Chichen Itza Savannah Stephens

Information Chichen Itza means “at the mouth of the Itza well” It is a Mayan city on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. It’s the 2nd most visited site in Mexico. Chichen Itza became one of the new seven wonders of the world on July 7th, 2007. (7/7/07) EL Castillo

The Basics of Chichen Itza Chichen Itza is a city built in the state of Yucatan in Mexico. It covers about six square miles and was made to be a religious center for the Mayans. The city was built in the typical Mayan style of the 7th to 10th century A.D. A second half of the city was added when it was taken over by the Toltecs. It was built in the typical Toltec/Mayan style of the 10th to 13th Century A.D. (see right)

Cenotes Cenote of Sacrifice Chichen Itza was mostly agricultural, the reason being because of the three sinkholes located nearby. They were called Cenotes and provided plenty of water. Because of the perfect location of Chichen Itza, the city became a city of art, sciences, and ceremonies. One of the Cenotes, however, was used for sacrifice. (see left) When the Toltecs merged with the Mayans, they brought with them their way of life, including sacrifice to appease their gods. Sacrifices included pottery, jewels, and even humans. Cenote of Sacrifice

Kukulcan's Pyramid Kukulcan’s Pyramid is also known as El Castillo. It’s a square-based pyramid about 75 feet tall built for astronomical purposes. At the vernal and autumnal equinox, at about 3pm, sunlight hits the western balustrade of the pyramid’s main staircase, causing 7 isosceles triangles to form, imitating the body of a serpent. The serpent’s head is carved into the stone at the bottom of the stairway. The body slowly grows until it connects to the head. The shadow serpent is a total of about 37 yards long. Shadow serpent

Temple of Warriors The temple is named for the more then 1000 total stone columns with Toltec warriors carved in the side. The temple of warriors is dedicated to the god Chac-Mool, known because of the Chac masks on either side of the staircase, and the reclining statue of the god in the center of the temple. Along the west side of the temple, where about 800 of the columns are, they was probably a thatched roof over the columns. Guides usually refer to the place as the marketplace of Chichen Itza.

The Great Ball Court The great ball court at Chichen Itza is 545 feet long and 225 feet wide (the whole area included.) And is totally opened to the sky. Each end has a raised ‘temple’ area. A whisper can be heard clearly from one end to the other, and is not affected by wind or time of day/night. To this day, is not explained how that is possible. Many different ball games were played here, but the most played was a game called pok ta pok. The six field players could use any part of their bodies except their hands to try to get the ball through the stone hoop on either side of the court. The winning team’s leader’s head would be cut off by the loosing team’s leader. This may seem strange but it was believed they would get a direct ticket to heaven. Seven was a lucky number to the Maya culture. They’re were 7 players on each team, the stone rings were 7 meters high, and if you clap or shout, it will echo exactly 7 times. In paintings the decapitated winning captain’s body had 7 serpent grew out of his neck. Although this was not the only ball court at Chichen Itza (in fact there was at least 12 others) But the great ball court is in fact the largest.

Mayan Calendar The El Castillo has yet another amazing thing about it-It’s a calendar. Each of the four stairways on each side of the El Castillo had 91 steps. Added together with each other and the platform at the top, that is 365 steps, which is equivalent to the number of days in a year. In the Mayan calendar it’s 365 kin. A typical Mayan date looks like this: 12.18.16.2.6, 3 Cimi 4 Zotz. The Maya’s have three different ways to calculate time as it goes (Ex. Months, years, etc.) They are called the Long count, the Tzolkin, and the Haab. THE LONG COUNT: 12.18.16.2.6 The long count represents all the days that have passed since the beginning of the Mayan era. The basic unit is a Kin, which is equal to 1 day. The kin is the last number in the sequence reading from right to left. uinal(1 uinal = 20 kin = 20 days) tun(1 tun = 18 uinal = 360 days = approx. 1 year) katun(1 katun = 20 tun = 7,200 days = approx. 20 years) baktun(1 baktun = 20 katun = 144,000 days = approx. 394 years) The Long count should have started at the beginning 0.0.0.0.0 but in reality it started at 13.0.0.0.0 THE TZOLKIN: The Tzolkin is the combination of two “week” lengths. One is a numbered week of 13 days, and the other is a named week of 20 days. THE HAAB: The Haab was the civil calendar of the Maya. It consisted of 18 months, with 20 days each and an extra 5 days known as Uayeb. This adds up to 365 days total. The months names are: 1. Pop 2. Uo 3. Zip 4. Zotz 5. Tzec 6. Xul 7. Yaxkin 8. Mol 9. Chen 10. Yax 11. Zac 12. Ceh 13. Mac 14. Kankin 15. Muan 16. Pax 17. Kayab 18. Cumku

The Observatory The Maya’s intense interest in astronomy is evident yet again when you look at the strange round building south of the Castillo. This is known as the Carocal. The domed observatory has several windows. Most of them point towards the location of the equinox sunset. The last two (the northernmost and southernmost) face the horizon where Venus rises and sets.

Tourism Fernando B. Peon started the first offical tourism business for Chichen Itza in the early 20s, in 1944 he purchased the entire site of Chichen Itza and opened a hotel, which opened its way to more tourism. In 1972 the site became federal property. In 1961 and 67’ there were expeditions to recover artifacts from the Cenote Sagrado. It was in the 1980s that the shadow effect at El Castillo during the spring equinox really started to gain tourists. Over the years the INAH (National Institute of Anthropology and History) have closed some of the ruins of Chichen Itza to the public. You can go around them but not in them any longer. The most recent was in 2006, El Castillo was closed to climb on after a woman fell to her death.

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