Title Water and ritual : the rise and fall of classic Maya rulers / Lisa J. Lucero

Edition First edition Published Austin : University of Texas Press, 2006

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Description 1 online resource (xiv, 253 pages) : illustrations, maps Series The Linda Schele series in Maya and pre-Columbian studies Linda Schele series in Maya and pre-Columbian studies. Contents Water and ritual -- Classic Maya political histories -- Maya rituals : past and present -- Community and the Maya : the ritual history of Saturday Creek -- Local rulers and the Maya : the ritual history of Altar de Sacrificios -- Regional rulers and the Maya : the ritual history of Tikal -- The rise and fall of classic Maya rulers -- Water, ritual, and politics in ancient complex societies Summary In the southern Maya lowlands, rainfall provided the primary and, in some areas, the only source of water for people and crops. Classic Maya kings sponsored elaborate public rituals that affirmed their close ties to the supernatural world and their ability to intercede with deities and ancestors to ensure an adequate amount of rain, which was then stored to provide water during the four-to-five-month dry season. As long as the rains came, Maya kings supplied their subjects with water and exacted tribute in labor and goods in return. But when the rains failed at the end of the Classic period (AD 850-950), the Maya rulers lost both their claim to supernatural power and their temporal authority. Maya commoners continued to supplicate gods and ancestors for rain in household rituals, but they stopped paying tribute to rulers whom the gods had forsaken. In this paradigm-shifting book, Lisa Lucero investigates the central role of water and ritual in the rise, dominance, and fall of Classic Maya rulers. She documents commoner, elite, and royal ritual histories in the southern Maya lowlands from the Late Preclassic through the Terminal Classic periods to show how elites and rulers gained political power through the public replication and elaboration of household-level rituals. At the same time, Lucero demonstrates that political power rested equally on material conditions that the Maya rulers could only partially control. Offering a new, more nuanced understanding of these dual bases of power, Lucero makes a compelling case for spiritual and material factors intermingling in the development and demise of Maya political complexity Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 203-237) and index Notes Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002. http://purl.oclc.org/DLF/benchrepro0212 MiAaHDL English Print version record digitized 2010 HathiTrust Digital Library committed to preserve pda MiAaHDL Subject Mayas -- Politics and government Mayas -- Kings and rulers Mayas -- Rites and ceremonies Water rights -- Central America Water rights -- Mexico. Water -- Religious aspects. SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Ethnic Studies -- Native American Studies. SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Archaeology. Economic history Mayas -- Kings and rulers Mayas -- Politics and government Mayas -- Rites and ceremonies Water -- Religious aspects Water rights Wasser Kultur Wasserversorgung -- Priester -- Maya. Priester -- Wasserversorgung -- Maya. Niederschlag -- Wasserversorgung -- Maya. Regenzauber -- Maya. Herrscher -- Politisches System -- Wasserwirtschaft -- Ritus -- Maya (Volk) -- Geschichte -- 0250-0950. Wasserwirtschaft -- Ritus -- Herrscher -- Politisches System -- Maya (Volk) -- Geschichte -- 0250-0950. SUBJECT Central America -- Economic conditions. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85021875 Mexico -- Economic conditions. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85084552 Subject Central America Mexico Maya (Volk) -- Herrscher -- Politisches System -- Wasserwirtschaft -- Ritus -- Geschichte -- 0250-0950. Maya. Form Electronic book ISBN 9780292795839 0292795831

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