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Pre-Hispanic City of Chichen-Itza

NHK World Heritage 100 Series

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Narration Text

The Mayan Universe/The Pre-Hispanic City of Chichen-Itza

The remains of Chichen Itza - a Mayan city that prospered between the 9th and 13th centuries - are hidden deep inside a dense forest on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. This used to be a games area. It’s 145 meters long and 37 meters wide. Ball games similar to football were held here as part of harvest ritual. There is a carving of a ball on this wall panel. There’s a skull inside the ball.

The winning warrior kneels down next to the ball. He has been decapitated and his blood has sprayed in all directions. The spilt blood changes to serpent heads, a symbol that he has become a god. The winner was honourably sacrificed and was believed to rise again in God’s world. This step-pyramid measures 30 meters in height including the temple at the top. It is known as Kukulcan temple and is dedicated to the Serpent God.

The front of the pyramid is facing North. There are 91 steps on each side facing the four cardinal points, making 364 steps in total. By adding a platform under the temple as a final step it makes 365, the number of days in a year. An archaeologist working on the Chichen-Itza excavation project explains the relationship between the Gods and the sun.

“The North is where Gods in the sky live, and the South is where underworld Gods live. The East and the West are where the Sun resides, rising from the East and then setting in the West. It represents a whole universe. The sun is born in the East and sleeps in the West. The sun fights against the underworld Gods at night and is reborn, passing through the top of the world in the North where the Gods reside. The sun goes around a whole universe.

This is a statue of Chac Mool, the warrior who delivers messages to the Gods. His abdomen is carved flat to be used as a sacrificial platform. Every 20 years when the Mayan calendar changes, a special offering of a sacrificed human heart was made. There are Kukulcan sculptures behind the statue. Their bodies are stretching up to the sky. People believed that the human heart would revitalize the power of the sun and a new period would begin.