HONDURAS-CULTURE: New Museum Recreates Marvels of the Mayan World

By Thelma Mejía Reprint | | Print |

Thelma Mejia

TEGUCIGALPA, Aug 20 1996 (IPS) - The sculpted serpent’s mouth which serves as entryway to a new museum of Mayan culture in Copan, Honduras, 500 km. west of the capital of Tegucigalpa, is only one of the treasures which illuminates the little-known history of this people.

Touted as major tourist and cultural attraction, the Museum of Copan seeks to play a major role in the collection and conservation of artifacts and knowledge on the lost Mayan culture of Honduras. It offers a magical glimpse into the world of their gods, kings, and priests.

Walking into the serpent’s mouth, which according to Mayan cosmology was their vehicle of entry into this world, visitors have the sense of traveling back in time. While articles on exhibit include the latest anthropological and archaeological discoveries on the Maya, many mysteries about this enigmatic culture remain unsolved.

In spite of longstanding riddles which impede better understanding of their civilization, the Mayas are considered to have been one of the most advanced pre-Columbian peoples.

They made important contributions in the fields of astronomy and mathematics, where they helped create the concept of “zero”. The disappearance of the Mayans remains a mystery which has attracted the interest of many scientists.

Although some aspects of Mayan culture survive in Mexico and Belize, the foundations of their civilization were laid mostly in Guatemala and Honduras, where little by little new artifacts are coming to light.

The Honduran government has been keen to display replicas of these new-found treasures to the public. In addition to making the new museum a repository for Mayan culture, they’re also hoping it will be a hot new tourist attraction.

Honduran President Carlos Reina and Guatemalan President Alvaro Arzu officiated two weeks ago at the museum’s grand opening. The museum is comprised of several modules connected by tunnels. Each module is in the form of a staircase, where each “step” of the staircase is a floor of the museum. The collection is arranged chronologically so that a visitor can view in sequence the development of the Mayan empire.

Ricardo Agurcia, a Honduran anthropologist specializing in Mayan culture, appreciates the exhibits of the best examples of stucco and stone sculpture. He also singles out for praise the module housing 108 hieroglyphs, constituting the lengthiest piece of pre- Columbian “writing” extant.

“What we’ve inherited from the Mayas is so valuable that we should feel proud of being descendants of such a civilization, a civilization which we must now preserve and rescue from being completely lost to future generations”, says Agurcia.

Sponsored by the Honduran Institute of Anthropology and the Mayan Culture Rescue and Research Project (PRIEM), among other organizations, the museum is like a “living history book” for Hondurans interested in recapturing their past.

In addition to the handsome sculpture, there is also a replica of the recently unearthed Rosalila Temple, which pays tribute to one of the greatest Mayan figures, the God of the Sun.

Built by “Luna Jaguar”, the tenth Mayan governor of Copan, in 571 A.D., the Rosalila Temple depicts a holy mountain festooned with broad-winged birds and serpents symbolizing an adoration of the gods and the celebration of various Mayan tenets.

The museum’s collection is replete with artifacts related to ancient fertility rites, ball games, war rituals, and royal traditions, such the “Supreme Warrior” kings who would nevertheless act only after consulting with noblemen, priests, and common folk.

It’s hoped that the museum, which took three years to build, will attract foreign tourists and form part of a campaign for more and better research on all indigenous cultures from the region and to hold their heritage in higher esteem.

Copan is also the site of the majestic Copan ruins, which along with Tikal in Guatemala, is one of the major pre-Columbian archaeological discoveries in Central America.