神秘的玛雅BBC.docx

神秘的玛雅BBC.docx

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神秘的玛雅BBC

Forthousandsofyears,SoutheastMexicoandCentralAmericashelteredtheMayacultureoneofhumanityrichestandmostoriginal.Herewithoutmetaltoolsorthewheel,theMayabuiltmajesticcities.

Innearbycaves,descendantsoftheancientMayaspraytothegods.Theyhaveworshipedformorethan100generations.

Manyofthecitieswereabandonedinthelaterninthandearlytenthcentury.SincethattimetheforesthasbeenthegodguardianofthemysteryoftheMaya.Today,theseruinsaretheinheritanceoftheMayapeople.

“Thedrawingglyphyouaskedmeforisfinished.”

“Well,let'sgoseewhattheexpertsinwritingcantellus.”

“Youknowwhatmyancestorswrotewiththisglyph?

”

“Interestingquestion.”

“That'sbeenamysteryforhundredsofyears.”

“You'reverymuchinterestedinourwork.”

“Yes!

”

“Principally,wearchaeologistsarededicatedtodiggingupthepasttosavethemysteryoftheMaya,likeapuzzlethatissolvedpiecebypiece.”

“OnlyhereinChichen?

”

“No,no.We'vebeenworkingindifferentsites,here,there.We'vebeenstudyingformorethanahundredyears.”

Duringtheearly19thcenturyreportsofancientmonumentshiddeninthejunglecirculatedroundtheworld.Explorerwhooccasionallycameacrosstheseruinstriedtoexplaintheirmysteriouspresencewithfantastictheories.

StoriesoftheselostcitiesattractedNorthAmericanJohnLloydStephen,anexplorerwhohadpublishedbooksabouthistravels.In1839,StephensorganizedanexpeditiontoCentralAmericaaccompaniedbythetalentedEnglishartist,FrederickCaseyWood.

Hewrotetherespecthecametoreeltowardthepeoplewhoguidedhim,andofthesurpriseatwhathefound.

Herecordedallthedetailsofhisexplorationswithgreatelegance.

ForthefirsttimewecametoabuildingconstructedlongbeforetheEuropeansknewoftheexistenceofthiscontinent.

“lwasfilledwithamazementandadmirationforthebeautyandsolidityofthearchitecture.Herewasatruepalacewithroyalapartmentssurroundedbymagnificentcourtyards.ThewallsandpillarswererichlyornamentedwithreliefsandfiguressobeautifullycreatedthatitwaseasytoseetheartisticabilityoftheMayapeople.”

Withtheaidofacamera-Lucinda-CaseyWoodmademanydrawings.

“HistorianssayAmericawaspeopledbysavages，butsavagesneverrainedthesestructures.Savagesnevercarvedthesestones.”

“TheiraccomplishmentswereworthytostandbesidethoseofEgypt,GreeceandRome.''

In1841,StephenpublishedhisbookillustratedbyCaseyWoodandcontributedimportantinformationtowardtheknowledgeoftheMayacities.

Stephenrecognizedthenativeoriginsoftheruinsandadmiredthebeautyofthecities.

Alfred矛德斯雷wasoneofthefirsttostudytheancientMayacitieswithascientificapproach

矛德斯雷drewderailedplansandmadesketchesofthemonuments.Inthismannerheestablishedabaseforlaterarchaeologicalstudy.

Hecarefullyanalyzedthesculpturedmotifswhichdecoratedthewallsofthebuildings.Hisattentionwascaughtbythefrequentrepresentationoftheserpent

Themoldsofreliefandglyphwhichhemadeenabledthestudyoftheinscriptions.

“Thebestofmytoolswasthecamera.Thedrygelatinnegativehadjustbeeninventedandthisenabledphotographerstoworkinpreviouslyinaccessibleplaces.”

　　Themajorcontributionofhimwashisphotographswhichhavesincebeenusedintherestorationandpreservationofmanyobjectsbelievedtohavebeenlosttoerosion,vandalismandtheft.

　　Someofthemonumentsphotographedbyhimrevealtherichnessofdesigncarvedinstone．Formanyyears,itwasthoughtthatthesecarvingrepresentedgodsandpriestsandthattheglyphwereconcernedonlywiththecalendar.Muchlater,wecametoknowtheirrealsignificance.

SomeofthesedesignswerealsofoundintheMayabookswecallcodices.Onlyfourofthesehavesurvived.

“Theycontainglyph”.

“Wemustsendyoursawayfordeciphering.”

MostoftheknowledgewehaveofancientMayalifecomesfromthewritingsofaFranciscan戴果狄兰达monkwhocametoYucatanin1549.

HeusedtoobservetheMayaandnotedtheiruseofglyph,andlatertriedtotranslatethemintoSpanish.

Inhiswritings,heestablishedthebasefordecipheringtheglyphswhichwereamixtureofsyllablesandwords.

“Theywroteintheirbooksabouttheirsciences.Thesciencestheytaughtwerethecountingofdays,monthsandyearsfestivalsandceremoniescuresforillnessandtheartofreadingandwriting.Wefoundagreatnumberofsuchbooks.Sincetheycontainednothingbutthewordsofthedevilweburnedthemallwhichcausedthemmuchgrief.”

InhisattempttoconverttheMayatoChristianity,hedestroyedtheirreligiouspossessionsburningmanyofthecodices.

“Whathappenedtothewritingifthebooksweredestroyed?

”

“Fortunately,theMayawrotenotonlyinbookswefindwritingontheirstonemonumentsandonpotteryasonthisplatefoundintheYucatanarea.It’sapassagefromtheaMayalegend.”

Theglyphwritingwasforgottenaftertheburningofthecodices.50yearsafter矛德斯雷photoswerepublished,theywerealsousedbyscholarstostudytheglyphandinspiredmanyexpeditionstotheregion.

Asthefirstglyphweredecodeditwasbelievedthatallthetextswerereligiousinnatureconcernedwiththepassageoftimeandtheobservationofthestars.ItwasthoughttheMayawerepeacefulpeoplelivinginharmonywithnaturescatteredinthejungle.

In1946,adiscoverywasmadewhichcastmorelightonthemysteryoftheMaya.Thetheorieswereabouttodramaticallychange.

lspentmorethantwoyearsintheregionwiththeLacandonlndianfilmingtheirdailylife.lnotedthatfromtimetotimethemenwoulddisappearforacoupleofday.Theyweremakingapilgrimagetoatemplebutitwasimpossibletofollowthem,solgavethemshotgunswithasmellamountpowderandleftforamonthtwo.Whenlreturntheysaid:

''Welikeyourguns,butwe'reoutofpowder''.Solsaid''l'llgiveyoumorepowder''ifyou'llshowmemoretemples.”

IwillneverforgetbeingguidedtoBonParker.

Theylookedtothetempleswithmuchreverence,conductingaceremonyaswearrivedateachone.

Asmyeyeswasbecomingaccustomedtothedimlamplight.lsawthateachroomwaspaintedwithfreshclothesthatshowedafileofMayachiefsinfullregalia.

ThesepaintingschangedmanyofideaswhichwereheldabouttheMaya.Neverbeforehadweseenscenesofbattle,slaveryandtorturepaintedoftheMayathemselves.

Ah,here'stheresponse.

Sorapidly?

Yes.Let'sseewhatitsays.

''Thisisaglyphoffire,andthisisarodent''Haleb''inMayaor'tepescuintle',''butwecan'tknowthefullmeaningwithoutthemissingportion.''Thattranslationlookedeasy,butiswastheworkofpeopleofmanycountriesovermanyyears.

ThefirstcluetotheMayawritingwasthenumbers.TheMayaestablishedtheirunitsbasedonman's20digits.Theywereoneofonlyfourcivilizationstodeveloptheconceptofzero.

Numberswereputindifferentpositions.Dotswereworthone,One,two,three,fourandfivewasabar.15isthreebars.19isthreebarsandfourdots.20isonedotinahigherpositionwithashellforzerobelow.Adotabovewithadotbelowis21.Adotabovewithabarbelowis25.Twodotsabovemeanstwo20s,or40.Abarintheuppedpositionmeansfive20s-100.Adotwithtwozerosbelowis400.Adotwiththreezerosbelowis8,000.8,421.

TheMayaweregreatmathematiciansandastronomers.Theycalculatedthelengthofthesolaryearwithanerrorofonly23seconds,thecycleofVenuswithamarginoferrorofonlyonedayin6,000years.SomeofthebuildingsofChichenltzaweresoconstructedastomarktheequinoxandsolstices.

TheyalsoknewthecycleofMars,JupiterandSaturnandwereabletocalculateeclipsesofthesun33yearsahead.

Allthiswasrecordedintheirbooksandfortunatelyonstone,too

In1921thedecodingofthetabletof96glyphsatPalenquebegan.

By1935,EnriquePalacioshadaccomplishedthedecipheringofthefirstfew.EricThomsonsolvedothersin1944,whilethelinguistYuriKnorosofdiscoveredphoneticsintheMayawriting.By1958,halftheglyphscouldberead.Inthe'60s,HeinrichBerlinandTatianaProskovriokoff.Inthe'70sLindaScheleandFloydLounsburywithPeterMathewsdiscoveredtitleglyphsoftheroyalfamily.Finally,in1990thewholepanelcouldberead

ThepaneltoldthehistoryofroyalfamilyofPalenquetheirwars,andthetransmissionofpowertoyoungkings.

AmongthesewasPacaellrulerofPelenkuikingfromageof12andgoverninguntil80.ItwasceremonysuchasstickswhichrecordedonthestoneinotherMayacities.

PelenkuiwasstudiedintensivelybytheMexicannationalinstituteofanthropologyandhistory.In1949,theMexicanarcheologistAlbetTuodusdecidedtoinvestigatedthetempleofthedescriptions,toseeifithadbeenbuiltontopofanotherbuilding.

Tudousnoticedthewallofthetempledidnotfinishedatthefloor,appeartocontinueblow.Intriedhediscoveredthatoneofthehugestoneslabshadflogswhichabletobemoved.

Astheslabsmovedthenarrowopeningwasrevealed.Asecretpassageway.

Asweclearedthepassage,severalstepsappeared.Iimmediatelytofollowthesestepstoitsend,inspitetheexhausting

Duringthenextthreeyears,theworkforslowly.Fourhundredtonsofrubblewasremovedbyhand.

Bytheendofthefirstseason,wehadnotfoundasingleclue.Iimagethatthesestepshadbeendeliberatelysealedtoconcealtheiroriginalpurpose.ButIhavenoideawhatitspurposewas.

In1952,whenworkingdeeplysitethepyramid,wefoundaroomseemstohavenoexit.

Thefloorwascompletecoveredbyaslabscardsstone.This