The Story of the Maya
The Maya charted the heavens, invented zero, and built pyramids in the jungle, all without a single smartphone to settle the argument about whose city-state was best.
Prefer just the audio?
Some of the topics covered in this episode
- The rise of early Maya settlements in the dense rainforests of Mesoamerica
- The construction of towering pyramids and sacred city-states like Tikal and Copán
- The invention and meaning of Maya hieroglyphic writing
- Advances in astronomy, mathematics, and the famous Maya calendar
- Daily life, trade, and ritual within the classic Maya world
- Theories behind the gradual decline and abandonment of the great cities
- The lasting legacy of the Maya people and their descendants today
Climb a few jungle pyramids in your head, squint at the stars the way Maya astronomers did, and let a calendar built to count thousands of years take over the counting for you tonight. Wishing you a night as warm, still and unhurried as the rainforest at dusk, and a gentle morning to follow.