Do RCs KnOw About Mayan Frieze?

7/27/2019 Do RCs KnOw About Mayan Frieze?

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Do Roman Catholics KnOw?

Mayan F rieze Reveals Power Struggle I n

Ancient Empire
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/lifestyle/slideshow/2013/08/08/mayan-frieze-reveals-ancient-power-struggle/?intcmp=relatedhttp://latino.foxnews.com/latino/lifestyle/slideshow/2013/08/08/mayan-frieze-reveals-ancient-power-struggle/?intcmp=related


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Hidden for centuries inside a pyramid in the Guatemalan jungle,

archaeologists recently uncovered an enormous frieze that reveals the power

of the Mayan empire and its ornate, artistic talent.

The 26-foot by nearly seven-foot frieze was discovered last month at a dig in the north east

Petn region of the country, at the Holmul archaeological site. Depicting human figures in a

mythological setting and featuring brightly colored paintings, the artwork depicts a battle

of superpowers and suggests that the Mayans may have deified their rulers.

Archaeologists excavating the site believe that the frieze depicts a struggle for power between

the kings of Kaanul - the Snake Kingdom - and the kings of Tikal.

Found in the 65 foot high, rectangular pyramid built in northern Guatemala sometime during the

sixth century, the frieze has been touted as one of the best preserved pieces of Mayan art to ever

be discovered.

"It's 95 percent preserved. There's only one corner that's not well preserved because it's too

close to the surface, but the rest of it isn't missing any parts,"said Francisco Estrada-Belli, who

is affiliated with Tulane University, Boston University, and the American Museum of Natural

History, according to National Geographic .

The research is being funded by the National Geographic Society/Waitt Grants Program.

It is thought that the frieze dates back to around 590 A.D. when the Kaanul and Tikal kingdoms

were at war with one another over control of resources and smaller Mayan city-states. Before the

discover of the frieze, it was not known who the Mayans at Holmul paid allegiance to, but after

studying the artwork archaeologists discovered that the Molmul Mayans were vassals of Kaanul.

"We're now beginning to appreciate how all these hierarchical levels of sites were involved in a

larger political game that put them on [the side of either Tikal or Kaanul],"said Marcello

Canuto, the director of the Middle American Research Institute at Tulane University in New

Orleans.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/08/pictures/130807-maya-frieze-discovered-holmul-guatemala-archaeology/#/new-maya-frieze-overview_70155_600x450.jpghttp://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/08/pictures/130807-maya-frieze-discovered-holmul-guatemala-archaeology/#/new-maya-frieze-overview_70155_600x450.jpg


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Previous studies by archaeologists found that Holmul was of strategic importance to both Mayan

kingdoms because it lay on the east-west route between Kaanul's capital of Dzibanche and

Tikals capital of the same name as well as along the north-south route that led to resource-rich

northern highlands of Guatemala. The highlands contained large deposits of basalt, obsidian and

the prized jade.

"A [Maya] king without jade was no king at all,"Canuto said.

While there are fears of tome raiders, the frieze will remain in place at Homul as it is too large to

move.

"We're going to try to preserve it and create a stable environment around it so people can

eventually visit it,"Estrada-Belli said. "We're very concerned about its present condition, so we

had to re-bury the entrance tunnel to keep the humidity and climate around it stable.

Read more: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/lifestyle/2013/08/08/mayan-frieze-reveals-power-struggle-in-ancient-

empire/#ixzz2bQJTOqkB
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/lifestyle/2013/08/08/mayan-frieze-reveals-power-struggle-in-ancient-empire/#ixzz2bQJTOqkBhttp://latino.foxnews.com/latino/lifestyle/2013/08/08/mayan-frieze-reveals-power-struggle-in-ancient-empire/#ixzz2bQJTOqkBhttp://latino.foxnews.com/latino/lifestyle/2013/08/08/mayan-frieze-reveals-power-struggle-in-ancient-empire/#ixzz2bQJTOqkBhttp://latino.foxnews.com/latino/lifestyle/2013/08/08/mayan-frieze-reveals-power-struggle-in-ancient-empire/#ixzz2bQJTOqkB


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Inside a Maya pyramid, mysterious carvings

hint at superpower struggle

F. Estrada-Belli / Proyecto Arqueologico HolmulA wide-angle photo of the Maya frieze in Guatemala shows archaeologist Anya Shetler cleaning an inscription.

Archaeologists say a beautiful, monumental Maya carving, hidden inside a pyramid in

Guatemala, shows how one 6th-century superpower asserted its influence over its rival.

The stucco frieze was discovered last month at the Holmul archaeological dig in Guatemala's

northeastern Peten region. The carving and its accompanying inscriptions suggest that the

region's rulers weren't just squabbling warlords, said Francisco Estrada-Belli, director of the

Holmul Archaeological Project. Instead, those rulers were enmeshed in a bigger political clash

between the kings of Tikal and the rulers of Kaanul, also known as the Snake Kingdom.
http://www.bu.edu/holmul/http://www.bu.edu/holmul/http://www.bu.edu/holmul/


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"It's all a grand scheme of building a Maya empire,"Estrada-Belli said. "Sometimes the Kaanulkings were on top. Sometimes Tikal was on top. But there was nothing chaotic about it."


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F. Estrada-Belli

Archaeologist Francisco Estrada-Belli examines the newly found Holmul frieze.

How the frieze was found

Estrada-Belli and his colleagues uncovered the frieze while they were excavating a 65-foot-high

(20-meter-high) pyramid that was built over it in the 8th century. Estrada-Belli specializes in an

earlier period in Maya history, and he was hoping to run across Preclassic Maya artifacts datingback to the year 250 or earlier. Instead, the archaeologists came upon the top of a Classic Mayabuilding, decorated with a carving measuring roughly 26 feet (8 meters) wide and 6 feet (2

meters) high.

The carving shows three human figures wearing elaborate bird headdresses and jade jewels,seated cross-legged over the head of a mountain spirit. Two feathered serpents emerge from the

mountain spirit beneath the central character, framing two gods who hold signs reading " Fi rst

Tamale."

The bottom of the frieze is adorned with a band of about 30 glyphs, declaring that the edifice was

commissioned by the ruler of Naranjo, a powerful kingdom south of Holmul. The inscriptiondescribes the ruler, known as Ajwosaj Chan K'inich, as a "vassal of the Kaanul king" that is,the Snake Lord.

"I was very excited when I saw that snake head on the glyph," Estrada-Belli told NBC News.

"This fills a nice void in terms of the line of alliances to the east of Tikal, against Tikal. ... Eventhough this is a small site, we're feeling the influence of a greater power, which is the Kaanul

kingdom."

Alexandre Tokovinine CMHI of Harvard University / Proyecto Arqueologico Holmul

This photomosaic shows the Maya frieze. For a larger version: http://bit.ly/maya-frieze
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/4901704/ns/technology_and_science-science/t/lost-maya-city-rediscovered/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/4901704/ns/technology_and_science-science/t/lost-maya-city-rediscovered/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/4901704/ns/technology_and_science-science/t/lost-maya-city-rediscovered/


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Alexandre Tokovinine CMHI of Harvard University / Proyecto Arqueologico HolmulA drawing shows the frieze design. For a larger version: http://bit.ly/maya-sketch

Alex Tokovinine, a Harvard specialist in Maya writing who deciphered the inscription, said the

text indicates that the building and its frieze were erected sometime around the year 590 notlong after Tikal suffered a major defeat in the year 562. For almost two centuries after that, the

Kaanul kingdom's Snake Lords and their allies were dominant in the Maya lowlands.

The inscription suggests that Ajwosaj came in from Naranjo on behalf of the Snake Lords, to re-

establish the local political and religious order after Holmul passed from Tikal to Kaanul control.The carvings may represent the deified kings of a former age, as dictated by Ajwosaj.


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NBC News file

A map of the Yucatan Peninsula indicates Holmul as well as Tikal and Calakmul, a center of the Snake Kingdom.

"He's doing some kind of reorganization, not only for this site, but the region surrounding the

site," Tokovinine told NBC News. "It shows the complexity of the Classic Maya political and

religious world."

During roughly the same time frame, the Snake Lords were also expanding their influence in a

region farther to the west, known as El Peru-Waka. That side of the power struggle with Tikal

has been documented by adifferent team of archaeologists. Estrada-Belli said the newly

discovered frieze at Holmul provides evidence of an "eastern front" in the Tikal-vs.-Snake

superpower struggle.

The new frieze is important, said David Freide, an anthropologist at Washington University in

St. Louis who plays a leading role in the El Peru-Waka project. Estrada-Belli discovered

evidence that the conquest of Tikal was celebrated in the Holmul zone. Eventually this eastern

corridor was commanded by the Snake kings, but because they used Caracol to reconquer

Naranjo after its king went back to the Tikal side in the early 7th century, those two vassals of

the Snakes became deadly enemies.

More mysteries await

This years investigation was endorsed by Guatemalas Ministry of Culture, with funding from

Guatemalas PACUNAM foundation and the U.S.-based Alphawood Foundation, as well as

support from Boston University, the National Geographic Society/Waitt Grants Program and

private donors.

There are many more mysteries yet to be uncovered: During their previous excavations at the

Holmul site, Estrada-Belli and his colleagues came across the undisturbed tomb of a high-status

male accompanied by 28 decorated ceramic vessels and a wooden funerary mask. The man's

incisors and canine teeth had been drilled and filled with jade beads. Estrada-Belli suspects that

the man may have been a member of Holmul's ruling class, but further study will be required to

fill out the story.
http://www.nbcnews.com/science/ancient-monument-adds-spicy-twist-maya-game-thrones-saga-6C10658005http://www.nbcnews.com/science/ancient-monument-adds-spicy-twist-maya-game-thrones-saga-6C10658005http://www.nbcnews.com/science/ancient-monument-adds-spicy-twist-maya-game-thrones-saga-6C10658005http://www.nbcnews.com/science/ancient-monument-adds-spicy-twist-maya-game-thrones-saga-6C10658005


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Jesus Lopez

The remains of an adult male and dozens of decorated ceramic vessels were found in a tomb near the Maya frieze.

"Lo and behold, we have this wonderful frieze full of characters,"Estrada-Belli said. "One of

them might be the guy who's buried in this building. We just don't know."

The archaeologists haven't yet gotten a chance to see what's inside the building they found inside

the larger pyramid. And due to the onset of the rainy season in Guatemala, they'll have to waituntil next spring to resume work. Even though the site is being monitored to guard againstlooting, Estrada-Belli still worries about the mysterious structure.

"I feel like I'm not going to be able to sleep until I go back and see that nothing has happened to

it,"Estrada-Belli said.

References:

http://www.newser.com/story/172246/large-mayan-frieze-found-in-guatemala.html

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/inside-maya-pyramid-mysterious-carvings-hint-superpower-struggle-

6C10861128
http://www.newser.com/story/172246/large-mayan-frieze-found-in-guatemala.htmlhttp://www.newser.com/story/172246/large-mayan-frieze-found-in-guatemala.htmlhttp://www.nbcnews.com/science/inside-maya-pyramid-mysterious-carvings-hint-superpower-struggle-6C10861128http://www.nbcnews.com/science/inside-maya-pyramid-mysterious-carvings-hint-superpower-struggle-6C10861128http://www.nbcnews.com/science/inside-maya-pyramid-mysterious-carvings-hint-superpower-struggle-6C10861128http://www.nbcnews.com/science/inside-maya-pyramid-mysterious-carvings-hint-superpower-struggle-6C10861128http://www.nbcnews.com/science/inside-maya-pyramid-mysterious-carvings-hint-superpower-struggle-6C10861128http://www.newser.com/story/172246/large-mayan-frieze-found-in-guatemala.html

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Do RCs KnOw About Mayan Frieze?