THE RISEThe Kingmaker
The stranger arrived as the dry season began to harden the jungle paths, allowing armies to pass. Flanked by his warriors, he marched into the Maya city of Waka, past temples and markets and across broad plazas. Its citizens must have gaped, impressed not just by the show of force but also by the men's extravagant feathered headdresses, javelins, and mirrored shields—the regalia of a distant imperial city.
Ancient inscriptions give the date as January 8, 378, and the stranger's name as Fire Is Born. He arrived in Waka, in present-day Guatemala, as an envoy from a great power in the highlands of Mexico. In the coming decades, his name would appear on monuments all across the territory of the Maya, the jungle civilization of Mesoamerica. And in his wake, the Maya reached an apogee that lasted five centuries.
The Maya have always been an enigma. Decades ago the glories of their ruined cities and their beautiful but undeciphered script had many researchers imagining a gentle society of priests and scribes. As epigraphers finally learned to read the Maya glyphs, a darker picture emerged, of warring dynasties, court rivalries, and palaces put to the torch. Maya history became a tapestry of precise dates and vividly named personages.
But deep mysteries remained, among them what spurred the Maya's final leap toward greatness. Around the time Fire Is Born's fame was spreading, a wave of change swept the Maya world. What had been a collection of inward-looking city-states expanded their ties with their neighbors and other cultures and reached the heights of artistic achievement that define the Classic Maya period.
Ancient inscriptions give the date as January 8, 378, and the stranger's name as Fire Is Born. He arrived in Waka, in present-day Guatemala, as an envoy from a great power in the highlands of Mexico. In the coming decades, his name would appear on monuments all across the territory of the Maya, the jungle civilization of Mesoamerica. And in his wake, the Maya reached an apogee that lasted five centuries.
The Maya have always been an enigma. Decades ago the glories of their ruined cities and their beautiful but undeciphered script had many researchers imagining a gentle society of priests and scribes. As epigraphers finally learned to read the Maya glyphs, a darker picture emerged, of warring dynasties, court rivalries, and palaces put to the torch. Maya history became a tapestry of precise dates and vividly named personages.
But deep mysteries remained, among them what spurred the Maya's final leap toward greatness. Around the time Fire Is Born's fame was spreading, a wave of change swept the Maya world. What had been a collection of inward-looking city-states expanded their ties with their neighbors and other cultures and reached the heights of artistic achievement that define the Classic Maya period.
doomed - 命中注定的，难逃一死的
splendor - 华丽，光辉
unfold - 展开，打开
backdrop - 背景
improbable - 难以置信的
chart - 记述，跟踪（发展），绘制地图
warlord - 军阀
usher - 引领；引座员
magnificence - 壮丽
masterpieces - 杰作
cascade - 倾泻，小瀑布
catastrophe - 悲剧结局
precipitate - 促进
collapse - 衰落
grandeur - 豪华
flank - 攻击侧面
gape - 目瞪口呆
extravagant - 过分的，浪费的
headdress - 头饰
javelin - 标枪
regalia - 勋章
inscription - 铭刻
envoy - 使节
apogee - 顶峰
enigma - 谜
undeciphered - 难以辨认的
priest - 僧侣，司祭
scribe - 书记，笔记者
epigraph - 铭文
glyph - 符号
warring - 好战的，敌对的
rivalry - 竞争
torch - 文化之光
tapestry - 挂毯
personage - 登场人物
spur - 刺激
leap - 大幅上升，跳跃
sweep - 扫除
inward-looking - 内向的
No comments:
Post a Comment