General Aztecs Maya Tocuaro Kids Contact 19 Mar 2024/2 Death
Text Size:

Please support us on Patreon!
Link to page about the Maya Calendar
Today's Maya date is: 13.0.11.7.6 - 4107 days into the new cycle!
Link to page of interest to teachers
Click to find out how we can help you!
Search the Site (type in white box):

Article suitable for Top Juniors and above

RESOURCE: Downloadable photo set

Here are some instantly downloadable photos on the ancient Maya for you to use in supporting your teaching on the Maya in the classroom. We hope they prove useful. PLEASE NOTE: these images are individually © and MUST only be used for strictly educational purposes inside your school. Basic captions are included - if you want more detailed background information, please just ask! Please make sure you include the appropriate credit line (bottom of page) when displaying the photo. If successful, we will add more...

1. Cycle of 18 x 20-day ‘months’ (plus the ‘unlucky’ days) in the farming calendar. Time for the ancient Maya revolved in a series of ever larger cycles, based on the number 20
1. Cycle of 18 x 20-day ‘months’ (plus the ‘unlucky’ days) in the farming calendar. Time for the ancient Maya revolved in a series of ever larger cycles, based on the number 20 (Click on image to enlarge)
2. The ‘quetzal’ - one of the rarest and most beautiful birds in the world, sacred to the Maya, is the national symbol of Guatemala, found on bank notes, coins and stamps...
2. The ‘quetzal’ - one of the rarest and most beautiful birds in the world, sacred to the Maya, is the national symbol of Guatemala, found on bank notes, coins and stamps... (Click on image to enlarge)
3. The glyph for cacao on a replica of a famous ceramic lock-top pot from Guatemala: dating from around 460 CE, the pot contains ancient cacao residue
3. The glyph for cacao on a replica of a famous ceramic lock-top pot from Guatemala: dating from around 460 CE, the pot contains ancient cacao residue (Click on image to enlarge)
4. Part of a mural showing the ancient Maya arts of writing, astronomy (using cross-sticks to observe the night sky) and music & dance (the dog is playing a pot drum!)
4. Part of a mural showing the ancient Maya arts of writing, astronomy (using cross-sticks to observe the night sky) and music & dance (the dog is playing a pot drum!) (Click on image to enlarge)
5. Artist’s impression of the Maya drawing fresh water from a natural sinkhole or ‘cenote’ - a sacred space for the Maya
5. Artist’s impression of the Maya drawing fresh water from a natural sinkhole or ‘cenote’ - a sacred space for the Maya (Click on image to enlarge)
6. In his Mexico City studio the engineer and musicologist Roberto Velázquez demonstrates blowing a traditional Maya gourd trumpet of the sort depicted in the murals of Bonampak
6. In his Mexico City studio the engineer and musicologist Roberto Velázquez demonstrates blowing a traditional Maya gourd trumpet of the sort depicted in the murals of Bonampak (Click on image to enlarge)
7. Sacred maize. The Maya maize god was one of the most important of their deities. The Maya believe(d) that humans were first made by gods out of maize (corn) at the start of the current world creation
7. Sacred maize. The Maya maize god was one of the most important of their deities. The Maya believe(d) that humans were first made by gods out of maize (corn) at the start of the current world creation (Click on image to enlarge)
8. The large ceremonial ballcourt at Chichen Itzá, a late Classic Maya site on the Yucatán peninsula
8. The large ceremonial ballcourt at Chichen Itzá, a late Classic Maya site on the Yucatán peninsula (Click on image to enlarge)
9. A religious procession today in the Nebaj region of Guatemala; the women are all wearing the same traditional style ‘huipil’, a loose-fitting tunic for women, common in ancient Mesoamerica
9. A religious procession today in the Nebaj region of Guatemala; the women are all wearing the same traditional style ‘huipil’, a loose-fitting tunic for women, common in ancient Mesoamerica (Click on image to enlarge)
10. The Maya city of Palenque that flourished in the 7th century - it was then abandoned and lay hidden for centuries in the jungle, to be rediscovered in the 19th century
10. The Maya city of Palenque that flourished in the 7th century - it was then abandoned and lay hidden for centuries in the jungle, to be rediscovered in the 19th century (Click on image to enlarge)
11. Traditional belt-loom weaving techniques by women in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas
11. Traditional belt-loom weaving techniques by women in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas (Click on image to enlarge)
12. Detail of the stone ‘tzompantli’ (skull rack) near the ballcourt at Chichen Itzá
12. Detail of the stone ‘tzompantli’ (skull rack) near the ballcourt at Chichen Itzá (Click on image to enlarge)
13. The structure of a typical Maya house in the Yucatán today
13. The structure of a typical Maya house in the Yucatán today (Click on image to enlarge)
14. Wearing jaguar skins, members of a Maya royal court display their power over defeated rivals; room 2, Bonampak murals (detail)
14. Wearing jaguar skins, members of a Maya royal court display their power over defeated rivals; room 2, Bonampak murals (detail) (Click on image to enlarge)
15. The ruins of Toniná, some 3,000 ft above sea level in the Chiapas highlands of southern Mexico, some 40 miles south of the contemporary Maya city of Palenque, Toniná’s greatest rival throughout its recorded history
15. The ruins of Toniná, some 3,000 ft above sea level in the Chiapas highlands of southern Mexico, some 40 miles south of the contemporary Maya city of Palenque, Toniná’s greatest rival throughout its recorded history (Click on image to enlarge)
16. Jade Maya plaque in the British Museum, showing a king sitting cross-legged on a raised stone throne and an attendant palace dwarf
16. Jade Maya plaque in the British Museum, showing a king sitting cross-legged on a raised stone throne and an attendant palace dwarf (Click on image to enlarge)
17. Artist’s impression of Maya loadcarriers using a tumpline to deliver goods to a local market
17. Artist’s impression of Maya loadcarriers using a tumpline to deliver goods to a local market (Click on image to enlarge)
18. Model of ancient Maya society in pyramid form: ruler at the top, priests and nobles below, ending with slaves and commoners near the bottom
18. Model of ancient Maya society in pyramid form: ruler at the top, priests and nobles below, ending with slaves and commoners near the bottom (Click on image to enlarge)
19. Detail of a mural of Maya life, focusing on the gift of food; spot the cacao (and its glyph!), spinning kit, tumpline, and much more...
19. Detail of a mural of Maya life, focusing on the gift of food; spot the cacao (and its glyph!), spinning kit, tumpline, and much more... (Click on image to enlarge)
20. Maya faces today, Yucatán, Mexico
20. Maya faces today, Yucatán, Mexico (Click on image to enlarge)
emoticon PICTURE SOURCES:-
• Pic 1: Photo of bark paper painting by anonymous Mexican artist by Ian Mursell/Mexicolore (original design may be by Jean Charlot)
• Pic 2: Photos by Ian Mursell/Mexicolore
• Pic 3: Photo by Ian Mursell/Mexicolore; the replica is on display at the Choco-Story Museum in Bruges, Belgium
• Pix 4 & 19: Photos by Ian Mursell/Mexicolore. These are of a mural on Maya society by Rina Lazo at the National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City
• Pix 5 & 17: Illustrations commissioned by Mexicolore from Steve Radzi
• Pic 6: Photo by Ian Mursell/Mexicolore
• Pic 7: Photos by Ian Mursell/Mexicolore. The maize god figure (R) is in the British Museum
• Pic 8: Photo by Ian Mursell/Mexicolore
• Pic 9: Photo by Jenny Matthews
• Pic 10: Photo by Ian Mursell/Mexicolore
• Pic 11: Photo by Sean Sprague/Mexicolore
• Pix 12, 13 & 15: Photos by Maricela González C./Mexicolore
• Pic 14: Photo by Alan Gillam/Mexicolore
• Pic 16: Photo by Ian Mursell/Mexicolore
• Pic 18: Photo by Ian Mursell/Mexicolore. The model is in the National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City
• Pic 20: Photo by Ian Mursell/Mexicolore.

Learn more about the ‘burden of time’ image (pic 1 above)...

Feedback button

Here's what others have said:

Mexicolore replies: Cheers, Lizi - thanks for taking time and trouble to pass on positive feedback- it’s what keeps us going...!