Saturday, March 25, 2006

Honduras, No. 8, Copan Ruins

Copan is located in Western Honduras near the Guatemalan border. The Mayan Kingdom known as Xukpi (Corner-Bundle) flourished there in the fifth through nineth century AD with some earlier roots going back to the second century AD.


The above picture show the location of ancient Mayan ball games in which the winning team would lose their lives but with the promise that they would enter the Mayan heaven.


These are some of my MAMA Project team members including myself who chose to tour the Copan Ruins. In the background, you can see the mountainous terrain surrounding Copan.


This is a pillar for one of the Mayan temples there.



This sculpture represents the Mayan Underworld.



Above and below are stellae depicting Mayan rulers.



For more information on the Copan Ruins check out the web site Copan Ruins in COPAN, HONDURAS.

5 comments:

San Nakji said...

In all of America, it is places like these that I would love to see. Noithing excites me more than ancient buildings. You are so lucky to have gone.
Somehow, places like this give me a real sense of our place in this world...

Van Cong Tu said...

I'd love to visit, sucha great place with lots of things to see. In Viet nam we have some places like that called Cham Towers located in center of Viet Nam You are so lucky Tim.

Tim Rice said...

Hi, san nakji. It does give one pause to realize that our current day civilizations are/weren't the only accomplished/advanced civilizations.

You're right, godknows, that I have been privileged to visit places such as these. Many of us don't ever realize how fortunate and blessed our lives are and have been.

sage said...

I visited the Copan Ruins in 2004--they are amazing in size. Our "guide" was a hoot! He knew how to tell stories and to string us along. I didn't get to the hot springs there, however, so I'll have to catch that on another trip.

Tim Rice said...

sage, I think the guide is what really makes these tours meaningful especially if he/she knows how to tell stories. We didn't get to the hot springs either. Nor did we visit the underground portions of the Ruins that are open. That's something I think I would like to do sometime.