M6tiLET] mTRODUCTION TO STUDY OF MAYA HIEROGLYPHS 5 



followed the formation of this confederacy for the next 200 years the 

 arts blossomed forth anew. 



This was the second and last great Maya epoch. It was their Age 

 of Architecture as the first period had been their Age of Sculpture. 

 As a separate art sculpture languished ; but as an adjunct, an embel- 

 lishment to architecture, it lived again. The one had become hand- 

 maiden to the other. Facades were treated with a sculptural deco- 

 ration, which for intricacy and elaboration has rarely been equaled 

 by any people at any time; and yet this i-esult was accomplished 

 without sacrifice of beauty or dignity. During this period probably 

 there arose the many cities which to-day are crumbling in decay 

 throughout the length and breadth of Yucatan, their very names 

 forgotten. When these were in their prime, the country must have 

 been one great beehive of activity, for only a large population could 

 have left remains so extensive. 



This era of universal peace was abruptly terminated about 1200 

 A. D. by an event which shook the body politic to its foundations 

 and disrupted the Triple Alliance under whose beneficent rule the 

 land had grown so prosperous. The ruler of Chichen Itza, Chac Xib 

 Chac, seems to have plotted against his colleague of Mayapan, one 

 Hunnac Ceel, and in the disastrous war which followed, the latter, 

 with the aid of Nahua alUes,^ utterly routed his opponent and drove 

 him from his city. Tlie conquest of Chichen Itza seems to have been 

 followed during the thirteenth century by attempted reprisals on the 

 part of the vanquished Itza, which plunged the country into civil 

 war; and this struggle in turn paved the way for the final eclipse of 

 Maya supremacy in the fifteenth century. 



After the dissolution of the Triple Alliance a readjustment of 

 power became necessary. It was only natural that the victors in the 

 late war should assume the chief direction of affairs, and there is 

 strong evidence that Mayapan became the most important city in 

 the .land. It is not improbable also that as a result of this war 

 Chichen Itza was turned over to Hunnac Ceel's Nahua allies, perhaps 

 in recognition of their timely assistance, or as their share in the spoils 

 of war. It is certain that sometime during its history Chichen Itza 

 came under a strong Nahua influence. One group of buildings in 

 particular ^ shows in its architecture and bas-reliefs that it was 

 undoubtedly inspired by Nahua rather than by Maya ideals. 



According to Spanish historians, the fourteenth century was char- 

 acterized by increasing arrogance and oppression on the part of the 

 rulers of Mayapan, who found it necessary to surround themselves 

 with Nahua allies in order to keep the rising discontent of their sub- 



1 By Nahua is here meant the peoples who inhabited the valley of Mexico and adjacent territory at this 

 time. 



2 The Ball Court, a characteristically Nahua development. 



