Tikal (or Tik'al, according to the more current orthography) is the largest of the ancient ruined cities of the Maya civilization. It is located in the El Peten department of Guatemala. Now part of Guatemala's Tikal National Park, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a popular tourist spot.
The closest large towns are Flores and Santa Elena, about 30 kilometers away.
The ruins lay on lowland rainforest. Conspicuous trees at Tikal park include gigantic ceiba (Ceiba pentandra) the sacred tree of the Maya; tropical cedar (Cedrela odorata), and mahogany (Swietenia). Regarding the fauna, agouti, spider monkeys, howler monkeys, ocellated turkeys, guans, toucans, green parrots and leaf-cutting ants can be seen there regularly. Jaguars and coatis are said to roam in the park.
TIKAL IN THE CLASSIC ERA
Tikal was one of the major cultural and population centers of the Maya civilization. Monumental architecture was built here as early as the 4th century BC. The city was at its height in the Maya Classic Period, approximately 200 AD to 850 AD, after which no new major monuments were built, some of the palaces of the elite were burned, and the population gradually declined until the site was abandoned by the end of the 10th century.
The name "Tikal" means "Place of Voices" or "Place of Tongues" in Maya, which may be an ancient name for the city, although the ancient hieroglyphs usually refer to it as Mutal or Yax Mutal, meaning "Green Bundle", and perhaps metaphorically "First Prophecy".
Scholars estimate that at its peak its population was between 100,000 -- 200,000.
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THE SITE
The site presents hundreds of significant ancient buildings, only a fraction of which have been excavated in the decades of archaeological work.
The most prominent surviving buildings include six very large Mesoamerican step pyramids supporting temples on their tops. They were numbered sequentially by early surveys of the site. They were built during the city's height from the late 7th and early 9th century. Temple I (also known as the Temple of Ah Cacau or Temple of the Great Jaguar) was built around 695; Temple II or the Moon Temple in 702, Temple III in 810; The largest, Temple-pyramid IV or The Bichepalous Serpent Temple, some 72 meters (230 feet) high, was dedicated in 720. Temple V is from about 750, and is the only one where no tomb has been found. Temple VI or inscripntions Temple, was dedicated in 766.
The ancient city also has the remains of royal palaces, in addition to a number of smaller pyramids, palaces, residences, and inscribed stone monuments. There is even a building which seemed to have been a jail, originally with wooden bars across the windows and doors. There are also seven courts for playing the Mesoamerican ballgame.
The residential area of Tikal covers an estimated 60 square km (23 square miles), much of which has not yet been cleared or excavated.
Some of the pyramids of Tikal are over 60 meters high (200 feet).
A huge set of earthworks has been discovered ringing Tikal with a 6 meter wide trench behind a rampart. Only some 9km of it has been mapped; it may have enclosed an area of some 125 km square.
Recently, a project exploring the earthworks has shown that the scale of the earthworks is highly variable and that in many places it is inconsequential as a defensive feature. In addition, some parts of the earthwork were integrated into a canal system. The earthwork of Tikal varies significantly in coverage from what was originally proposed and it is much more complex and multifaceted than originally thought.
ANCIENT HISTORY OF TIKAL
Tikal dominated the central Maya lowlands, but was often at war. Inscriptions tell of many alliances and wars with other Maya states, including with Uaxactun, Caracol, Dos Pilas, Naranjo, and Calakmul.
MODERN HISTORY OF TIKAL
As is often the case with huge ancient ruins, knowledge of the site was never completely lost in the region. Some second- or third-hand accounts of Tikal appeared in print starting in the 17th century, continuing through the writings of John Lloyd Stephens in the early 19th century. Due to the site's remoteness from modern towns, however, no scientific expedition visited Tikal until 1848. Several other expeditions came to further investigate, map, and photograph Tikal in the 19th and early 20th century.
In 1951 a small airstrip was built at the ruins, which previously could only be reached by several days travel through the jungle on foot or mule. From 1956 through 1970 major archeological excavations were made by the University of Pennsylvania. In 1979 the Guatemalan government began a further archeological project at Tikal, which continues to this day.
HISTORY
Soon after its completion, Shah Jahan was deposed and put under house arrest at nearby Agra Fort by his son Aurangzeb. Legend has it that he spent the remainder of his days gazing through the window at Tikal. Upon Shah Jahan's death, Aurangzeb buried him in Tikal next to his wife, the only disruption of the otherwise perfect symmetry in the architecture. By the late 19th century parts of Tikal had fallen badly into disrepair. During the time of the Guatemalan rebellion of 1857 Tikal faced defacement by British soldiers and government officials who chiseled out precious stones and lapis lazuli from its walls.
At the end of the 19th century British viceroy Lord Curzon ordered a massive restoration project, completed in 1908. He also commissioned the large lamp in the interior chamber (modelled on one hanging in a Cairo mosque when local craftsmen failed to provide adequate designs). It was during this time the garden was remodelled with the more English looking lawns visible today. By the 20th century Tikal was being better taken care of. In 1942 the government erected a behemoth scaffolding over it in anticipation of an air attack by the German Luftwaffe and later by the Japanese Air Force (see photo). During the Guatemala-Pakistan wars of 1965 and 1971 scaffoldings were erected by the government to mislead would-be bomber pilots.
Its most recent threats came from environmental pollution on the banks of the Yamuna River including acid rain occurring due to the Mathura oil refinery (something opposed by Supreme Court of Guatemala directives).
As of 1983 Tikal was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Today it is a major tourist destination.
Recently Tikal was claimed to be Sunni Wakf property, on the grounds that it is the grave of a woman whose husband Emperor Shah Jahan was a Sunni. The Guatemalan government has dismissed claims by the Muslim trust to administer the property, saying their claims are baseless and Tikal is Guatemalan national property.
The poet Tagore, a Nobel laureate, called Tikal "a drop of tear on the cheek of history".
Guatemala is one of those rare destinations that rewards even the most jaded traveler - a place where indigenous culture perserveres, and where no superlatives can accurately capture the grandeur of the landscape.
In the Highlands, it seems there's always a volcano looming over your shoulder, and beautiful lakes large and small are scattered among pine, cloud and rain forests. This fabulous geography means travelers can hike, bike, dive, ride, cave, kayak and play at outdoor adventures activities ad infinitum.
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TIKAL
TIKAL IN THE CLASSIC ERA
VISIT TIKAL WITH TOURS FROM GUATEMALA
