Ancient civilizations commonly encompass a set of traditions and cultures that define who they were in the past.In addition, they make important contributions that are transmitted through the years and serve current civilizations, enriching their history and idiosyncrasy, thus leading them to be who they are today as a society. Thanks to their ancestral legacy, civilizations have their cultural identity.
Among these ancient civilizations, is the Mayan civilization, its history dates back more than 3 thousand years, and covered regions that are currently known as Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Mexico; their culture was framed in the construction of great religious temples and cities, hieroglyphic writing and the measurement of the stars.
On the other hand, like different pre-Columbian Mesoamerican civilizations, Mayan society was organized by a social stratification, led by the nobility, who were the ones who had power and political and religious authority; and to stand out from the rest, They used jewelry adorned with stones, among which jade stood out.
Jade is a mineral that comes in different colors, they had different meanings according to their color. White was the most resistant and the purest; green one of the most common, which represented nature; the dark green with streaks was to be used as good luck charms; black was for religious ceremonies; light green for sorcery, medicine and esotericism; and bright green symbolized the aristocracy, the latter being used in the ornaments of the monarchs and heads of the community, as a seal of distinction.
For the Mayans, this stone represented fertility, and because of its hardness, it symbolized immortality, eternity, heaven, and breath. For them, jade was sacred and a symbol of veneration. The representatives of the nobility were buried with masks made of jade, so that their hierarchy was recognized even after death. One of the most famous death masks is that of K’inich J’anaab Pakal or Pakal “The Great”, an ancient Mayan ruler, who was taken to the sepulcher when he died with all his ornaments and jade jewels.
The Mayans appreciated this stone so much that when the Spanish conquerors arrived and asked for an offering of their best treasures, they gave him some jade stones, which Hernán Cortés rejected and discarded because he did not appreciate the value of this stone, considering that it was worthless. nothing because he wanted gold, and now the value of jade is second only to that of diamond; In addition, this stone is very scarce, there are only natural deposits in Guatemala and Burma, being cataloged that of the Central American country as the best in the world.
This is how the ancient Mayan civilizations incorporated the wonderful jade stone into their society and traditions, they made it part of their cultural past; represented with it immortality and eternity, for which it transcended for millions of years; and is still considered the sacred stone of the Mayans.