Economic Growth In Guatemala

At the top of these temples is where the most important ceremonies and sacrifices took place. In Fiero’s text they were described as being like the Mesopotamian ziggurat. “The Maya temple was a terraced pyramid with a staircase ascending to a platform capped by a multiroomed superstructure. A shrine and sanctuary, it also served as a burial place for priests or rulers.” ( Fiero 461) Many of their temples were built with astronomy in mind, and certain ones were aligned to the movements of Venus, the sun and the moon.

Now you may have heard myths or stories about Tikal. Tikal was one of the greatest ancient maya city which was located in the northern Guatemala. With about 60,000 people living their. Tikal controlled smaller cities but then got fought by Calakmul.

The ancient Maya once occupied a vast geographic area in Central America. Their civilization inhabited an area that encompasses Mexico's Yucatan peninsula and parts of the states of Chiapas and Tabasco, as well as Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador. "From the third to the ninth century, Maya civilization produced awe-inspiring temples and pyramids, highly accurate calendars, mathematics and hieroglyphics, and a complex social and political order" ("Collapse..." 1). Urban centers were important to the Maya during the Classic period; they offered the Mayans a central place to practice religion.

I studied many things about Guatemala such as, the culture, religion, food, population, geography, imports, exports, and most popular of all sports. The sports of Guatemala is something I found very interesting.

Tikal National Park is in Northern Guatemala and houses the largest excavated site on the North American Continent. It is a well-preserved complex of Mayan Step Pyramids and Hieroglyphic Carvings. Tikal Park also is home to a large swath of rain forest habitats. Secondly, Lake Atitlan the deepest lake of the country is in the Guatemalan highlands. It is surrounded by 3 volcanoes and small Mayan villages. Another Guatemalan landmark is an active volcano known as Mt. Pacaya. Mt. Pacaya is an active volcano in Southern Guatemala located near the Capital, Guatemala City. Mt. Pacaya has been known to engulf homes and villages. The next landmark is the historic town of Antiqua. Antigua is a world heritage site that consists of well-preserved Spanish Colonial architecture. Founded in the 16th century, the town was the colonial capital until 1773, when an earthquake devastated the areas. The last landmark is also a Mayan archeological site. Quirigua was the place where the infamous Mayan calendar was discovered, along with dozens of stone monuments know as Stelae. Stelae are intricately carved with hieroglyphics explaining historical

The Guatemalan Revolution was on October 1944 and it forced the resignation of Jorge Ubico. He was the President of Guatemala in the previous thirteen years. Ubico's government was a fear period in the country and it was called the “peace on the cemeteries”

The climate is much different in Guatemala. While they have a dry season and it will not rain from October till at least a couple months after February, we have a lot of our rain during these months. In my city we all have electricity and our houses are all wired with a surplus of sockets and individual switches; while in Cesar’s village the countryside is just recently receiving electricity, and their homes only have two sockets and one switch that turns them on and off at the same time. Our Easter celebrations are similar, we both decorate eggs and dress up; but while they dance and set off firecrackers; we have scavenger hunts, go to church, and have a fancy dinner. We both have similar goals to improve our city and to succeed in school.

The Maya civilization was one of the most dominant indigenous societies of Mesoamerica. The growth of the great Mayan civilization is as much a mystery as its disappearance. The Maya Empire, centered in the tropical lowlands of what is now Guatemala, reached the peak of its power and influence around the sixth century A.D (http://www.history.com/topics/maya#). As a youth growing up in Belize Central America, I was very much intrigued by the Mayan civilization as we would regularly take educational field trips to the massive stone temples of Xunantunich and Altun Ha. Both Mayan ruins were no more than 50 miles away from my childhood home. Most of what we know about the Maya comes from what remains of their architecture and art, including stone carvings and inscriptions on their buildings and monuments. The Maya were deeply religious, and worshiped various gods related to nature, including the gods of the sun, the moon, rain and corn.

Guatemala has many stunning geographic features. Such as the highlands, a mountain chain in Guatemala that contains the Vulcan Tajumulco, the tallest mountain is Central America. In the South,

Tikal located in present-day Guatemala is just one of the sites of the Mayan Civilization. The Mayan Civilization ranges from Mexico to the south in Central America. Embedded in their society were beliefs that evolved around sacrifices to their Gods who were usually past kings. Although archaeologist have worked hard trying to discover more information about the Mayan world, they have just scraped the surface of their history. One of the greatest mysteries of the Maya today is the rapid decline of the society depicted by the last stela, an upright stone slab or column, located around 869 A.D. at Tikal and 909 A.D. in the Mayan World- about 1000 years before Columbus reached the island of El Salvador in 1492. While there is

Tikal was an ancient city located in the Petén region of Guatemala. It was settled around 300 BC and abandoned around 900 AD. At its peak, Tikal was an influential city-state that controlled other smaller city-states and territories. Its wealth came from harvesting its surrounding natural resources and exploiting the advantages of its geographical location. Around 300 AD, Tikal was influenced by Teotihuacan. It is unclear if it was influenced by an invasion or by simply trade, which lead to changes in the cultural practices in Tikal, which did not affect its further rise to dominance in the region. At its peak, the population of the city and surrounding urban areas was estimated to be over 50,000. In the 6th century BC, Tikal

The Mayan architecture can be best represented by the their temples. Their temples were placed near city-states for religion to give offerings to the gods and are tombs of dead rulers (Cartwright 6). These temples can be up to sixty five meters high with very steep staircases. Palaces were similar to the temples and located in the center of cities. Flat pieces of stone made up these palaces stacked on each other with corbelled roofs (Cartwright 8).

All remnants of the distant past are romantic, but ancient Maya civilization has a special fascination. It is a "lost" civilization, whose secrets lie deep in the mysterious tropical forest. The style of Maya architecture and sculpture seems alien and bizarre.

Some of the most distinct features of Classic Mayan culture were the pyramids. The pyramids were either temples or

Tulum lies on the coast of Quintana Roo, Mexico, which is on the eastern side of the Yucatan Peninsula. Tulum is different from most of the other Mayan cities because of its location, its defenses, and its time period.