Mayan Museum

Thursday morning our excursion was to the Gran Museo del Mundo Maya, or the Great Museum of the Mayan World. There were a lot of fascinating exhibits. My favorite parts were the miniature exhibits. They were either in the floor or in display cases along the side.

Of course I had to take the picture of the excavated grave. Hannah and Janna would have had fun stepping on the "windows" in the floor!

This type of display case was also popular, with the recreation of a scene from a Mayan village.

I snapped a lot of pictures while in the Museum, but I should have been better about taking notes on what each display was about.

We walked through this opening to view one of the informational films showing throughout the museum. We entered from the right side, and it was like walking through a crocodile's mouth. You can see some of the wooden "teeth" in this picture, and the floor was also painted.

More displays

My teachers informed me that to this type of image, the Mayan used to offer living hearts. They would cut the heart out of a living person and offer it to this god.

Another miniature in-floor display

Another floor-to-ceiling model of Mayan traditions

A replica of a Mayan building, probably a temple

That is the extent of the pictures I took inside. I enjoyed the trip, but I chose what I wanted to take away from it. There is a lot of speculation as to the beginnings of the Yucatan Peninsula and the Mayan race.

I really enjoyed the 30 minute documentary we watched about the construction and excavation of Mayan ruins throughout the past 1200-1500 years. It is a fascinating history! There are hundreds of ruins waiting to be uncovered here in the Yucatan, but there is not enough money to excavate them.

This is the view of the museum from the outside. The museum was finished only a year and a half ago. Among native Meridians, there is some controversy for political reasons. I talked to one lady who prefers not to go to the museum because of the corruption and questions surrounding its construction. There is always more than one side to every story! To visitors or those who heard nothing about the building of the museum, this is a wonderful preservation of Mayan history and artifacts. To those who know more of the story, the museum shines a little less brightly.

Looking back as we waited for the bus.



My proof that I was here! :)

The little grass mounds dotting the ground are reminders of all the ruins yet to be uncovered.

All in all, it was an enjoyable morning. We are always happy if we get back to our classroom too late to start studying again! For the most part, however, we learn more during our excursions than we could ever hope to learn from our books.

I forgot to mention that we had a tour guide for the whole museum. I forgot his name, but he was quite entertaining. We chose Spanish for the tour, but he did explain some things a little more fully in English, especially if there were questions.
I took a picture of the display of traditional Mayan clothes, but I can't find it now. He was trying to convince Alex (the only guy in our group) to buy one of the traditional Mayan shirts to wear when he gets married. Alex wasn't too sure about that! So he switched to trying to persuade me to buy a traditional Mayan wedding dress for "that day when I find the right man!" I haven't decided yet, for those of you who might wonder, on either the dress or the man!