The Ball Game Of The Ancient Gods - How Did Mayans Discover Basketball?

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The Ball Game Of The Ancient Gods - How Did Mayans Discover Basketball?
The ancient Maya ballgame called pitz seemed to be an integral part of Maya political, spiritual, and social interaction. Performed using a rubberized softball ranging in dimensions starting from a competitive softball to a soccer ball, players would most likely make an effort to hop the actual ball without using their hands by way of pure stone hoops connected to the sides of the actual ball court. This ball court itself was a center point for Maya cities and therefore symbolized the city's prosperity as well as power. The entire playing arena seemed to be in the shape of an I with higher platforms on each side of the court allowing for large numbers of spectators. Mobile or portable pure stone court markers generally known as hacha normally depicting animals or skulls happen to be placed around the stadium. Wall art depicting captives, warriors, Creation beliefs, and even transfers of political power from one leader to another appeared to be painted around the ball court. The entire ballgame gave nearby metropolitan areas an alternative to battle pertaining to settling disputes.

Ballplayers wore protective gear during the game to prevent bodily damage by the tough rubberized ball that typically weighed around 20 lbs. To protect ribs along with the entire upper body players might wear a yoke of leather or wood about their waists. Stone hachas appeared to be occasionally attached to the front side on the yoke following a game designed for ceremonial purposes. They also wore extra padding all around knees and arms, and enormous stylized animal headdresses that may have symbolized whatever they believed to be their animal counterparts or way. Handstones known as manopla were used to strike the ball by using additional power, and could happen to be used to start the ball in play.

The main spiritual tale most associated with the ballgame belongs to the Maize Gods and the Hero Twins from the Quich Maya book of creation, the Popol Vuh. For the story goes, the Maize Gods were serious ballplayers who were mortally wounded and laid to rest on the court by the Lords of Xibalba (the Underworld) for bugging all of them with the noises from the game. The head of one of the Maize gods appeared to be strung from a tree within the Underworld, and as a daughter of the Lord of the Underworld passes, it spit into her hands, miraculously impregnating her. The daughter bore twin sons, the Hero Twins, who avenge their father and uncle's deaths by resurrecting them within the ballcourt. The Hero Twins go on to survive the ordeals associated with Hell presented to them by means of the death gods, while the born-again Maize Gods remain upon the main ballcourt for humans to be able to honor. The Maya therefore thought that it was necessary to play the game intended for their own survival. The ballgame furnished an opportunity to display devoutness towards the gods by sacrificing captured kings and high lords, or the losing competitors of the game.

Popol Vuh

Much of Maya culture centered all around the written text of the Popol Vuh, or Book of Counsel. The text recalls the creation of humans by the Heart of Sky and the Sovereign Plumed Serpent inside a number of efforts, employing materials such as clay, wood, and finally maize. The most important gods involved Itzmna, lord of life; Ali Kin, the sun god; Ah Puch, god of death; Chac, god of water and rain; Yumkax, the corn god; and Ixchel, goddess of the moon, pregnancy, and of abundance. The Maya believed there were as many as 13 heavens over earth and 9 underworlds beneath it. A god reigned over each of these skies and lower worlds. The Maya honored these numerous gods discussed in the Popol Vuh with sacrificial rituals in which food, pottery, animals, and even humans were offered.