Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
5
Tikal
The glorious ruined city of
TIKAL
, arguably the crowning achievement of Maya
civilization, ranks among the most fascinating and beautiful ancient sites on earth.
It now stands protected within the 143-square-mile
Tikal National Park
, perched atop a
limestone escarpment north of El Remate.
As you get closer, the sheer scale of Tikal as it rises above the forest canopy becomes
overwhelming, and the atmosphere spellbinding. Dominating the ruins are five
enormous
temples
: steep-sided pyramids that rise up nearly 200ft from the forest floor,
and around which lie literally thousands of other structures, many still hidden beneath
mounds of earth and covered with jungle.
While it's possible to see the big-name attractions within a couple of hours, it's worth
allowing at least half a day to explore Tikal at all thoroughly. Arriving in time for the
sunrise
can make for an unforgettable introduction to the site - though the dawn is
not always as spectacular as tour companies like to suggest - while staying in one of the
on-site
hotels
allows you to linger after the crowds have gone.
Brief history
Tikal ranks among the oldest of all Maya sites, the first village on this site having been
established by 900 BC, during the
Middle Preclassic
period. Its inhabitants called it
Mutul
, or “knot of hair”, an image depicted in the city's emblem glyph - a rear view of
a head circled by what appears to be a knotted headband. The earliest ceremonial
structures had emerged by around 200 BC, including the first version of the
North
Acropolis
. Two centuries later, with the
Great Plaza
starting to take shape, Tikal was
home to a large permanent population. For the next two hundred years, art and
architecture became increasingly ornate and sophisticated, though Tikal remained
secondary to the massive city of
El Mirador
, forty miles north.
Tikal's rise to prosperity
The closing years of the Preclassic (250-300 AD) saw trade routes disrupted,
culminating in the decline and abandonment of El Mirador. In the resulting power
vacuum, the two sites of
Tikal
and
Uaxactún
emerged as substantial centres for trade,
science and religion. Less than a day's walk apart, the expanding cities grappled for
regional control. A winner emerged in 378 AD, when, under the inspired leadership of
Great Jaguar Paw
(Toh Chac Ich'ak)
, Tikal's warriors overran Uaxactún, securing its
dominance over central Petén for much of the next five hundred years.
This extended period of prosperity saw the city spread to cover eleven square miles,
and hold a population of between fifty and a hundred thousand. Crucial to this success
were Tikal's alliances with the powerful cities of Kaminaljuyú (in present-day
Guatemala City) and Teotihuacán (north of modern Mexico City); stelae and paintings
show that Tikal's elite adopted Teotihuacán styles of clothing, pottery and weaponry.
Conquest by Caracol
In the middle of the sixth century, however, Tikal suffered a huge setback. Already
weakened by upheavals in central Mexico, where Teotihuacán was in decline, the city
now faced major challenges from both the east, where
Caracol
(see p.135) was
emerging as a significant regional power, and the north, where
Calakmul
was
becoming a Maya “superstate”. In an apparent pre-emptive strike against a potential
rival, the ruler of Tikal,
Double Bird
, launched an “axe war” against Caracol and its
ambitious leader,
Lord Water (Yajaw Te K'inich II)
, in 556 AD. Although Double Bird
captured and sacrificed a noble from Caracol, his strategy was only briefly successful;
Lord Water hit back in 562 AD with a devastating attack that crushed Tikal, and
Double Bird was almost certainly sacrificed. The victors stamped their authority on
the humiliated nobles of Tikal, smashing stelae, desecrating tombs and destroying
