Chichen Itza has had a long and varied history. Founded by the Mayas
about 500 A. D. in their northern migrations from their original homes
in Honduras and Guatemala, abandoned for four hundred years and settled
again about the year 1000, Chichen was now to have two hundred years
of growth and prosperity. Many of the older buildings still standing,
date from this period. The famous League of Mayapan, Uxmal, and Chichen
Itza, was a working alliance which resulted in all the cities of
Yucatan making great strides forward in many of the arts. Several of
the more famous structures at Chichen were erected in this epoch. Our
story begins with the disruption of this League, when Mayapan brought
in Mexican forces to prey upon the other cities of the peninsula. Peace
gave way to many years of civil strife. The final destruction of
Mayapan, about the middle of the fifteenth century, marked the end of
the Maya civilization. The Spaniards found only the lingering remnants
of the former splendor.
None of the ruined cities of Yucatan is more wonderful than Chichen
Itza, stately and grand even now when many of its temples have fallen
into decay, and others are buried in the depths of the forest. The
sharp outlines of the Great Pyramid still rise above the level line
of the trees of the jungle. The fine proportions of the pyramid, and
the temple still standing on its top, mark it as perhaps the most
complete and perfect building still extant in the whole Maya area. The
substantial walls of the Ball Court remain as solid as when they were
built. One of the stone rings still projects from the wall, a witness
to the love of sport of the ancient people. The beautiful Temple of the
Tigers, standing on the end of one of the walls, has been a prey to the
devastating forces of man, of beast, and of nature. Vines and the roots
of trees have gained a foothold on the roof, and many of the carved
stones have fallen. Iguanas run in all directions when the chance
visitor approaches. The frescoes of the inner chamber are but blurred
remains of a former art.
And the Cenote of Sacrifice, that famous well, so vividly described by
the early Christian priests, is now but a deserted shrine. Trailing
vines, ferns, and palms almost cover the precipitous sides. The dark
green waters are almost concealed by the slime of decaying vegetation.
But the sight of the silent, sinister pool, surrounded by the unbroken
forest, makes it easy, even now, to picture the scenes of sacrifice
which it has witnessed.
The country is still peopled by the Mayas but their greatness is a
thing of the past. The present-day native may well pause to wonder what
the ruined buildings of his country were really for. He knows only
what his white masters have told him. “They are the temples of your
ancestors who have had a past unequaled in the early history of the New
World, a past stretching back almost to the beginning of the Christian
Era.” He only shakes his head and murmurs in his adopted language,
“_Quien sabe_.”
The Maya civilization formerly embraced the whole peninsula of Yucatan,
Chiapas and Tabasco, states of Mexico, the greater part of Guatemala,
British Honduras, northern Honduras, and northern Salvador. This
country is still occupied in general with peoples speaking various
dialects of the Maya language.
The Mayas, both linguistically and culturally, are distinct from the
Zapotecs in Oaxaca and the Nahua-Aztec peoples of Central Mexico. There
is little doubt, however, that all the cultures of Mexico and Central
America go back to a common origin. The Maya civilization is older
than that of the Toltecs in Mexico which, in turn, preceded that of
the Aztecs. The Toltec culture greatly influenced the late Maya of
northern Yucatan about 1200 A. D.