Solicit Your Help in Fighting

¶ … solicit your help in fighting an enemy that is just making our lives more unbearable and difficult as each day passes. Not only are we being taxed onerously and unfairly - and this is regardless of whether Tikal or Calakmul is ascendant - each city has been increasing the amount of tribute demanded from our province -- but we have also received no parallel services that at least warrant these taxes. We are receiving nothing for the tribute that we are giving these people!. Moreover -- and to the shame of the gods -- we have heard rumors -lots of them that the kingdoms of these infidels are beset with corruption and inefficiency.

Honored sirs, let me tell you something about myself. I have royal blood in my veins. I am a member of an 8th century Itza Maya elite governing family in an economically self-sufficient tzuk which has been alternatively controlled either by Tikal or by Calakmul for the last several centuries. My ancestors - blessed be their name -- had to suffer. I have had enough.

Let us get together and rebel. Remember the adage: security in number . The Mayans have always been strong and successful. We have our gods to protect us. If we band together, we can do it.

My ideas are the following:

- While others suffer from feuding, guarding and raiding, we can avoid loss by moving further north for example to the Uxmal area. although the land is poorer there, we can use the coast and begin establishing a significant trade presence along the Mexican coast.

As further ideas of improving the merchant marine industry, we can construct a massive pier at the sea coast and paved roads that that wind up from the sea port and connect to stone buildings and temples.

reviewing the Mayan history, I see that deforestation largely led to the collapse of the Mayan empire, Deforestation occurred due to the constant need for cal (stucco) to cover the big Temples (Culbert, 1977, p25-26). This must not occur in our kingdom. We will therefore convene a gathering of skilled archaeologists to help us generate ways that we can find a replacement material.

Other factors such as Famine, natural calamity, and collapse of trade routes may have led to the disintegration of past cultures related to us too. We will work on agricultural improvements by offering incentives to that end. We will also encourage investigation into ways that we can prevent natural calamity. This may mean increasing our pantheon of gods.

I have further considered that with a lot of feuds going on, fortification is certainly the top most priority. The entrance to the city will be heavily fortified consisting of a fortified wall around the city. Another idea is that rather than going along with the feud, we can benefit from forming an alliance with the neighboring regions

We can also secure the trade routes by starting and grooming our own army and by hiring mercenaries from neighboring colonies like Toltec to wage guerrilla warfare in the region.

In order to prevent future turmoil or rebellion from our own people, we need to enforce a unitarian political system; This would mean unifying together as one cohesive people, rather than separating ourselves into distinctive colonies. We need to establish a language and a specific unifying culture to that end. This will be recorded on stellas as well as carved into lithic monuments, pottery, papers, and skins, (Coe, 1999) so that the grand events and codex of our people will be transmitted to future generation and for posterity.

We certainly also need strong internal control -- a strong inner army -- to deter resurrection.

Then there are the social values; extremely important.

It strikes me that we will create and disseminate a code of law on the pattern of Hammurabi in order to bind the people into one cohesive and communal way of living that would be constructive to living together peacefully as a people. We will write this law on stellas. There will be a system of police to maintain order and to ensure that trouble does not occur. There will also be a system of judges (and a legal system of sorts) that will not only answer people's questions in terms of the laws but also decide change and legal minutia during cultural changes that warrant it. The judges too will decide conflicts between people according to the minutia of the law.

The classical Mayan system of priests and shamans will be retained. There will be the same titles Ah K'uhun, Ah K'uhul Hu'n, and Ah K'uhuun (namely "he of the holy books," "keeper of the paper/headbands," and "he who worships signifying the various tasks) (Maya culture; Miller & Taube, 1993).

Good sirs, we will establish an elevated educational system based on the highest wisdom of the time and run according to wisdom of child development as articulated by our sages. This school system ( primary, higher, and colleges) will transmit the law and culture as well as train our people so that they become heroic warriors, erudite politicians, instructors of the next generation, and wise judges.

Incidentally, we will promote feasts for people and big ceremonies to the gods of rain and other important deities to protect us and stay with us throughout the hard times.

Since, starting as a nation, we want only the favor of the gods in our nation-building and survival, we will, therefore, consult with the wise men regarding whether or no we should also include the gods of the Toltec in our service. These include deities such as coyote, eagles, jaguar on carvings.

There will be regular Chac mool sacrifice to enhance our belief in deities. Competitions and festivals will also be organized so that the religion becomes primary to the ruling of the state (the state becomes a theocracy) and the people learn to respect their gods.

What about culture, you may ask? We will not only continue to follow the cultures of our previous Mayan culture, (sacred geography, terrestrial astrology) but also make connections and assimilate the advantageous teachings of the cultural and religious center of Yucatan region. These will enable us not only to learn form our neighbors but also to establish friendly connections with them.