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Tikal () (''Tik’al'' in modern Mayan orthography) is the ruins of an ancient city found in a rainforest in Guatemala. Ambrosio Tut, a gum-sapper, reported the ruins to ''La Gaceta'', a Guatemalan newspaper, which named the site Tikal. The Berlin Academy of Sciences’ Magazine then republished the report in 1853. Archeologists and treasure hunters then began visiting the forest. Today tourism to the site may help protect the rainforest.〔http://tikalpark.com/explorers.htm〕 It is one of the largest archaeological sites and urban centers of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. It is located in the archaeological region of the Petén Basin in what is now northern Guatemala. Situated in the department of El Petén, the site is part of Guatemala's Tikal National Park and in 1979 it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.〔UNESCO World Heritage Center.〕 Tikal was the capital of a conquest state that became one of the most powerful kingdoms of the ancient Maya.〔Sharer & Traxler 2006, p.1. Hammond 2000, p.233.〕 Though monumental architecture at the site dates back as far as the 4th century BC, Tikal reached its apogee during the Classic Period, c. 200 to 900 AD. During this time, the city dominated much of the Maya region politically, economically, and militarily, while interacting with areas throughout Mesoamerica such as the great metropolis of Teotihuacan in the distant Valley of Mexico. There is evidence that Tikal was conquered by Teotihuacan in the 4th century AD.〔Martin & Grube 2008, pp.29–32.〕 Following the end of the Late Classic Period, no new major monuments were built at Tikal and there is evidence that elite palaces were burned. These events were coupled with a gradual population decline, culminating with the site’s abandonment by the end of the 10th century. Tikal is the best understood of any of the large lowland Maya cities, with a long dynastic ruler list, the discovery of the tombs of many of the rulers on this list and the investigation of their monuments, temples and palaces.〔Adams 2000, p.34.〕 ==Etymology== The name Tikal may be derived from ''ti ak'al'' in the Yucatec Maya language; it is said to be a relatively modern name meaning "at the waterhole". The name was apparently applied to one of the site's ancient reservoirs by hunters and travelers in the region.〔Martin & Grube 2000, p.30.〕 It has alternatively been interpreted as meaning "the place of the voices" in the Itza Maya language. Tikal, however, is not the ancient name for the site but rather the name adopted shortly after its discovery in the 1840s.〔Drew 1999, p.136.〕 Hieroglyphic inscriptions at the ruins refer to the ancient city as ''Yax Mutal'' or ''Yax Mutul'', meaning "First Mutal".〔 Tikal may have come to have been called this because Dos Pilas also came to use the same emblem glyph; the rulers of the city presumably wanted to distinguish themselves as the first city to bear the name.〔Schele & Mathews 1999, p.64.〕 The kingdom as a whole was simply called ''Mutul'',〔Sharer & Traxler 2006, p.1.〕 which is the reading of the "hair bundle" emblem glyph seen in the accompanying photo. Its precise meaning remains obscure.〔 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「Tikal」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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