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The Ancient Maya Indians of MesoAmerica built a vast civilization over much of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua more than two thousand years ago. This was an advanced civilization of millions of people. When I first traveled to Yucatan, I had never heard of the MAYA. I did not grow up with National Geographic on a coffee table. I became fascinated by the mystery of the disappearance of the Ancient Maya Civilization. With my trips to Tekax, (pronouned Tey-kawsh') Yucatan, Mexico, and my search for a sustainable development project to help the people recover from the tragic devastation of Hurricane Gilbert in September of 1987, I began to meet present day Mayas living in secluded villages scattered throughout the region. I fell in love with the beauty, history and wonderful peace I found at the Ruins of Chacmultun (red stone mountain in Maya language). Sitting atop the ruin became my favorite think spot during the three years I spent in Yucatan. (It grew just a bit from my planned 6 months.) I became part of the local culture in the city of Tekax, even present to crown Senorita Maya/Tekax. With the aid of Javier Camara Mejia, a local rural development engineer, we formed PRODETEK. Economic Development Project of Tekax, and I became the local promoter of tourism. We started the SAVE THE CAVES project to create awareness for the necessity to preserve and protect the underground storehouses of the ancient Maya culture for future generations. Detailed information about the Maya is beyond the scope of my pages. Here are some links to websites that are devoted to the subject. Each of these sites will lead the interested even further along the paths of knowledge. Please click on all the hyperlinks (words in different colors for more information.) As I began to learn more about the Maya culture, the name LINDA SCHELE kept appearing. She was a professor of Anthropology and Art History at University of Texas, Austin. She made a trip to Palenque, much as I had made a trip to Tekax. Her curiosity about the ancient Maya culture and their hidden language, until then undeciphered, led her unfailing sense of wonderment for that mysterious culture. She begin a life-long search to solve the mystery of the Maya. She served as an inspiration for me as I have collected and read her books and heard the stories, now legends, of her work and the work by her students and colleagues. -o- Linda Schele died on April 18, 1998. Here I offer you the words of Susan Hoffman, another of Linda's friends. Thank you Susan for permission to quote your e-mail. Last summer when she had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, she
visited Federico Fahsen in Guatemala and told him she would like her ashes placed on his
property when she died, and he agreed. He has deeded the land permanently for her grave,
and really did a beautiful job of setting it up. There were about 40 people there to
attend the ceremony, including her husband David and brother Tom, Federico's family, Peter
Mathews, some of her students and former students, some Guatemalan and Mexican tour
guides, several Maya including the shamans and their families and people she had taught in
workshops. Several of us were only amateurs but had traveled with Linda several
times on Far Horizons tours. The Maya shamans performed a beautiful ceremony. The grave
site is laid out in a circle, surrounded by a laid-stone walk about 40 ft diameter, and
bisected by two stone intersecting paths that meet the circle at the cardinal points. The
excavation where her urn was placed is in the center of the circle. Federico had carved a
stone stela with her name in glyphs. Candles and incense were burned throughout, and the
shamans chanted in Kakchikel. The urn is ceramic, about a foot high, unglazed pottery with
glyphs that she herself designed stating her name, birthdate, when she became a professor
at UT, the fact that she was a scribe, artist and teacher, and the date of her death. It
was truly beautiful and exactly as she would have wanted it. I felt so privileged to have
been asked to attend because I am not a professional. Her death was a serious loss to the
world of Maya studies, and she was an exceptional person and friend.
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Copyright © 1998 Margaret Glover. All rights reserved. Pictures may not be reproduced without permission. Thanks to Tom Constantine for ideas and support. Check out his website too. |
