Ixim'ché,
(Ixim= Maize Cheé=Tree) Ramón or
Brossimium
Alicastrum) was the Capitol
city of the Kak'chikél people, it was founded in the
Guatemala Central Highlands
on 1470 AD by
Juntoh and
Vukubatz, strong allies of the
K'iché' king
Q'uikab the Great, that was
overruled and told to the Kak'chik'el people to
abandon Chaiviar, and go
to the Ratzamut mountains, (3,075 Mt. High), where they founded Ix'imché and
become the worst enemies of the
K'iché.
They also carried
wars against the
Tzu'tu'hils,
and occupied the north shore of
Lake Atitlán.
Their territory, was from Sololá to Guatemala
departaments. They conquered
Mixco Viejo,
the Poko'mam capitol.
Main Ballcourt
The Popol Vuh refers to them in this way: "the
speech of the Kak'chik'el is different, because
the name of their god was different when they
came from there, from Tulán-Zuyva.
Tzotzihá Chimalcán
was the name of their god, and today they speak
a different tongue; and also from their god the
families of Ahpozotzil and Ahpoxá, as they
are called, took their names".
Popol Vuh, Part III,
Chapter 9.
The ceremonial
centre is
isolated by ravines in 3 sides, and an artificial creek separates it from the
common people houses. It has 4 large and 2 small levelled Plazas, each
main group has at least 2 temples, along with Palaces for nobles,
there are 2 ball courts,
the largest is 40 mt. long and 7 mt. wide, the
zoomorphic shaped markers
where found nearby the structure 24. The site was
preserved by the Spaniards, due to their alliance against the K'iché's,
The first Colonial Capitol of Guatemala was
established,
on 1527, 3 Km to the north
in Tecpán (90 Km west from
Guatemala City). The Tlaxcaltec
indians that came with them, called Ixim'ché,
Tecpán Quauhtemalan
(Place of the trees),
that's where the name Guatemala originated. Ixim'ché was
destroyed when the Kak'chik'el
revealed against the conquerors, forcing them to
live Tecpán and go to the second Guatemala's Capitol, Ciudad Vieja near
Antigua Guatemala, 14 years later. There is a museum with
Ceramics,
Jade
and
Sculptures; the
site is open daily from 9 to 5.
Today's Iximché's,
significance is derived from its role as a field
for different kinds of social and religious
interactions. Traces of a spiritual relationship
to this place can be dated back to the colonial
period and today Maya from all over Guatemala go
there to perform ceremonies. The place has also
become a focal point of identity constructions
for locals, Pan Mayan activists and the nation
itself.
Francisco Hernandez Arana, wrote the
"Annals
of the Kak'chik'els"
or
"Memorial
from Sololá",
which contains the history of the
Kak'chik'el
nation, that coincides
with the
Popol Vuh,
in several aspects, being the main difference,
that in the Popol
Vuh, they came
beyond the sea, from
Tulan
in the east, and in the
Annals,
they came
beyond the sea, from
Tulan
in the west. The text is
about the origins of the Kak'chik'el Maya
Culture, and narrates from the Pre-Columbian
history up to 1604. The book was written by
Francisco Hernández Arana Xahilá, in
1559, Grandson of a Kak'chik'el King, (Maybe
Balam), and completed by
his grandson Francisco Díaz, It was discovered
at the end of the 17th century in Sololá, near
Lake Atitlán. Charles Etienne Brasseur de
Bourbourg traslated it into French in 1855,
Juan Gavarrete, translated this version into
Spanish in 1873, and Daniel G. Brinton,
translated the French version into English in
1885. An excellent study of the Post
classic Highlands and Classic Maya Texts is in
this
Mesoweb Report
(PDF file)
. Other books from the
Guatemala Highlands includes:
Título de los Señores de
Totonicapán, Títulos de la Casa Izquin-Nehaib,
Título de los indios de Santa Clara La Laguna,
Testamento de Xpantzay.
