American Egypt - All About Chichen Itza and Mexico’s Maya Yucatan

Mostly Lisa at Chichen Itza is Mostly Fun

November 20th, 2008 by ejalbright

Now this is blogging! Mostly Lisa is the Web site of Lisa Bettany, a freelance photographer/videographer from Canada. Lisa does funny little videos about her life that are silly and charming. It doesn’t hurt that she’s a knock out, with two of the most beautiful eyes I’ve seen in a while.

Lisa a while back went to the Yucatan peninsula and visited Chichen Itza. Here’s here report:

Category: Art, Tourism | No Comments »

US Musem Director Contemplates Return of Chichen Itza Artifacts to Mexico

November 19th, 2008 by ejalbright

An artist’s rendering of a Maya sacrifice at Chichen Itza’s Cenote Sagrado.

A century ago, the American Consul to Yucatan, Edward H. Thompson, dredged the Cenote Sagrado, a large sinkhole, at Chichen Itza. He wanted to prove that the legends were true: That this was where the ancient Maya had cast precious objects and people as sacrifices to their gods.

Thompson recovered thousands of artifacts, including beautiful objects of gold, jade, pottery, as well as the skeletons of dozens of people. He shipped his finds to the United States where they ended up in the Peabody Museum at Harvard University.

Almost 20 years later, the Mexican government charged Thompson with theft, and demanded the return of the artifacts from the Sacred Well. The Peabody refused, and for more than 80 years, this has been a quiet battle of wills between Mexican archaeologists and the Peabody.

This week William Fash, director of the Peabody, said in an interview with a Mexican journal that the time had come to consider the return of the Sacred Well artifacts to Mexico. The Peabody on two occasions had returned some of the artifacts. In the 1960s the Peabody gave many of the gold objects, and a decade later, many of the carved jades.

Fasher did not commit to returning the rest of the collection, which still consists of thousands of artifacts, but instead suggested that the subject should be explored.

He related some of the history of the collection, explaining that many people believe that the museum funded the exploration of the Sacred Well of Chichen Itza, but this was not the case, Fash said. It was Edward Thompson who decided to donate his findings to the museum.

Fash, however, is not correct. The story behind the dredging of the Sacred Well is much, much more complicated. For example, Mexican archaeologists have long maintained that Edward Thompson illegally smuggled the collection out of Mexico and that the Mexican government knew nothing about the dredging. Both are untrue. And unlike other cases where museums have collections taken illegally, the issue of who owns the collection was already battled out in the courts. In 1944, the Mexican Supreme Court ruled that Thompson had not stolen anything, in part because there were no laws concerning artifacts taken from cenotes, and also, because he was the legal owner of Chichen Itza. He had bought the ancient city in 1894.

You can read an Associated Press article on Fash’s comments HERE. The article is not quite correct, for it says that Fash wants to return some carved jades, but those had already been given to Mexico. The Mexican article does not specify exactly what Fash wishes to return.

Category: INAH, Art, Archaeology, Politics | Comments Off

Bulgarian President Visits Chichen Itza

November 17th, 2008 by ejalbright

File photo of Bulgaria President Georgi Parvanov with former US Secretary State Colin Powell

Bulgaria’s president, Georgi Parvanov, visited Chichén Itzá over the weekend, concluding a 12-day state visit to Mexico.

The president was accompanied by his wife, as well as more than 30 ministers, businessmen and media from his country. He was met at Chichén by Yucatan Governor Ivonne Ortega Pacheco, who accompanied him on an almost two-hour tour of the ruins. The tour was led by Federica Sodi Miranda, director of the Yucatan office of INAH, the agency which oversees the ruins, and included a brief lecture by Director of Research Peter Schmidt, who has supervised many excavations at Chichén Itzá.

Before starting the tour, the governor presented the president and his wife with gifts: Two Jipijapa hats and crafts made by Yucatecan artisans.

The president and his entourage were taken into parts of Chichén closed to regular tourists, such as the thrown room inside El Castillo.

Category: INAH, Tourism, Archaeology, Politics | No Comments »

El Castillo to Adorn Yucatan License Plate

November 13th, 2008 by ejalbright

License plates for vehicles registered in Yucatan will be red next year and will be adorned with an image of El Castillo, the giant pyramid of Chichen Itza.

This isn’t the first time El Castillo has appeared on a license plate. A tiny El Castillo appeared on this version:

Also, the presumed observatory of the ancient Maya at Chichen Itza, the Caracol, was also used as a background for a Yucatan license plate:

Photos from The Plate Hut.

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I’M BACK! Blog Miraculously Resumes

November 11th, 2008 by ejalbright

Chichen Itza’s Las Monjas, October 2008 (photo by Evan J. Albright)

This blog has been, shall we say, dormant over the past few weeks. I’ve been on the road (Amsterdam, Orlando, and, of course, at Chichen Itza) so getting to a computer has been a challenge, much less writing anything.

But I’m back, with enough material to fill a couple of dozen articles about Chichen Itza. See you bright and early tomorrow with the first!

– Evan J.

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Chaac Threatens, but Fails to Ruin Placido Domingo at Chichen Itza

October 6th, 2008 by ejalbright

Chaac, the Maya rain god, interrupted Saturday’s Placido Domingo Concert of the Thousand Columns at Chichen Itza, but could not stop it. And based on all reports, it was a wild success.

For Domingo, it was a return to where he received his professional start. He performed with his mother on stage in Merida in 1957. It was also an opportunity to follow in the footsteps of the first modern superstar tenor, Luciano Pavarotti, who performed at Chichen in the 1990s.

The Spanish opera star sang a mixture of classical, Mexican and Yucatecan songs.

There were plenty of genuflects to Maya culture, beyond just the setting. The program opened with the Monumental Chorus of the Mayab, which performed a Maya-style song using traditional drums. Domingo was joined on stage by Armando Manzanero, perhaps Mexico’s greatest songwriter and also of Maya descent. One of their duets was performed in the local native language, Maya.

The rain forced Placido to skip his planned opening number, and instead jump right into a local favorite, “O Souverain” from Massenet’s Le Cid. No one seemed to mind the occasional sprinkles. More than 4,000 were in attendance.

The concert had a spectacular backdrop, the great pyramid El Castillo, which was brightly lid in colored lights. Pavarotti had performed in front of the Temple of Warriors, but this setting seemed more appropriate.

From a personal viewpoint, the highlight of the program was its closing number: “Peregrina.” The song was commissioned by the governor of Yucatan, Felipe Carrillo Puerto, for his American lover, Alma Reed, in 1923. The couple were to be married, but Carrillo Puerto was assassinated Jan. 3, 1924. It was appropriate the Domingo sang it at Chichen Itza, for it was Carrillo Puerto who ordered the highway built to the ancient city so that the world could see the pride of the Maya civilization.

Here are a couple of videos of the performance of “Peregrina.” The first was shot from the audience, the latter from backstage:

Category: Pop Culture Reference, Art | Comments Off

Evening Light Show at Chichen Itza Suspended

October 1st, 2008 by ejalbright

Photo by stevez32

The evening light-and-sound show at Chichen Itza has been suspended until after the Concert of a Thousand Columns this weekend.

On Oct. 4, Placido Domingo will perform in front of the Temple of Warriors and Group of a Thousand Columns. The nightly light-and-sound show, in which images and lights are projected upon Chichen Itza’s monuments and accompanied by narration and music, has been cancelled.

Ramón Lee Rejón, the coordinator for Patronato de Cultur, the agency that presents the program, said that travel agencies and other tourist services have been advised of the change. The show will resume Oct. 6.