Altun Ha

This week we visited Altun Ha, the ancient Maya city located about an hour north of Belize City and six miles inland from the Caribbean Sea. Excavation began in 1963. These two groups of pyramids and temples that composed the city center were built and occupied from B.C. 900 to A.D. 1000. What happened to this ancient people remains a mystery, or maybe not...

The two missionaries from Belize City and Elder and Sister Flake joined us for this adventure.

Fortunately, there's a stairway with a  handrail behind one of the pyramids, probably not built by the Maya!

This was our breathtaking view once we reached the top of the stairs. 

The scenes of Altun Ha are serene, almost sacred, as if the ancient inhabitants wish us to know who they are.

Below, is the first plaza, with a second plaza of structures in the foreground.

Kathleen and Sister Flake stand in front of a yet-to-be excavated temple, still covered with a thousand years of dirt and sod. The steps are visible behind Kathleen...

 ...while opposite--on the other side of the plaza--is the now excavated, mirror-image temple it faces.

 Note the jester face carved into the stone behind and above Kathleen.  Maybe he's laughing at our jungle hats?

Vines and multiple roots overtake this tree, just as time has overtaken the Altun Ha temple behind the tree, to the right.  Who really were these intelligent, religious, temple-building ancient inhabitants of Central America? 

Fortunately, we have the record of their forebearers, the Book of Mormon, a second witness of Jesus Christ.  Clues to what may have happened to this people, and why, are contained in the Book of Mormon.