THE ANCIENT MAYAS AND THEIR WHITE ROADS – PART I

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In my book “The Mayan Arch Route” (2010), I present 10 different routes (tours) through which its inhabitants in those times communicated and moved from one village to another. Each route was, in Mayan antiquity, defined by white paths (in Mayan Cuxan-Sum or Sacbé: sak, white; bej, path).

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The lengths of these 10 white path journeys (Sacbe’ob plural Maya of Sacbé) vary and in its development that we present, we find several villages, which in their time looked splendid Mayan arches, always preserving their “baying” style, with different shapes and sizes.

These road networks are truly “Wonders of the World.” Unlike the Roman roads, the white roads were not defined to go to a hegemonic center, as were those of the Roman Empire, but they obeyed the strict communication needs for the flow of people and goods, between all peoples and housing centers of this nation. Its construction system, as we can see in the following images, was basically based on the supply and functional placement of Sascab (in Mayan Sahkab: white earth).

One more of the outstanding elements of the Mayan region was this system of communications through white roads. Eric Wolf comments in his book Peoples and Cultures of Mesoamerica: “Cobá is the oldest theocratic center in northeastern Yucatán; its origin dates back to the year 623 of our era (…) It had sixteen roads, 15 feet wide that connected the city with the surrounding centers. The longest road was about 60 miles and linked Coba with Yaxuna, not far from Chichen Itza. ”

These roads were built with sascab or saskab (in Mayan Sahkab: white land), which is a material that abounds throughout the Yucatan Peninsula, coming from limestone rocks, a kind of road with a width that varied from 13 at 33 feet, same that started and ended in Monumental Arches. It represents part of the architectural urban conjugation that was carried out by locating those majestic arches at the entrance of each of these ceremonial centers, which were communicated with these white paths, and that had a spiritual symbolic meaning. All this that the Mayan culture did was extremely great and one thing that we must keep in mind is that those GREAT WHITE ROADS always linked MONUMENTAL ARCHES and that fundamentally symbolically meant the routes that the ancient Maya made in those lands of the New World

For informational purposes, the Mayan arch is located exclusively in the Mayan region and is originally from this culture. It is a structure built with stone ashlars on both sides of it, which are joined towards the center until they are closed at their highest point in a shotstone or also called a keystone. It is an arch of the cracked type, so it is also designated by this name. Regarding its geometric layout, we can identify the Mayan arch, according to its different geometric shapes, with a dozen of the types of arch that are handled in the current architectural environment. The so-called Mayan vault or “saledizo” uses the same construction principle. Referring to the symbolic meaning of the Mayan arch with the white path is explained as the spiritual passage from one state to another that places the being in a new sacred space.

This cultural architectural artistic binomial “WHITE ROADS-MONUMENTAL ARCHWAY” of the ancient Maya allows us to lead ourselves through a spiritual path that crosses a time portal to enter the different moments that ancient people had to travel in their daily journeys, as well how to cross each arch as spiritual thresholds to use them in such diverse artistic and constructive uses.

The sacbe (sak: white, bej: path) is a divine symbol that in the Mayan worldview represented the union of the Earth with the Sky, a clear hierogamy. The white paths or sacbéoob were symbolic representations of the trajectories of certain astral bodies (astral symbology) and the Ceremonial Centers themselves, which may have been defined by this astronomer people, in attention and representation of some stars. Coba may have been a Cosmic Center where a greater number of astronomical routes affected, since a large number of these white roads converge on this site.

At present, some of these wonders have been rebuilt, retaining their original traces, and can be used to walk, walking as the ancient Maya did, important parts of the archeological regions, which are truly a very important cultural legacy for Humanity.

DEVELOPMENT OF WHITE ROADS AND CONSTRUCTION ASPECTS

The development of white roads in the Mayan region, progressively took place over time. Initially they were built to serve within the same ceremonial and residential centers, that is, between the same buildings that made up those centers. This first stage was generated in the period of 250 B.C. at 250 A.D.

The next stage took place between 250 and 600 A.D., giving rise to white roads that linked several ceremonial and residential centers, including their planted areas.

Finally, there is the stage of the great and extensive white roads that unite the main housing centers of the Mayan nation, a stage that occurs between 600 and 800 A.D., and that they remain that way until the bloody conquest of the Spaniards.

The most widespread construction section was the trapezoidal shape, as shown in the following figure:

The lengths of both sides varied according to the terrain and the technical needs of the roads themselves.

Of course, it depended on the situation of the topography of the terrain that the sections varied, however, the following in importance was the triangular shape:

In one of the most important cities, Chichen Itza, these white roads connect the Central Ceremonial Square with the Sacred Cenote.

In Labná it connects the Building “The Palace” with most of the buildings in the southern part of the ceremonial center.

In Dzibilchaltún, there are three white roads. The first communicates the Grand Ceremonial Plaza with the “7 Dolls” building, which has a distance of 1,500 feet; the second connects Gran Plaza itself with the group of buildings in the South, with a development of 2,500 feet; and the third, also communicates to the Grand Plaza with the group of buildings of the West, with a development of 4,000 feet.

The second stage was developed practically throughout the Mayan region that covers 135,000 square miles (*), equivalent to the surface of Germany, or 3 times Portugal, or the same as Italy.

The third stage is officially conformed, according to its great distances, in 5 regional systems. These systems can be clearly located in five regions of the Yucatan Peninsula: the most important because of its length that reaches 62 miles, on the way, the white Cobá-Yaxuná road, with an average width of 33 feet, located in the eastern part of the Yucatan Peninsula, from which other roads of the second category depart. The next white road in importance is the Aké-Izamal, which has a development of 18 miles and in some of its parts has a width of 40 feet and 13 feet at other points of its development, located in the central part; the third and fourth have the same distance of 11 miles, one is towards the north central part, the Uxmal-Kabah, and another is the Ucí-Cansahcab, located towards the north-eastern part; finally, the fifth, Cobá-Ixil, with 12 miles of development, in the eastern part.

This system of the great white roads are those that in modern times have been able to properly point out and rebuild in part. Huge distances can be traveled walking along these white roads of the Mayan nation. All the journeys take us to that ancient era and its great architectural skills and technical capabilities can be observed directly in this type of constructive development, as well as in the great pyramids and the excellent Mayan arch, in its different artistic varieties.

Let us make an effort and imagine that we are traveling through these Mayan jungles with their white buildings and roads, or, we make a greater effort, and we dedicate a few days to vacation in those wonderful places, which will lead us to cross the threshold of time, practicing a MAGICAL TREKKING (Future Post MAGIC TREKKING. PART I).

Let’s not think about it anymore, let’s practice that MAGICAL TREKKING. There is no doubt that this region evokes magical passages that, in addition to implementing our WALK-RWD system, can be complemented with other attractions that give more form and sustenance to other collateral activities -in addition to reading, writing and drawing-, such as meditation, contemplation, emotional balance and many other aspects that please us when we are practicing the walk, that in these Mayan places are truly full of magic.

(*) “The Mayan people occupied, during the time of their major growth and extension (IV-X centuries A.D.), an immense territory located in Mexico and Central America, around 350 thousand square kilometers [135,000 square miles]. This area completely covered the Yucatan Peninsula and important areas of the States of Tabasco and Chiapas, belonging to Mexico; large areas of Belize and Guatemala, as well as a part of Honduras and a small strip of El Salvador. ” Loya Lopategui, Carlos, The Mayan Arch Route, EMULISA, Mexico, 2010, p. 14.

CULTURE OF THE FOUR SEAS

The Mayan nation is the only culture in the ancient world that, when it settled in its territory, was able to look out over four seas. We now call them the Pacific Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, and all four are perfectly distinguishable from each other as they belong to different oceanographic formations. These formations include underwater topography, ocean circulation, water temperature, current patterns (with the Gulf Stream and the Atlantic Current). A difference between deep and shallower trenches, all with a wide expanse of abyssal plains. The Caribbean Sea, for example, has a smoother underwater topography compared to the other 3 seas. These characteristics influence and play an important role in the climate of the entire Mayan region. The 4 seas interact with the region and influence the temperature and weather patterns associated with each of the 4 seas. There is also a difference in marine biodiversity and ecosystems vary between the 4 seas.

The Maya settled in this region of southeastern Mexico to communicate with and through them, which is why we have designated it as the Culture of the Four Seas.

This nation developed significantly in all aspects, and from my personal point of view, the location of the lands that the ancient Maya chose were decisive for their cultural development.

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