1.
Palenque
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Palenque, also anciently known as Lakamha, was a Maya city state in southern Mexico that flourished in the 7th century. The Palenque ruins date from ca.226 BC to ca and it is located near the Usumacinta River in the Mexican state of Chiapas, about 130 km south of Ciudad del Carmen,150 m above sea level. It averages a humid 26 °C with roughly 2160 mm of rain a year, the most famous ruler of Palenque was Kinich Janaab Pakal, or Pacal the Great, whose tomb has been found and excavated in the Temple of the Inscriptions. By 2005, the area covered up to 2.5 km². Mythological beings used a variety of glyphs in their titles indeed suggests a complex early history. For instance, Kuk Bahlam, the founder of the Palenque dynasty, is called a Toktan Ajaw in the text of the Temple of the Foliated Cross. The famous structures that we know today probably represent an effort in response to the attacks by the city of Calakmul. He is best known through his funerary monument, dubbed the Temple of Inscriptions after the text preserved in the temples superstructure. At the time Alberto Ruz Lhuillier excavated Pakals tomb it was the richest and best preserved of any scientifically excavated burial then known from the ancient Americas. It held this position until the discovery of the rich Moche burials at Sipan, Peru, the extensive iconography and textual corpus has also allowed for study of Classic period Maya mythology and ritual practice. After him, a king came to power, nicknamed Casper by archaeologists, the next two kings were probably Caspers sons. Little was known about the first of these, Butz Aj Sak Chiik, until 1994, the first tablet mentioned his successor Ahkal Mo Naab I as a teenage prince, and therefore it is believed that there was a family relation between them. For unknown reasons, Akhal Mo Naab I had great prestige, when Ahkal Mo Naab I died in 524, there was an interregnum of four years, before the following king was crowned en Toktán in 529. Kan Joy Chitam I governed for 36 years and his sons Ahkal Mo Naab II and Kan Balam I were the first kings who used the title Kinich, which means the great sun. This word was used also by later kings, Balam was succeeded in 583 by Yohl Iknal, who was supposedly his daughter. The inscriptions found in Palenque document a battle that occurred under her government in which troops from Calakmul invaded and sacked Palenque and these events took place in 599. A second victory by Calakmul occurred some years later, in 611, under the government of Aj Ne Yohl Mat. In this occasion, the king of Calakmul entered Palenque in person, consolidating a significant military disaster, Aj Ne Yohl Mat was to die in 612
2.
Madrid
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Madrid is the capital city of the Kingdom of Spain and the largest municipality in both the Community of Madrid and Spain as a whole. The city has a population of almost 3.2 million with an area population of approximately 6.5 million. It is the third-largest city in the European Union after London and Berlin, the municipality itself covers an area of 604.3 km2. Madrid lies on the River Manzanares in the centre of both the country and the Community of Madrid, this community is bordered by the communities of Castile and León. As the capital city of Spain, seat of government, and residence of the Spanish monarch, Madrid is also the political, economic, the current mayor is Manuela Carmena from Ahora Madrid. Madrid is home to two football clubs, Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid. Madrid is the 17th most liveable city in the according to Monocle magazine. Madrid organises fairs such as FITUR, ARCO, SIMO TCI, while Madrid possesses modern infrastructure, it has preserved the look and feel of many of its historic neighbourhoods and streets. Cibeles Palace and Fountain have become one of the monument symbols of the city, the first documented reference of the city originates in Andalusan times as the Arabic مجريط Majrīṭ, which was retained in Medieval Spanish as Magerit. A wider number of theories have been formulated on possible earlier origins, according to legend, Madrid was founded by Ocno Bianor and was named Metragirta or Mantua Carpetana. The most ancient recorded name of the city Magerit comes from the name of a built on the Manzanares River in the 9th century AD. Nevertheless, it is speculated that the origin of the current name of the city comes from the 2nd century BC. The Roman Empire established a settlement on the banks of the Manzanares river, the name of this first village was Matrice. In the 8th century, the Islamic conquest of the Iberian Peninsula saw the changed to Mayrit, from the Arabic term ميرا Mayra. The modern Madrid evolved from the Mozarabic Matrit, which is still in the Madrilenian gentilic, after the disintegration of the Caliphate of Córdoba, Madrid was integrated in the Taifa of Toledo. With the surrender of Toledo to Alfonso VI of León and Castile, the city was conquered by Christians in 1085, Christians replaced Muslims in the occupation of the centre of the city, while Muslims and Jews settled in the suburbs. The city was thriving and was given the title of Villa, since 1188, Madrid won the right to be a city with representation in the courts of Castile. In 1202, King Alfonso VIII of Castile gave Madrid its first charter to regulate the municipal council, which was expanded in 1222 by Ferdinand III of Castile
3.
Spain
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By population, Spain is the sixth largest in Europe and the fifth in the European Union. Spains capital and largest city is Madrid, other urban areas include Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Bilbao. Modern humans first arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 35,000 years ago, in the Middle Ages, the area was conquered by Germanic tribes and later by the Moors. Spain is a democracy organised in the form of a government under a constitutional monarchy. It is a power and a major developed country with the worlds fourteenth largest economy by nominal GDP. Jesús Luis Cunchillos argues that the root of the span is the Phoenician word spy. Therefore, i-spn-ya would mean the land where metals are forged, two 15th-century Spanish Jewish scholars, Don Isaac Abravanel and Solomon ibn Verga, gave an explanation now considered folkloric. Both men wrote in two different published works that the first Jews to reach Spain were brought by ship by Phiros who was confederate with the king of Babylon when he laid siege to Jerusalem. This man was a Grecian by birth, but who had given a kingdom in Spain. He became related by marriage to Espan, the nephew of king Heracles, Heracles later renounced his throne in preference for his native Greece, leaving his kingdom to his nephew, Espan, from whom the country of España took its name. Based upon their testimonies, this eponym would have already been in use in Spain by c.350 BCE, Iberia enters written records as a land populated largely by the Iberians, Basques and Celts. Early on its coastal areas were settled by Phoenicians who founded Western Europe´s most ancient cities Cadiz, Phoenician influence expanded as much of the Peninsula was eventually incorporated into the Carthaginian Empire, becoming a major theater of the Punic Wars against the expanding Roman Empire. After an arduous conquest, the peninsula came fully under Roman Rule, during the early Middle Ages it came under Germanic rule but later, much of it was conquered by Moorish invaders from North Africa. In a process took centuries, the small Christian kingdoms in the north gradually regained control of the peninsula. The last Moorish kingdom fell in the same year Columbus reached the Americas, a global empire began which saw Spain become the strongest kingdom in Europe, the leading world power for a century and a half, and the largest overseas empire for three centuries. Continued wars and other problems led to a diminished status. The Napoleonic invasions of Spain led to chaos, triggering independence movements that tore apart most of the empire, eventually democracy was peacefully restored in the form of a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Spain joined the European Union, experiencing a renaissance and steady economic growth
4.
Chilam Balam
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Some of the texts actually contain prophecies about the coming of the Spaniards to Yucatán while mentioning a chilam Balam as their first author. Nine Books of Chilam Balam are known, most importantly those from Chumayel, Mani, and Tizimin, both language and content show that parts of the books date back to the time of the Spanish conquest of the Yucatec kingdoms. In some cases, where the language is particularly terse, the appear to render hieroglyphic script. Taken together, the Books of Chilam Balam give the fullness of 18th-century Yucatec-Maya spiritual life, whereas the medical texts and chronicles are quite matter-of-fact, the riddles and prognostications make abundant use of traditional Mayan metaphors. This holds even more true of the mythological and ritualistic texts, the historical texts derive part of their importance from the fact that they have been cast in the framework of the native Maya calendar, partly adapted to the European calendrical system. Reconstructing Postclassic Yucatec history from these data has proven to be an arduous task, the following is an overview of the sorts of texts - partly of Mesoamerican, and partly of Spanish derivation - found in the Chilam Balam books. Prognostication, cast in the framework of the succession of haabs, prophecy, ascribed to famous early 16th-century oracular priests. Formularies with Metaphors Collections of riddles, used for the confirmation of local lords into their offices, Myth and Mysticism Myth, particularly the destruction and re-creation of the world as connected to the start of katun 11 Ahau. Ritualistic mysticism, particularly concerning the creation of the twenty named days, the ritual of the ‘Four Burners’, practical Calendars and Classifications Classifications according to the twenty named days. Treatises on astrology, meteorology, and the Catholic liturgical calendar, the astrology is Ptolemaic and includes the European zodiac. Spanish Traditions Roman Catholic instruction, feast days of the saints, tracts, Spanish romance, such as the tale of the ‘Maiden Theodora’. Since many texts recur in various books of Chilam Balam, establishing a concordance, the archaic Yucatec idiom and the allusive, metaphorical nature of many texts present a formidable challenge to translators. The outcome of the process is sometimes heavily influenced by external assumptions about the texts purpose. As a result of factors, the quality of existing translations varies greatly. The Spanish-language synoptic translation of Barrera Vásquez and Rendón is still useful, a detailed analysis and interpretation of the main mythological and ritualistic texts with a view to their syncretic origins is given by Knowlton. The books are referenced in The Falling Woman by Pat Murphy as source material for the description of sacrifices at Chichén Itzá, full text of The Book of Chilam Balam of Chumayel at www. mayaweb. nl Antje Gunsenheimer, Geschichtstradierung in den yukatekischen Chilam Balam-Büchern
5.
Itzamna
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Izamna (Mayan pronunciation, was, in Maya mythology, the name of an upper god and creator deity thought to reside in the sky. Although little is known about him, scattered references are present in early-colonial Spanish reports, twentieth-century Lacandon lore includes tales about a creator god who may be a late successor to him. In the pre-Spanish period, Itzamna, represented by the aged god D, was depicted in books. J. Eric S. Thompson originally interpreted the name Itzamna as lizard house, itzam being a Yucatecan word for iguana, however, Thompsons translation has gradually been abandoned. While there is no consensus on the meaning of the name Itzamna, it may be significant that itz is a root denoting all sorts of secretions. The otherwise unattested, agentive form itzam could thus mean asperser or sorcerer, although one finds God Ds Classic name glyph commonly rendered as Itzamnaaj, this reading still awaits confirmation. The early colonial sources variously connect, and sometimes identify, Itzamna with Hunab Ku, Kinich Ahau, the most reliable source on Itzamna, Diego de Landa, mentions him several times in the framework of his description of the ritual year. In the month of Uo, a ritual aspersion of the books took place under invocation of Kinich Ahau Itzamna, the first priest. In the month of Zip, Itzamna was invoked as one of the gods of medicine, and in the month of Mac, he was venerated by the old on a par with the Chaacs. In the cycle of four years, one year was under the patronage of Itzamna, Itzamna was an active creator god, as is shown by the following. Confirming Landas description of the book ritual above, Itzamna is stated by Diego López de Cogolludo to have invented the art of writing. According to this author, Itzamna had been a sort of priest who divided the land of Yucatán. More generally, Itzamna was the creator of humankind, and also the father of Bacab, in an alternative tradition, Itzamna begot thirteen sons with Ixchel, two of whom created the earth and humankind. In the New Year pages of the Dresden Codex, god D is given a similar to that of Itzamna in Landas description of these rituals. It is thus likely that in the Post-Classic codices, the aged god D represents Itzamna, the codical god D is very similar to the much earlier god D of Classic iconography. God D is sometimes dressed as a high priest, and hieroglyphically identified as the god of rulership. Speaking generally, Classic iconography confirms god Ds identity as a god, seated on his celestial throne while governing, among other things, the affairs of agriculture. On two of the Dresden Codexs very first pages, god D is shown within the maw of a representing the earth
6.
Chaac
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For the region on Io see Chaac-Camaxtli Region Chaac is the name of the Maya rain deity. With his lightning axe, Chaac strikes the clouds and produces thunder, Chaac corresponds to Tlaloc among the Aztecs. Like other Maya gods, Chaac is both one and manifold, four Chaacs are based in the cardinal directions and wear the directional colors. In 16th-century Yucatán, the directional Chaac of the east was called Chac Xib Chaac Red Man Chaac, contemporary Yucatec Maya farmers distinguish many more aspects of the rain and the clouds and personify them as different, hierarchically-ordered rain deities. The Chorti Maya have preserved important folklore regarding the process of rain-making, the rain deities had their human counterparts. According to a Late-Postclassic Yucatec tradition, Chac Xib Chaac was the title of a king of Chichen Itza, among the rituals for the rain deities, the Yucatec Cha-Chaac ceremony for asking for rain is a ceremonial banquet for the rain deities. It includes four boys acting and chanting as frogs, asking for rain and crops was also the purpose of 16th-century rituals at the karstic wells, or cenotes, of Yucatán. Young men and women were lowered into these wells and left to drown there, alternatively, they were thrown into the wells later to be drawn up again, and give oracles. The rain deity is a patron of agriculture, a well-known myth in which the Chaacs have an important role to play is about the opening of the mountain in which the maize was hidden. In Tzotzil mythology, the deity also figures as the father of nubile women representing maize. In some versions of the Qeqchi myth of Sun and Moon, later, Chocl commits adultery with his brothers wife and is duly punished, his tears of regret give origin to the rain. Versions of this show the rain deity Chac in his war-like fury, pursuing the fleeing Sun and Moon. Chaac is usually depicted with a body showing reptilian or amphibian scales, and with a non-human head evincing fangs. In the Classic style, a shell serves as his ear ornament and he often carries shield and lightning-axe, the axe being personified by a closely related deity, god K, called Bolon Dzacab in Yucatec. The Classic Chaac sometimes shows features of the Central Mexican precursor of Tlaloc, a large part of the most important Maya book, the Dresden Codex, is dedicated to the Chaacs, their locations, and activities. It illustrates the relationship existing between the Chaacs, the Bacabs, and the aged goddess, Ixchel. The main source on the 16th-century Yucatec Maya, Bishop Diego de Landa, combines the four Chaacs with the four Bacabs, the Bacabs were aged deities governing the subterranean sphere and its water supplies. In the Classic period, the king often impersonated the rain deity while the pictogram of the deity can accompany the kings other names
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