The land we currently know as Guatemala was ages ago inhabited by a highly advanced ancient civilization known as the Maya. When it comes to arts and sciences including astronomy, writing and mathematics, these members who are well known as Mayans have the great knowledge and skills. There's no question of the contemporary generation being extremely advanced on these subjects but most of the foundation for this sophistication was laid throughout the time of the ancient civilization including the Maya.
Just imagine if our system of writing adopted the Mayan's system of using 800 glyphs or symbols. The majority of us would be so puzzled that having spent a month dealing with the syllables we'd be thankful to go back to the 26 alphabets that we're acquainted with. But did you know that in its time the Mayan writing was one of the most advanced at the same time the first of the dialects to have evolved in America? One of the thriving and vibrant cities of ancient Mayan civilization was Tikal and parts of this region's Mayan ruins discovered have been described as being typical of Mayan writings.
The glyph is deemed to be the Mayan correspondent of the contemporary alphabet and it is not pure as it's a syllable which can be interpreted in many different ways unlike a "pure" form which is rigid in its form. It was the Stela or the tall stone shafts which served as the medium on which the glyphs were engraved and one credited for being the most ancient is Stela 29 traced 292 AD in Tikal. Generally known as "stelae" in plural form, these served as sculpted banners by which the accomplishments of the king were praised and mentioned. Among the many Mayan ruins, it is these same-sized blocks of texts which happen to have engaged historians through decades and have provided an invaluable understanding of a time quondam. Hieroglyphics as what it is being referred to, the Mayan writing system in general is complex and hence the most descriptive evidence of the Mayan rulers of the 5 centuries past.
Advancing archeological findings with regard to the Mayan ruins have confirmed that the cultural center of the Mayan civilization was Tikal and that the Mayans were the epitome of knowledge during their time. Apart from having improved an incredibly advanced writing system that has suffered until this very day, Mayans excelled in subjects like astronomy and mathematics. As the uncovering of significant reservoirs in Tikal has revealed, numbers and calculations were not just limited to calendars and religion, but utilized for improving the day-to-day standard of living of people at the same time.
Therefore, how were the Mayans able to conduct such mammoth calculations with precision that was unmatched? As just stated it is the Mayan ruins which shown that they used a bar-dot numeration system by which a dot indicated 1 and a bar indicated 5 and the like the counting went right up until 20, which implies zero was also included. This earliest avatar of binary system enabled the Mayan engineers to accomplish impressive engineering feats like huge reservoirs in Tikal which supplied the city's needs as it is capable of holding several million gallons of water.
Astronomy was an integral part of their intellectual diet as Mayans were particularly fond of designing calendars. To a large degree Mayans considered astronomy as being a definite extension of mathematics and proof of this is clear through among the Mayan ruins that is a north-south aligned astronomical observatory. Even though they were mindful of the solar and lunar cycles and various constellations, they were specifically enamored with planet Venus whom they thought to be being the partner of the sun. They have great respect for this planet that the demonstration of its first appearance at dawn was celebrated as the most auspicious for the attacker in a war. This points out the time period of beginning of the Star War, a full fledged war waged during ancient times, which had been launched from Tikal.
Exploring Guatemala and the Mayan ruins is amongst the best ways to see and experience the heart of this ancient civilization.
Just imagine if our system of writing adopted the Mayan's system of using 800 glyphs or symbols. The majority of us would be so puzzled that having spent a month dealing with the syllables we'd be thankful to go back to the 26 alphabets that we're acquainted with. But did you know that in its time the Mayan writing was one of the most advanced at the same time the first of the dialects to have evolved in America? One of the thriving and vibrant cities of ancient Mayan civilization was Tikal and parts of this region's Mayan ruins discovered have been described as being typical of Mayan writings.
The glyph is deemed to be the Mayan correspondent of the contemporary alphabet and it is not pure as it's a syllable which can be interpreted in many different ways unlike a "pure" form which is rigid in its form. It was the Stela or the tall stone shafts which served as the medium on which the glyphs were engraved and one credited for being the most ancient is Stela 29 traced 292 AD in Tikal. Generally known as "stelae" in plural form, these served as sculpted banners by which the accomplishments of the king were praised and mentioned. Among the many Mayan ruins, it is these same-sized blocks of texts which happen to have engaged historians through decades and have provided an invaluable understanding of a time quondam. Hieroglyphics as what it is being referred to, the Mayan writing system in general is complex and hence the most descriptive evidence of the Mayan rulers of the 5 centuries past.
Advancing archeological findings with regard to the Mayan ruins have confirmed that the cultural center of the Mayan civilization was Tikal and that the Mayans were the epitome of knowledge during their time. Apart from having improved an incredibly advanced writing system that has suffered until this very day, Mayans excelled in subjects like astronomy and mathematics. As the uncovering of significant reservoirs in Tikal has revealed, numbers and calculations were not just limited to calendars and religion, but utilized for improving the day-to-day standard of living of people at the same time.
Therefore, how were the Mayans able to conduct such mammoth calculations with precision that was unmatched? As just stated it is the Mayan ruins which shown that they used a bar-dot numeration system by which a dot indicated 1 and a bar indicated 5 and the like the counting went right up until 20, which implies zero was also included. This earliest avatar of binary system enabled the Mayan engineers to accomplish impressive engineering feats like huge reservoirs in Tikal which supplied the city's needs as it is capable of holding several million gallons of water.
Astronomy was an integral part of their intellectual diet as Mayans were particularly fond of designing calendars. To a large degree Mayans considered astronomy as being a definite extension of mathematics and proof of this is clear through among the Mayan ruins that is a north-south aligned astronomical observatory. Even though they were mindful of the solar and lunar cycles and various constellations, they were specifically enamored with planet Venus whom they thought to be being the partner of the sun. They have great respect for this planet that the demonstration of its first appearance at dawn was celebrated as the most auspicious for the attacker in a war. This points out the time period of beginning of the Star War, a full fledged war waged during ancient times, which had been launched from Tikal.
Exploring Guatemala and the Mayan ruins is amongst the best ways to see and experience the heart of this ancient civilization.
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Unknown - Thursday, December 6, 2012
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