There is something remarkably alluring about the ancient Maya art. Perhaps it's the originality and depth of the art enveloped in esoteric elements thThere is something remarkably alluring about the ancient Maya art. Perhaps it's the originality and depth of the art enveloped in esoteric elements that effortlessly captivates and keeps one's attention.
However Ancient Maya: The Rise and Fall of a Rainforest civilization by Arthur Demarest is a case study that covers much more than the Maya art. Its primary focus is chronologically presenting the cultural evolution of the Maya based on archeological and historical data, while interpreting the Maya society through their art, iconography, hieroglyphic inscriptions, architecture, and their sophisticated calendar system.
Unlike the numerous civilizations that emerged in the ancient world, the Maya stand out as they appeared, developed, and remained in the rain forest, thus, can be considered a rainforest civilization.
As for the narrative, it was dry and the book lacked a clear central argument or narrative thread to make the book more readable. A very mechanical composition and erudite work so beware.
Nevertheless, it was great learning about this Mesoamerican culture and its cyclical concept of time, their cosmogram with 13 levels of the heavens and 9 of the underworld, and their version of the Creation's beginnings which started on August 13th, 3114 BCE (by the Gregorian calendar), their ideology, worldview, and untimely the reason(s) for the ancient Maya downfall that still remains debatable....more
MacQuarrie wrote a compelling narrative concerning the Spanish discovery of the Inca Empire in the year 1532 and the subsequent events, battles, and pMacQuarrie wrote a compelling narrative concerning the Spanish discovery of the Inca Empire in the year 1532 and the subsequent events, battles, and political struggles that occurred between the Inca ruling family and the invading Pizarro brothers. MacQuarrie intertwines his succinct summary with other chroniclers' accounts; from the moment of the discovery to the last Incan stronghold in 1572. This interweaving provides the reader with multiple perspectives of the ever-changing events that occurred during the clash of these two cultures and a good reference to other authors if one wishes to further explore the subject.
Towards the end of the book, MacQuarrie fast-forwards to the historian and explorer Hiram Bingham 1911 fortuitous discoveries of the lost Inca city of Vitcos and the well-known Inca citadel of Machu Picchu, all while in search for the rebel Emperor's Manco Inca lost city of Vilcabamba that was later (re)discovered by Gene Savoy and Vincent Lee.
Two thoughts came to mind while reading The Last Days of the Incas (2007). The first is, how different societies, that were not aware of each other's existence, share numerous identical cultural traits and structures of a community, which can all serve as an indication of how hardwired, collective, and predictable are human behavior patterns and how deterministic societal evolution can be. The other (which the author discussed in his epilogue) is on existence and discovery, and how carelessly these words are used in similar genre of literature that unfortunately impose on the reader that, as if, a culture or civilization does not exist until and unless a person of European origin discovers it. For instance, the locals knew of Machu Picchu's existence all along, and Hiram Bingham mapped, excavated, and published his findings and did not discover this Inca citadel.
"Don’t tell me how educated you are, tell me how much you’ve traveled." It's a quote by Muhammad (c. 570-632 CE), the founder of Islam, that I first h"Don’t tell me how educated you are, tell me how much you’ve traveled." It's a quote by Muhammad (c. 570-632 CE), the founder of Islam, that I first heard as a child from my mother, who genuinely longed to travel, and still does till this day.
Well, Robert S. Newman, traveled and visited every single habitable continent of the World, and lived on most of them too. Living a life many of us could only dream of.
This book is composed of numerous autobiographical anecdotes and essays. Newman, a Jewish American, is a real cosmopolitan that has a PhD in Anthropology and is fluent in Japanese, Hindi, and Spanish. What a remarkable and uncommon mix!
We learn that in life we have to take chances and we see how travel changes us and the different cultures grow on us which in return give us a new layer of identity. The author takes us through the struggles of adapting to different environments and shares with us the rewards that come along with it, all intertwined with his childhood experiences and memories.
Newman, a non-conformist, was also a part of the Anti-Establishment during the late sixties and early seventies. He is a music lover, food enthusiast, and a hopeless romantic: "My dreams had fled, just like hers. Mine lived in sound, hers in silence, but I understood her completely - lost dreams were our bond."
This is a wonderful well-written book with a strong narrative that I would recommend to anyone interested in Indian, small town American, and Australian cultures, and many other nooks and crannies of the World you probably never heard of.
For the record, Robert (Bob) Newman, is a Goodreads friend and he did not ask me to read or review his book nor did he allude to it in any way (he’s just not that type of guy). I just really like his reviews and choice of books and I wanted to end the year with friendship....more
This book is written in a rather conversational writing style but with a quite compelling first-person narrative. I enjoyed the author's vivid portrayThis book is written in a rather conversational writing style but with a quite compelling first-person narrative. I enjoyed the author's vivid portrayals of the native cultures and the initial reactions of the people involved in this unprecedented encounter between two contrasting civilizations. I could only imagine how exciting it must have been for the eyes to absorb and minds of all the men and women to adapt to these new scenes of life. Their perception of things, and in general the perception of man, must have experienced a metamorphosis. With the New World, came along a new reality. But the initial excitement quickly soured and things turned gory.
The author Bernal Diaz Del Castillo who lived to be 90-years-old was a soldier in his youth under Hernan Cortes. He shares a rare first-hand account of the Spanish expeditions to Mexico from the year 1517 to the conquest of Tenochtitlan in 1521. What I have discovered is that the Spanish victory over the Aztec Empire was accomplished by forming essential and elaborate alliances with the surrounding indigenous tribes and their settlements. Also, it should be noted that the Conquistadors secondary goal in Mexico was to spread the Christian faith and eradicate cannibalism and human sacrifices practice by the natives, which the latter sounds justifiable, but their primary goal was power and most importantly to get their hands on the gold and there was a lot of it in Mexico already mined.
The Spanish settlers were present in the Caribbean for over a quarter of a century before discovering the Aztecan civilization. Hence, the Conquistadors had set sail east from Cuba to the Gulf of Mexico and disembarked around Veracruz, and worked their way inland to this ancient Mesoamerican city (I am just writing this in case someone mistakenly thought that the Spanish arrived from the Pacific Oceans side and landed on the western shores of Mexico).
While reading about this Mesoamerican civilization one realizes how underrated these ancient societies are in literature. One has to remember they independently developed their writing systems and agriculture while being cut off from the rest of the world for at least a dozen millennia. Thereby, they could not benefit from the accumulated knowledge and inventions that were available in Eurasia and Africa. The Old World had a head start, and the innumerable interactions between different cultures and civilizations and other quantifiables made it more probably to develop and exchange knowledge.
Fair warning given, there are numerous descriptive accounts of all the battles and military tactics which could be wearisome to some readers, and at times it seems that some of Bernal Diaz's accounts are exaggerated and questionable. Although, I still think that for anyone interested in the history of Mesoamerica this book should be at the top of their list....more
Loading...
