by Linda McManus | Feb 17, 2014 | Maya Language
Akuml means “place of the turtle”
Alux, h’lox, or more fully h’loxkatob. The meaning is “the strong clay images.”
Atole. Nahuan atolli, or atlaolli. Corn-meal gruel.
Balám. Tiger or mountain-lion. The word was applied also to a class of priests and to kings as a title of distinction.
Balché. A fermented liquor made from wild honey and the bark of a tree.
Buhul, buuhul. A section of a stick of wood split lengthwise in the middle.
Bulihuah. Tortillas made of corn-meal and beans. From bul or buul, beans; uah, tortilla. (more…)
by Linda McManus | Feb 15, 2014 | Mayan Artwork, Mayan Superstition and beliefs
Yum Kaax
Figure 6. Yum Kaax
Itzamna
Figure 1. Itzamna – chief deity of the Maya Pantheon
Kukulcan
Figure 2. Kukulcan – god with a snake like tongue
by Linda McManus | Feb 15, 2014 | Mayan Cities, Mayan Culture, Mayan Ruins
An old but interesting read on the age of the ancient Maya ruins:
ON THE AGE OF MAYA RUINS
BY CHARLES P. BOWDITCH
(From the American Anthropologist (N. S.), Vol. 3, October-December, 1901)
NEW YORK
G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS
1901
[697]
ON THE AGE OF MAYA RUINS
By CHARLES P. BOWDITCH
The inscription lately discovered in Chichen Itza by Edward H. Thompson, United States Consul at Merida, is of more than passing interest. It contains an Initial Series of glyphs, which, so far as I know, gives the only initial date that has been found in the northern part of Yucatan. (more…)
by Linda McManus | Jul 16, 2013 | Mayan Customs
The Maya were a civilization with some of the most eccentric types of customs ever known to man. Actually, not all of its Mayan customs were that eccentric. The fact of the matter is, a few of their customs are akin to other different customs from different countries around the world. However, a few of them were really considered by most people as eccentric. Well, after all, these customs of the Maya were thriving before the Spaniards came and took over their lands hundreds of years ago and most of their customs were existing thousands of years before that. (more…)
by Linda McManus | Jul 12, 2013 | Mayan Culture
Egypt and Rome were among the earliest human civilizations and so were the Maya. The Mayans can be considered as one of the earliest developed human civilization because they were noted for the fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, meaning, before Columbus even discovered America. It is a Mesoamerican civilization and it was discovered that the Mayans were well-known for their art, architecture, mathematical and astronomical systems. So that one can fully imagine what a Mayan civilization looks like, think of it as today’s New York City or London, England.
There are many things that people find fascinating about Maya and the Mayans. Among them is Mayan sculpture. Most of the sculptures that were found are made of stone. One can see the main sculptural style of the Mayans in Izapa, a large settlement on the Pacific coast where one can find a lot of stelas and frog-shaped altars. (more…)
