An Enhancement

OK, I may have broken protocol on blogs, but I just went back and "enhanced" the previous entry. I picked a few pictures from the trip I described and added them to the blog, to show a small glimpse of what I was describing.

I'll also note that while I'm very glad we did what we did, I think next time I'd take a "land tour". We just didn't have time at the sites to see everything, especially in Tulum. It was about 1 1/2 hour drive there and then 1 1/2 hour back. We spent probably less than 30 minutes at the actual site.

I ran around snapping photos and checking out the buildings while the guide walked the group around. I'd check back in to hear bits and pieces of the guide's tour, and then would dash off to see something that I could tell we weren't going to be able to see if I stayed with the tour.

I guess that made it exciting to be on the run, but it was also troubling to be so rushed.

I've been told that on the land tours you not only spend more time, but you also see more sites.

BTW, while there, our guide explained how a NASA photo interpreter figured out that plants that grow on limestone show up differently on infra-red photography than other plants. He began an orbital search over Central America and has found dozens of new ruins. There is now the beginnings of an explosion in searching for new sites. I saw a commercial for a documentary on this topic, coming up on the History Channel that I'm interested in seeing...

Our LDS guide also pointed out that Brigham Young once said that science would one day prove the authenticity of the Book of Mormon, and that we are coming close to the day that that becomes true. I did a quick search on http://farms.byu.edu/, but haven't found a source to authenticate that Brigham Young actually said that. If someone posts it to the "comments" section, I'd be interested.

Thanks

Three Sets of Ruins

Doug in Tulum

I wanted to share a little bit more about the ruins we saw on our trip. We went to three areas with ruins: Tulum (near Cozumel, Mexico), Altun Ha (near Belize City, Belize), and Chacchoben (near Costa Maya, Mexico). They all offered different experiences.

Chacchoben had several large buildings and walking areas that were still covered with vines and trees. There were several areas where very large trees had taken root on stairways and were taking over the area. It reminded me of scenes out of Disney's animated "The Jungle Book."

[The "Jungle Book" look.]

Altun Ha had 8-10 structures of various sizes that were cleared of trees, but the backs and sides of several were covered with lush, short-cropped grass. The arena area in between the structures had the same grass. It was trimmed nicely enough to have been mowed, though I suspected that it was simply a short-growing grass (that I'd love to have in my lawn).

The guide said that in the 1-square mile radius of where we were, there were an estimated 5,000 structures - 99% were yet to be uncovered. Our LDS guide climbed to the top of the highest one and spoke to us for about 20 minutes about the area and the potential Book of Mormon people that may have lived there. We could hear him quite clearly.

[Here's a shot of our guide sitting up top speaking to us.]

The current thought among LDS scholars is that the land of Zarahemla was directly west of where we were standing, about a 1 1/2 days hike away. That would make Altun Ha directly in the "Land of Jershon," which was the home of the People of Ammon, or the people of King Lamoni and his father, who were converted by the Sons of Mosiah and eventually forced to leave the Land of Nephi.

It was unlikely that the structures themselves were there at that time, but it was possible that the area was the same. It is also possible that these structures were built on top of the ruins of the structures they would have had then.

Tulum had the most interesting story. It was a walled city. We walked through an opening in the wall to get inside. It had many free-standing structures, some looked like buildings in the more traditional or familiar sense. It is also the home of the "Descending God" or "Diving God".

There is a "temple" there that they believe is dedicated to him, and has a carving of an upside-down man over the entryway. There is a larger "temple" with three carvings over three entryways that they believe are dedicated to the three members of the Mayan godhead.

The central figure of a man is the main god. Next to him is an inverted man who is the "Descending God". Their belief is that one member of their godhead "dove" down from Heaven to live among men for awhile, before returning to be among the gods again.

Their third god is on the far side from the main god. The space for his carving is empty because they believed that there was a member of their godhead that had no body.

I found that quite interesting.

[This is a closeup on the temple with the purported members of their godhead above each entryway. It's hard to tell in this photo, but the one in the middle is upside down. Note that there is no figure in the space on the right.]

Hello Again...

Wow! Time flies! First it was the Christmas break, then a big trip in January, now it's suddenly February, and I haven't entered a single blog in the meantime. I could tell it's been a while since I had so much difficulty remembering the right combination of username and password. (I'm sure no one else ever has the trouble...)

I had a really cool experience in January. In honor of our 20th anniversary, my wife and I took a cruise down to the Yucatan Peninsula. We were on board a major cruise line, but arranged for the trip in conjunction with an LDS tour service. So, they had hosts that took us on specialized tours.

We visited three areas with Mayan ruins. In each place, local tour guides would show us around and tell us what they believed took place in the areas. Then our LDS friends hired by the tour service, would give us a different slant on what LDS scholars believe happened in the areas and which approximate areas of the Book of Mormon the cities may have been near.

It was my first time to visit ruins and authentic Central American jungle. Particularly in light of having written novels about people living in the areas, it was very interesting to do some actual field research on what it would be like to have been there. I poked around and wandered through the trees as much as the ruins themselves.

I found that overall it was much like what I've seen in nature films and photos, but there were still some interesting things to note when seeing it first hand. I can see how an army (such as the Lamanites who pursued King Limhi and his people) could lose track not only of the people they were pursuing, but of their general direction as a whole. When the trees are so tall and thick, that even the sun is hard to see, it can be difficult at best to sense direction.

I was also impressed with how thoroughly the jungle retakes the ruins. They said that there was one expedition that had been excavating a site for several years back in the '50s when they ran out of funding. About 5 or 6 years later, they found a new backer and went back down to do more excavation. They spent two months searching, but COULDN'T EVEN FIND the ruins they had been working on. They had been totally swallowed up by jungle growth again.

I took photos of tree roots fingering their way in between stones in walls, trying to consume ruins that were part of the tours. It's easy to imagine how completely untouched ruins can be hidden. Thank goodness for GPS systems today.

I'll add more about this later. Meanwhile, I'm letting the world know I'm still alive and kicking...