Sunken Palaces. Pyramids swallowed by forests. Temples buried by deserts. Discover imposing cities that were forgotten by humanity and rediscovered over the centuries.
TIKAL
Country – Guatemala
Area – 125 km²
Population – Between 100 and 120 thousand
Foundation – 300 BC
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1. The history of this city, which means “place of voices” in Mayan, dates back to two and a half millennia before its founding, when the Olmecs would have migrated from North America to the lowlands of present-day Guatemala. In the region, this pre-Columbian people established villages, and their descendants, the Mayans, developed them to the point of transforming them into a great administrative and religious center.
two. Archaeologists do not know if Tikal functioned as the capital of an empire or if it led an autonomous life from the other villages. As the ruins include, in addition to sanctuaries, 60 km2 and 100 blocks of large constructions of palaces and pyramids, it is presumed that a large elite lived there, consisting of military leaders and priests, in addition to their families. The rest of the population, poorer and more agricultural, lived on the periphery
3. The Maya of this period frequented arenas, where they attended theatrical performances and ball games sponsored by the nobility, who needed to captivate and impress their subjects to keep them united (and the city safe). In open squares, festivals took place that revered the deeds of the caciques. In the wide streets and on the sidewalks, there was a trade in tapestries, vegetables and slaughtered prey.
4. With the arrival of the first millennium, the golden age of the Mayans ended. Inscriptions carved into stone monuments reveal that, in about 40 years, relations between Tikal and its neighbors changed from friendly to hostile. What followed were wars and attacks that dispersed the population. The city ended up abandoned
5. Shortly after the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the Americas, in 1492, the Mayan ruins, which had been taken over by the forest and abandoned for centuries, were found by Europeans. But, to destabilize the natives, who saw the place as sacred, and facilitate their dominion, the Spanish colonizers burned everything down. What was left standing, about 9 km², only began to be studied and preserved from 1848 onwards.
The Mayan Pyramid
Buildings are a great archaeological heritage of this civilization
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CLIFF PALACE
Country – USA
Area – 210 km²
Population – About 100 people
Foundation – 100 AD
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1. Located on the highest cliff in North America, in Mesa Verde National Park, the structure was. built by the people. anasazi, who lived there until 1300. Declared enemies of the ancestors of the Navajo Indians, these natives chose to settle in the crevice of the cliff for the sake of survival: as they were not populated, they needed a strategic view of the region to anticipate possible attacks
two. Before the lifting of the approximately 600 buildings, a set of roads 300 km long and 10 m wide was constructed which was used to access the cliff through the valley below. Afterwards, ramps and stairs were carved into the rock to connect these roads to the dwellings, which basically. they were three-story towers. with. observation terraces, suites and rooms
3. The wood for the structural beams was extracted from conifers located in mountain ranges, 110 km away. Archaeologists estimate that about. 200,000 trees of this type were uprooted and transported. on foot or by boat to the palace building. The mortar used in plastering was produced with a mixture of limestone, ash, water and clay.
4. When the Spaniards arrived in the region,. in the 16th century, these people no longer. lived in the palace,. but in surrounding villages. Friendly until the beginning of colonization, they liked to tell foreigners that there, in the rocks, their ancestors lived. This was proven in the 1970s when excavations unearthed jewelry, ceramics, musical instruments and ceremonial items.
5. Despite having some knowledge of their origin, the last Anasazi knew little about the end of their ancestors. Currently, archaeologists believe that. a series of prolonged droughts. interrupted food production. With the drought, part of the population that lived around the palace fled and the other, faithful to their rulers, resisted until they succumbed
AKROTIRI
Country – Greece
Area – 200 thousand m²
Population – 60 thousand
Foundation – Around 2000 BC
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1. The ruins of the archaeological site are embedded in the rocky mountains of Santorini (ancient Thera), the largest Greek island. It was in the Bronze Age that the Minoan civilization built Akrotiri, one of the most important cities on the Aegean coast. Its society was organized into three classes: workers (craftsmen, metallurgists and farmers), soldiers and a powerful elite.
two. Very rich, the city had a busy port, paved streets, temples and luxurious houses. grouped in rectangular condominiums. There lived large landowners, politicians and high-ranking military, who had all the control over the population and made most of the laws, being able to punish and condemn to death whoever they wanted. Since everyone had everything they needed to live, there was no need to conquer other peoples.
3. However, this perfect world suffered a setback. Around 1650 BC, three small volcanic eruptions, followed by earthquakes,. they shook most of the buildings on the island and triggered its emptying. According to Spyridon Marinatos, an archaeologist who discovered the city in 1967, its complete closure took about 50 years, as the wealthy tried at all costs to save the affected areas.
4. Things got worse: between 1627 and 1600 BC, an eruption at least ten times more intense than the one that occurred at Krakatoa in 1883 (and killed 36,000 people) covered the region under a thick layer of lava, rocks and ash. It destroyed any human remains on the island for several centuries. It was so violent that the coastal zone disappeared, swallowed by tsunamis, and a column of gases and soot spread throughout the Northern Hemisphere. In the book Fire in the SeaDanish geologist Walter Friederic argues that Atlantis was inspired by the destruction of Akrotiri
TIMGAD
Country – Algeria
Area – 40 km²
Population – 15 thousand
Foundation – 100 AD
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1. A large triumphal arch marks the main avenue of the citadel, in the province of Batna. There, the first traces of the Roman Empire in Algeria were discovered, which were brought to light in 1765 by the Scottish explorer James Bruce. Emperor Trajan’s pretext for its founding was that Timgad would be one. colony for war veterans,. but the real intention was to weaken the local tribes and install a base of protection for the trade routes
two. In 50 years, what appeared to be a simple military camp grew beyond its walls and, with the help of Africans who needed jobs,. it turned into a powerful autonomous city. In exchange for labor in the production of grains, oil and wine, which were sent to Rome, the natives and their children gained Roman citizenship. In a short time, they began to share leadership positions and became the majority
3. The city was well designed and the Romans ensured equality among citizens. In the huge blocks, intersected by narrow streets, there were. houses, taverns, bathhouses, plus a temple dedicated to the god Jupiter. a library and a large theater with over 3,500 seats. However, with the weakening of Rome in the 5th century, the city was invaded and plundered by barbarian tribes that inhabited the Aurès mountains, also in North Africa.
4. Another determining factor in the midst of the Empire’s crisis was the rise of Christians, who in 535 found the city empty and took it. However, in the 7th century, civil wars motivated by farmers opposed to the Church, which had taken over much of the land and charged abusive taxes, facilitated a Muslim invasion. Shattered, Timgad fell into oblivion and remained buried in the desert. for a thousand years
MOHENJO-DARO
Country – Pakistan
Area – 3.5 km²
Population – 40 thousand
Foundation – 2600 BC
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1. The city emerged in the Indus River valley, almost on the border with India, as one of the administrative centers of the Harappa Empire, which stretched over 1.5 million km2, more than Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt combined. high part, protected by guard towers, lived the nobles,. who had at their disposal temples, markets, ballrooms and large residences with thermal pools. They were supplied by the population of the lower areas, almost all made up of farmers and traders.
two. So were the harappas. cleaning enthusiasts and built large squares for public baths and water reservoirs – perhaps as a defense against floods, which were frequent. But what astonished archaeologists the most in 1922, when Mohenjo-Daro was discovered, were its sanitary facilities. Almost all houses had a bathroom, water well and adequate places for garbage disposal. They were as advanced as those that appeared in Rome 2,500 years later.
3. The city mysteriously disappeared around 1800 BC without leaving many clues or records about its language, history and leaders (probably because invaders destroyed the relics). According to theories, the city. it may have been devastated by as many as six floods in a row. that would have provoked the rupture of its dikes, or by the combination of an invasion and a severe drought that lasted 300 years and eliminated the Sarasvati river, one of the main rivers in the region.
SOURCES Books In Search of the Cradle of Civilizationby Georg Feuerstein, Subhash Kak and David Frawley, and Dying for the Gods, by Miranda Green Sutton; Ancient Origins, Ancient Greece and National Geographic sites