

Tikal, one of the Greatest Maya cities of Guatemala.
The great Maya cities of Central America have always presented a mystery: how did their populations, in the tens of thousands, survive in the unforgiving tropical rainforest environment? And why, having flourished for centuries, were they abandoned around AD 900?
Theories have abounded ever since the explorer John Lloyd Stephens visited the city of Copan in 1839 and wrote the best-selling Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan. He declined to speculate whether Copan “fell by the sword, or famine, or pestilence”, but thought that “we might one day unveil the mystery that hung over the city”.
Tikal was the capital of a conquest state that became one of the most powerful kingdoms of the ancient Maya.
Though monumental architecture at the site dates back as far as the 4th century BC, Tikal reached its apogee during the Classic Period, ca. 200 to 900 AD. During this time, the city dominated much of the Maya region politically, economically, and militarily, while interacting with areas throughout Mesoamerica such as the great metropolis of Teotihuacan in the distant Valley of Mexico.
There is evidence that Tikal was conquered by Teotihuacan in the 4th century AD. Following the end of the Late Classic Period, no new major monuments were built at Tikal and there is evidence that elite palaces were burned. These events were coupled with a gradual population decline, culminating with the site’s abandonment by the end of the 10th century.
Tikal is the best understood of any of the large lowland Maya cities, with a long dynastic ruler list, the discovery of the tombs of many of the rulers on this list and the investigation of their monuments, temples and palaces.

UNESCO designated the ruins a World Heritage Site in 1979. Today Tikal is to Guatemala what the Great Pyramids are to Egypt, a national symbol and a significant source of income for the country’s economy.
Source: www.tikalnationalpark.org
Comments
more recommended stories
As usually for the last 30 years, Cancun will draw thousands of college students for “Spring Break 2019”
College students all over the US and.
AAA Adds Five Hotels in Mexico to Five Diamond List (two of them in the Yucatan Peninsula)
AAA has released its annual list of.
Yucatan Symphony Orchestra celebrates 15 years
The Yucatan Symphony Orchestra (OSY) will.
Municipal government began installing cultural-sites signage along Mérida’s downtown
With an investment of 170,000 pesos,.
19-year-old girl missing in Mérida finally found safe and sound
A 19-year-old girl left her home.
Whomever accuses the Church is related to the devil: Pope Francis
ROME (EFE).- Pope Francis criticized on.
Canadian company in Yucatan leaves hundreds of employees “hanging”
Workers ask for the intervention of.
Mérida’s Colonia Industrial residents concerned about lack of water
MERIDA .- “We have absolutely no.
Renán Barrera joins forces with Boy Scouts to preserve Mérida’s environment
With high-impact goals that will further.
FORBES travel expert features editorial on Tulum’s “Taste Of Mexico Festival”
Lauren Mowery: author, Forbes.com contributor and Travel.
Leave a Comment