a wide perforation in the wearer’s earlobe, these ornaments would have been anchored in place in various ways. In some cases, a bead (or beads) were set into the front of the earflare, anchoring it with the help of a set of beaded counterweights that were threaded through the earflare and hung behind the earlobe. Another possibility is that an L-shaped plug (likely made of wood) was fitted through the earflare’s central opening, or stem, from the back, holding the entire assemblage in place, snug against the wearer’s ear. […]
The artist responsible for these ornaments was clearly a master of his craft, coaxing this stubborn stone not only into a flawlessly nested pair of earflares, but carving them down to a remarkable 1-2mm thickness—making them translucent when held in front of a bright light. Maya jade carvers more frequently focused on bringing out the most saturated, richest greens of jade rather than creating transparent effects, so this delicate translucency is unusual.
The fact that jade endured, unchanged, for centuries, connected it to ideas of timelessness, permanency, and longevity. It is not surprising, then, that sets of nesting jade earflares are found most frequently with jade “death masks,” which were placed over the faces of deceased rulers at Maya sites (including Palenque, Calakmul, Oxkintok, and Dzibanché) to convey a sense of eternal life to the departed.Source:The Metropolitan Museum
Post link
Yaxha
.
⚫It is a Mesoamerican archaeological site and the third largest city in the l the Petén Basin region, Guatemala.
⚫The name of the city derives from the Mayan for “blue-green water”.
⚫The Yaxha kingdom is estimated to have covered an area of 237 square kilometres (92 sq mi) and to have had a peak population of 42,000.
⚫The site has more than 500 structures, including about 40 stelae, 13 Altars, 9 temple pyramids, 2 Mesoamerican ballcourts, and a network of causeways.
⚫The site also contain a twin-pyramid complex which was an architectural innovation of the Maya civilization of ancient Mesoamerica.
⚫Twin-pyramid complexes were regularly built to celebrate the end of the 20-year kʼatun cycle of the Maya Long Count Calendar.
⚫A kʼatun is a unit of time in the Maya calendar equal to 7200 days, equivalent to 19.713 tropical years.
.
.
FOLLOW me @Historical_grams to enjoy more and more posts about our world’s marvelous History.❤
.
.
#yaxha #peten #guatemala #maya #pyramid #temple #mesoamerican #mayan #calendar #structure #explorepage #archaeology #history #ancient #art #world #traveling #discovery #historical_grams #travel #archaeological #historic #london #paris #photography #usa #vacation #travelphotography #featured (at Guatemala City, Guatemala)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CSyKiVFHm8I/?utm_medium=tumblr
Post link
Tenochtitlan
July 1st 1530. Cortés and his men escape from Tenochtitlan, city of the Aztecs, only the ones who discarded the gold made it to the boats.
