Monuments and Altars at Copan

MONUMENTS AND ALTARS AT COPAN. Among the curious ruins of Central America is the circus, or palace of Copan—"that valley of romance and wonder, where the genii who attended on King Solomon seem to have been the artists." "It lies in the district of country now known as the State of Honduras, one of the most fertile valleys in Central America." "The ruins are on the left bank of the Copan river, which empties into the Montagua, and so passes into the Bay of Honduras near Omoa, distant perhaps three hundred miles from the sea." The extent along the river, as ascertained by monuments still found, is more than two miles. "There are no remains of palaces or private buildings, and the principal part is that which stands on the bank of the river, and may, perhaps, with propriety, be called the temple." Says Stephens, who visited there in 1840: This temple is an oblong enclosure. The front or river wall extends on a right line north and south six hundred and twenty-four feet, and it is from sixty to ninety feet in height. It is made of cut stones' from three to six feet in length, and a foot and a half in breadth. In many places the stones have been thrown down by bushes growing out of the crevices, and in one place there is a small opening, from which the ruins are sometimes called by the Indians Las Ventanas, or the windows. The other three sides consist of ranges of steps and pyramidal structures, rising from thirty to one hundred and forty feet in height on the slope. The whole line of survey is two thousand eight hundred and sixty-six feet, which, though gigantic and extraordinary for a ruined structure of the aborigines, that the reader's imagination may not mislead him, I consider it necessary to say, is not so large as the base of the great Pyramid of Ghizeh. The plan was complicated, and, the whole ground being overgrown with trees, difficult to make out. There was no entire pvramid, but, at

448 IMPROVEMENT ERA. most, two or three pyramidal sides, and these joined on to terraces, or other structures of the same kind. Beyond the wall of enclosure were walls, terraces, and pyramidal elevations running off into the forest, which sometimes confused us. Probably the whole was not erected at the same time, but additions were made and statues erected by different kings, or, perhaps, in commemoration of important events in the history of the city. Along the whole line were ranges of steps with pyramidal elevations, probably crowned on the top with buildings or altars now ruined. All these steps and the pyramidal sides were painted, and the reader may imagine the effect when the whole country was clear of forest, and priest and people were ascending from the outside to the terraces, and thence to the holy places within to pay their adoration in the temple. Within this enclosure are two rectangular courtyards, having ranges of steps ascending to terraces. The area of each is about forty feet above the river. Of the larger and most distant from the river the steps have all fallen, and constitute mere mounds. On one side, at the foot of the pyramidal wall, is a monument or "idol," of which the engraving represents the front. It is about the same height with the others, (13 ft. high, 4 ft. in front, and 3 deep), but differs in shape, being larger at the top than below. Its appearance and character are tasteful and pleasing, but the sculpture is in much lower relief; the expression of the hands is good, though somewhat formal. The figure of a man shows the relative height. The back and sides are covered with hieroglyphics. Near this is a remarkable altar, which perhaps presents as curious a subject of speculation as any monument in Copan. The altars, like the idols, are all of a single block of stone. In general they are not so richly ornamented, and are more faded and worn, or covered with moss; some were completely buried, and of others, it was difficult to make out more than the form. All differed in fashion, and doubtless had some distinct and general reference to the idols before which they stood. This (see frontispiece) stands on four globes cut out of the same stone; the sculpture is in bas relief, and it is the only specimen of that kind of sculpture found at Copan, all the rest being in bold alto-rilievo. It is six feet square and four feet high, and the top is divided into thirty-six tablets of hieroglyphics, which beyond doubt record some event in the history of the mysterious people who once inhabited the city. The lines are still distinctly visible. The engravings (see frontispiece) exhibit the three sides of this altar. Each side represents four individuals. On the west side are the two

■ ■ ! * Stephens' Central America. ONE OF A SERIES OF STONE MONUMENTS, COLUMNS, OR "IDOLS. ' GIVING PECULIAR CHARACTER TO THE RUINS OF COPAN.