CHICHEN ITZA
The city of the wise men of the water

The subject of this book is the history of the wise men of the water, better known as Chichén Itzá. After identifying the origins, movements and creations of the Itzá, Róman Pińa Chan succeeds in founding an innovative hypothesis: it was not the Toltecs who influenced the Itzá, but the Itzá who, much later determined certain artistic and even religious concepts amongst the people of Tula, principally by means of their impressive architectural works. Chichén Itzá - The city of the wise men of the water, includes more than one hundred photographs and drawings which provide a fascinating back-cloth for the text. The text itself depends on a key literary work: "Chilam Balam de Chumayel".

Chichén Itzá - The city of the wise men of the water

THE THEOCRATIC CITY

   "In Precolumbian times Chichén Itzá was one of the largest and most sumptuous of the Maya centres. It was a holy city frequented for centuries by pilgrims from far flung places, who would invoke their gods in spacious squares and splendid temples that together formed a harmonious ceremonial center. It was also the custom to make rich offerings to the cenote or well, where ti was said that the goods and the souls of their ancestors resided. Typical offerings included copper and gold objects, jade, ceramics, weavings, painted gourds and copal or incense.

   The famous traveler Stephens recounts that the ruins of Chichén Itzá were, "indeed magnificent. The buildings were large and some were in good preservation." He continues to say that the name Chichén is derived from two words of the mayan language: Chi, which means mouth and chen, which means well, and so together the two words mean "mouth of the well". Chichén is therefore translated as "in the mouth of the well", the well referring to the sacred well of the Itzá, Itzá in turn signifies "wise men of the water" (from the maya its, wise man, and há or a water), and hence Chichén Itzá was the city of the wise men of the water."

The English version of the book "Chichén Itzá" by Róman Piña Chan is sent to our contributors worldwide from our headquarters in Mérida, Yucatán, México. The Maya World Studies Center asks for a contribution for the book, plus S&H.

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