Ek Balam: City of the Black Jaguar
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- Опубліковано 9 січ 2025
- Ek Balam
(Black Jaguar)
20.8923° N, 88.1359° W
This ancient Maya city was once a regional capital and is home to one of the most impressive sets of artwork in the northern Yucatán peninsula. Founded early on in the middle pre-classic period and lasting until the classic collapse, this site features many architectural styles, but is unique for the details of its preserved stucco carvings upon the facade of its well preserved royal tomb.
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Thumbnail photo by Pavel Vorobiev under 3.0 license
Patreon info: Forthcoming!
Oh man ! My mind is racing with the idea that those structures are sitting on some magical secrets underneath them . Can you begin to imagine when the last stone was laid on the last building back in the day , what everything booked like ? Everything brand new ,gleaming in the sun . It must have been smokin' ? Unbelievable !
This was an awesome tour of a spot I'll never be able to visit as a disabled individual. Thanks for what you do
Mexico doesn't have much accessibility to such places as some countries, but I wonder if people have researched and published those areas that ARE accessible. You may not be able to get up on a pyramid, but .for example, I recall sites like Chichen Itza are actually very flat and the ground is generally hard (limestone base) and packed by all the traffic.
@@pcatful I will look Ito that. I am interested in Chichen Itza. Thank you the insight!
I saw that one mid-aged woman coming down that grand stair walking on feet, hands & rear.
Is it just me or does it seem like our history on this planet is ALOT more astonishing than anyone in the professional world would like to admit. ALOT of things stick out and ALOT of things don't add up. Some of these structures from antiquities are more amazing than anything we build nowadays.
The truth really is stranger than fiction
It's all lies...we have been taught sheer lies ,about everything.
* A lot
They blew their academic load too early and have been doubling down for awhile.
Information like discovering earth isn't even a planet like we think. And that other Lands are hidden from us
Hey man, thank you for taking us there with you! You did a great job filming. I also like the way you stopped and took some time to explain things. Thanks again i really enjoyed it!
Wow, that place is huge. Thank you for the tour once again.
The Acropolis is huge but the site itself is actually kind of compact for an ancient Maya city. I wish I could make maps of all of them like this but many are just too spread out for that to be feasible.
Thank you. Relatively few Americans appreciate the great treasures of the Yucatan. Was in Ek Balam in Jan. 2020. And 16 other sites. Have you been to the sacred cave ? Then Uxmal and the echo of the sacred Quetzal bird when clapping in front of the Temple of the Magician. Just wonderful. And so much more to learn about these amazing people.
Which cave? Lol-tun? I have been to a cave, and also to Uxmal. There will be episodes about both coming up! Uxmal is amazing, one of my favorites. Apparently they just opened a whole new section of it to the public so I guess I will have to go back.
@@pyramidreview8664 Trying to remember the name - but the entrance tunnel led to a large circular room with many artifacts, offerings ? And the tree of life that was composed of stalactites and stalagmites that joined in the middle to form a “ tree.” Gee I could send photos. We went with the Archeological Conservancy - Albuquerque. We do not like “ tours” generally but this was great !!!! Maybe they had special permission ? Thank you again - subscribing !
@@pyramidreview8664 Balankanche cave - Interesting that the Pottery figures in the central room look more Asian than Mayan ?? What do you think ?
@@nanallen1 I don't know a lot about Asian pottery and I have not been there to see them myself, but I did watch an interesting video with a lecture about someone who worked on the site that was pretty interesting, take a look:
ua-cam.com/video/p7ObWN0q9j4/v-deo.html
@@nanallen1 I think if they were at a Mayan site, they looked Mayan. ("Asia'"s a bigger place--and a has a longer history than you think.)
This was an amazingly well orgainized, educational, and viewer-focused video. Really enjoyed this. Thank you!! What a fascinating place!
Thanks! There are many more to come.
Great tour of the site! Really appreciate the map insert showing your current location.
When I watch it back it feels like I am playing a video game of myself 😅
Just found your channel and I really like your videos. Thank you!
love the map stuff,gives a better mental picture of the site
Great filming, awesome narration. Excellent job overall. I look forward to future shows. Keep going.
Just visited Ek’ Balam after watching this video-what an incredible experience! Thanks for sharing all the fascinating history and details; it made the trip so much more meaningful!
Excellent! That makes me happy to hear. It really is amazing to see in person, that stucco😍
Wow, I'm familiar with the more glyph-like forms of gods in Mesoamerican sculpture but I had no idea the Maya had such talent for representational sculpture of the human form. Chenes style ftw
It is thought that many ancient Maya structures had elaborate stucco sculpture that is now unfortunately mostly lost. You can see some more examples in my video about Acanceh: ua-cam.com/video/vflFsHg6we8/v-deo.html
Just found this channel. Thank you, UA-cam algorithm.
Very nice job of showing us around. Thank you!
Thank you! I have much more to show you
Great tour thanks
Awesome! I really like the docent like guide during the walk through of the ruins. References to maps for orientation and scale as you are walking and an explanation of what's going on in these ruins is awesome. Especially for a builder or architect like myself. I really appreciated the Mayan Ball Court walk through segment. All the segments have super detail on what is known about various historic & cultural features of each ruin. Thanks! Gaylon
I've been to around 45 different Mayan ruins in Mexico,Guatemale,Honduras and Nicaragua so its nice to see them again .
Which ones were your favorites?
@@pyramidreview8664Tuluum
I too have been to many ruins in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico(over 35) my favorite is Tonina close to Ocosingo. It has the tallest known Mayan pyramid so far. My other favorites were Bonampak with the three rooms filled with vibrant murals and Yaxchilan. Yaxchilan requires a long boat ride along the river that divides Mexico and Guatemala, then a nice walk up into a jungle setting with partially moss covered ruins. Just beautiful.
@@timcoil6224I just returned from Chichen Itza, Tulum, and Ek’Balam, and the latter was easily the most interesting.
@kellysuggmcd I also thought Ek Balam was more interesting. Something about the place, less known and less trampled by tourists. Not to mention the pyramid and statues. Very cool place. Some of the smaller sites seemed the most fascinating to me. That's why I liked Tonina so much. Almost no tourists outside of Mexican citizens know of or visit the place and it's temple is huge, 7 levels tall in a very scenic area situated almost equidistant from San Cristobal De Las Casas and Palenque.
I can still feel the power of these grand locations. The spirits of these cities inhabitants linger strong. Seeing these locations up close and personal with you like this is amazing.
Thank you! They're quite amazing places to be, and the feeling of being there is hard to describe. But I am happy that I can share some part of that experience with other people.
Thanks!
Wow, thank you so much!
Soooo stoked for a new pyramid review perfect start to the weekend!!
Enjoy it my friend!
Great channel. Thank you for the interesting and quality content.
thanks so much for the tour, great show and tell of the site.
IMO sadly much has been lost and now just best guesses of what was there.
Kick ass video. Good work dude
I am blown away by these ancient and mysterious places, and you sir are doing an excellent job of sharing these explorations with all of us via UA-cam. Thank you! 🙏 🫡🫡🫡
Very cool video to show the ball court and buildings up close. I had never seen the statue of the uniforms warm by the ball players before. I always wondered how they impacted that heavy rubber ball without injury.
And I still don’t see how it was played only using the hips. How did they get the ball off the ground with their hips?
If they were lucky they got to wear a bunch of protective gear, but I think they were injured a lot!
Recently discovered your channel! You bring so much knowledge and insights on these ancient cities! Keep up the good work, looking forward to more content!
Tezkatlipoca is the Jaguar, Twin of Quetzalcoatl the Plumed Serpent. Gemini Twins and Protectors of the Sun.
The Mayas had knowledge of astronomy unlike any other known civilization in the world... RESPECT 👊
Just unspeakably and completely remarkable!
Superb documentary - you have a new subscriber, many more will follow soon!
Thank you ice man! There is much more to come
Fantastic, one of my favorite sites in all of Mexico! What a great review. I enjoyed the little 'classroom introduction' as well. It helps visualize/orient the place better when you explore the various buildings. Thx; brings back great memories. After Coba maybe Mayapan?
I have one about Mayapan in the works indeed!
@@pyramidreview8664 helderziende
Thank you for your video. I just visited Ek Balam with my family. I was amazed by the tomb of the jaguar king.
@@chrisbarton2779 It's truly impressive
Very good video. 'Ek' Balam' actually means 'Star Jaguar', Ek' is the Yucatec mayan word for 'star' and o course Balam means Jaguar. I was there last winter and they were working to restore the back side of the acropolis. Do you know if they've opened that side to tourists yet? I'm going back there on the spring to see Ek' Balam again. It would be great to explore a new area.
@@Gdeluume Hmm, when I was there it looked close from what I saw at the top of the structure, but I didn’t try to go around. You were probably there more recently than me, however. Let me know if it is!
@pyramidreview8664 Thanks so much for the reply. I will definitely let you know. The town of Valladolid lives off the tourist trade. It is close to Ek' Balam and
Chichén-Itzá. I wonder if the Mexican government is putting up more money for excavations because of the Mayan Train being built. The train is sure to bring more tourists.
@ Yes, there was a parallel plan to renew sites along the train route, involving new visitor centers, museums, and even opening a new site.
@@pyramidreview8664 Interesting. I'll be curious to see the results.
Excellent channel and explanation
The " presentador" is wearing a , " campesino Mayan hat " jejeje 😊 he is very good, explaining Mayan culture , maybe he was a mayan in the other Life
Super Fascinating. Thanks for showing us rarely seen sites. Being that you were in Merida, has the destruction caused by the Tren Maya's route and construction been as harmful to the environment as has been said? also, are there any bigger discoveries of note they've made whilst construction. Thanks for your time and effort.
The train is a complex issue.I think the true impact of the train has yet to be seen. The hope is that it would replace cars and roads somewhat, and those have a tremendous impact especially in rural places because roads enable illegal logging and deforestation in a way that trains don't. As for archeological remains, yes, they found thousands of things along the route and even had to reroute it in one place because they found an entire previously unknown city! Hopefully I can get out there and film an entire episode about it.
Awesome it survived. Gorgeous.
Great pictures! Thank You!
Thank you. So much that is still being found.
would be nice to see some lidar of this place
These places are so wild I am glad I found your channel. Imagine when these places were brand new and the alien hybrid human gods used to walk among the people.
Thanks u r great love the vid
It would be great if they use Lydar that way the site can be fully exposed. Cheers Rosemary Western Australia 73yrs
Great video, can't wait to visit next month
Thank you for you interesting video. Yes the mayan culture have many similar architectural and artistic features as ancient cultures of China. Some schoolars said.. " mayan are in China"
This looks like such an amazing place..
Definitely one of my favorite Maya sites, although there are many more amazing ones
The kings burial chamber is amazing!! There are so many similarities with Indian temples and Egyptian paintings.. love love love this!! Thanks so much for sharing
18:50 interesting ´´BAGs´´ of cement , would be nice to know what is composition of that cement and also its strange that they have bags ....made of what , paper?
These were for the ongoing restoration work. The Ancient Maya would have used cement for stucco and construction which was made from lime (a chemical created when Limestone is burnt in a certain way) and mixed substances derived from certain plants which made it more durable.
@@pyramidreview8664 The burning seemed to cause (partially?) the Mayan collapse; they needed soooooo much wood for their lime, they simply ran out of forest. The proof is that, with today's technology, we can 'see' all those hidden cities/sacbees/monuments with LIDAR. At one time those pyramids, temples, platforms or just regular housing for the workers, were not hidden under the jungle- canopy.
I noticed the green colored areas - is this remnants of paint or just some kind of natural coloration?
It's some kind of mold or algae. Maya buildings did have paint, many pyramids were painted red, and others had murals in various bright colors, but mostly it hasn't survived (although there are some beautiful murals preserved in Bonampak and elsewhere). But the Yucatan is a jungle and so even new buildings in cities end up covered in green and black mold pretty quickly, you see it all over the place.
I was there not long after it was opened to the public and the tomb is something to see in person including full 3D sculptures as part of the façade. The tomb is almost perfect in condition only missing the paint and you can try to imagine it painted in bright colors including blue, red, green, black and yellow. There is a reproduction of the tomb at the National Museum in Mexico City.
Amazing that their so complete wow
Very informative, thank you!
Thank you for this video! 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩
The lintels on some of the doorways seemed to be perfectly cut wooden beams, I want to know more about those, modern or ancient? Etc
Those are modern restorations, although ancient ones have been found in other sites, some with elaborate carvings. Such as in Tikal. www.ancientpages.com/2022/04/04/tikal-of-maya-sophisticated-culture-that-experienced-humble-start-golden-age-wars-and-decline/
If you had access to look down the side of the pyramid top that looks down into the palace courtyard you would see a huge circular stone lined "tank" imbedded into the centre of the floor of the courtyard, and I have always wondered if this was a huge bathing pool like the one that Nezahualcoyotl had constructed so that his digntaries could talk and bathe in the heat of the day while discussing matters of state, at his palace summer gardens at Tezcotzinco near Texcoco on the Mexican plateau, outside Mexico City.
No way! When I see a round pool around that part of the yucatán I think of the round pools of Xcambo and Ake, where they had industrial purposes for processing rope or salt. Everyone forgets that the maya had industrial sites.
If you look at the bottom left (your left when facing the glyphs) on the sloping set of glyphs you will see the Maya name for the site, which is Ah Po (haw) Talol.
Woah
The "woman sitting" is quite unique in Maya sculptural work. I have always wondered if she were a plasters node to a wife or girlfriend. (smile)
I have never seen so beautiful stuccos. Authentic ?
Yes, they were preserved under stones.
@@pyramidreview8664 They are magnificent.
great
Just imagine how it would have looked all painted? Just imagine rolling down those stairs.
Ek means black but can also mean "star" in Maya depending on the context. It may have been "City of the Star Jaguar" who possibly may have been the name of the first King and or founder of the city.
I can just hear the archaeologists of the future talking about us, saying "each person carried their own mini god with them everywhere they went (talking about the cell phone) and they had their larger more important gods in every home on a ceremonial table (talking about the TV or computer). They had what seems to be ceremonial tables where they gathered around on chairs to worship their gods together (talking about our dining sets).
You would love the book “Motel of the Mysteries” (1979) by David Macaulay, which is pretty much that exact idea, and very cleverly written and well illustrated.
I propose that a game that was high on running, like soccer/futbol (played in Quintana Roo) would have ended quickly with passed out players all over the ball court. Try running from one end of a Maya site to the other and back and you will quickly discover what unconsciousness is like. You make a very good point when you propose that the Pitzil game was probably played more like tennis with static positions and reduced movement.
If there is no obvious place for the elite to sit above the court, one wonders where the elites were. Maybe they were in the game itself. And if that’s the case, and they had those thick wooden and stone belts, then they were definitely playing a low-intensity sport!
Pretty sure that’s the Island of the Black Panthers!!❤❤❤❤
De Charney was also an earlier photographer so there may exist a lost photograph of the structures on the top of the eastern unexcavated pyramid. I own a number of these. I will have to check them carefully to see if I might have one of this.
We have a lot to discuss, please send me an email at pyramidreviewshow@gmail.com
@@pyramidreview8664 I will write you an email as soon as I have a moment to collect a few thoughts. (smile)
The legend of the hero twins seems to be global🤔
It is certainly a common theme in mythology! For more information about the Maya hero twins myth, check out the Popul Vuh
@@pyramidreview8664 Wow. Thanks. I just breezed through the wiki page and will read further. Interesting the Mayan woven mat as symbol for society, b/c that’s same as Egyptian pillars depicting bundled and bound reeds- ‘strength in numbers’. I’ve seen fairly direct similarities between Mayan symbols and ancient Chinese, have you noticed this too?
@@maxdaly8185 They both were lovers of jade. I've heard some people say that the feathered serpent Kukulkan reminds them of an Asian dragon.
We can speculate about the longevity of these cities as related to predator loss, citing Yellowstone wolves.
(If you're writing a paper, I'll proof 😊)
To learn of the future of Balam and Belik check out the short War scroll found with the Dead Sea scrolls . They are the enemies of the children of light spoken of in Isaiah. I find it interesting both the war scroll and the Isaiah scroll were found together in cave one at Qumran .
The Qumrun texts are all very fascinating
@@pyramidreview8664 Indeed and I feel they are telling the future of the descendants of Jacob . Hints of this final war are mentioned in many ancient texts throughout our history.
@@VisionaryVet Where in book of Isaiah is what you are talking about?
So who are the the children of light and who are the Balaam?
@@sagittariusemperor9692 The Isaiah scroll was found with the Dead Sea scrolls found in Qumran in cave one . The Book of Isaiah is also a chapter in the Bible . The Children of light are the descendants of Jacob and the war scroll also found in cave one described their future final war .
@@VisionaryVet Do you know who the children of darkness are descendants from ?
Do you know the specific chapter in the book of Isaiah where it states this or is it in the whole book of Isiah?
Thank you very much for answering.
I just got the biggest clue that will change everything that i have known but i just needed the last piece of the puzzle to figure it out. Your comment was what connected me whith what i needed because i have never heard that the war scroll was also part of the ancient people in South America and that it was also found in the Qumran caves.
Go to 4:42 and watch the top left corner of the video. Am I trippin or was that a white orb checking you out? Or a lens issue? Anyways great video brother 🤙🏼
👽
@@pyramidreview8664 Yeah man or some type of spirit, particularly in that important (if not sacred) location. Only recently has this seemed like a real possibility…
The stonework appears built around the stelae in many places. Can we speculate the stelae were erected prior to the smaller stone work surrounding added much later?
The stelae are often on top of stone platforms. They are made of similar stone as the stone mounds, in a similar style, and show similar amounts of weathering. They have writing and dates on them that matches with that found in the pyramid structures. However the most damning thing is that you can still see anything at all on the stelae. The limestone of the Yucatán is unfortunately often not very sturdy, and the climate is quite harsh, so unfortunately nothing lasts that long if left out in the open. If the stelae were much older, being made of limestone as they are, there would probably be nothing left to see on them. This is the case in certain other sites, such as Dzibulchaltun. That is quite an old site, and it had many stelae on similar platforms throughout the site, but many of them are so badly eroded that there’s almost nothing left to see. I have a video about that one too, if you want to take a look.
@@pyramidreview8664 I definitely would. I wonder about structures at Aztlan, south of the Texas border. There is definitely interesting submarine archeology near Cuba. We see river earthworks at Aztalan Wisconsin in the northernmost stretches of the Mississippi et al mound complex. Connected by water, these areas interest me.
also site looks rebuild and i think that even a part where there are wooden entrance support seem like maybe conquistadors rebuild it ?
That is modern restoration work, yes. Some of the buildings were partially rebuilt. There is a line of small rocks on the building which indicates what was restored and what was original.
But by archeologists, not conquistadors!
Thank you. For your time and effort. !!!! Must of Been. Really. Hot. While filming !!!!!! Very interesting ! T. California
So surprising to me to learn how many in excavated structures are still out there. Especially at sites like this one. Why aren’t they excavating them??
@@rmrevisions3428 There are simply too many huge sites and not enough money, unfortunately.
Has a LIDAR survey been done of the sea floor between the Yucatan and Cuba? City outlines have been found 500 feet deep off the Western coastline of Cuba. When this was above water could this whole area have been connected? There were MILLIONS of people living here according to new discoveries. Was the Gulf of Mexico a huge lake?
The gulf of Mexico was a lake once, but very long ago, like 180 million years ago in the time of the dinosaurs. I know that the Yucatan is slowly sinking and they have found some ruins underwater just off the northern coast from 1500 years ago (the classic period) but I don't think there have been any exploration of the deep waters.
11 thousand years ago, Younger Drais period I think, I heard that sea level was 500 feet lower than now, that would put many ruined city sites above water. With that kind of land area here it would be likely they would have been linked to Cuba???@@pyramidreview8664
Always look behind the biggest pyramid.. somewhere in the Yucatan, is a Sphinx like Egypt.. it’s in the jungle in the shadow of a great pyramid.. and hasn’t been discovered yet.. if you find this.. the Ancient Hall of Records Edgar Cayce talked about, should be near..
Wondrous place, what destroyed the cities of the pre-inca in the 11thC and nort-Americans in the 12thCs ?
Took my God daughter to Cancun for her High School graduation, this was one of our stops. Fabulous.
Great choice, it's one of my favorites
Toll was haben die Inka für einen Mörtel benutz der so gut hält.
?
Chemical analysis shows that the Maya used cement made from limestone mixed together with liquid from certain plants, which makes it stronger. Scientists have said that in some cases it is similar to Roman cement.
is that the Necropolic exact translation from ancient language or is it cementary ? Because cementary is where dead people are burried and Necropolis is where dead are awaken and walk from ancient legends stories . BIg differance
kinda does not make sence if normal people live around a build Grave..... isnt it ?
It is an Acropolis, not a Necropollis. It is not a Maya word, but a name for this type of structure made up by archeologists to distinguish it from other types of pyramids. An Acropolis is a building with several purposes, usually overlooking a plaza, and it would be a place where leaders could give speeches to large crowds. It often features monuments and artwork showing important people and events, and sometimes includes those important people themselves.
Something tells me that every step they took as they climbed up the long staircase they recited prayers. I have a feeling it took hours for the procession of Priests and other dignitaries to reach the top.
The chamber im the beginning resembles the inside of the Pyramids in Giza
A really interesting question is.... "Who was attacking Talol so intensely that the occupants of Talol built make shift desperation walls inside the two original substantial walls?" "Who were the attackers, and where did they come from?"
Around that time there were the Itza coming from the west trying to take over Yaxunah and Chichen Viejo and everything else, so probably them
@@pyramidreview8664 I am inclined to agree.... except that the glyphic evidence from Chi Ch'en Itza indicates that the rulers of Chi Ch'en Itza and Talol were allies. Perhaps this changed and Chi Ch'en Itza decided to get rid of an old ally. On the other hand it could have been Ko'ob Ha. Talol was calling itself the Northern KaloomTe' and probably the rulers of Ko'ob Ha would have had a problem with that.
Why no images of the people? Black Jaguar king is an indication why. Ethnic cleansing is alive and well by deleting the people who built these wonders, because they weren't European 🤔
"Bags of cement, leftover of ancient construction of the acropolis":) This place is kinda contraversial to me. I don't beleive it's 100% authentic especially that King's tomb part. It's my humble opinion, I do not persist.The video itself is very good, Thank you!
wow those winged "angels" are so enigmatic. has anything similar to them been found? i wonder what the colonizers thought of those Angels of Ek Balam!
@@Infernol- They wouldn't have seen it in the colonial era because that part was preserved under a layer of stone added later. I can't think of any other figure with wings like that, but it was common in Maya art to combine humans with animal features, like cat ears, or a head like a bat, or a long leg that looks like a snake, or a beak like a bird. So it's not surprising to see in Maya art from a Maya perspective. This is much less common in western art, so it does seem pretty surprising!
When we gonna stop pretending people back in the day were dumb and prinitive with no technology and hmonky using hammer and chisel and donkeys lol. They built way better than we do today. Built to last
Why is the news paper dated february 26 2023?
I don't edit and release my stuff immediately, I have a big backlog of footage I need to edit, some even from earlier than that
@@pyramidreview8664 can you translate the article into english and post a transcript of it. I found the newpaper article but cant translate it
@@BarqB It's a Google translation of a fairly long article, and I think some of the paragraphs got jumbled as I scanned it, so there are some oddities in the text but here you go:
JEWEL OF YUCATAN
IMPORTANT FINDINGS REVEALED IN EK BALAM
Hidden passages, stucco reliefs, ceramics and other objects found in the Royal Palace or Acropolis, will provide more information about the Mayan city, reports the National Institute of Anthropology and History
Text and photos: Manuel Pool
Located 175 kilometers from Mérida, in the municipality of Temozón, is the Ek Balam (Jaguar Star) Archaeological Zone, which began to be restored in 1994, and which to date is the most visited in the world. state of Yucatán, after Chichén Itzá.
Before, in the plaza of the place between the hills, to which the inhabitants in Mayan referred to as "Muul", corn was planted, without imagining that beneath the stones and undergrowth of those mounds, there was a precious archaeological treasure, which in the last 25 years of research has allowed us to reveal the importance of the site, which is related to Cobá and Chichén Itzá.
"That is very relevant, because we can talk about a chronological and territorial historical corridor that is telling a story of characters that are related to the site over time and that gives us the status that each of these important capitals had over time," says archaeologist Víctor Castillo Borges, who says that in the building known as "The Acropolis ", on January 11, 2000, the tomb of the first King of Ek Balam, called Ukit Kan Lek Tok, was found, and it is known that he was the son of the ruler of Cobá.
"This allowed him to have the status of King of Kings (Kalonté, in Mayan)," says the anthropologist as we walk in the middle just 1.25 square km, ten percent of the city's structures, which had an extension of about 15 kilometers squares.
Of the buildings that are protected by a third wall, heading precisely towards The Acropolis or Royal Palace, where specialists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) carry out conservation and consolidation work. , this with resources from the Archaeological Zones Improvement Program of the Federal Government.
"In this case, through Promeza, 79 million pesos are invested in Ek Balam, resources to be used this year, which include the purchase of land for the construction of a Health Care Center. Visitors, as well as its design, and also to continue with the investigation and conservation of the archaeological site," explained the delegate from INAH in Yucatán, Arturo Chab Cárdenas. Before The Acropolis, which has...
On the sides of the Acropolis there are two hills below which there are important buildings that are still waiting for their turn to be intervened.
160 meters long and 75 meters per side, archaeologist Castillo Borges explains to us that technically it is Building 1 for the INAH, which work began in 1997.
"It is a Royal Palace because here we find a lot of evidence of the kings who in chronological sequence have ruled Ek Balam since the 8th century, but we also call it The Acropolis because it is a very large building, with spaces in constructions at different levels," explains the interviewee, who details that the building is 32 meters high, but there is evidence that it reached 37.
"The first king emerged on April 7, 770, we have specific dates to be able to say it and that has allowed us to understand a little or at least what we have in view of how the building grew, at least in the southern part towards the central part, and now we are beginning to know a little about the eastern part, which is where we are currently intervening," indicated the specialist, who highlights the exact place where
The tomb of the first king of Ek Balam, Ukit Kan Lek Tok, was discovered. The building is located on the fourth level of the Royal Palace has a zoomorphic façade, with an image that represents the entrance to the underworld and in whose back part of that enclosure the tomb of the first was found.
"The next king, who was his son, as a sign of respect, closed that part, sealed the rooms, and also made a fill of 4 meters outside to hide that area that had been so important for Ukit Kan Lek Tok, he even built a huge wall in front that covered 7 meters and a little more, in height, and on top a bench was made so that it would definitely not be known where the tomb was." , detailed the archaeologist, who highlights that it is for this reason that the façade was preserved in good condition until today.
"That delicate and special filling that they put on those facades made them preserved and that we can find them in those conditions, even though it is not 100% preserved because there was a very large tree and its roots spread in the corner top left and destroyed part of the design, but "it is incredible," he stressed. This building is so large that the 12 years it was initially thought were not enough.
THIS BUILDING is so large that the 12 years that you initially thought were required for the exterior to be visible were not enough, since on each of the levels there are hidden spaces that should also be explored and worth knowing," says anthropologist Castillo Borges. In this regard, the person responsible for the conservation project of the archaeological zone of Ek Ba lam, Alejandra Alonzo, highlighted the discovery of reliefs of snakes and of captive and subject individuals of the hair, which account for the defense of the city against the attack of hostile groups, which which, as mentioned before, motivated the construction of three walls to protect the most important constructions of the site, among which are the Oval Palace and even a ball court.
IN THE conservation work that is carried out, care is taken to ensure that if any delicate material is found in the excavations that are carried out, a protocol is in place to prevent it from suffering exposure when exposed to the environmental conditions and then placed under pressure.
so that the exterior was visible, since in each of the levels there are hidden spaces that should also be explored.
26 years of work have already passed in The Acropolis, which due to lack of resources has not been continuous, but which in 2022 was resumed through the Program for the Improvement of Archaeological Zones and which has allowed for almost three months of important work. There are points that shed more light on the importance of Ek Balam, which, by the way, when the Spanish arrived in the 16th century, found it still inhabited.
"We are working on the third level, an open plaza that we identify as Plaza Este, where we have found new architecture and ornamentation that gives us a message that is related to the war and that is worth the
In the Acropolis, vault lids covered with a painting and some designs have also been found, as well as part of the sculptures that were attached to the structure, as well as a lot of fragmented ceramic material, and stone and bone objects detailed in the also a restorer and INAH expert Alejandra Alonzo, who explained that the conservation project began on November 28, and the archeology project on December 5, and is in charge of a team of 12 restorers from the Institute and 10 auxiliary assistants. "We have been working for two months, almost three months, and the longest part is still coming, which is completing the excavation and beginning the architectural consolidation of the buildings," he said. It is important to highlight that in the conservation work that is carried out, we are aware that if any delicate material appears in the excavations that are carried out, there is a protocol to prevent it from being affected when it is exposed to the environmental conditions and then placed to shelter.
"The activity we carry out not only focuses on the mobile extracted materials, which are vault covers or decorative objects detached from the architecture or that belong to some offering or special deposit, but also on the elements that They are attached to the architecture. As soon as we begin to excavate and expose the pieces, they are taken care of so that they do not collapse and do not separate from the architecture where they should be, this allows us to maintain and stabilize them in their place, and little by little they will be buried again while the excavation and architectural consolidation tasks are completed. The project is scheduled to conclude on July 31," said Castillo Borges told Peninsular Punto Medio that the Acropolis building is 65 percent complete.
"From what we see externally, a lot of exploration would have to be done in each of the hidden levels, which is a little complicated due to the weight of the building, it becomes difficult to explore lower levels," comments the anthropologist, who He considers that the work now being carried out will allow obtaining a lot of information that he hopes can help find the tombs of the other four Kings that Ek Balam had, among them Kinich Jun Pik Tok Kuj Mal, Kan Bohb Tok and Ukil Jol Ahkul .
Regarding the name of the fifth King, whose name he did not remember, the archaeologist explained that his existence is known based on information obtained from pieces of pottery.
We believe that before the year 770 there is information of someone who was important in ruling, perhaps not with the title of king, but who did govern the lives of the people who lived in this place where we have found evidence that the place has been occupied since 300 years before Christ since the Late Preclassic," he pointed out.
@@pyramidreview8664 Fascinating. Thank you
"EK" is "STAR" in Maya ::"Ek Balam" is "STAR JAGUAR" having the color black as in night, with stars
Amazing and keep exploring so we get to see❤
Sometimes it's better to go to these ancient ruins without paying for a Guided Tour! Much better. Take a guidebook. Or watch these videos.
I took my niece to Cancun, Cozumel and Chichen Itza (that part was for me really) for her graduation gift. We paid for a guided tour and it was expensive. BUT the Guide could not STOP FLIRTING with my niece.
He wasn't even telling us information so I took him aside and I said "We came all this way, I want to see Chichen Itza, the buildings, hieroglyphs and Stop flirting with my niece!"
He laughed and said "Chichen Itza? You mean Chicken Pizza?" Okay funny man.
But he did start telling us what we were looking at and said to me "Miss Miss Miss LOOK! A Hieroglyph!" haha.
When we were grouping up to leave he apologized, so I said fine.
I asked him to stand by the "Hieroglyph" he'd pointed to and as I was taking the picture he turned and put his arms around my niece! WOW! Right in front of me. I wanted to punch that guy so much.
Overall a great trip though, except for the "funny" touchy flirty Guide!
@@Tylwaa I do a lot of research beforehand and I need to film so I almost never go with a guide unless it is mandatory, which is the case at some sites. I think that it can be nice if you don't really know what you're looking at, and all the ones I have gone with were extremely knowledgeable and professional, so I guess you guys lucked out with that one. 😂 Sounds like an awesome trip, what a cool gift!
Funny its always temples. When its just a basketball court and entertainment facility.
i recon they did cheese rolling races down the stairs
Balls of Edam cheese are quite popular in the Yucatan today, they would have been perfect!
A Norte Chico "U Shaped" Plaza ?
There is no pit. Plazas are very common in Maya cities and take various shapes (often square). Having three pyramids in that arrangement on a single platform was common in the pre-classic period and is known as a Triadic pyramid. It's thought to represent some aspect of mythology, but it's debated what exactly.
@@pyramidreview8664 Well it is 2500 - 3000 years later 👍
The rooms next to the ball court are athletes locker room
orb at 4:42
Defintely
Yeah. I see it.
It’s called the twins … look at the middle cut out now look at the windows … standing next to the astrology platform
The Book of Mormon chronicles similar civilizations in the Americas long before this type of city was thought to exist
#shakira #Timemagazine # archeologyReview #mit
Q: When the parents live in Chenes where do the kids live ?
A: Puuc Hills.