History is just a fascinating subject to learn on where you came from and how exactly you are here today. El Castillo is a ninety foot tall Mayan pyramid that I will be discussing on when, where, by whom the pyramid first started, why it is such a big impact in society and what exactly El Castillo has to do with astronomy. The most famous building El Castillo known as in english as “The Castle” and can also be certain people’s last names which is pretty common. The pyramid itself was first built between the 8th and 12th century at Tinum, Yucatan, Mexico. The pyramid itself is centered of the Chichen Itza which is in site in the state of Yucatan of Mexico. During this time there was an ancient civilization in southern Mexico called “Maya” …show more content…
The reason that they decided to make the pyramid in the center of Yucatan is because of science and math. Sounds pretty bizarre, crazy and mind blowing but you will see the outcome and what I am talking about when I describe all of this. This ancient temple pyramid has three hundred and sixty five steps, basically one step each day of the year. Every year but only twice throughout one year on autumn (September 22) and spring (March 20) equinoxes, the light of the sun when setting makes a shadow of the “serpent” which is a snake, is on the bottom of the pyramid by the steps and the shadow figure of the serpent will slither down the steps. The snakes there represent the God Kukulcan who was the “snake god”. During these two days of the year that is when people like to go visit the pyramid just to go see the snakes and actually wanting to believe that it is real and that it isn’t a myth. Legend say that El Castillo is a representation of the mayan calendar which instead of 12 months, for them it is 18 months. With the placement of the pyramid is the platform in which is dedicated to Venus the …show more content…
The people who is basically in charge of the pyramid didn’t let anyone visit El Castillo until 1988 they decided to give brief tours and let any visitors come and view the pyramid. They even allowed people to walk up the steps, but some people don’t make it to the top because of how many steps there is. In 2007 they denied anyone who wanted to walk up the staircase due to a woman's death while going up there, she collapsed and fell down from all those stairs that she had passed up. So no one now can go up those stairs anymore until further notice but it has been 10 years since then and I am pretty sure they won’t let anyone go up the staircases anymore. But that doesn’t stop any of the tourists from coming, they like to learn about the history and just having the perfect view right in front of them must feel so fascinating. Because of the Mayan villagers we now have this amazing pyramid in this
The extraordinary pyramid you are currently looking at was created by the Zapotec. The amazing pyramid is located in Monte Albán. The pyramid was created during the 700s BCE. This pyramid is large and has alot of terraces. This pyramid also contains deep stone stairs. It's thought that this pyramid was used for storage, mostly valuable items. Also, people thought that this pyramid was used sometimes for a home of rulers of the land.
When looking at Mayan and Egyptian pyramids side by side, one would immediately notice the difference in heights between the two. The Great Pyramid of Giza stands at an astounding 480ft, with the Mayan pyramids standing only 401ft less, or simply 79ft (Source 4). With such a baffling number, it's no wonder the pyramid of Giza has been titled as "Great". But this doesn't mean the Mayan pyramids aren't impressive, with the ornate details with stairs and a entrance placed at the top. The questions stands as to why such a height was determined for the pyramid, especially when it's six times the height of the Mayans'?The answer can easily be answered with the purpose of the pyramids.
The ancient Mayans were a very well developed society with a very accurate calendar, skilled architects, artisans, extensive traders and hunters. They are known to have developed medicine and astronomy as well. All of this was developed while the Europeans were still in the Dark Ages.
...d in the way it was.(Exploratorium.edu) Both the stairs representing the number of years on the calendar and the way the pyramid was built axis-wise, The pyramid of Kukulkán can be argued to be a pyramid built out of belief in symbols. As with the pyramid of Kukulkán, many Mayan temples were shown to reflect the belief of nine levels of the underworld.
Twenty-five miles northwest of current day Mexico city, lays a city in ruins, one that dates back over a thousand years. The Mesoamerican site of Teotihuacan, or The City of Gods, is what will be seen. Teotihuacan, as named by the later settled Aztecs, pre-dates them by quite a bit. By the time that the Aztecs arrived at Teotihuacan, it was already a ruin. The three temples Sun, Moon, and Quetzalcóatl (or the Feathered Serpent) are a marvel to see. The temples are positioned along a long, wide strip of land that the Aztecs named “Street of the Dead”, or “Avenue of the Dead”. (Khan Academy) These structures fall into the Late Pre-Classic to Early Classic eras of Mesoamerica, and were built in the talud-tablero style. Which means that there was a platform (tablero) after every slope (talud). (Metropolitan Museum of Art) More so each section could be decorated, most likely with various murals. (Metropolitan Museum of Art)
They always build their cities and temples using Astronomy mostly on an East to West alignment, but there are some Early to Middle Pre-Classic examples of a Pleiades alignment in the Pacific Lowlands at sites such as: Ujuxte, Monte Alto and Tak 'alik Abaj. Aside from having religious functions, Mayan pyramids also had other purposes. The pyramids were built so high that their tops could be seen protruding out of the jungle. Because of this, the Mayan people were able to use them as landmarks. That was not the only significance of building them so high though. They also served as a reminder that the gods were ever present(Hernandez 13). Some pyramids even house burial chambers for high ranking officials. Housed inside these mammoth structures were small burial rooms. There were narrow corridors that led to these chambers(Hernandez 21). These burial chambers often contained treasures such as jade(Hernandez 13). The Vault and Arch was used also in tombs, such as those in Guaytán, in the eastern Highlands and Tikal or Río Azul in the Petén
For the ancient Maya, the world was alive and full of sacred spaces such as caves and mountains, and “The architecture of ritual space replicated the features of sacred geography – the forest, the mountain, and the cave” (Schele and Freidel 72). Classical Maya kings invested a great deal of resources into pyramid construction, and the form of these buildings was carefully calculated. The shape of the pyramid emulated that of a mountain. The external layout, a series of landings and plazas of increasing size, enforced the social hierarchy by controlling the number of people in attendance and their proximity to the sacred spaces (Schele and Frei...
A land dominated by two colossal pyramids and an extensive sacred avenue, Teotihuacan became considered a spiritual land to most inhabiters. Teotihuacan itself means, “the place where the Gods were created” or “where men became Gods”, reflecting the belief of the Aztecs that the creation of the universe occurred on that very land. (Jarus, Owen. 2012) The Temple of Quetzalcoatl along with the Pyramid of the Sun and Moon, all stand out as the monumental distinguishing characteristics of Teotihuacan. Standing sixty three meters tall and two hundred and fifteen meters square in the heart of the city, shadowed by the massive mountains of Cerro Gordo you’ll find the Pyramid of the Sun. (History.com Staff. 2009) It’s no secret that to this day it is one of the largest structure ever erected during the ancient Americas. Traveling west among the silhouettes of the mountains lies the second largest structure in Mesoamerica, the Pyramid of the Moon. Holding equal historical and religious value as the ...
The pyramids can be found in Mexico and Egypt.. The pyramids of Giza can be found in Cairo, Egypt. The most familiar and popular pyramids are located in Egypt. Besides the Egyptians the Aztecs also made pyramids which were located outside of their capital city of Tenochtitlan. The Mayans also mad...
The Mayans were known for their engineering, one structure they were famous for is their pyramid temple
This book talks about the experiential aspects of the Pyramids Of Giza, discussing how the size of the buildings, as well as the spaces and materials used, make the pyramids feel very grand, reflecting the pharaoh’s power. (Fazio 2013) suggests that the pyramids were built to such grand proportions to emphasis the power of the pharaoh in society as well as his god like status.
The buildings were decorated with masks and crests carved in stone and stucco and generally painted red, by the large amount of limestone available in Peten Maya lands , lime and mixing was easily produced impressive allowing the construction of pyramids and palaces , usually in the Preclassic pyramids were crowned with three wooden temples and thatch , known as " triadic complexes " , during the classic had one or two rooms with the Maya vault feature . To make walls , they used blocks in two rows , then topped with small stones , and other materials, in Tikal , El Naranjo , Wala ' , and many other sites , found pieces of steles and obsidian as filler , as previous structures . Imperfections in the path layers were offset stucco decorations . What we see now , is the last stage of construction, but in reality it is not uncommon to find more than 5 construction phases . The Stucco Limestone was made with cooked, and mixed with an organic glue extracted from a tree known locally endemic Holol Petén, mixed with lime and sascab, a natural mineral like limestone. The building known of the Maya is the Temple I or the Great Jaguar in Tikal, which served at the famous Tomb Hasaw K'a...
The construction of the Great Pyramid is still a mystery and marvel to this day, there are seven major feats that archeologists still don’t understand.
pyramids, there are many discussions in magazines and TV programs on the mathematics, physics and astronomy behind the pyramids. Another important scientific achievement in ancient Egypt is medicine, which has some connection with the pyramids. Pyramids are the tombs for placing pharaohs’. bodies. The sands of the body.
Of all the pyramids of Egypt, the first three are held in the highest regards. This is known as the Great Pyramid. It was built for the Pharaoh Khufu. The Great Pyramid is about 450 feet tall and covers about 13 acres. The subject of this pyramid was to honor the pharaoh and show him some respect. It took about 100,000 workers and 20 years to build the pyramid.