Matinee Lecture : Maya Civilization in Guatemala

March 30, 2010

The first personal impression that I would like to share, is that this Conference touched my emotions not only for the magnificence of the topic but also for the beauty and the traditions of this “pais hermano” (brother country)* which are very similar and close to my own country.

His Excellency, Ambassador Ivan Espinoza, introduced to us to the very great and mysterious of the Maya Civilization. In this occasion, he explained that talking about Mayas is such an enormous topic, that he had to focus in the archeological site of Tikal, one of the largest and most beautiful sites of the Maya civilization, located at the north part of Guatemala. We learned about the splendor of the pyramids, used as temples and astronomical centers; he also explained that the Mayas believed that the tallest the pyramids would be, the closest to the sky they would reach; he also talked about his different gods and their meaning to the Mayan culture, such as god Kukulkan.

We also could realize that the Maya Civilization was a very advanced culture: they had a perfect knowledge of the numerical system, in which the use of the “cero” was one of the most ancient of all the civilizations of the world. They used different calendars, such as the solar and lunar calendars among others, which were extremely accurate, used for agriculture, astronomy and inclusive the calculi of thousands of years after and before their own civilization.

Not less important were the scriptures engraved on the “estelas” (walls) of the pyramids which reveal many important aspects of their history, religion and social organization.

Later on, we could enjoy a video of Guatemala, which showed how gorgeous is this country, which offers all kind of landscapes that goes from the magnificence of the archeological sites installed inside the rainforest; the beauty of the rainforest itself in which we can find streams, waterfalls, vegetal and animal endemic species such as the “Quetzal”, etc.; continuing with attractive beaches and resorts at both sides of the Pacific and the Caribbean Sea; colonial cities, such as Antigua; and a modern and well organized city, such as Guatemala, the capital of the country.

We finished this Matinee Lecture with a beautiful exhibition of handicrafts, costumes, and paintings all of them typical from Guatemala, plenty of colorful, handmade stuff, nice tissues and materials; that combine the spirit of the Maya civilization with its people today. Also we enjoyed an aromatic and delicious coffee produced in this very same land, so called “soul of the earth”.

*In all the countries of Latin-America, we call each other, among us, “pais hermano” (brother country), as long as we share the same language and a lot of similar aspects in our history and society.