Ek Balam

Ek’Balam is located in the east-central part of Yucatán, approximately 190 km from Merida. It dates back to 300 b.C., before the arrival of the Spanish Conquerors. The archaeological zone covers approximately 12 square kilometers, including a central religious area of about 1 square kilometer where the elite resided. This area was protected and separated from the rest of the original city by 3 walls with five separate entrances each beginning a sak’be oob, or ancient white roads.

According to written sources dating to the XVI Century, this prehispanic city was part of a great empire named Talol, founded by a man known as Ek’Balam (“Black or dark Jaguar”), or Coch Cal Balam.

Ek’Balam shares characteristics common to the most important ancient maya cities, including monumental architecture, walls, stele and so-called Serpent Hieroglyphics, beautiful sculptures carved of blocks of stone, a ball court, a network of roads as well as texts written in glyphs. Many of the buildings feature extraordinary sculptures carved in stone or modeled stucco, either polychromatic or a mixture. Visitors today are astonished by the craftsmanship of the ancient artists, shown in objects of luxure made of different materials such as jade, shells and bone.

All these elements inform us that Ek’Balam was capital of a very wealthy and populous region. Indeed just the number of monuments marks the large number of people necessary to produce projects of this magnitude.

The “Acropolis” with its truly extraordinary façade is worth a special mention. Measuring 160 meters long by almost 70 wide and 31 high, it is listed among the largest constructions in Yucatan. The most important discovery on the site was the many rich offering, here was found the only glyphic emblem found to date in the north of this State, giving the name of the ruler for whom the tomb was built.

However Ek’Balam also differs from other sites of the maya world, in many ways unlike any other known archaeological site. Many of its mysteries are yet to be uncovered. The evidence of its ancient grandeur and the awe that each discovery inspires leads it to be considered as one of the most important archaeological zones of Yucatan.