TULUM

The ruins of Tulum are the remains of an ancient Maya city that thrived from 1200 AD through the 16th Century.  Tulum is the only Maya city built on a coast, and one of the few protected by a wall. The ruins are situated on 40 ft tall cliffs on the east coast of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. Made of  limestone, the 784-meter wall encloses the site on three sides, it is seven meters thick, and varies between three and five meters in height.  Each Maya city had a specific purpose, and Tulum was no exception.  It was a seaport, trading mainly in turquoise and jade.  No doubt this fortification helped preserve the seaport. 


Given that the seaport was once a link with the outside world, there can be no easy clues as to what happened to the civilization here. There are several theories as to why a wall surrounds Tulum.  One is that it had a Maya population of 600 on the inside.  Another suggests only priests and nobility were housed within the walls, while peasants lived on the outside.  It is also believed that the native population was eventually conquered not by invading warriors, but by the diseases of Spanish settlers. What really happed is a question for historians and archaeologists to struggle with.

The ancient Maya had a written language, a binary math system, and an early warning system for hurricanes.  The Temple of the Wind has holes placed in strategic positions.  These holes cause an extremely loud, high pitched wistling sound when early hurricane force winds aim toward Tulum.  It still works.

Like many ancient civilizations, Maya culture revolved around the cycle of life - the seasons, the feast of fall, birth and death. Tulum was not a military fortress or average city.  It was a holy and governmental center where scholars, priests, and mathematicians dwelled.

Most prominent among the remaining structures is the Castillo, or castly, which is perched on the edge of a 12-meter limestone cliff, overlooking the Caribbean coast.

In front of  the Castillo is the Temple of the Frescoes, one of the better preserved buildings.  Inside this temple there is a mural painted in three sections.  The first level represents the Maya world of the dead, the middle is that of the living, and the final, highest piece, is of the creator and rain gods.

The Temple of the Descending God is one of the most beautiful temples in Tulum.  Chiseled above the doorway of this temple there is an upside-down figure with what appears to be bird's wings and a tail.  The descending God is the main god honored at Tulum.  His name is Ah Muu Zen Caab, otherwise known as the Bee God, in addition to being the Descending God, he had many roles; he protected the people and he is particularly well preserved on various buildings around the site.  He descended on light, was a giver of honey, and was also associated with the planet Venus.  He represents a god-human wearing a headdress descending from the heavens, holding an object of some kind.  This partly human descending figure is an important Maya deity that represented the bee, giver of honey,  According to the ancient Maya this deity also carried the sky, in this case the Western Sun that falls into the horizon submerging itself into the underworld of the night.