One of the best parts of a great vacation is telling your friends back home what they missed—a postcard-perfect beach, a beautiful garden, tantalizing eats. Or how about the Royal BC Museum’s Maya: The Great Jaguar Rises exhibition? Showcasing the mystery, legacy and resilience of one of the world’s great civilizations, this envy-worthy vacation find is on through December 31, 2019.

BOOK NOW: Seattle to Victoria Overnight with Royal BC Museum package to see “Maya: The Great Jaguar Rises,” May 17 – December 31, 2019.

For lucky Seattleites, a quick ride up to Victoria, BC on the Victoria Clipper ferry leads you practically to the museum’s doorstep. On the heels of last year’s record-breaking Egypt: The Time of Pharaohs, the new exhibition boasts the world’s largest and most dramatic collection of Maya objects. The 300 precious jade, ceramic, gold, stone and textile artifacts reflect classic and contemporary Maya culture; many have only been recently discovered and never before seen outside of Guatemala. Give your friends a serious case of summer fear of missing out (FOMO) with these top five tips about the Royal BC Museum’s new Maya exhibition.

1. Ancient Maya was Once the World’s Most Advanced Civilization—and it’s Still Going Strong

At its pinnacle, more than 2,600 years ago, the Maya civilization was arguably the world’s most advanced, with a richly detailed mythology and a sophisticated understanding of astronomy, mathematics, agriculture and architecture. The thick Mesoamerican jungles may still hide ancient Maya temples and villages, but Maya is hardly a “lost” civilization. In fact, it’s one of the fundamental aims of the exhibition to correct that misconception.

Experience how the Maya lived with a look at their ancient temples and villages. Credit: The Royal BC Museum
Experience how the Maya lived with a look at their ancient temples and villages. Credit: The Royal BC Museum

Maya culture is timeless, with more than six million contemporary Maya currently living its values, traditions and rituals. Through dynamic displays and engaging interactives, such as a space styled after a Guatemalan jungle complete with real monkey calls and jaguar roars, Maya: The Great Jaguar Rises depicts historical glories and celebrates contemporary cultural strengths. (Insider tip: Keep an eye out for Maximon (aka San Simón), the colorful sunglass-wearing, cigar-smoking folk saint who straddles ancient and contemporary Maya culture.)

2. The Maya Language—Spoken and Written—is Still Very Much Alive

Although an understanding of the written language of the ancient Maya was almost lost after the Spanish conquest, archaeologists and anthropologists have managed to decipher almost 80 percent of the hieroglyphs over the past several decades. A panel of glyphs is read left-to-right, top-to-bottom, in double columns. (Insider tip: Impress your friends by “reading” the glyphs on the main exhibition posters and banners, which translate as: “The Maya people arrive at the edge of the sea.”)

An expansive panel of intricately inked hieroglyphs searches nearly from wall-to-wall. Credit: The Royal BC Museum
An expansive panel of intricately inked hieroglyphs searches nearly from wall-to-wall. Credit: The Royal BC Museum

This exhibition coincides with UNESCO’s Year of Indigenous Languages and highlights the 30 Maya languages still spoken today by almost half the population of Guatemala. Throughout the exhibition, there are video displays featuring contemporary Maya-language speakers.

Try your hand at deciphering the many glyphs found inside the exhibit. Credit: The Roal BC Museum
Try your hand at deciphering the many glyphs found inside the exhibit. Credit: The Royal BC Museum

Language resilience is also an important topic in British Columbia, where Indigenous communities are working hard to revitalize ancient languages undermined by colonialism. Before you leave the museum, be sure to stop by the Royal BC Museum’s permanent Our Living Languages gallery for a deeper understanding of Indigenous language retention and restoration efforts.

3. True or False: The Maya Claimed the World Would End in 2012 

It made for great headlines, but it’s definitely false: the 21st of December, 2012, only marked the end of one of the Maya calendar’s great cycles. The Maya had a sophisticated understanding of time (as well as math and astronomy), and they combined several calendar systems to measure it.

Peruse a lineup of fascinating artifacts as you stroll the exhibition halls. Credit: The Royal BC Museum
Peruse a lineup of fascinating artifacts as you stroll the exhibition halls. Credit: The Royal BC Museum

The exhibition reveals details and examples of this complex calendar system. The Tzolk’in was a ritual calendar of 260 days, while the Haab measured the 365 days of the solar year. The Long Count calendar calculated all of the days that had passed since the creation of the present world. With this system, they could record events in different and remarkably accurate ways. (Insider tip: Check out the True/False game and Maya Birthday Machine, which are some of the most popular interactive displays for young and old alike.)

4. The Maya Host Their Own World Cup

Thanks to scenes painted on Maya ceramics, we know the ancients found time to play games, including one (known today as chaa or pok ta pok) featuring a heavy basketball-sized rubber ball. Players wore protective clothing and leather pieces to protect their hips, elbows and knees—the only places that were allowed to touch the ball.

Learn the secret's of the Maya's past through their unique artifacts. Credit: The Royal BC Museum
Learn the secret’s of the Maya’s past through their unique artifacts. Credit: The Royal BC Museum

In the last five years, contemporary Maya have revived the game, with a World Cup competition that attracts teams from Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Belize. (Insider tip: Watch for the interactive display where you can feel and lift the heavy rubber chaa ball.)

5. It’s an Exhibition for the Ages—All Ages!

How do you know you’re in a truly family-friendly museum exhibition? When you walk through the temple entrance to discover “Please touch” signs around every corner! Kids (and their caretakers!) are welcome to touch 3D-printed replicas of magnificent (and definitely off-limits!) artifacts such as an ancient hieroglyphic panel, a king’s jade mask and the Jaguar Man sculpture.

Get up close and personal with a 3D-printed replica of this massive, 10-foot long statue. Credit: The Royal BC Museum
Get up close and personal with a 3D-printed replica of this massive, 10-foot long statue. Credit: The Royal BC Museum

There are also films about life in ancient Maya culture and videos of modern markets and landscapes, and puzzle games such as Dress a Maya King, and Help Ixchel Make Drinking Chocolate. The exhibition is highly accessible for the mobility-impaired, and braille is included in some of the object labels. (Insider tip: In the leaf-lined corridor near the entrance to the exhibition, have the kids count how many different jungle sounds they can hear. Listen especially for jaguars, monkeys and Quetzal birds!)

Bonus: The Gift Shop is Guiltless

Feel great about opening your wallet in this exhibition gift shop. Virtually all of the exquisite textiles, toys, jewelry and baskets are handmade in Guatemala by fair-trade collectives benefiting disadvantaged women and their families. The top-selling chocolate (did we mention the Maya’s love of chocolate?) is made locally by Sirene Chocolate using fair-trade Guatemalan cocoa beans. Want to give yourself an even bigger energy boost? Pick up a bags of fair-trade Guatemalan coffee beans, roasted locally by Fernwood Coffee. (Insider tip: Your gift shop dollars support the Royal BC Museum’s future exhibitions!) 

You’ll certainly have plenty to talk about with friends and family when you come home from touring Maya: The Great Jaguar Rises. So what are you waiting for? Head over to www.royalbcmuseum.com/maya for more information!

Feature Photo: The Royal BC Museum