North Carolina Newspapers

mm (t. Qffoir A t cYLVANU G. MOREL Y Arj .A HE ruins of Copan are situated In 1 the valley of the Copan river in the 0 I w western part of the Republic of Hon duras only a few miles from the boundary of Guatemala. Mountains,, the foothills of the Cordillera, reach ing an altitude of some 2,600 feet, surround it on every side, their low er slopes overgrown with a well nigh impenetrable thicket of low trees and bushes, and their summits sparsely covered with pine. The valley at this point Is about a mile and a half wide, and it Is upon this rich river plain that the ancient Maya metropolis was built Tho river here flows east and west, now skirting the northern foothills, and again having crossed the plain,' rushing along the base of the southern elopes, a modest stream, easily forded in the dry season, but a raging, swollen torrent frequently overflowing its banks after the rains have set in. This pleasant valley surrounded on all side by .-, ,. . " ,' " a "lWi - ; I ; : -, I XJL? - 2mmm L I J I IN.. II. mm -iff H Ml T-Iilmi i ijf'TI A.' W I . L 1 mi . i .A 1 in JP IT' J?J7aPATOJY Of2- doorway m jjmzx CHAMBrR OF CHEAT P15 6 mountains of consider- -able height supplied ;with an abundance of never failing streams, and renowned for its fertility, offers a strik ing contrast to the parched waterless plains of northern Ju tcatan, which form the . general environment of northern Maya sites. With the former the jwater supply was nev ;er a question of mo iment, but with the lat 'ter Its satisfactory so lution in a few places only, absolutely de Jtermlnedi the distribu tion of the aboriginal population. And yet. 'unlike as these two re ;gions are. the Maya civilization, which over spread both of them, vas of sufficient homo geneity, as we shall see, to follow In each one much the same. lines of cultural devel opment At the very beeinni of Copan we find ourselves confronted with a grave difficulty, namely, the entire absence of aboriginal tradition concerning the place, which consequently render a rornngtniMinn of the historical background impossible. In Yucatan we were able to piece together some what of the early history of the principal cities, such as Chichen Itza. and Uxmal, from the ac count of native as well as Snanih wHtor many of whom derived their information from those well acquainted with the former history of the country. And while this information is often quite fragmentrry, nevertheless It sheds a very considerable light on the pre-Columbian .history 'of these two northern sites, and in! a j measure, at least, dispels "that darkness and i obscurity which so completely enshrouds al t most all the other great centers of the Maya culture. Concerning the former history of Copen, however, we know absolutely nothing, except ing the tradition c very doubtful value given below. In 1567, oiv thereabout, Diego Garcia c Palaclo, an official of the Audencia of Gua temala, visited these ruins and later described them In a letter to Philip II., the then king of Spain. In, this communication, after a de scription of the different buildings, he says he endeavored to ascertain who the former in habitants of the city were: " "I endeavored with all possible care to as certain from the Indians, through the tradi tions derived from the ancients, what people lived here, or what they knew or had heard from their ancestors concerning them. But thejr had no books relating to their antiquities, nor do I believe that In all this district there Is more than one, which I possess. They say that In ancient limes there came from Yuca tan a great lord, who built these edifices, but that at the end of some years he returned to his native country, leaving them entirely de serted." . c Unfortunately, the reliability of this tradi tion is disproved br too many different lines of evidence to permit our accepting-it. in the first place, the structures of Copan are far too : numerous and massive to have been built within the span of . single life; and its elab orately sculptured monuments are far too . in- tricate to have been carved in one generation with the tools available. Had that from Yucatan" lived twice the allotted three acore years and ten, his life, even then, could n II 4 I i I ' 2&4 I m v w mm & fa? W$TCJD OF DOORWAY UFADJWG 7V 75T not have embraced one-fourth of the period of building activity at Copan. Again, as we shall see, the hieroglyphic in scriptions at Copan indicate that it was far older than any of the Yucatan sites, and that it probably had been abandoned, many years before the rise of the great northern cities. Still another reason lor doubting that Copan was colonized from Yucatan arise when we ei--amine the historical data bearing on each.. All the early writers, native as well as Spanish, .with the exception of Palaclo, above quoted, pass over the great southern metropolis in ab solute silence; but when they come to describe Yucatan nearly all of them mention the two largest of the ancient cities there, Clchen Itza and. Uxmal. and In some instances even give brief outlines of their history. The striking absence of tradition relating to- such an extensive site as Copan can only indicate ore thing that Its fall and subse quent desolation had outlived the memory of man even at the time of the Spanish Conquest in 1530; and a generation later, when Palaclo vjsited the place, it had been forgotten so long that he was unable to find out anything about Its former history except the very dubious tra dition given above. The ruins are more easily reached today from Gautemala than from Honduras, in which latter Republic they tare located. One leaves the Guatemala Northern railroad at Zacapa, and either byhorseback or cart, journeys east ward for two days, stopping overnight at Jaco tan. The actual ' distance traveled cannot be more than 35 or' 4t miles at the 'Outside, but the rpad is so rough , and winds through coun try so mountainous that It takes two days to reach the ruins after leaving the railroad. The modern village of Copan, where one can secure accommodations of a sort, is about three-quarters of a mile from the main group of ruins. It Is built over ll part of the site of the ancient city, and .has two beautifully sculptured altars standing in the plaza under a large tree. Sev eral other sculptural monuments are to be found in various pigsties and chicken yards throughout the village, and there is another group of two or three, a short distance to the northwest In the "campo santo" or burying ground. ' -' . Taking the path leading to the east from the village, a fifteen minutes walk brings one to the entrance on the -west side of the Great Plaza,v the largest and doaVtJess the most Im portant court in the city. This imposing area, 1. ; 7, . some 300 feet long by j 250 wide. Is surrounded on three sides by a terrace 10 to 15 feet high. The interior sides of this are stepped so that standing In the center, of the plaza the effect is that of a sunken court surrounded on all sides but one, with tiers of stone seats, or benches. The southern or open ! side Is occupied by a small pyramid about 20 feet high, which, standing midway between the ends ptS4 ter race, appears to inclose the area, ..This pyra mid, because of its central position" with refer ence to the Great Plaza, must have; been a much more important structure than its size would now seem to indicate. Standing on its summit and looking northward, a great open air auditorium lies at .one's feet Tier upon tier of stone benches rising around its sides, and five great monumental states, posted like gigantic sentinels guarding its sacred pre clnts. y This mound, so conspicuously located on the open side of the Great Plaza, attracted the at tention of the English traveler and archaelol oglst, Mr. A. P. Maudslay, who visited Copan In 1885, spending several months there in pho tograhplng and making molds of the sculptures and in studying the ruins. He cleared its sides and excavated it "? The summit, he says, is very small, and shows no signs of any build ing ever having stood there. Digging through thefloor he sank a shalft into the interior of the pyramid and found at a depth of six feet from the top an earthen pot which contained several Jade beads, a few pearls, a jade spin dle whorl, perforated disk, and some roughly carved pieces of pearl shell. The bottom of the pot was covered with some finely ground cinnabar and several ounces of quick silver. Fragments of human bones were taken out during the course of these excavations and, finally, at a depth of nine feet below the level of the plain, a skeleton of a jaguar was un covered. . I The use of this pyramid without a building of any kind surmounting it must forever re main a mystery. Perhaps here in full view of the assembled inhabitants of. the ancient city were practiced the bloody rites, of human sacrifiec; or perhaps the decrees of rules or the omens from above were handed! down. Who can say now? One thing alone seems reasonably cer tain; the dose proximity and commanding relation of this pyramid to such a vast open air auditorium as the Great Plaza Indicates that It formerly played some very important part in the life of Copan) The most Interesting feature of the Great Plaza, however, is not this pyramid, Tbut the great sculptured monuments, which are scat tered here and there around the inclosure. Of these, five are now standing and three lie pros- trate. They average not. far from 12 feet in height and are about 3 feet in breadth. The general treatmect of them all Is much the same. The side facing the plaza is uniformly sculptured with the likeness of a human be ing sometimes of one sex and sometimes of the other, carved In very, high relief,, which, in places, amounts to sculpture in the round. The clothing and headdresses of these figures are exceedingly ornate. f -. SATD fJGJJ? (PARrAllY RJTOD) The sides and backs of these monuments are usually covered with hieroglyphics, though this latter is not a constant feature.:'' Near each one of them, usually just in front, there is a smaller block of stone, sometimes round and sometimes square. These, because of their close connec tion with the larger monuments, have been called altars, and it is not unlikely that. they may have served some such a purpose. They are elaborately sculptured with grotesque fig ures and In some cases with hieroglyphics also. Leaving the Great Plaza and Its interesting monuments behind, and proceeding southward about 100 yards, we enter a narrow court 290 feet In length by 135 feet in width.' This In closure has been named "The Court of the Hieroglyphic Stairway," because of Its most re markable feature an imposing flight of tairs ascending the pyramid at its southern end. This stairway, including the elaborately sculptured balustrades on each side, measures 33 feet in width; Its steps, which average a foot in height, have their vertical faces covered with hiero glyphics. This monumental stairway, rising steeply for 90 feet. Its steps and balustrades elaborately sculptured, and full-size human figures occupy ing its center at regular intervals clear to the summit, must have presented In former times a striking appearance and offered ah effect but little short of stupendous. Ascending the steep slope which forms the southeastern side of the court of the Hiero glyphic Stairway, we find ourselves on the sum mit of a broad terrace overlooking the Eastern Court This inclosure, though somewhat small (about 125 feet square), originally must have been one of the most beautiful parts of the city, judging from the elaborate sculptures now strewing it in great profusion. On its south side rises the highest pyramid at Copan, the summit 112 feet above the level of the river. "Across the greater part of the western side extends a broad, rather low stairway, , flanked by two life-sized rampant jaguars sculptured In high relief. This flight of steps leads to a broad terrace overlook ing another court The remaining sides of the Eastern Court are occupied by high terraces, which support a number of ruined structures. One of these on the northern terrace was exca- vated by. Mr.' Maudslay, who found there a beau tiful interior doorway nine - feet wide, over which there Is an elaborate frieze supported at its ends by crouching human figures of heroic size, the whole being carved in high relief al most amounting to sculpture In the round. The structures on the eastern and remaining terrace have for the most part disappeared, their destruction having been due to a change in the course of the Copan river, which now washes the exterior base of this terrace. This cutting away of the great substructure of the main group of buildings by. the, river is one of the most interesting and at the : same time deplorable features at Copan, since ultimately, if not checked, it can mean nothing more nor less than the total destruction of the city. But this wholesale demolition is not being ac complished without its accompanying lesson in archaeology. This great vertical wall, cut by the river all along the eastern side of the main group, is the largest cross-section of an arch aeological site in the world. Here, like an open book, one may read the successive periods of the city's growth. At different levels from the hollows upward throughout the rubble hearting of the substructure there are horizontal strata of cut paving stones.' These are the pavements of different plazas dating from successive epochs of the city's history, and they clearly demonstrate that the growth of Copan has been gradual. As time passed and the population in creased, newer and larger structures and plazas were built to meet the needs of the growing clty. These constructions, as we see from the cross-section of the, substructure, were built di rectly above the older ones. When it became necessary to build a new plaza Its rubble foun dations were laid on the paving of the old plaza which it was to replace, and thus the highest of the substructure slowly increased. A careful study of the floors of these successive plazas would doubtless teach much as to the different epochs of the city's occupancy, and might even reveal important facts relative to its history. Before closing this description, it may not be out of place to explain here our reasons for hav ing called Copan "The Mother City of the irxajas. oneny sxatea. it la heranaa tvA - . - V. MlV DANIEL ANn COMPANIONS annday School Uison for Sept, Specially Arranged for Thi 10, l9j Paper LESSOivr tpvw MEMORY VERSES 9 1:S"20 GOLDEN TEXT.ItV eat flesh r.r.. 'a KOod whereby thy brother' . TIME. B. r . m. V rH I all IVI ftK.. - 1 r. ' cuucnacmezzar'g return 4" PLAPTil tj , "aujiun on thf v-l. JVU tor hi, captivity J?$5g& PLACE IN THE Klm 24:1-6; 2 Chron. 36:5-8. S RT- Stan PROPHETSJeremiah , were prophesying at Jerusalem iel was carried away, and pwDiS contemporary in BabXfa ? the city of Babylon. He : but nt U Chefcar. southeast of The dtyQthe At the time of this-le, . great orld powers conflict. The Enti.n !iade Necho had march,. " m as Lar as uarcnemish on tes. On the With tho aeoicn.. . .. 0oAoiauce or the Srvtu i other hand wav had conauered tho kBC,i. Btroyed Nineveh, the rP Vcdfit The Babylonians marched f . Phrates and met the EevntL at Carchemish, and Nabopolassar, king of Babylon 2 Ms son Nebuchadnezzar on to lem, who besieged that city. Jere2 ' Se as in G04, J klms fourth year, probably In 1 early past, so that a different Z period covered by the Babylonian an the Jewish years would arm,, ... the variation. The last part of 60 Is treated as Nebuchadnezzar's sion year, and 604 his firsts.. king. At' this timo Nabopolassar di i Nebuchadnezzar hasted back to Eabr Ion, taking with him a number nf tives including Daniel and his ton companions, from royal or dHuit families, either as hostages or perscng whom he could train for his official service. The names of the four young nrincei were all compounded with the na of. God. Daniel God i? v juugct Hananiah Jehovah is gracious- Mlshael This is as God; Azariah Jehovah Is a helper. Their new naaes were compounded with those of royal ty or of idols. Daniel was named Rp!. t och otto? irrwnA "ri i -... xavuicu ui rei or rieiilS. the great Babylonian god and goddess. The custom of changing names con- . tlnues up to this day; any change from Mohammedan to Christian, or the reverse, being accompanies by a change of name. These fomiew selected from among the captives oa account of their noble descent, talent and promise of ability, to be trained in the language and literature of the Chaldeans, to be trusted officers. When these young men were select ed for their future career, several things were appointed for their train ing, like the training of young men now .'In professional schools, after col lege graduation. Their names wers changed, as noted above, so that, at .least officially, they would be in har mony with the administration, and . not known distinctively as Jews. They were to be trained In court customs and ways, doubtless with other young men of heathen morals -and religion. They were given luxurious foods such as the king ate, and costly wines such as the king drank. Now here was a strenuous test of the faith, the courage and the self control of the young men. The eatins of the king's food would be a break ing of the Jewish law as to food, and thus be a repudiating of the religion of the true God. The dietary would almost certainly comprise articles of food, such as the flesh of swine, hares, etc., which the law interdicted to the Israelites. The young men were greatly favored by having a friend at court. God had brought Daniel into favor and tender love; had made him to find kindness and compassion. God had made Dan iel lovable, giving.hlm attractiveness of person and wisdom of mind; more over, the Holy Spirit had doubtless moved directly upon the heart of Ashpenaz, turning him toward Daniel. All true love and friendship are in spired by God. Said Daniel to Melzar: "Give us pulse to' eat.M Rather, vegetable f Jod greater antiquity of its hieroglyphic Inscriptions In general; there is no reason for-w- as compared with those of every other Maya 1.1 ty now mown, xnis greater age of Copan Is Indicated, not only by the actual dates recorded In its earliest inscriptions, but also by a cruder technique in their execution. Later, in the best period pf the southern Maya civilization, sculp ture is found to be in very high relief or even In the round, and is characterized by a great pro fusion and elaboration of detail. Nothing of this, however, appears In the earliest monu ments at Copan, where the relief is so low that it amounts to little more than inrfrf n- sculptor apparently not feeling sure enough of his, technique to attempt anything more ambitious. Aside from this question of technique, how ever, the dates themselves recorded on these more crudely sculptured monuments are much earlier than those on the mom chhnnfo nnA The earliest historic date at Copan preceded the earliest historic dates of all tho nha strlcting the Hebrew word used w leguminous fruits, such as beans and peas, which Is what the term "pulse' .properly denotes. "And dater to drink instead of the wine." They be gan the simple life. The result of the test was better physical condition, countenances fair er, fatter in flesh. The simple ; brought better bodily health, more beauty, greater strength and activity; all that was needed for the best .wort and the highest Joy, of which the bodr Is capable. f Every trainer in athletics in all our colleges throughout the land will con firm this fact, and acts upon it. Therefore stood they before taa king, were the personal advisers, ana among the leading officers of tw -h-..,n in .m and servants . . . ... . w ev" uuKuuui, Ail uim-cio " - jaaya ciues Dy intervals raneme from 20 tn 200 of t tne years, or, expressed -in terms of Maya chronol- monarch. He found them ten times ogy, from one to fifteen katuns. h xr vo v.. tun" being approximately equal to 20 of our own years.. . - For these two reasons; then, the more prlml tlve character of its earliest monuments and pnmr of its earliest dates, we have called Copan 'The Mother City of the Mayas." better than all the magicians ana trologers. The magicians were tn learned class, the scribes, the. priest' class. The astrologers," "asoner from the stars, were the scientiflc men, verted In magic and occu science.