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Iximche () (or Iximché using Spanish orthography) is a Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican archaeological site in the western highlands of Guatemala. Iximche was the capital of the Late Postclassic Kaqchikel Maya kingdom from 1470 until its abandonment in 1524. The architecture of the site included a number of pyramid-temples, palaces and two Mesoamerican ballcourts. Excavators uncovered the poorly preserved remains of painted murals on some of the buildings and ample evidence of human sacrifice. The ruins of Iximche were declared a Guatemalan National Monument in the 1960s.〔Centro de Acción Legal - Ambiental y Social de Guatemala (CALAS).〕 The site has a small museum displaying a number of pieces found there, including sculptures and ceramics. It is open daily.〔 For many years the Kaqchikel served as loyal allies of the K'iche' Maya.〔Schele & Mathews 1999, p.295.〕 The growing power of the Kaqchikel within the alliance eventually caused such friction that the Kaqchikel were forced to flee the K'iche' capital and found the city of Iximche.〔Schele & Mathews 1999, p.296.〕 The Kaqchikel established their new capital upon an easily defensible ridge almost surrounded by deep ravines.〔Guillemin 1967, p.23.〕 Iximche developed quickly as a city and within 50 years of its foundation it had reached its maximum extent.〔Guillemín 1965, p.24.〕 The rulers of Iximche were four principal lords drawn from the four main clans of the Kaqchikel, although it was the lords of the Sotz'il and Xahil clans who held the real power.〔Polo Sifontes 1986, pp.39-40. Schele & Mathews 1999, p.300.〕 After the initial establishment of Iximche, the K'iche' left the Kaqchikel in peace for a number of years.〔 The peace did not last and the Kaqchikel soundly defeated their former overlords around 1491.〔Schele & Mathews 1999, p.297.〕 This was followed by infighting among the Kaqchikel clans with the rebel clans finally being overcome in 1493.〔 Wars against the K'iche' continued throughout the early 15th century.〔 When the Spanish conquistadors arrived in Mexico, the Aztec emperor sent messengers to warn the Kaqchikel.〔Polo Sifontes 1986, p.70.〕 After the surrender of the Aztecs to Hernán Cortés, Iximche sent its own messengers to offer a Kaqchikel alliance with the Spanish.〔 Smallpox decimated the population of Iximche before the physical arrival of the Europeans.〔 At the time of the Spanish Conquest Iximche was the second most important city in the Guatemalan Highlands, after the K'iche' capital at Q'umarkaj.〔Guillemín 1965, p.12.〕 Conquistador Pedro de Alvarado was initially well received in the city in 1524 and the Kaqchikel kings provided the Spanish with native allies to assist in the conquest of the other highland Maya kingdoms.〔 Iximche was declared the first capital of the Kingdom of Guatemala in the same year.〔 Due to excessive Spanish demands for tribute the Kaqchikel soon broke the alliance and deserted their capital, which was burned 2 years later by Spanish deserters.〔Schele & Mathews 1999, pp.298, 310, 386n19.〕 The Europeans founded a new town nearby but abandoned it in 1527 due to the continued hostility of the Kaqchikel,〔Schele & Mathews 1999, pp.299, 386n20.〕 who finally surrendered in 1530.〔Schele & Mathews 1999, pp.298. Lutz 1997, pp.10, 258. Ortiz Flores 2008.〕 The ruins of Iximche were first described by a Guatemalan historian in the late 17th century.〔Guillemín 1965, p.14.〕 They were visited various times by scholars during the 19th century, who published plans and descriptions.〔Kelly 1996, pp.195-196.〕 Serious investigations of the site started in the 1940s and continued sporadically until the early 1970s.〔Kelly 1996, p.196. Guillemín 1965, p.5.〕 In 1980, during the Guatemalan Civil War, a meeting took place at the ruins between guerillas and Maya leaders that resulted in the guerillas stating that they would defend indigenous rights.〔Frühsorge 2007, p.45.〕 A ritual was carried out at the site in 1989 in order to reestablish the ruins as a sacred place for Maya ceremonies.〔Frühsorge 2007, p.48.〕 United States President George W. Bush visited the site in 2007,〔BBC News, 12 March 2007.〕 and in the same year Iximche was the venue for the III Continental Summit of Indigenous Peoples and Nationalities of Abya Yala.〔Secretaría Cumbre Continental de Pueblos y Organizaciones Indígenas 2009.〕 ==Etymology== The site's name derives from the Mayan name of the ramon tree (''Brosimum alicastrum''), from the words ''ixim'' and ''che'', meaning literally "maize tree".〔Recinos 1998, p.81.〕 Iximche was called ''Guatemala'' by the Spanish, from the Nahuatl ''Quauhtemallan'' meaning "forested land".〔Schelle & Mathews 1999, p.292.〕 Since the Spanish conquistadors founded their first capital at Iximche, they took the name of the city used by their Nahuatl-speaking Mexican allies and applied it to the new Spanish city and, by extension, to the kingdom. From this comes the modern name of the country.〔 The site has also been referred to as Patinamit by 19th century investigators, a Kaqchikel word meaning "the city".〔Kelly 1996, pp.192, 195-196.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Iximche」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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