... FOR HONDURAN TOURISM INFO PAGE
MUSEUM PLAN AND CONCEPTS
The Museum building was planned to reflect the central concepts of the Maya world view. The entrance is a stylized mouth of a mythical serpent, symbolizing a portal from one world to the next. As you proceed through the tunnel you have a senence entering another place and time. The entrance also evokes the tunnels that archaeologists dig to reveal the earlier constructions buried inside the pyramidal bases of ancient Maya buildings.
Aligned with the compass points, the four-sided building reflects the horizontal order of the ancient Maya world, to which the four cardinal directions and the yearly path of the sun were fundamental. Four was the number associated with both the sun God and the perimeters of a milpa. In addition to the horizontal directions, the Maya envisioned an axis through a center point connecting the human plane to the supernatural worlds above and below. This vertical axis is also reflected in the museum. Images of deities and denizens of the underworld appear on the first floor.
On the second floor, the world of the living is represented by pieces from eighteen different buildings, including seven complete facades. These illuminate a series of important themes in the lives of Copan's ancient inhabitants: agriculture, and fertility, the ballgame, mountain deities, ritual sacrifice, warfare and the ruler as paramount warrior, the role of the scribe, the patron of sculptors, the royal residence and shrines, residences of the nobility, the role of nobles in the collapse of the kings divine authority, and the council house where the ruler convened with the representatives of the people. The second floor also, presents celestial deities, including sun disks surrounded by clouds and a throne decorated with a sky band. The ceiling that frames the opening in the roof is decorated with Maya symbols for the celestial bodies and constellations of the night sky, all based on starving from Copan.
The metal railing that follows the ramp and around the second floor is also decorated with celestial symbols, these are copies from ancient Maya skybands. The museum displays a large selection of original stone sculptures from the central ruins, as well as from outlying household areas. The four carved stelae (Stelae P, 2, A, and N) on the lower level are original. In the central patio is a full-sized replica of the buried "Rosalila" Temple. On the upper level, you will see mosaic sculptures built into their masonry facades which once decorated these sculptures. In addition to the seven buildings facades, you will find numerous exhibit panels that showcase the facade sculptures from other important buildings in the ancient city.
CONTENTS | PAGE
BACK | NEXT
PAGE | DIRECTORY
Copywrite 1996. LatinWorld Magazine Content Is Produced By Netpoint Communications, producers of the LatinWorld Directory. All original articles and photographs published in LatinWorld Magazine are protected by international copyright law. Reproduction, in whole or in part without prior written permission, is strictly prohibited. Miami, Florida, USA.
N e t p o i n t C o m m u n i c a t i o n
s
Latin World
Miami, Florida, USA
