Chichen Itza

So.

In case you have been wondering why I haven't posted in a while, or even if you haven't, I have been on vacation.

 In Cancun Mexico.

Boyd earned a trip through work and we were given some fantastic treatment at an all-inclusive resort.

This was one of the busiest trips we have ever been on because we were constantly going on tours, visiting a blind/deaf school PLUS Boyd had a three hour business meeting.

 But, if you haven't been there, I might suggest that you find a way to get down there.

Now.

 While there, we had the unique opportunity to go on a couple of Mayan ruins tours.

 These tours were led by a Stake President in Mexico and so we were given an LDS perspective of these ruins. It was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had.

I thought I would take you on a Reader's Digest version of these places we were so privileged to see.

First off: Chichen Itza!

We traveled by bus for 2 hours to get there. It is quite far inland.

 Once there, we were treated to sights I have never seen before. Here is the main temple in Chichen Itza.

 It is very large. It has 91 steps going up to the top on all four sides. Plus one more step to get inside. 91 x 4 = 364, plus the one more step = 365 representing the days of the year.

In Chichen Itza you see a ton of serpents.

They are everywhere.

There are two kinds of serpents represented in the carvings on the stones: the feathered serpent, representing Jesus Christ or the scaly serpent, representing the devil.

This is a feathered serpent.

On one side of Chichen Itza there is a large ball court.

This is where they play some difficult game where the players try to get a ball into a stone ring. The ring is about 20 feet in the air.

There are seven members on each team.

This picture shows what we call "box seats". The important people sat and watched the game from here.

This next picture shows one of the sides of the ball court.

See the ring?

Are you wondering what I was wondering? How on earth does ANYONE get a ball into that ring?

 I don't know, but the best athletes were playing on the teams.

The captain of the winning team was usually the best player there. He received a reward for playing such a marvelous game: He lost his head.

Yep. He was decapitated in the name of God.

Boyd told me it was one occasion in life where mediocrity is OK.

This carving is so well preserved because the weather was hitting the opposite side of the building. It is easy to see what is being depicted here. A man holding onto a head...probably the head of the team captain.

There was a burial place where they found hundreds of skulls. In addition to the skulls they found, there were carvings of skulls all around the entire burial grounds.

Here is a really well preserved feathered serpent.

 Brock explained why Jesus Christ is also known as the feathered serpent. The serpent represents the earth, the feathers represent the heavens, so the feathered serpent represents the earth and the heavens coming together through Jesus Christ.

The main temple has a serpent's head at the bottom of the steps.

There is also a box to the side of the serpent where the people kept their special treasures.

 There is an interesting phenomenon about the serpent.

On March 21, the spring solstice, 60-70 thousand people come to see the sun cast a shadow on the temple in the afternoon.

The way the sun strikes the temple, you can see the shadows of the pyramid causing triangles to form. These triangles make up the body of the serpent.

 However, if you want to see the entire serpent, you need to go on April 6th. That day, every triangle shows up and you can see the entire body of the serpent!

This is the temple of 1000 columns.

Why 1000 columns?

 I have no idea.

But those columns were all the same size around and PERFECTLY in line.

Incredible!

This building is the observatory.

 The people that built these buildings were expert astronomers and really knew a lot about the stars, the seasons and the significance of certain dates.

Lastly, this is a baptismal font.

It has been filled up with a lot of dirt, but in the days when it was being used it was much deeper.

Our guide's name was Lemuel.

He told us that the temples in Mexico and Central America all have the same basic design: an outer wall, an altar, a font and then the temple.

 He also explained that these temples were built after the manner of Solomon's temple in the Old Testament.

 These people had the brass plates which gave an exact measurement of Solomon's temple, and they patterned their temples the same way. See 2 Nephi 5:16.

It was such an incredible experience to see these buildings and observe the detailed craftsmanship of the people who built them.

I will post our tour of Ek Balam tomorrow.

Stay tuned!