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... Civilization, Gallenkamp says that the Carnegie Institute with Earl H. Morris in charge first laid the temple bare in 1925. At the base of the mound were fragments of dozens of square columns that once formed the impressive colonnade along the front of the terraced building, which contained weathered images of Itza Warriors. (See figure 7) While excavating the ruins, they found a Chac Mool, a number of Atlantean figures, and sections of huge columns sculptured in the form of plumed serpents which originally had been set up on either side of the temple's doorways.
Gallenkamp talks about a hidden temple inland within the Temple of the Warriors in which they called the Buried Temple. It contained murals and four painted warrior columns. (See figure 8) Earl Morris started to explore several altars uncovered in various portions of the building in the hope of finding some sort of treasure, which turned out to be a bust. Then he probed the floor of the Buried Temple were he found a jar buried in the floor. Within the jar, laid a ball of jade and besides the ball partly covered by a white film, was an irregular shaped plaque of jade that was carved to resemble a human face. Under all of that laid a turquoise mosaic nine inches in diameter made out of over three thousand pieces of polished turquoise. (Gallenkamp) (See figure 9) In Henry F. Godfrey's book, Your Yucatan Guide, he describes the basic lay out of the Temple of the Warriors. "As you ascend the steps you come out on a broad platform.
Immediately facing you is the figure of a Chac Mool. Framing the Chac Mool are two gigantic serpent columns" (Godfrey, p 72 - 73). (See Figure 8) The exterior of the temple is decorated with triple masks of Chac, the Rain God. Behind the Chac Mool is a broad altar, held aloft by Atlantean columns, named after the Greek god that held the world upon his shoulders. (Godfrey) (See Figure 5) From the web page, Temple of the Warriors, Chichen Itza, the author tells us that the Temple of the Warriors is ten meters tall and over forty meters wide and is a good example of the Toltec influence on Mayan architecture. The temple is also referred to as the Temple de los Guerreros.
The cornice of the upper temple was built over the top of a pre-existing temple that is completely engulfed with motifs of heart-eating jaguars and eagles. (Temple of the Warriors, Chichen Itza) These images refer to the military elite to whom the platform is named after, the Temple of the Warriors. There are also images of Kukulcn as the Sun of the Earth. The author talks of the impressive entrance guarded by the Chac-Mool. It is believed that offerings were placed on the stomach of the reclining figure that would act as messenger to the gods. (Temple of the Warriors, Chichen Itza) John S. Henderson, The World of the Ancient Mayas, describes the Temple of the Warriors complex as striking like Tula's Pyramid B, a Quetzalcoatl temple with adjacent colonnaded halls.
He describes a Chac Mool as being a monolithic figure of reclining men with raised knees and heads, holding a bowl like vessels on their abdomens. (See figure 9) Standard-Bearers guard the top of the steps of the temple. Running along side of the temple are benches that over look the large ball court. (Henderson) Henderson exclaims that no one is buried in the Temple of the Warriors; the only body that was found was of a baby. Dr. Vargas describes the Temple of the Warriors as a four terraced pyramid decorated immensely with personages, eagles, and tigers. The upper part has walls of what was a ritual building, rectangular in shape twenty-one meters on each side. Pillars which once held the roof where decorated with the monster of the Earth, a priest, and the Bacab.
The pillars were perfectly located in the four cardinal directions each with it's own color. The Mayan people of Chichen Itza built the Temple of the Warriors in between the tenth and twelve century during the Early-Post Classic Era (Vargas, 1). It was built to honor the warriors of the tribe, the Plumed Serpent, and Chac the rain god. Looking at the sculptures inside and outside the temple can prove this.
Many images of the Plumed Serpent, Chac and warriors are depicted on many of the columns and wall paintings around the temple. The temple had one purpose, to sacrifice individuals to please the gods. The Chac Mool that guards the entrance of the temple was used to hold the offerings of the gods. The Chac Mool was the messenger between the people and the gods. The sacrificed individuals heart was removed and placed in a bowl on the Chac Mool. Surrounding the temple was a series of four terraces of alternating sloping and perpendicular zones.
The zones were formally narrow bands which encircled the pyramid which was carved with hundreds of curious figures standing about two and a half feet tall. They consisted of a curious half bear and half coyote each that had a human heart in its claw (Morris). On the top of the temple beyond the Chac Mool and the Feathered Serpents dedicated to the Plumed Serpent lays a high-petitioned wall. Beyond the wall is where all the sacrifices were done. Through a narrow doorway in the wall, the Altar of Sacrifice stands held up by nineteen small-carved men. (Morris) As the room is unfolding in front of you, your eyes are directed towards the red dyed floor (Morris). The room only twenty-one meters long has columns with the images of the monster of the Earth, a priest and the Bacab.
These four columns stand erect in the four cardinal directions used to hold up the roof of the Inner Sanctuary (Vargas, 2). The placement of the columns can be used to bring in Mireca Eliade's view on how religious people split the world into two. It is split into the profane realm and into the sacred realm. The sacred is considered to be the ideal and is divided into the extraordinary, the eternal unchanging, and the spiritual realm. The sacred realm is basically the blue print or model of the world around us.
On the other side of the world is the profane which is a copy of the sacred. It is broken up into different parts such as the ordinary, the historical - change, and the material aspects of the profane world. The only way for the sacred to leak into the profane is through a hierophant that is a paradox temporary joining of the sacred and the profane. This is a very important part of Eliade's idea. It is based on the four cardinal directions that mean the Mesoamerican temple is on the zenith of all four directions. The temple of the city is actually the center of the world.
The temple is set up with the four cardinal directions around the altar. This allows Eliade's formula to go into affect. When an individual is sacrificed, it allows the two worlds to combine the upper and the lower for a brief second to allow the victim to become sacred. Inside the Temple of the Warriors lays another temple, the Buried temple. This temple was only used for fifteen years before the ruler at the time decided to build the Temple of the Warriors around the pre-existing one (Morris). Inside this much smaller temple, the Carnegie Institute found a nine inch turquoise mosaic that they believe is an offering to one of the gods.
However, this raises a question, why is there no other offerings buried in the floor like the mosaic. One explanation given by Morris is that the temple was looted before the roof collapsed. The Temple of the Warriors was mainly used for sacrificial purposes. Individuals were placed upon the Altar of Sacrifice and given to the gods through the act of sacrifice. Eliade's formula fit in with the temple because inside the Inner Sanctuary, the four columns that held up the roof were in direct alignment of the four cardinal directions.
After many more years of research, the Temple of Warriors might spill all its secrets out to us. Causing archeologists to find new and exciting things about the temple. Bibliography:
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