1 00:00:00,745 --> 00:00:18,267 This series presents information based in part on theory and conjecture. 2 00:00:18,267 --> 00:00:22,788 The producer's purpose is to suggest some possible explanations, but not necessarily 3 00:00:22,788 --> 00:00:25,668 the only ones to the mysteries we will examine. 4 00:00:26,668 --> 00:00:32,669 The heart of an average human being beats 72 times a minute. 5 00:00:32,669 --> 00:00:35,669 These, however, are not ordinary human beings. 6 00:00:35,669 --> 00:00:37,669 They are the Mayans. 7 00:00:37,669 --> 00:00:40,670 Their hearts beat only 50 times a minute. 8 00:00:40,670 --> 00:00:43,670 Their teeth do not decay. 9 00:00:43,670 --> 00:00:47,671 Their skull cavities are different from any other human beings. 10 00:00:47,671 --> 00:00:54,672 They are the descendants of an extraordinary people who long ago created an astonishing civilization. 11 00:00:55,672 --> 00:00:57,672 Then they vanished. 12 00:00:57,672 --> 00:00:59,672 Where did they come from? 13 00:00:59,672 --> 00:01:04,673 Why did their civilization flourish, then disappear? 14 00:01:12,674 --> 00:01:16,674 The biblical story of Genesis and the theory of evolution agree. 15 00:01:16,674 --> 00:01:22,675 In the beginning, out of the void came light, the great creative force. 16 00:01:25,675 --> 00:01:33,676 Eventually, light separated from darkness, becoming the first day. 17 00:01:33,676 --> 00:01:40,677 And from this great expanse, the sky was created and dry land emerged from the deep. 18 00:01:42,677 --> 00:01:45,678 Earth, the great mother. 19 00:01:45,678 --> 00:01:53,679 Giving birth to all kinds of vegetation, the marsh and mud landscape was transformed into mountains and lakes. 20 00:01:55,679 --> 00:02:02,680 Finally, the expanse of sky was filled with lights, separating day from night. 21 00:02:02,680 --> 00:02:10,681 The movement of the stars marked the passage of time, the recurring cycles of the days, the seasons, the years. 22 00:02:12,681 --> 00:02:15,681 The waters brought forth life. 23 00:02:24,682 --> 00:02:28,683 Swarms of living creatures filled the seas. 24 00:02:32,683 --> 00:02:36,684 Birds and other winged life filled the skies. 25 00:02:47,685 --> 00:02:51,686 All sorts of beasts and crawling things populated the land. 26 00:02:51,686 --> 00:02:56,686 It was into this setting that mankind was born. 27 00:03:22,690 --> 00:03:31,691 Living simply at first, mankind grappled with the problems of survival, seeking warmth and the guidance of the stars. 28 00:03:34,691 --> 00:03:38,691 Building only the simplest of shelters against the elements. 29 00:03:43,692 --> 00:03:49,693 In most cases, civilization developed slowly, but there appears to be an exception. 30 00:03:51,693 --> 00:03:57,694 Deep within the jungles of Mexico and Guatemala, a culture emerged unlike any other. 31 00:03:59,694 --> 00:04:06,695 At Tikal, the sacred heart of the Mayan world, pyramids stand as ancient links between earth and sky. 32 00:04:08,695 --> 00:04:12,696 Why did this ancient people build such elaborate ceremonial complexes? 33 00:04:12,696 --> 00:04:20,697 Free Colombian scholar and poet Al Orista believes the Maya to be the oldest culture in the world. 34 00:04:21,697 --> 00:04:25,697 The pyramids that these people built were centers of learning. 35 00:04:25,697 --> 00:04:32,698 There were places where men and women were to become creators, masters of energy, masters of matter and energy. 36 00:04:32,698 --> 00:04:38,699 People who would learn in those centers how to transform matter and energy. 37 00:04:38,699 --> 00:04:42,699 There were also initiatory chambers not open to everybody. 38 00:04:42,699 --> 00:04:47,700 These secret societies were dedicated to the study of astronomy based on mathematics. 39 00:04:48,700 --> 00:04:54,701 No evidence has been found to explain the Mayan advances in astronomy and mathematics. 40 00:04:57,701 --> 00:05:04,702 The silent center-knows they left behind indicate only the methods they used to mark the passage of time. 41 00:05:08,702 --> 00:05:16,703 They could easily compute the exact day of the week a given date would fall 400 million years later. 42 00:05:18,704 --> 00:05:21,704 Ancient Mayans devised a unique numbering system. 43 00:05:21,704 --> 00:05:28,705 They used dots to signify 1, bars for 5 and a simple stylized shell for 0. 44 00:05:28,705 --> 00:05:33,705 Thus they anticipated our decimal system by thousands of years. 45 00:05:35,706 --> 00:05:40,706 In 1947, Giles Healy had an extraordinary discovery. 46 00:05:41,706 --> 00:05:49,707 In a small temple in a seemingly unimportant religious center called Bonampak, 47 00:05:49,707 --> 00:05:55,708 Healy found a gold mine of information about Mayan ceremonial life. 48 00:05:58,709 --> 00:06:06,709 In three small chambers, he uncovered a series of exquisite murals documenting the pageantry of a thousand year old religion. 49 00:06:11,710 --> 00:06:20,711 The murals tell of a grand processional of music and mass dancers who appear to be impersonating mysterious gods, 50 00:06:20,711 --> 00:06:23,712 perhaps in the hopes of winning their favor. 51 00:06:26,712 --> 00:06:28,712 There is a raid on a nearby village. 52 00:06:33,713 --> 00:06:34,713 Captives are taken. 53 00:06:37,713 --> 00:06:39,714 Prisoners sacrificed. 54 00:06:41,714 --> 00:06:43,714 The prisoners were killed. 55 00:06:48,715 --> 00:06:54,715 Significantly there is always present one commanding figure, the priest astronomer. 56 00:06:57,716 --> 00:07:03,716 The palace observatory at Palenque reveals the priests to be preoccupied with the study of the stars 57 00:07:03,716 --> 00:07:06,717 and preserving the ancient sacred mysteries. 58 00:07:07,717 --> 00:07:16,718 Long before Columbus, Mayan men of knowledge filled libraries with hundreds of books on their history and the complex cycles of the planets. 59 00:07:18,718 --> 00:07:22,719 These books were important because the priests believed that history repeats itself. 60 00:07:22,719 --> 00:07:26,719 Carefully recorded events were for them a guide to the future. 61 00:07:29,720 --> 00:07:32,720 The Mayan written language is still largely undecypered. 62 00:07:33,720 --> 00:07:37,721 One day it might provide answers to some puzzling questions. 63 00:07:38,721 --> 00:07:44,721 This toy crocodile is evidence that the wheel was known to the early Mayans, but they made no practical use of it. 64 00:07:45,722 --> 00:07:46,722 Why? 65 00:07:47,722 --> 00:07:51,722 The priest scientist directed the building of an elaborate road system. 66 00:07:52,722 --> 00:07:56,723 The longest cuts an absolutely straight line 62 miles through the jungle. 67 00:07:57,723 --> 00:08:04,724 One wonders about the spiritual motivation behind the construction of this complex network linking sacred cities. 68 00:08:08,724 --> 00:08:13,725 One road ends at Uxmal, the oldest Mayan city in the Yucatan Peninsula. 69 00:08:14,725 --> 00:08:17,725 It can be seen as a colossal monument to one thing. 70 00:08:17,725 --> 00:08:18,726 The snake. 71 00:08:19,726 --> 00:08:20,726 Al-Urista explains. 72 00:08:21,726 --> 00:08:25,726 The basic assumptions are that the Mayan people were not afraid of the city. 73 00:08:26,727 --> 00:08:29,727 They were afraid of the universe, about life in the universe. 74 00:08:30,727 --> 00:08:33,727 Where that nothing is static on earth. 75 00:08:34,727 --> 00:08:37,728 Everything moves and everything that moves has a measure. 76 00:08:38,728 --> 00:08:41,728 And everything that has a measure moves in a spiral. 77 00:08:41,728 --> 00:08:43,729 Nothing moves in a straight line. 78 00:08:44,729 --> 00:08:47,729 This is the way they conceived energy and that's why they call themselves the Chan clan. 79 00:08:48,729 --> 00:08:50,729 Chan simply means snake. 80 00:08:56,730 --> 00:08:59,731 In the north, the snake cult reached its greatest power. 81 00:09:00,731 --> 00:09:04,731 Symbolized by a new god called Kukukan, the feathered serpent. 82 00:09:07,732 --> 00:09:11,732 Mayan folklore holds that Kukukan was a bearded, light-skinned man 83 00:09:12,732 --> 00:09:15,732 who brought a renaissance to citadels like Chichen Itza 84 00:09:15,732 --> 00:09:19,733 and provided the Mayans with a highly advanced knowledge of engineering and astronomy. 85 00:09:20,733 --> 00:09:25,734 From Chichen Itza's observatory, the Mayan priests, it was said, 86 00:09:26,734 --> 00:09:29,734 read the future in the patterns of the stars. 87 00:09:37,735 --> 00:09:41,736 In ancient times, Chichen Itza was a thriving ceremonial center, 88 00:09:42,736 --> 00:09:46,736 a place of pilgrimage where Mayans came to worship and enjoy society. 89 00:09:49,737 --> 00:09:54,737 The Mayan priests were careful to attend to their civic responsibilities. 90 00:09:55,737 --> 00:09:59,738 They were forever seeking ways to provide spiritual guidance for their subjects. 91 00:10:00,738 --> 00:10:04,738 To that end, Kukukan erected a perfect calendar temple. 92 00:10:09,739 --> 00:10:12,739 A pyramid with 364 steps leading up to the temple, 93 00:10:13,740 --> 00:10:16,740 which represents the 364th temple of the Mayan priests. 94 00:10:16,740 --> 00:10:19,740 It is said that Kukukan was the first to come to worship the temple, 95 00:10:20,740 --> 00:10:23,741 which represents the 365th day of the tropical year. 96 00:10:24,741 --> 00:10:27,741 Legend has it that Kukukan understood the power of the snake. 97 00:10:28,741 --> 00:10:32,742 He thus translated this power and energy into a recurring architectural phenomenon. 98 00:10:33,742 --> 00:10:37,742 Twice a year on the spring and fall equinox at precisely 5 p.m., 99 00:10:38,743 --> 00:10:42,743 the sun reveals a serpent slithering down the temple's balustrade. 100 00:10:43,743 --> 00:10:47,744 Grammatically announcing the end of one seasonal cycle and the beginning of another. 101 00:10:50,744 --> 00:10:53,744 According to legend, the enlightened Kukukan disappears 102 00:10:54,745 --> 00:10:56,745 and black sorcerers come from the north. 103 00:10:57,745 --> 00:11:01,745 At the sacred well, archeologists have dredged up hundreds of human bones. 104 00:11:03,746 --> 00:11:07,746 The Mayans believed that only the most perfect children were pure enough for the gods. 105 00:11:08,746 --> 00:11:11,747 Ancient Mayans played the first known team sport in history. 106 00:11:12,747 --> 00:11:14,747 For them, it had terrifying consequences. 107 00:11:15,747 --> 00:11:20,748 It was played by priests on a huge ball court linked astronomically to a map of the heavens. 108 00:11:21,748 --> 00:11:27,749 Without using hands or feet, the object was to send a rubber ball through a small ring set high on the wall. 109 00:11:28,749 --> 00:11:33,749 Winning was so rare that victors were rewarded with all the spectator's possessions. 110 00:11:33,749 --> 00:11:36,750 Losing meant that the players were put to death. 111 00:11:40,750 --> 00:11:43,750 Then it appears that suddenly the priests left the temples. 112 00:11:44,751 --> 00:11:47,751 Did Mayan astronomers see a different age in the stars? 113 00:11:48,751 --> 00:11:50,751 Was it the end of a cosmic cycle? 114 00:11:51,751 --> 00:11:53,752 No one knows for sure. 115 00:11:54,752 --> 00:11:57,752 But the gods were able to make the most of the world. 116 00:11:57,752 --> 00:12:04,753 The answer may be found in an incredible drama played out in an obscure place by men who served a different god. 117 00:12:10,754 --> 00:12:15,754 The ancient Mayans abandoned their sacred city as hundreds of years ago. 118 00:12:16,754 --> 00:12:19,755 The ancient Mayans were the first to leave the city. 119 00:12:20,755 --> 00:12:22,755 The ancient Mayans were the first to leave the city. 120 00:12:23,755 --> 00:12:30,756 The ancient Mayans abandoned their sacred city as hundreds of years before the arrival of the Spanish in the New World. 121 00:12:31,756 --> 00:12:41,758 When the Spaniards came, they were awed by the architectural triumph of Mayan cities and at the same time mystified by the radically different people who had built them. 122 00:12:43,758 --> 00:12:48,758 The coming of the Spanish friars cemented the Spanish conquest of the Yucatan. 123 00:12:52,759 --> 00:12:58,760 The conquistadores came to battle foreign soldiers. The friars came to battle foreign gods. 124 00:13:05,760 --> 00:13:13,761 Gathering up all the Mayan archives, all the chronicles of this ancient wisdom, the friars came together at money. 125 00:13:14,762 --> 00:13:16,762 Alerista laments the occasion. 126 00:13:17,762 --> 00:13:26,763 The Mayan books were burned during the conquest by the religious seal of the Christians led by Bishop Landa. 127 00:13:27,763 --> 00:13:34,764 This is a terrible catastrophe given the fact that the Mayans constitute the oldest civilization in the world. 128 00:13:34,764 --> 00:13:48,766 It's interesting to note that that religious seal, that antagonism against Mayan's knowledge was sourced in the Mayan youth of the snake. 129 00:13:49,766 --> 00:14:01,767 The Christians associated the snake with the devil and seeing that the Mayans had the snake in every single one of their sculptures, in every single one of their halls, in their clothing, in their jewelry. 130 00:14:01,767 --> 00:14:12,769 They concluded that these people were children of the devil and that any information or knowledge associated with these people was obviously the knowledge of the devil that had to be destroyed. 131 00:14:12,769 --> 00:14:31,771 Now the conquest was utter and complete. The destruction of Mayan knowledge was ruthless and would forever frustrate scholars by its loss. 132 00:14:32,771 --> 00:14:42,772 If there was ever a key to the mysterious hieroglyphic writing, it is gone and we are left to speculate about the strange disappearance of this remarkable civilization. 133 00:14:47,773 --> 00:14:57,774 Some scholars have suggested that the Mayan leadership was decimated by malaria and yellow fever. Yet these diseases seem to have been unknown in ancient times. 134 00:14:58,774 --> 00:15:06,775 Others contend that the priests were cast out by rebellious elements within the empire, but there is no archaeological evidence to support that conclusion. 135 00:15:07,775 --> 00:15:16,776 Another possible explanation is that the Mayans moved to escape a natural catastrophe, perhaps an earthquake. The area is known for them. 136 00:15:17,776 --> 00:15:34,779 Guatemala City sits on a 40 million year old fault. On February 4th, 1976, at 3.04 a.m., the earth shook with such a violence that it resulted in one of the worst disasters to ever hit the Western Hemisphere. 137 00:15:35,779 --> 00:15:47,780 90 times stronger than the quake that leveled Managua Nicaragua in 1972, it was felt along a 2,000 mile strip of Central America, right through the heart of the ancient Mayan world. 138 00:15:48,780 --> 00:15:58,781 The quake fractured the land, reducing a great city to rubble. It destroyed 20% of all buildings and left more than a million homeless. 139 00:16:05,782 --> 00:16:19,784 In the end, 23,000 died. Yet even with such a history of earthquakes, people do not seem to have been discouraged from building and settling along this ancient fault line. 140 00:16:22,784 --> 00:16:30,785 Some believe that the Mayans abandoned their land because of crop failure. They simply depleted the soil and had to move on. 141 00:16:31,785 --> 00:16:46,787 For thousands of years, Mayan peasants have been beating back the jungle, burning out cornfields. Even today, corn makes up 80% of the Mayan diet. Crop failure is a horrendous disaster. 142 00:16:47,787 --> 00:16:54,788 But Alarista is unconvinced. He dismisses such easy explanations as earthquake and crop failure. 143 00:16:54,788 --> 00:17:02,789 The pre-scientists were able to predict earthquakes as well as the kind of weather conditions that would be propitious for a specific kernel of corn. 144 00:17:03,789 --> 00:17:10,790 And there were 28 kernels of corn developed for specific weather conditions. 145 00:17:11,790 --> 00:17:23,792 These people had developed a socialist, a communistic society where everything that was raised by the people was distributed to the people according to their needs. 146 00:17:24,792 --> 00:17:39,794 Others have suggested that changing climate could account for the sudden disappearance of the ancient Mayans. Alarista also believes this unlikely. 147 00:17:40,794 --> 00:17:54,796 They also use psychic energy in order to attract clouds in the event of drought so that the idea of rain dance is not really a very far out idea if you understand it in terms of psychic energy. 148 00:17:55,796 --> 00:18:14,798 The Mayans had a very good reason for building their pyramids on these energy grids because this enabled them to awaken psychic energy within initiates that came to these art centers. 149 00:18:15,798 --> 00:18:22,799 The Maya inside disappeared mysteriously but they did not leave the earth. 150 00:18:23,799 --> 00:18:30,800 They simply concluded a cycle of civilization and took off to the east. 151 00:18:31,800 --> 00:18:42,801 The journey to the east starts right here in the peninsula of Yucatán. It is from this peninsula that they cross the sea, stop in Egypt into the Red Sea, go up towards Amnipal. 152 00:18:42,801 --> 00:18:48,802 It was there that they started their second cycle of civilization. 153 00:18:56,803 --> 00:19:06,804 One of the colonies of the Maya Isaias was to be found at the foot of the Dead Sea where the monastery of the Essenes was located. 154 00:19:06,804 --> 00:19:11,805 It was there that Jesus learned about the philosophy of the world. 155 00:19:11,805 --> 00:19:14,805 Alarista offers a startling conclusion. 156 00:19:15,805 --> 00:19:28,807 The last words of Christ on the cross were not Aramaic words. They were stylized Mayan words and they did not mean, oh God, why have I forsaken me? 157 00:19:28,807 --> 00:19:33,808 They meant, at last I sink in the dawn of your presence. 158 00:19:36,808 --> 00:19:45,809 Today little survives of the old practices and beliefs. 159 00:19:45,809 --> 00:19:54,810 For a civilization once first among all those in the world, there remains only ruins and a cave, an ancient house of worship. 160 00:19:54,810 --> 00:19:59,811 A priestly knowledge contained is lost, forgotten. 161 00:20:06,812 --> 00:20:23,814 Perhaps the ancient Mayans anticipated this when they wrote long ago, all moons, all years, all days, all winds take their course and pass away. 162 00:20:24,814 --> 00:20:36,815 The ancient Mayans, men of knowledge, conceived their time on earth, their cycle of civilization to be 5,200 years. 163 00:20:36,815 --> 00:20:51,817 Beginning their calendar August 12, 3113 BC, they predicted that on December 24, 2011 AD, a cataclysmic earthquake would terminate their cycle of civilization. 164 00:20:52,817 --> 00:20:59,818 New men of knowledge would then appear to fight the forces of evil and lead the people to create a world government. 165 00:21:01,818 --> 00:21:10,819 If the Mayan men of knowledge were right, in just 34 years we may learn the answers to some of the ancient Mayan mysteries. 166 00:21:21,821 --> 00:21:28,822 The past in search of continues with an investigation of why Montezuma surrendered the Aztec Empire to Cortez. 167 00:21:28,822 --> 00:21:34,822 Then 20th century with Mike Wallace traces the life of the Kennedys from Camelot to Chappaquidde. 168 00:21:34,822 --> 00:21:43,823 And later tonight, Histories Mysteries investigates the enduring mystery of Britain's great Stonehenge, here on the History Channel where the past comes alive.