The Maya Ball Game

The ancient Mesoamerican civilizations included a great number of well-developed societies with great achievements in astronomy, architecture, medicine and writing. An important part of these civilizations culture, however, was their religion beliefs and rituals. Some of the Mesoamerican civilizations, including the Mayans and the Aztecs, believed that the only way to make their gods happy was to sacrifice a valuable member of the city; that included the players of a common sport of every Mesoamerican civilization: the ball game. Originated more than 3,000 years ago, the Mesoamerican ball game was a furious sport combining the athleticism of basketball, the brutality of football, and the strategy of baseball. The history of these civilizations have an intriguing story to them with considerably speculation because of the lack of information, nonetheless the engravings and myths that are still around today show us details of these civilizations and the characteristics of a deadly game.

The development of agriculture, like in other civilizations in Mesopotamia for instance, is the basis to the rise of village and urban life in Mesoamerica. Mesoamerica "is the term used to designate the Pre-Columbian region comprising present day central and central-southern Mexico, the Yucatan Peninsula, Guatemala, Belize and El Salvador, and parts of Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica" (Drennan). Some of the most remarkable Mesoamericans civilizations include the Aztecs, Mayans, Toltecs, Olmecs, Zapotecs, Mixtecs, among others. These cultures had a variety of similar cults, rituals, and beliefs. The lack of sources makes it very difficult for researchers to analyze each civilization in specific; however, one of the few manuscripts written down during this period is the "Popol Vuh", which gives us important information about these cultures religions, more accurately the Mayan religion.

The Popol Vuh can be compared to the Gilgamesh epic of Mesopotamia; "it highlights the central human concern with death and mortality and also provides a metaphor for the agricultural cycle and the annual rebirth of the crops" (Demarest 181). The Popol Vuh is the Mayan book of creation that tells the myth of "two hero twins, Hunahpu and Xbalanque, against the Lords of Night and the power of the underworld" (181). The twins descend into the underworld and are miraculously reborn. The Hero Twins also represent the sun and Venus.

"The mythical journey through the underworld, the battle with the forces of death and darkness, and the eventual rebirth of the twins parallels the daily journey of the sun and Venus through the underworld and their rebirth the following day as the morning sun and the morning star. It is notable that, in addition to more powerful astronomical and astrological associations, the Maya origin myth also uses blood symbolism and human sacrifice as the mechanisms for both death and rebirth"(Demarest 182).

The Mesoamerican ball game was a ritual that incorporated these beliefs. Every element of the game represented an aspect of the creation myth; for instance, the ball represented the sun, and the teams had to pass the ball through a ring, "that represented access to the otherworld and the act of creation" (Edgar 347). Moreover, as part of the ceremony after the game, the losing team (arguably) was sacrificed to the gods. Decapitation is generally associated with the ball game, where there exists the possibility that the heads and skulls were used as balls, and their blood was offered as food for the gods.

The Mesoamerican ball game was one of the earliest team sports. The rules of the game, as well as the size and architecture of the court and the size of the teams had many variations depending on where it was played, but the use of a rubber ball was a common element throughout the history of the game. The ball game in Uxmal and Chichen Itza contained elements of modern day basketball with the use of a hoop, or stone ring, to score points. However, unlike existing games, the Mesoamerican ball game was a life-and-death matter with spiritual and ceremonial significance.

The ball game, originated with the Olmec's, known as the 'rubber people' and the earliest civilized culture in the New World, was played in every major center in Mesoamerica from 500 B.C.E - 1200 C.E. (Barrett 115). Most information about the game is known from myths, like the Popol Vuh, and engravings. For the Maya, the game was called pok-a-tok, and it was a representation of the struggle between the forces of good and evil, life and death. Specialists suggested that "the ball court represents the underworld, and that the ball game is the symbolic reenactment of the battle of day and night or the battle of light and darkness that causes the sun's descent into the underworld and its ascent from the underworld"(Marvin 102). Moreover, the ball game developed into a ritual cult. Mayan codices of this period show ball players being sacrificed, therefore, another interpretation from specialists "relates the ball game to the moon goddess and her association with agricultural fertility and decapitation rites...representations of decapitation associated with the ball game, indicate the need