(ORDO NEWS) — At the end of the 19th century, researchers of ancient civilizations split into two parties – isolationists and diffusionists. The former believed that similar cultural phenomena could appear in different parts of the world independently of each other. The second is that civilizations that were in no way related to each other had common roots, either in Ancient Egypt or in the mythical Atlantis. The reason for these discussions was … the pyramids.
On the one hand, the Old and New Worlds are separated by the Atlantic Ocean, which was long believed to be crossed only by Columbus in 1492. On the other hand, on both sides of the ocean, people wrote in hieroglyphs, worshiped the Sun, mummified the dead, and engaged in farming on terraces.
Divided by the ocean
Let’s say that the ancestors of today’s Americans and African Eurasians could have thought of all this on their own. Everyone needs writing, and hieroglyphic writing is its first primitive stage (creating an alphabetical writing requires more complex thinking). In the same way, the choice of the Sun for worship is logical as the first stage of pagan beliefs, since we are talking about something bright, life-giving and incomprehensible. Growing crops on terraces is logical for peoples developing in similar natural conditions.
Even mummification can be the result of similar experiences with the deceased. But here’s how you can come up with such a thing as a pyramid, and, most importantly, why spend huge resources for the construction of an object that does not bring visible material benefits?
When it comes to the pyramids, the argument of the isolationists immediately becomes less convincing and boils down to the fact that the pyramids of the Egyptians and the pyramids of Mesoamerica (Central America) are different in contour: the Egyptians have them pointed, the ancient Indians have the shape of a ziggurat, when the structure consists of several proportionally decreasing tiers, crowned with a platform or temple premises. But such arguments, of course, do not make an impression. Firstly, the most ancient of the pyramids (Pharaoh Djoser) also has a stepped shape, and secondly, ziggurats are also characteristic of the Old World, specifically for Mesopotamia, and in their age they are not much inferior to the Egyptian “brothers”.
But before taking the side of diffusionists or isolationists, it should be remembered under what circumstances researchers generally came to the conclusion that the pyramids of the Old and New Worlds can be “related”.
The Legend of the “White Gods”
Having conquered the empires of the Aztecs and Incas (in the territories of modern Mexico and Peru), the Spaniards also destroyed most of the sources by which it was possible to reconstruct the history of the conquered peoples. However, there is one important point in oral tradition. At first, local people – Human sacrifice whether the Spaniards mistook the Aztecs, shown in the “code of the descendants of some” white Malabekki “gods”, who brought the ancient peoples of America laws, writing, scientific knowledge and technical skills. These “gods” were described in different legends in almost the same way: “They sailed on large strange ships with swan wings and hulls that glowed so brightly that they looked like giant snakes gliding on the water. Approaching the shore
Among the newcomers, one “main god” stood out, whom the Aztecs called Quetzalcoatl, the Incas – Kon-Tiki-Viracocha, the Maya – Kukulcan.
A rational explanation for these traditions seemed to have been groped in the 1880s, when the hypothesis that, even before Columbus, the territory was east and west was convincingly confirmed.
The current United States was visited by the Vikings led by Leif Eriksson. However, neither ships, nor clothing, nor the presence of knowledge sufficient to found a state, they did not come close to resembling the “white gods” from legends. In addition, they landed much north of the places where Mesoamerican civilizations arose.
It was then that a hypothesis appeared that we could talk about the Atlanteans – representatives of the civilization who survived after a terrible catastrophe, described in the dialogues of the ancient Greek philosopher Plato (5th century BC). The island where they lived was “beyond the Pillars of Hercules” – that is, in the Atlantic Ocean (in honor of this island and named). And it is likely that, fleeing an earthquake, volcanic eruption and tsunami, the Atlanteans did not go to
This hypothesis made it possible to logically explain both the content of Indian legends and the presence of pyramids in Mesoamerica. After all, similar religious buildings appeared in Plato’s dialogues, where Atlantis was described.
And then the study of the pyramids of Mesoamerica was taken seriously. We began with those that were located closest to the centers of modern civilization – the monuments of the Aztecs.
Located on the territory of the ancient city of Teotihuacan, not far from Mexico City, the pyramid of the Sun today has a height of 64.5 meters (initially – 71 meters) and for the period of study was inferior in this parameter to only one ancient structure – the Egyptian pyramid of Cheops (138 and 146 meters, respectively) … It was built about 200, and three centuries later a temple was erected on its top, which was destroyed, however, even before the appearance of the Spaniards, during some internal conflicts. Today, tourists ascend to this upper temple site, believing that there was a kind of “place of power” here, where, having caught positive energy flows, a person can find harmony and peace of mind.
The Pyramid of the Moon (42 meters), also located in Teotihuacan and smaller in size than the Pyramid of the Sun, is the final point of the Road of the Dead. The fact is that during archaeological excavations, many human remains were found in the structure, the nature of which testifies to the sacrifices performed here. For the Atlanteans, such a practice was not found, but they were credited with the possession of a wide variety of secret knowledge. And it is logical that the researchers decided to take a closer look at another Latin American civilization – the Maya.
lost World
Unlike their neighbors, the Aztecs, the Maya did not create a huge empire, but existed in the form of several states, sometimes at war, then making alliances. One of them was the Mutul kingdom, located in the north of modern Guatemala. Its capital was the city of Tikal, which translates as “the place where the voices of the spirits are heard.”
Gradually, it was possible to identify a sufficient number of written sources of the Maya, which made it possible to fragmentarily reconstruct the history of this people. It turned out that the city of Tikal appeared in the century, and in 378 it was captured and destroyed by the troops of the state of Teotihuacan. The last king from the local dynasty died, and the son of the victorious king was placed on the throne. The interior decoration of the temples, erected in the form of stepped pyramids, was altered to resemble the deities from the Teotihuacan pantheon.
This period was called the “new order” and declined as the conquerors assimilated. During the reign of Siyaj-Chan-K’awiil II (first half of the 5th century), the Mutul gods returned to their former place, but already in 563 the city was subjected to another defeat – this time by the troops of the Kanul kingdom. A long period of desolation followed, lasting until the end of the 7th century. Then a smooth restoration of power began.
King Yikin-Chan-K’awiil in 736 more than paid off with the enemies, defeating the Kanulites and executing their king at the top of the pyramid. In the same period, the largest Mayan structure (height – 64 meters), known as Temple IV, was erected in the capital. It was used as an observatory, but, as it turned out, human sacrifices were also performed on its top on holidays. Two more smaller temples bounded the market square and adjoined the Northern Acropolis with many places of worship. To the south was the central acropolis. Temple IV separated the Southern Acropolis from the “heart of the city”.
The area of seven temples was washed away with the Lost World complex, which was a kind of VIP-quarter. There was also an observatory, public buildings and sports grounds. The population of the capital proper was supposed to be 45-50 thousand inhabitants, although, taking into account the inhabitants of the suburban area, this figure should be at least doubled.
The reasons why the city fell into decay and depopulated in the following centuries are the subject of scientific debate. Usually the explanation comes down to internal unrest and civil strife in the state. They tried to explain the mass exodus that took place in the 9th century as a kind of epidemic, but such a disaster should have led to an increase in the number of burials, which in the case of Tik-la is not confirmed in any way. Yes, and traces of the epidemic during the study of numerous remains of that time were also not found.
Another Mayan city, Chichen Itza (on the Mexican Yucatan Peninsula), where there is a pyramid named after the “chief god” of Kukulkan, is no less famous. True, the height of this structure is only 25 meters, but at its top there is a temple, which is also associated with mystical power. From four sides, four staircases lead to it, with 91 steps in each. The total number of 364 corresponds to the number of days in a year, and the number of flights, of which 18, corresponds to the number of months in the Mayan calendar. And these stairs are oriented strictly to the cardinal points – north, south, east, west.
This example already shows the highest level of scientific knowledge of the Mayan civilization, strangely combined with the same wild practice of human sacrifice.
The Olmecs come out of the shadows
The main contradiction, as in the case of the Aztecs, was that the appearance of Kukulkan and the birth of the Mayan civilization still could not be shifted even to the time of Plato. But Plato described the death of Atlantis as a matter very, very long ago. Therefore, it was necessary to search even deeper.
And, in the end, the mysterious Mesoamerican pro-civilization was found. Moreover, as it turned out, it was literally under the nose …
The monuments of the Olmecs for about 80 years were mistakenly attributed to the Maya people.
It took several expeditions before the researchers realized that we are talking about a much more ancient civilization. Its original cult center was located in the area of La Venta (on the territory of the current Mexican state of Taba-sco). In addition to several pyramids up to 35 meters high, there are many earthen embankments, cult sites paved with valuable rocks, crypts, ceremonial hiding places, altars and steles.
In the Mexican city of Cholula, there is the highest pyramid of the Olmecs, and it is customary to call it according to the settlement, and not as the indigenous people dubbed it – Tlachihualtepetl (“man-made mountain”). With a height of 66 meters from the base, this structure wedged into second place after the pyramid of Cheops, bypassing the Aztec pyramid of the Sun.
The study of the Olmec civilization, in fact, is just beginning, but it is obvious that it arose around the 15th century BC and is “mother” in relation to both the Maya and the Aztecs. Apparently, it was she who created the “white gods”. But were they Atlanteans?
Based on the legendary description of the “white gods”, some researchers indicate that their spacious black robes were more like priests.
And this argument brought to a new level the discussion that the ancient Egyptian civilization also had a predecessor – the civilization of Osiris, whose representatives possessed absolutely incredible knowledge and technologies, which made it possible, among other things, to move huge boulders from which the pyramids were erected. And they themselves built the pyramids not as banal tombs, but for communication with certain cosmic forces.
In general, if we forget about the ancient Atlanteans, the scheme looms approximately as follows: the civilization of Osiris gave birth to the civilization of Ancient Egypt. Around the 18th century BC, during the period of the struggle against the invaders – the Hyksos, some Egyptian priests went to America, where they created the Olmec civilization, the successors of which were the Maya and Aztecs.
And each new civilization lost part of the original innermost knowledge, becoming more and more primitive and cruel. So the conquistadors just put a logical bloody point in this process.
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