Today I walked down to the ruins. I had been to Tikal in Guatemala, which is famous for its sheer size and for its pyramids, which are tall by Mayan standards. Copan, on the other hand, is famous for its sculpture. My guide book aptly noted that Tikal was like New York and Copan was like Paris.
This shot is from the Great Plaza. In the background is the Hieroglyphic Stairway. It features the longest inscribed text in the ancient New World. A series of carvings tells the story of the ruling dynasty. It (and other sculptures) are covered with tarps to protect them from the rain. In front of that is the Great Ballcourt, where some sort of game was played with an 8 pound rubber ball. And in the foreground is one of the many stelae, free-standing statues honoring the city's rulers.
This shot is taken further back, so you can see the size of the plaza, with more stelae and altars. It was completely paved and there are drains at the far end so it was believe they could intentionally flood the entire plaza like a lagoon for festivals or rituals.
The carvings have been damaged by centuries of rain, but the detail is still impressive. This the "name glyph" for the 13th ruler, Waxaklahun Ub'ah K'awil. That's a mouthful, so rulers have popular names based on what people think their glyphs look like. In this one the three bars each represent five and the three dots each represent one, for a total of 18. So he's known as 18 Rabbit, because someone decided the head on the bottom left looks like a rabbit. Um, if you say so...
The site is beautifully maintained, with an excellent museum, and although the monuments aren't quite as impressive as Tikal, there's a lot less walking! But I should have started with the Maya and worked my way up to the Inca. After seeing Machu Picchu, Ollantayambo, etc., in Peru, the Mayan temples look like outhouses by comparison.
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