MYSTERY of the MAYA

The Maya appeared in Yucatan seemingly out of nowhere in 3100 BC. But recent underwater artefacts tell a different story: a culture was already established there six thousand years earlier.

According to the sacred book Chilam Balam, the ancestors of the Maya arrived in 9600 BC from a large island to the east called Atl when “the waters swallowed the source of wisdom”. A catastrophe destroyed their home, forcing the divine survivors to sail west. Described as People of the Serpent, they were led by the god-man Itzamna who brought the knowledge of mathematics, astronomy, agriculture, architecture and mystical practices, thus explaining how the Maya inherited a fully developed civilization and cosmology. What’s astonishing is that hardly anyone has heard of Itzamna or his sages, the Itz — water wizards — people with knowledge of the laws of nature and how to bend them. This is their story, how their progeny became known as Maya, and how the temples of Yucatan and Guatemala today are the final expression of a project 9000 years in the making.

Filmed on location in Chichen Itza, Edzna, Izamal, Uxmal, Oxkintok, Labnah, Kabah, Tulum, Jaina, Ek Balam, Mayapan, Balamkanche, Palenque, Yaxchilan and Tikal, this documentary also explores the elements and purpose behind each temple.


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