“Don’t call the alligator a big mouth until you have crossed the river.”
Belizean Proverb
As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, Lamanai holds a special place in my heart, as it heavily influenced not just The Palantir, where much of the action in book one takes place, but the entire series. It’s also where I realized that Truth truly is stranger than Fiction. I didn’t know it at the time, but it also has one of the most unique histories of all the Mayan sites in the ancient Mayan world.
Lamanai, which means submerged crocodile, is a Mesoamerican archeological site in northern Belize. People first settled it approximately 1600 BCE. It managed to survive both the great Mayan collapses and existed until the 17th Century. Although Lamanai is no longer on the list of oldest cities, you can get an idea of how uniquely old it was by checking out this list of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited cities.
There are numerous theories on why it endured for so long. One key reason was that it was situated some distance away from most of the bigger Mayan city-states, like Tikal, and therefore avoided much of the armed conflict other sites experienced. Also, being on the New River not only enhanced its trade and thus wealth, but it also helped the city survive the mega-drought that many believe brought on the second Mayan collapse. A third reason is that Lamanai also had a slightly different religious culture, which might have enabled it to avoid much of the turmoil that overwhelmed cities less than 30 miles away. The scary thing is that I can’t help but see some parallels with our current situation in the world.
Below is the view from atop the High Temple in Lamanai. It’s the same view that Diana was so taken by in chapter 21 of The Palantir. Even though it looks like a lake, the body of water in the picture is the New River – the lifeblood of ancient Lamanai. What’s even more impressive, though, is that all you can see, besides the river, is an unbroken forest all the way to the horizon.
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