Mayan and Ancient Egyptian Architecture: Sacred Buildings

Running Head: MAYAN AND ANCIENT EGYPTIAN ARCHITECTURE

Mayan and Ancient Egyptian Architecture: Sacred Buildings

Kevin Christensen

University of Colorado, Colorado Springs

Author Note

Kevin Christensen, Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado, Colorado

Springs

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Kevin Christensen,

Anthropology Department, University of Colorado, Colorado Spring 1420 Austin Bluffs Parkway,

Colorado Springs, CO 80918. E-Mail: [email protected]

P a g e | 2MAYAN AND ANCIENT EGYPTIAN ARCHITECTURE

Abstract

The ancient architectures of the Mayan and Egyptian people are vast and seemingly

advanced for the respect eras. There are many differences and similarities present between

the two culture’s architecture. The architecture itself ranges from the leisurely ball courts of

the Maya to the sacred pyramid of Giza built by the Egyptians; each cultural structure was

designed with purpose in mind. Egyptian buildings are normally larger than Maya buildings but

both societies had human sacrifice. The murals and hieroglyphics of the two cultures are

strikingly similar but strangely different. The Mayan calendar system is more accurate and

based on astronomy. Old architecture is being destroyed gradually and rapidly because of

humans and nature. Egyptian and Mayan burials are uncovered through tunnel systems.

Almost all of what is known about these two cultures comes from architecture that is still

standing today and most of the architecture is sacred.


Mayan and Ancient Egyptian Architecture: Sacred Buildings

Most Americans know about the Mayan and Ancient Egyptian civilizations. When an

American hears of Egyptian civilization he or she would think of pyramids in the desert. While

when mention of the Mayan civilization comes around the mind strays to temples in the jungle

and the calendar. These two civilizations are separated by thousands of years in time and a

vast ocean and yet both had polytheistic religions with accurate calendar years. The burial of

royalty has existed in both cultures for thousands of years but each has its own way of going

about it. Ancient Egyptian civilization is built along one river while the Maya civilization is built

along many rivers. Ancient Egypt had metal tools that were used in building architecture while

the Mayan people did not have metal tools until the Spanish introduced the tools to the

Mayans. Mayan temples were more open to the public of the era than Egyptian pyramids.

Both civilizations built immense and complex structures because of burial, worship of gods

through polytheism, and trying to understand the stars above. But there are many differences

between the architecture of the Maya and Ancient Egyptian due to structural use, astronomy,

and natural or manmade deterioration.

The great pyramid of Giza was built to be a tomb. Edwards (2003) notes about the

great pyramid, “the Great Pyramid was begun by King Khufu during the Fourth Dynasty of the

Old Kingdom in Egypt, which commenced with the reign of King Sneferu, approximately 2613

B.C.E., and ended with the death of King Shepseskaf circa 2500 B.C.E.” This pyramid was a true

architectural feat for that era. This pyramid was built using slave labor and stone. The majority

of the 2.3 million stone blocks weigh in between two and three tons. There is no record in


Egyptian cuneiform pertaining to how this structure was built; however, there are multiple

theories about how it was built. One theory is that a massive ramp was built against one side of

the pyramid and this ramp was added to as the pyramid was built. If used, this ramp would

have needed to be roughly 1.5 kilometers in length. It would also require about three times the

quantity of building material used in the pyramid; there is no archaeological evidence that a

ramp existed. Another theory proposed is that every individual block of stone used was put

into place through levers and packing pieces. Edwards (2003) describes the process in his

article titled Building the Great Pyramid, “Such a technique involves jacking up a block at one

side with lever and fulcrum, inserting a wooden packing piece, jacking up the opposite side of

the block in a similar manner, and then repeating the process until the desired elevation is

achieved” (p. 342). Using this method on the pyramid when it was halfway done would require

about 1500 jacking actions and 80 horizontal transfers to get a single block into place, with

more being required as more height was added. The ramp and lever methods would use too

much material or manpower respectively. The stone blocks were most likely hauled up the

faces of the pyramid on top of the blocks that were already there. (Figure 1). Water was used

to lubricate the stone and reduce friction. It would take about 50 workers three minutes to

move one block from the bottom of the pyramid into place; this is the most efficient method.

Mayan pyramids by contrast were primarily used for religious ceremonies and not as

tombs. Mayan pyramids are known as truncated pyramids and are also called step temples.

Mayans did not put as much effort into their projects because the pyramids built were not

meant to last an eternity. The Mayan temples were also constructed at a much later date.

David Drew notes in his book The Lost Chronicles of the Maya Kings, “By 500 BC, in the northern


Petén region of Guatemala the first great stone pyramids were being constructed from the

abundant outcrops and beds of limestone” (p. 7). So there is about a 2,000 year difference in

construction. Mayan temples were also much smaller and easier to construct. The Pyramid of

the Sun has a volume of 1,200,000 cubic meters while the pyramid of Giza’s volume is

2,500,000 cubic meters. The stone that is seen on the outside of the Mayan temples is

sometimes just a retaining wall holding a foundation of dirt. The temples were built in layers

and almost always symmetrically; Egyptian pyramids were symmetrical on the outside. There

was still a large workforce required for these construction projects. Mukhamediyar (2014)

notes about where the temples are built in his article posted on academia.edu, “The Maya and

other cultures of Mesoamerica frequently built new temples on top of old ones at such times

their religious beliefs directed them to do so” (p. 8). So a temple would be renovated once in a

while. Mayan temples were often covered with stucco and dyes of various colors. There is no

record of Egyptian pyramids ever being painted or covered with a decorative coating like

stucco. Egyptian pyramids were typically never put over another pyramid as that would be

desecrating a tomb and against the religious beliefs of Egypt. The temples of the Maya also had

illustrations that were related to religion.

There are also murals inside the temples that tell stories outside religion. One example

is the mural at the Temple of the Warriors in Chichen Itza, which has four sections to it. In his

article in American Antiquity, Wray (1945) notes about the first section, “The first of these

murals shows a village undergoing attack by a group of warriors” (p.25). It can be inferred that

the attackers are winning the battle because there is a line of captives being led away by

members of the attacking party. A plumed serpent is present near this part of the mural and it


signifies that Quetzalcouatl, the feathered serpent deity, was the hero of the attacking force.

The second section of murals displays a scene of water after a battle. A priest is present and

holds a knife above a person of the losing party; this means that the loser is to be sacrificed to

Quetzalcouatl. Wray (1945) mentions, “A third section of mural shows a white pyramid, on the

summit of which is a huge jaguar” (p. 26). The third section is associated with multiple objects

that include a bowl of grain, cloth, and feathered headdresses. The fourth and final section of

the mural shows a very detailed village by the coast. There is a lot of peace in this section when

compared to the others. There are warriors present but they are passing by without conflict.

Quetzalcouatl is pictured over a shrine in the village. These murals were done to display real

actions of the temple goers.

Egyptian murals are similar to Mayan murals. Most actions displayed are simply actions

that did take place. However, according to Watson (n. d.), “By contrast, images showing the

king involved in mythically related activities may represent something that was acted out”

(Touregypt.net). The murals show exaggerated slayings of enemies and are there for a

symbolic or propagandized purpose. Almost all actions depicted in Egyptian murals are there

for religious and ritualistic purposes. This is similar to Mayan murals because all of the murals

at the Temple of Warriors had the feathered serpent deity within them. The priests and kings

of Egyptian murals are enlarged due to heightened social status and religious belief. Mayan

warrior kings do not have an increased size in murals but the deities do have an increased size;

Quetzalcouatl is one example of this.


One ritual common to both cultural pyramid types are sacrifices. Spence et al. (2004)

notes about the sacrifices of the Feathered Serpent Pyramid in Teotihuacan, “One of the many

archaeological discoveries at the site, and perhaps the most significant and useful for

addressing the issue of Teotihuacan's power, is the mass sacrifice of more than 200 individuals

at the Feathered Serpent Pyramid (also known as the Temple of Quetzalcoatl)” (p. 1). All of the

individuals buried there are soldiers. The graves were excavated on the east, south, and north

faces of the pyramid. All of the bodies had their hands together behind their backs. The

artifacts the deceased were found with identified them as soldiers; the artifacts include

obsidian projectile points, necklaces of fake and real human mandibles (Figure 2), shell beads

formed like teeth, and slate disks behind their lower backs. The ethnicity of the soldiers is most

likely locals from Teotihuacan. This is known through the obsidian projectile points that are

products of Teotihuacan. All sacrifices of the Maya are to a deity and this is the only type of

sacrifice.

Egyptian sacrificed humans as well but there were two different types of sacrifices in

Egypt. The first type of sacrifice is when a human is killed and offered to a god or goddess. This

human is often a criminal or foreign prisoner. The bodies of these people were not buried; they

were burned into ashes. Kerry Muhlestein (2008) notes about executions that took place in the

Middle Kingdom in the Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, “Whether some

were decapitated or not, clearly many perpetrators were punished by burning. In all likelihood,

the prisoners were struck with a knife and then burned, as happened in other sacrifices” (p. 10).

In this case the god-king Senusret found a temple that had not been maintained properly and,

therefore, punished the workers. There are no artifacts found with these workers because


they were burned. There are records of offenders’ limbs being cut off as part of the ritual

sacrifice and execution.

The other type of Egyptian sacrifice is the killing of retainers to that they serve the

pharaoh in the afterlife. Judd and Irish (2009) make a note about this type of sacrifice in

Antiquity, “they were mostly female members of the king’s entourage and other persons, such

as servants, family, trusted friends and administrators, who voluntarily accompanied their king

to his grave” (p. 709). So this type of sacrifice was more voluntary than compulsory. However,

it was expected that if one was a servant that he or she should serve the pharaoh wherever the

pharaoh was. This was built into the religion of the Egyptian people. The retainer’s view of

being sacrificed with the pharaoh was that they would be guaranteed an eternal life through

death. The government’s hierarchy liked this form of sacrifice because it demonstrated that

the state is worth dying for, it reinforced the power of the position of the pharaoh, and it

showed that pharaohs had control over the subjects of Egypt.

The Maya had a more sophisticated and accurate calendar year system which was based

on astronomy. Mayans also have built observatories such as the Caracol Tower to watch the

stars because according to Aveini, Gibbs, and Hartung (1975) in Science, “we view the Caracol

as having been both a functioning astronomical observatory and a repository of directions of

astronomical significance” (p. 977). There are two significant sections of Caracol which are the

platforms and the tower itself. There is the lower platform, upper platform and two circular

platforms. At summer solstice the sun would set along the northern face of the bottom

platform along the horizon. The first and second circular platforms have no foreseeable


astronomical use. The upper platform was also intertwined with the sun. As Aveini, Gibbs, and

Gartung (1975) note, “The diagonal line from the southwest corner through the center point to

the northeast corner of the Upper Platform is again a precise indicator of the position of

summer solstice sunrise, while the northeast to southwest direction points to the winter

solstice sunset position” (p. 981). The Maya would hold festivals during the two zenith

passages of the sun and the platforms would be used to mark the winter and summer solstices.

The tower of Caracol has the most damage done to it. (Figure from Caracol Tower). However,

there are some windows that still exist that are associated with deities. For example, the

eastern window could be used to watch Venus and when the worshipers of Quetzalcoatl saw

Venus low in the sky it was considered to be a bad omen.

Mayan astronomers would use towers like Caracol to observe the stars, sun, and moon.

Through observations of the sun the Maya developed a solar calendar just like the Gregorian

calendar used by the west present day. However, instead of twelve months there were

eighteen 20-day periods with an additional five days at the end. There was also the ritual

calendar. The ritual calendar consisted of thirteen 20-day periods that ends with a total of 260

days. The ritual calendar length is similar to the human gestation period of about 266 days.

Two ritual calendars make up three half-year solar calendars.

The ancient Egyptian calendar is very similar to the Mayan solar calendar. The Egyptian

calendar year is mentioned by Winlock (1940), “In 2773 B.C. (mankind) dropped his New Year’s

observations and took up the 365 day year, which actually brought his seasons back into their

original places” (p. 464). It consisted of 12 months of 30 days each with five days at the end of


the year. This is just like the Mayan solar calendar. The Egyptians praised the sun as a god by

many names. When the sun was at daily zenith was known as Ra, who was ruler of all parts of

the world and underworld. A rising sun was Horus, god of hunting and war, while an evening

sun was known to be the god Atum, who would lift the pharaoh from his pyramid into heaven.

Egyptian pyramids always pointed upwards toward the sky. The Mayans only associated the

sun with one god known as Kinich Ahau and recall that the Mayans had a ritual calendar while

the Egyptians did not.

There is also no record of an observatory in Ancient Egypt. This does not mean that the

people of Egypt did not watch the stars and use them to gain orientation. The people of the

Middle Kingdom used the sky to orient the great pyramid of Giza to cardinal points with

extreme precision. In Nature magazine, Kate Spence (2000) notes about the accuracy, “The

most accurately aligned is the Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops) at Giza, also known as the Great

Pyramid, the sides of which deviate from true north by an average of less than 3 minutes of

arc” (p. 320). One degree is divided into 60 arc minutes; so, the Middle Kingdom pyramid is

very accurately aligned to true north. There are no texts from the Middle Kingdom that record

astronomical data or buildings. The pyramids after the Great Pyramid are not aligned with

nearly as good of accuracy. However, the pyramids before the Great Pyramid gradual become

more and more accurate until the Great Pyramid was built. It is theorized that pharaohs were

building pyramids to the cardinal points because of this. This was probably done with the north

star as Kate Spence (2000), notes “Experimental work has shown that a precise method of

bisecting the angle between the most easterly and westerly positions of a northern star could

potentially achieve an accuracy of within [plus or minus] 3 arcminutes; however, only one


measurement of actual pyramid alignment falls within a band of this width” (p. 320). The one

pyramid, of course, is the Great Pyramid. The two reasons why the other pyramids are not

accurate to the cardinal directions are observer error and construction error. Construction

error makes sense when every single pyramid is a large building project that takes thousands of

workers years to complete. Observer error is sensible because taking the most easterly and

westerly positions of one star in a sky of millions was hard to do.

Both the Meidum Pyramid and Pyramid of Djoser are step pyramids in original design.

The Meidum had undergone renovations so that it was no longer a step pyramid. This is just

like how the Mayan people would build new temples. According to Mendelssohn (1973), “the

building passed through three consecutive phases, the first two being step pyramids with

presumably seven and eight steps respectively, each being considered near the time of its

completion as the final form, as is testified by the smooth finish of the surface” (p. 60). The

final version of the Meidum Pyramid was superimposed over the second stepped structure.

Djoser’s Pyramid was originally built as a step pyramid and was never renovated. Mendelssohn

(1973) also notes about the buttress walls of Djoser’s Pyramid, “in Djoser’s Pyramid a step is

introduced at every second wall, the individual walls being spaced at intervals of about 5

cubits” (p.61). However, at Meidum there is only one buttress wall per step and, therefore, the

stabilizing features are at intervals of 10 cubits. This is bad for the structural integrity of

Meidum. (Figure 3).

The Meidum Pyramid is a heavily ruined pyramid. In a pyramid of well-built square

blocks the distribution of weight forces should be straight down while in a poorly built pyramid


the forces are pushed toward the outside of the pyramid. It was theorized that stone robbers

used the structure as a quarry. It is also theorized that the pyramid collapsed due to

incompletion. Mendelssohn notes on the catastrophic collapse near the final phase of

construction, “The funerary stelae in the little temple adjacent to the eastern side of the edifice

were left uninscribed and the lower stone courses of the temple remained undressed” (p. 63).

These factors are normally complete and customary on other pyramids of the time yet are not

finished on Meidum. The disaster was large enough that debris covered the lower section and

prevented the casing stones from becoming plunder. There are three facts that must be

considered around this theory. The first is that a stable step pyramid 70 meters high had been

completed in two phases of building; the second is that stability disintegrated at some point

during the addition of the stone mantle; the third is that the collapse was large enough to

engulf one fifth of the total building. The theory regarding stone robbers is credited with the

damage to the north-east corner and there is little evidence that quarrying happened

elsewhere at Meidum.

Mayan pyramids are subject to stone quarrying as well. Elizabeth Snodgrass (2013)

notes about the quarrying of one Mayan pyramid in National Geographic, “A construction

company in Belize has been scooping stone out of the major pyramid at the site of Nohmul

(meaning Big Mount), one of only 15 ancient Maya sites important enough to be noted on the

National Geographic World Atlas” (National Geographic). This site was not developed for

tourism unlike most Egyptian pyramids. Ancient Egyptian pyramids and architecture and

ancient Mayan pyramids and architecture are subject to looting. This is due to the

development of the countries in which the architecture is located. The countries do not have a


strict government institution to regulate these sites; in America, there is the National Historic

Preservation Society and every state has a State Historic Preservation Officer. In Egypt there is

a very well developed economy and system for protection of important archaeological sites.

Egyptian sites are very important to the people as a whole. In Belize there are laws that exist to

protect the sites but the country does not have a good security system to protect all of the

archaeological sites. For example, the punishment for destruction of an archaeological site in

modern day Belize is 10 years in jail or a $10,000 fine. In Ancient Egypt it was considered the

worst offense any human could do and in present day Egypt it still has harsh penalties. The

sites are normally only important locally in Belize while in Egypt the sites have national

importance.

More of the destruction of ancient architecture of the Mayan and Egyptian comes from

nature through time. Raphael Wust and James McLane (2000) note about the condition of Seti

I, “Geological investigations in the Valley of the Kings, in particular in the tomb of Seti I,

revealed that the rock structures in the Royal Tombs are rapidly deteriorating” (p. 163-190).

There are a couple of factors that have influenced this deterioration. One is that millions of

tourists have visited this tomb over the last two centuries and the tomb was closed to tourists

in 1990 to avert further destruction. Floods are another factor because they damaged wall art

and caused wall collapses. Shale is used in the construction of the tomb and when it is

submerged in water it will expand causing a change in integrity and will disintegrate if enough

water is absorbed. The tomb of Seti I is the largest Royal Tomb in the Valley of the Kings and

was discovered by Giovanni Belzoni in October 1817. The Valley of the Kings is located about

600 kilometers south of Cairo and is along the western side of the Nile River.


David Lubman (2013) notes in the article Whispering Gallery at Chichen Itza’s Great

Ballcourt: Modern anomaly or original feature, “The great importance of the ballgame in

Mesoamerica is suggested by the fact that 1560 known Mesoamerican ballcourts were

documented by the year 2000” (p. 2). The ballgame was played using a solid rubber ball and

the participates of which could only touch the ball with their knees and/or hips; Ancient Egypt

did not have rubber. Two hundred and twenty five of these are associated with Maya lowland

sites. There are two sizes of these ball courts, small or large. At the small courts it is inferred

that the game was played for exercise and leisure. The large courts had games that were

ritually enacted and not played. There would probably have been real games played on the

larger courts as well.

The great ball court at Chichen Itza is one of the larger ones. It is approximately 96

meters by 30 meters. The height is greater as well because it is over eight and one half meters

high. There are two temples present, one on each side of the court. The north temple and

south temple both have collapsed ceilings but all of the walls except the front are intact. These

two temples at the ballcourt are six meters high and 140 meters distant from each other. There

are two parallel walls that signify the playing field. These playing field walls have a flutter echo

of greater than one-point-five seconds. These walls gave officials the ability to address the

teams through the crowd noise because of this echo. The effect of these walls is noted by

Lubman (2013), “Persons standing near the center of each temple and speaking with normal

voice effort can hear each other clearly at a range of 140 m” (p. 6). This ballcourt was built to

house thousands of spectators. There is no record of Egypt having a game requiring a structure

like this.


Egyptian culture used underground tunnels as entrances to tombs in the pyramids.

Salam notes in his article in Tunneling and Underground Space Technology, “When a tomb was

being built, there were typically two gangs of workers, one for each side of the tunnel-like

tomb. Each gang had between 20 and 30 men” (p. 295-304). The construction method was

mainly rock cutting and carving after the rock had been put into place. This was a process

involving different types of workers. First there were the workers that pounded out the

apertures and tunnels of the tomb. Then a draftsman made outlines of royal figures and made

texts as well. A group of carpenters was in charge of the shaping and decorating of the tomb.

All of these tomb workers of who worked eight-hour work days were doing sacred work in the

eyes of the people. There was a chief scribe that controlled many aspects of tomb tunnel work,

which this included the tools, pay, recording of absences, and recording of problems at work.

The Mayan people did build tombs to house dead kings but they did not build tunnel

systems. Zach Zorich (2009) notes, “Archaeologists have dug more than two miles of tunnels

through the Acropolis, every foot of space paid for with hours of labor and at the cost of

destabilizing the stones above it” (p. 38-42). The Acropolis includes the two pyramids Agurcia

and Oropendola. The pyramid Agurcia, the chief archaeologist, is excavating a pyramid known

as Rosalila and it holds the tomb of the first king of Copan, which Copan lays in north central

Honduras. The king’s name was Sun-Eyed Resplendent Quetzal Macaw. He came to power in

426 A.D.. Rosalilia uses more plaster in decorating when compared to Oropendola.

Oropendola has a tomb of a king beneath it as well, but there is no information pertaining to a

name. This king of Oropendola had a layer of mercury oxide that coated his body. Two

necklaces and engraved jade signify that he was a king. Zorich (2009) records, “A large chunk of


jade carved into the symbol for the Maya word "K 'inich," meaning "Eye of the Sun" or

"Embodiment of the Sun," had been placed in the corpses mouth” (p.38-42). This shows that

he was associated with the sun and that he must have had a powerful position in society. One

necklace that contains jade was carved in the imitation of a monkey head. This symbol means

the word “Ahau” in Mayan which translates to “Lord”; the direct meaning in this is that he was

high ranking in society. Another necklace was present that was comprised of 20 jade beads and

40 shell beads. This necklace is not as significant in relationship to his hegemony because it

shows no relation to a powerful position in society.

James Fitzsimmons (2003) notes about the burial of a Mayan in the journal Latin

American Antiquity, “Excavation of a small Maya ceremonial structure at the site of Piedras

Negras, Guatemala, has revealed a Late Classic period (ca. A.D. 600-900) vaulted tomb

containing the remains of a young member of the royal family whom we identify as "Night-time

Turtle." (p. 449). It is theorized that this person was a prince due to the hieroglyphics that were

found nearby. He is estimated to be approximately 15-16 years old. This burial also had

elaborate treatment just like the two kings mentioned above. Where this tomb is, however, is

within a structure that faces the southern ends of the site. This is significant because any

visitors to the palace and royal precinct around it would have encountered this building.

Piedras Negras was a city that traded and negotiated just like almost all Maya cities in the Late

Classic period. Therefore, this building containing the tomb was to represent the city of Piedras

Negras and accordingly the building is heavily stuccoed both externally and internally.


Mayan and Ancient Egyptian architecture has its similarities and differences. Ancient

Egyptian pyramids are exclusively built as tombs for the afterlife. Mayan pyramids were

constructed to hold public rituals with a few pyramids having exceptions to this. Sacrifices

existed in both cultures. There were voluntary and involuntary. Egyptian pyramids were also

larger work projects than Mayan pyramids. The Pyramid of Giza was twice as large as the

Mayan Pyramid of the Sun. Mayan temples and pyramids were often decorated internally and

externally with stucco coatings and there is no record of Egypt decorating the outside of

pyramids. Egypt did decorate the interior with murals and hieroglyphics. Each culture had its

own system of murals and hieroglyphics. Ball courts were unique to Mayan culture and there is

no record of a leisure ball game in Ancient Egypt. There is no record of a game involving an

architectural building of any sort in Egypt. There was no observatory built by the Egyptian

people yet there are pyramids in alignment with the cardinal directions due to astronomical

observations. The Mayan people would use observatories like the Caracol Tower to know when

to start ceremonies and rituals. Both developed calendars that are very accurate to the current

calendar year yet the Mayan calendar was more accurate. The Mayan people also had two

separate calendars. One was for rituals and ceremonies. The other was to document the

seasons through the sun. Present day architecture of both cultures is being eroded away

because of natural and manmade reasons. There are pyramids of the Mayan people that hold

the remains of high caste individuals. The two cultures shared concepts in burial, polytheism,

and astronomy through architecture but had vast differences in structural use and design,

astronomy, and deterioration.


Figure 1. Representation of hauling forces up the face of the pyramid


Figure 2. Picture of mandible found in the Feathered Serpent Pyramid in Teotihuacan


Figure 3. Number and position of buttress walls in I (a) the Step Pyramid at Saqqara and I (b) the Meidum Pyramid.


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