Uxmal

“ This identity is satisfactorily accounted for and explained if we accept the simple native records of the invitation extended to Mexican warriors by a Maya chieftain and their subsequent permanent residence in Yucatan.
The limitations of my subject do not allow me to do more than mention two other important ruined cities of Yucatan, Izamal and Uxmal. I will however note that, judging from the illustrations I have seen, Uxmal seems to be the “Serpent-city” of America, par excellence, its buildings exhibiting the most elaborate and profuse employment of the serpent for symbolical decoration. ”

“ Notwithstanding our perplexities, I had an uncommon degree of satisfaction at waking up in Mani. I had heard of this place on my first visit to Uxmal, of relics and heirlooms in the hands of the cacique, and of ruins, which, however, we were advised were not worth visiting. The morning, nevertheless, did not open with much promise. On first emerging we found about the door of the casa real a crowd of loungers, of that mixed race who might trace their ancestry to the subjects of Tutul Xiu and the conquerors, possessing all the bad qualities of both, and but few of the good traits of either. ”

“ The same intrepid explorer and his devoted wife have made tracings of the mural paintings and photographs of all the hieroglyphs; occupations which cost them years of labor.
The ruins of Uxmal (pronounced Oosh-mal) , situated about fifty miles south of the present capital of Yucatan, Merida, are not less famous and interesting than those of Chichen-Itza. There are many magnificent piles scattered over a large area. ”

“ The “Pigeon House” is an ornate pile with pinnacles pierced by large openings which probably served as dovecotes. The entire architecture of Uxmal displays a type more primitive than that met elsewhere in Yucatan. There is documentary evidence to prove that so late as 1673 the Indians still worshipped in the ruins of Uxmal, where they burnt copal, and performed “other detestable sacrifices.” So that even a hundred and fifty years of Spanish rule had not sufficed to wean the natives from the worship of the older gods to whom their fathers had for generations bowed down. ”

“ So at the time of the arrival of the Spaniards the monuments of Chichen-Itza were in ruins and were looked upon with awe, wonder and respect, by the inhabitants of the country, when the city of Uxmal was thickly peopled. There cannot be any reasonable doubt that the Nahuas, the invaders and destroyers of the Itza metropolis, introduced the phallic worship into Yucatan. The monuments of Uxmal do not date from so remote an antiquity as those of Chichen, notwithstanding that Uxmal was a large city when Chichen was at the height of its glory. ”

“ About a dozen miles south-eastward from Uxmal are the remains of the ancient city known as Kabah, where ruins quite similar and nearly as extensive as those already described are found. However, new architectural features here meet the observer. In one instance the structure which surmounts a terraced pyramid is square, instead of long and narrow as at Uxmal. The inner rooms of the edifice have floors two feet higher than the floors of the outer rooms, and are entered by two stone steps. ”

“ The doorways of all these are ornamented with sculpture, and they are the only ornaments found in the interior of any buildings in Uxmal. The whole suite consists of six rooms; and there is a convenience in the arrangements not unsuited to the habits of what we call civilized life; opening as they do upon this noble courtyard, in the dry season, with nothing to apprehend from vegetation and damp; they would be by far the most comfortable residence for any future explorer of the ruins of Uxmal ”

“ Many blunders have been committed by writers reasoning from false premises; but the most amusing, perhaps, is one by Prescott, who, unfortunately, obliged to avail himself solely of the researches of others, was led frequently into blind alleys and byways. In writing of the ruins of Uxmal he says, "Another evidence of their age is afforded by the circumstance that in one of the courts of Uxmal the granite (?) pavement, on which the figures of tortoises were raised in relief, is worn nearly smooth by the feet of the crowds who have passed over it ”

“ Just before the Itzas left Champoton, or perhaps just after, Uxmal was founded by Ahcuitok Tutul Xiu, who, according to the tradition, probably came from the west. The lords of this city were destined to have an important part to play in the history of the Itzas. About the year 1000 the cities of Uxmal, Chichen, and Mayapan formed a confederation which has been called the League of Mayapan. After three or four hundred years of unrest after the disintegration of the Old Empire a New Empire was about to begin its career. ”

“ The next largest and most interesting city [448] of ruins is known as Uxmal, which was the capital of the Tutal Xiu branch of the Mayas. This city is located between low ranges of hills, perhaps one hundred miles from Chichen Itza. When seen from an eminence a dozen or more imposing structures of white limestone are presented to view. This city, no doubt, supplied a very important part in the early history of Yucatan—at least if one is to judge from its size. It is believed that this was the original city of the Toltecs. ”

“ The cloud which hangs over their history is much darker than that resting over the ruins of Uxmal. I can only say of them that they lie on the common lands of the village of Nohcacab. Perhaps they have been known to the Indians from time immemorial; but, as the padrecito told us, until the opening of the camino real to Bolonchen they were utterly unknown to the white inhabitants. This road passed through the ancient city, and discovered the great buildings, overgrown, in some places towering above the tops of the trees. ”

“ Uxmal, which is supposed to have been partly inhabited when the Spaniards arrived in the country, is plainly much more modern than Copan or Palenque. This is easily traced in the ruins. Its edifices were finished in a different style, and show fewer inscriptions. Round pillars, somewhat in the Doric style, are found at Uxmal, but none like the square, richly carved pillars, bearing inscriptions, discovered in some of the other ruins. Copan and Palenque, and even Kabah, in Yucatan, may have been very old cities, if not already old ruins, when Uxmal was built. ”

“ It is only, however, within the present century that we have had any critical notices. Rio heard reports of them merely. Lorenzo de Zavala saw only Uxmal, as his account given in Dupaix shows. The earliest detailed descriptions were those of Waldeck in his Voyage pittoresque et achéologique dans la province d’Yucatan (Paris, 1838, folio, with steel plates and lithographs) , but he also saw little more than the ruins of Uxmal, in the expedition in which he had received pecuniary support from Lord Kingsborough. ”

“ In architecture they were in advance from the earliest ages not only of the Aztec peoples, but of all the American races.
In Yucatan the Mayas have left some wonderful remains at Mayapan, their prehistoric capital, and near it at a place called Uxmal which has become famous from its vast and elaborate structures, [13] evidencing a knowledge of art and science which had flourished in this region for centuries before the arrival of the Spanish. The chief building in Uxmal is in pyramidal form, the principal design in the ancient Aztec temples (as well as those of Chaldea, etc.) ”

“ The ruined building on the top consisted of a single corridor, but three feet five inches wide, and, with the ruins of Nohpat at our feet, we looked out upon a great desolate plain, studded with overgrown mounds, of which we took the bearings and names as known to the Indians; toward the west by north, startling by the grandeur of the buildings and their height above the plain, with no decay visible, and at this distance seeming perfect as a living city, were the ruins of Uxmal. ”

“ A number of writers believe that many of these buildings at Uxmal are comparatively recent, because of the appearance of the stone and the well-preserved character of the wood used in the construction.
These structures are only a part of the ruins that still remain, for the jungle on either side hides the remains of what were once imposing buildings. Many of these have been literally torn asunder by trees, whose roots have forced themselves between the stones and pried them apart. No doubt this city once housed many thousands of people, but to-day it is without inhabitants. ”

“ Other less important edifices in the ruins at Uxmal have been described by explorers, some of which stand on high pyramidal mounds; and inscriptions are found here, but they are not so abundant as at Palenque and Copan."
The remains at Chichen-Itza are similar to those at Uxmal. They are situated a few leagues east of Mayapan, in northern Yucatan. The principal buildings are the "church," the palace of the monks, the red house or casa colorada, and the "gymnasium," or tennis-court. In one of the edifices are found rooms whose walls are covered with picture-writing. ”

“ Among all the haciendas, Uxmal had a reputation pre-eminent for its unhealthiness. Every person who had ever been at work among the ruins had been obliged by sickness to leave them. Mr. Catherwood had had sad experience, and this unhealthiness was not confined to strangers. The Indians suffered every season from fevers; many of them were at that time ill, and the major domo had been obliged to go away. All this we had been advised of in Merida, and had been urged to postpone our visit ”

“ Of the sixty or seventy ruined cities scattered throughout Yucatan, none offers points of greater interest than Uxmal. The ruins of Copan, in Honduras, are distinguished for the number of idols and altars richly sculptured; those of Palenque, in the State of Chiapas, for the profusion of stucco adornment, tablets, bas-reliefs, and statuary; Uxmal, for the richness of its sculptured façades, the magnitude of its buildings, and the chasteness and beauty of its statuary, judging from the few specimens found there. There was recently discovered at Uxmal, by the archæologist. Dr. ”

“ The phrase u heɔicab Ahcuitok Tutulxiu Uxmal is translated by Pio Perez “se pobló en Uxmal,” established himself in Uxmal,” conveying the impression that he merely moved to that city. This is, however, not the sense of the original. Heɔicab is an active verb governing Uxmal as its direct object, and means to found firmly or promptly.
The expression halach uinicil, the real man, the true man, is a common idiom for governor or ruler, he being the only “real man” in an autocratic community (ante p. 26) . ”

“ During the greater part of our journey we were groping in the dark, in doubt and uncertainty, and it was not until our arrival at the ruins of Uxmal that we formed our opinion of their comparatively modern date. Some are beyond doubt older than others; some are known to have been inhabited at the time of the Spanish conquest, and others, perhaps, were really in ruins before ”

“ There are at Uxmal no "idols," as at Copan; not a single stuccoed figure or carved tablet, as at Palenque. Except this beam of hieroglyphics, though searching earnestly, we did not discover any one absolute point of resemblance; and the wanton machete of an Indian may destroy the only link that can connect them together.
It was our purpose to present full drawings of the exterior of this building, and, in fact, of all the others. The plate, No. 80, represents one division, with its sculptured ornaments, or what I have called mosaic. ”

“ While we were standing upon the road, an old Indian came up from the other direction, bending under a load, who, in crossing it, stopped, and, striking his stick against the stones, uttered the words Sacbey, and Kabah, and Uxmal. At the same time our carriers came up, the old sexton at their head, who, depositing his burden upon the ancient road, repeated Sacbey, and then favoured us with an oration, in which we could only distinguish Kabah and Uxmal. ”

“ The reign of the Tutul Xius at Uxmal was doubtless the most glorious period of Maya history, but in addition to what has been said we have respecting it only a single tradition which seems to refer to the last king and the overthrow of the dynasty. [XIII-39] An old sorceress lived at Kabah, rarely leaving her chimney corner. Her grandson, a dwarf, by making a hole in her water-jar, kept her a long time at the well one day, and by removing the hearth-stone found the treasure she had so carefully guarded, a silver tunkul and zoot, native instruments. ”

“ From certain inscriptions and pictures—in which the Cans are represented crawling on all fours like dogs—sculptured on the façade of their house of worship, it would appear that their religion of the mastodon was replaced by that of the reciprocal forces of nature, imported in the country by the big-nosed invaders, the Nahualts coming from the west. These destroyed Chichen, and established their capital at Uxmal. ”

“ Owing to the vegetation which is suffered to clothe everything with its thick green mantle, the general outline of the city, nay, an entire structure, is no longer discernible. From their state of good preservation some monuments at Uxmal seem to belong to the revival we noticed at Kabah, and to be more recent than those at Chichen. ”