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Zaculeu, was the Capitol City of
the Mam (Grand Parent) kingdom, during the Post Classic, Its name in Mam was Xinabajul and the
K'iche conquerors
changed it to its current name, Zaculeu, that means White Land in
K'iché. The site
is located 5 Km east of Huehuetenango city, and 267 Km. West
from
Guatemala City, on a paved road. The site is partially restored,
and there is a museum that has Ceramics from burials and other objects
found there. The royal elites were the:
Kachib’ix,
B’amak’, Tzizol and
Nima Amak’. The
Mam territory, extended from Pochulum
or Xalcatja , to the southwest, to Momostenango
in the northwest and
Tzicaché, today's Huitán. The mames had 4 important
cities: Xinabjul, the most important, now Zaculeu;
Kulajá, Chikitzak
and
Tzolojtze´. The Mam king Chunza Yo´k,
fought the K'ichés leaded by K'ikab and Kakisinaj,
but he lost his life and the city of Kulajá.
Founded on
400 AD, Zaculeu was an important
commerce route between
Kaminaljuyú
and Teotihuacán, during the early Classic, and with other cultures
in the Late Classic and Post Classic. The Mam were one of the oldest
inhabitants of this area, The Popol Vuh narrates the travel of the
K'iché people, through the Mam teritory around 1000 AD. Xinabajul was conquered
by the K'iché King, Kicab the great, around 1450 AD,
--The same that expelled the Kakchiquels from Chaiviar (Chichicastenango),
years before-- and he changed its name to Zaculeu.
The Mam chief
established in today's Quetzaltenango valley,
naned “Yo’c” resisted the K'iché, but
many fell giving this place the name of Aj
Kamik, meaning “Place of
Death”.
After Kicab death, the Mam regain power and named Acab
as their king, who belonged to the
Cavec house, one of the main families,
who claimed a direct descendant from Balam
Acab, one of the founders of the K'iché empire, thus named his
first born Kaibil Balam, born on 1492.
He was trained as a warrior and belonged to the elite group named
Quachic, that received a very hard
training, he never surrender to the conquistadores and kept a
"guerrilla
warfare" against them. (The elite forces in today's Guatemalan Army are named
Kaibil after him). Zaculeu was
located in a well defended plateau, and conquered on October 27, 1525,
after a 4 month siege, by Gonzalo de
Alvarado, commanding some 20,000 Tlaxcaltec indians from mexico and
110
Spaniards with guns and cannons, that could not defeat in the several
battles the 18,000 Mam army during the kingship of Kaibil Balam. The
Mames for its
Warfare had 4 main weapons named
Macuahuitl,
a heavy axe with 3 rows of obsidian that can cut a man in half; the
Atlatl, a long distance dart, the
Itzli, a leather bag with arrows and
large spears.
The site's
architecture
shows several palaces and
Pyramid temples with altars in front, a large
Ball Court
and several
housing complex. The style is typical from de Postclassic, with
columns and flat roofs. There are no Hieroglyphic or Carved monuments there.
Some skulls with healed bones have been documented here, showing the
advance Medicine
practiced here.
The site in very close to Huehuetenango
and Chiantla, with very good access, it also has a museum and can be
visited in 2 hours.
