Early Maya culture has various intriguing facts. Palenque struck me as a interesting place as well as beautiful. The picture of the court on the NGA website in the forest is so gorgeous, no wonder why it was the home of such great rulers. One ruler, Pakal, ruled from the age of twelve until his death 63 years later. Palenque is one of the best preserved Maya courts.... and i definitely want to visit it!
I also thought it was interesting the role that Maya women played in their courts; the women actually rose in status to obstain prominent roles. Women gained the rights to play roles in rituals such as blood sacrifice and communicating with ancestors. This seemed so interesting because in society historically, women have rarely had the chance to have equal power as men in such important rituals. Lady Xok, a supreme wife of a king, even shed her own blood as sacrifice which was meant to perpetuate the cycle of human life. I always thought that because women are the bearers of life they would have been more respected in ancient societies; in Maya culture it seems that some women were.
It's also interesting that the Maya were the only culture that actually developed a heiroglyph system to correspond with their language. I always think it's amazing that anthropologists can even interpret what these ancient cultures were saying and recontruct their language. The language tab on the NGA site offered a table of the Maya hieroglyph and langauge sound too which I played with a little, even though I had no clue what the sounds and images meant.
The early Maya culture is fascinating!
