Chapter 43 Chapter 40 Restoring a World—Part 2: Unknown Civilization

At that time, I once asked the patient why the Mayan civilization should be studied. It is said that there are still many civilizations?He told me that even if there were other civilizations, he would not be able to study them without writing or language.There is no point in pure fantasy or catching a little specious clue.Therefore, it is the most sensible to study those things that are full of doubts but not unsolvable, and it is easy to make reasoning and analysis evidence-based, which is also the most valuable and persuasive. He was right, logically it was true.As a normal person, I feel ashamed again.It's frustrating, but it's true.

He: "Later, when I became obsessed to a certain extent, I did accumulate a lot of information and mastered some rules. Therefore, it was possible for me to study more deeply, and even try to restore the lost civilization. .” Me: "Uh... It's a bit far to restore..." He: "No, it's very realistic. Let's just talk about the characteristics of writing and the core content of culture that I mentioned earlier. The writing characteristics of the Maya is a combined ideographic symbol structure, which is based on a culture with art at its core. Yes. Based on this, can we speculate more through the existing analysis of Mayan culture? I think it must be possible.”

I thought about it carefully: "Just relying on words...what can I analyze?" He sighed: "If you only immerse yourself in words and symbols, you will definitely go further and further away. This is why I went crazy at the beginning. Words are not dead, they are alive, they are symbols of reality or symbols of thought, so It should not be completely absorbed in the text itself. Otherwise, just like when we write things, if we only pay attention to the modification of the text and ignore the reality, then the text will become meaningless, empty and boring.” Me: "I can understand this is a big reason, but how to do it in practical application?"

He: "Let's take the Mayan ruins as an example. If you find a ruin, after careful excavation and measurement of the ruins, you can get a rough size of the building complex, right? For example, height, width, distance, distribution As a result, you can have a preliminary judgment on the population after getting these. If you find out that it is a square of 50,000 square meters, you can judge that the number of residents living around this core area should not be less than 80,000 ——This is still a fairly conservative figure. This definition can be made by simple reasoning. Why? This kind of city square is calculated based on the per capita area of ​​1 square meter for large gatherings. If the entire city has less than 5 people, then why? It is so big that it is compulsory? It has no use value at all. In fact, each person occupies less than 1 square meter in a real assembly, so I said that the surrounding population of 80,000 people is already a very conservative figure. With this basic base, The scope of restoration can be further expanded. Do these people need food and drink? Do they need sewers as urban sewage systems? Do they need entertainment? Do they need hospitals? A population of 100,000 is not a fantasy, is it? Understand? So, go back and re-examine our speculation with the text we deciphered-they pay attention to art, they have special calendars, and so on. In the end, basically Get a more accurate original appearance."

Me: "Amazing!" He: "These are not enough. This is just to restore a scene. We need more. This depends on reasonable analysis and inference. For example, the Mayans were very loyal to sacrifices, and they mentioned many things in their texts and pictures. Second. In fact, the Mayans used prisoners to sacrifice—now, we will feel cruel. However, many sacrifices by the Mayans were actually acts of nobles, and ordinary people would not allow you to sacrifice. Because there are some natures in the Mayan culture Sacrifice is too important. It’s okay to kill a prisoner to sacrifice to the new king. If you sacrifice to their gods, you must have a noble blood. These are not my random words, there is evidence. For example, there are many inscriptions in Mayan culture The inscriptions all record that nobles cut their own tongues, or pierced their arms, then stringed ropes, drained the blood into special sacrificial plates, dipped the blood in paper and burned it. Most of that behavior is for Pray for a hint from the ancestors or gods. This is purely for the nobles, ordinary people and slaves are not qualified at all. Judging from this point, it is very likely that the sacrifices to the gods are chosen by the nobles, and it is more likely to be voluntary , because it is seen as a kind of honor. So, what we see as cruel behavior is not a terrible thing in different cultures and civilizations. For example, in Nordic culture, there will be voluntary funerals for dead men women, not necessarily spouses. For those women, being buried with them is neither scary nor painful, but an honor."

My mind has been confused, not because of what he said, but because of his analysis and super logic.Everything is clear and clean, logical, not only based, there is a step-by-step reasoning, and there are even conclusive examples.More experts than experts.Let's just say I was dumbfounded. The mysterious civilizations that countless people yearn for, as well as the seemingly elusive unknown scenes, are outlined bit by bit in this way.And the most terrible thing is: in my opinion, these reasoning and logic are not only solid, but also almost perfect. Me: "Hmm... that..., I remember that there are many unsolved mysteries in Mayan carvings, have you studied those?"

He: "Well, I have also studied it specially." I couldn't help but my eyes lit up: "Is that true?" He: "I don't have a picture at hand, do you know the 'Maya Rocket' one?" Me: "The Mayan rocket? The one lying on its back inside the rocket? I saw it, or it was in a magazine." He: "That's the one. One issue of the magazine I published was dedicated to the analysis of that engraving. Later, several readers told me about it, and we agreed that it was not a rocket, nor did it represent a spaceship. .” He aroused my curiosity: "What is that?"

He: "If you want to understand what it is, you can't take it out of context. You must first know why it is carved like that, and who is carved." Me: "Can this be found out?" He smiled: "Yes. The engraving is on the lid of a sarcophagus. With this, it is easy to guess. It is not true that A's body is contained in a sarcophagus, but the image of B is engraved on the lid of the sarcophagus." ?” Me: "That may also be a certain god." He: "Very well, you have already begun to question. However, there are texts around the sarcophagus. The text states: After the death of the person in the sarcophagus, the soul escaped from the tomb and ascended to heaven. And the carving on the lid of the sarcophagus is the ascension to heaven. What we see as the base of the rocket is actually the sarcophagus and the tomb, and the flying lace around it, if you look closely, you can tell that it is just a decorative thing, such as tassels or curtains, which means grand. Let’s talk about the identity of this person Well, the explanatory text of the tomb is very clear. The legendary manipulator of the 'Maya rocket' is the shield king. It is not a nickname, but a name. Presumably this king once had a big shield. (The author presses: The shield king's name is pronounced: Bagal