Secrets of the Mayan Snake Queen at El Peru-Waka

[Ichingcarpenter]

Title alone was worth the post...lol

ARCHAEOLOGISTS tunneling beneath the main temple of the ancient Maya city of El Peru-Waka in northern Guatemala have discovered an intricately carved stone monument with hieroglyphic text detailing the exploits of a little-known sixth-century princess whose progeny prevailed in a bloody, back-and-forth struggle between two of the civilization's most powerful royal dynasties, Guatemalan cultural officials have announced.

"Great rulers took pleasure in describing adversity as a prelude to ultimate success," said research director David Freidel, PhD, a professor of anthropology in Arts &Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. "Here the Snake queen, Lady Ikoom, prevailed in the end."

Freidel said the stone monument, known officially as El Peru Stela 44, offers a wealth of new information about a "dark period" in Maya history, including the names of two previously unknown Maya rulers and the political realities that shaped their legacies



"The narrative of Stela 44 is full of twists and turns of the kind that are usually found in time of war but rarely detected in Precolumbian archaeology," Freidel said.

"The information in the text provides a new chapter in the history of the ancient kingdom of Waka' and its political relations with the most powerful kingdoms in the Classic period lowland Maya world."



http://www.heraldsun.com.au/travel/travel-news/secrets-of-the-mayan-snake-queen-at-el-peruwaka/story-fni0bieo-1226681595691

[Judi Lynn]

1. Thank you. Terrific. n/t

[alan_phillips]

2. Amazing

this is the kind of stuff legends are made of. It paints a picture of how life back then was, and gives yet another piece of our past, which has been long forgotten by many. Thank you for sharing this.