Chichen Itza奇琴伊察

張倩云

Chichen Itza is the second most popular site for visitors to Mexico. It is considered to beone of the Seven Wonders of the New World. Located on the Yucatan Peninsulal， Chichen Itzawas arge city built by the Maya people. It thrived2 from about 600 A.D.until /22/，whenthe power in the region shifted. Today it can be visited by tourists.

奇琴伊察是墨西哥第二受游客歡迎的地點。它被認為是新世界七大奇跡之一。奇琴伊察位于尤卡坦半島，是瑪雅人建造的一個大城市。它從公元600年左右開始蓬勃發展，直至1221年該地區的政治中心轉移。今天.游客們都可以前往參觀。

Interesting Chichen Itza Facts：

Chichen Itza also means "at the mouth of thewell of the Itza".

Chichen Itza may have been built where it wasbecause of the location3 0f two large natural sink holesnearby that would have provided water year-round.

One of these sink holes was thought to havebeen used as a place of human sacrifice4. Thesesacrifices were made in times of drought5， and men，women and children would be thrown in the well asa sacrifice to the Chaac God. The Chaac God is theMaya God of rain and lightning and these sacrificeswere done to end drought.

In about 600 A.D.， Chichen Itza had started togain importance in the region. Between 900 and1050 A.D. Chichen Itza had become a powerfulcapital. It also controlled northern and centralYucatan at the time.

It was one of the largest Maya cities. It coveredfive square kilometers.

奇琴伊察的意思是“在伊察的水井口”。

奇琴伊察之所以在此建造的原因，可能是因為附近有兩個巨大的天然水池，可全年提供水源。

其中一個水池被認為是被用作活人祭祀的地方。這些祭祀在大旱時期進行，男人、女人和孩子會被扔進井里，作為獻給恰克神的祭品。恰克是瑪雅的雨和雷之神，而這些祭祀是為了結束干旱。

在公元600年左右，奇琴伊察已開始在該地區占有一定的地位。在公元900年至1050年之間，奇琴伊察已經成為一個強大的首都，當時它還控制了尤卡坦半島的北部和中部。

它是瑪雅最大的城市之一，占地5平方公里。

Chichen Itza may have been a religious6 center for aperiod of time and is believed to have been a pilgrimage7place for the Maya. Some suggest that the site whereChichen Itza was built was already a popular place ofpilgrimage long before building of the city ever began.

There is a wide variety of architectura18 stylesbecause of the fact that Chichen Itza had such diversepopulation and culture.

All the buildings of Chichen Itza are made ofstone. It's also thought that the Maya did no use thewheel to build any of their temples， pyramids orpalaces.

Some of the most famous buildings in Chichen Itzathat have survived include： The Warrior's Temple， ElCastill0， and The Great Ball Court.

El Castillo is probably the most famous image ofChichen Itza. It is a monument9 in the shape of apyramid. There are four staircases on the outside of thepyramid.

Part of what sparked'o an interest in Chichen Itzawas a book （travel journal） written by John LloydStephens in 1843 called Incidents of Travel in Yucatan.Further exploration 1l of the city began from the interestand imagination of his readers.

About l.2 million people visit the ruins of ChichenItza every year.

奇琴伊察可能在一段時間里是宗教中心，它被認為是瑪雅入朝圣的地方。一些人認為，早在奇琴伊察開始建造之前，這里就已經是一個很受歡迎的朝圣場所了。

由于奇琴伊察的人口和文化如此多樣化，這里有各種各樣的建筑風格。

奇琴伊察的所有建筑都是用石頭建造的。人們還認為，瑪雅人沒有使用輪子來建造任何寺廟、金字塔或宮殿。

奇琴伊察現存的一些最著名的建筑包括：武士神廟、羽蛇神金字塔和球戲場遺址。

羽蛇神金字塔可能是奇琴伊察最著名的形象。它是一座金字塔形狀的神廟。在金字塔的外側有四個樓梯。

引起人們對奇琴伊察的興趣的一部分原因是約翰·勞埃德·斯蒂芬斯在1843年寫的一本名為《尤卡坦旅行紀聞》的書。人們對這座城市的進一步探索始于他的讀者的興趣和想象力。

每年大約有120萬人參觀奇琴伊察遺址。

（英語原文選自：softschools.com）

[Notes]

1.peninsula [p??n?nsj?l?]n.半島

2.thrive[θra?v]v.繁榮，興旺

3. location [lau'keijn]n.位置;地點

4.sacrifice[?s?kr??fa?s] n.犧牲;祭品

5.drought [dra?t]n.干旱

6.religious [r??l?d??s] adj.宗教的

7.pilgrimage[?p?lɡr?m?d?] n.漫游;朝圣之行

8.architectural[?ɑ?k??tekt??r?l] adj.建筑上的

9.monument[?m?nj?m?nt] n.紀念碑;歷史遺跡 10. spark[spɑ?k] v.點燃;導致;引發

II. exploration [?ekspl??re???n] n.探測;探索