The Maya has been inhabited in much of Central America, now known as Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador and five southern states of Mexico such as Campeche, Chiapas, Quintana Roo, Tabasco and Yucatan. Founded in the pre-classical period (about 2000 BC to 250 AD), according to the chronology of Central America, many Mayan cities reached their highest level of development during the classical period (approximately 250 m to 900 m) and continued beyond Classic until the arrival of Spaniards. They had a civilization that dates back about 3000 years. During that long time, hundreds of dialects were spoken in these lands, from which about 44 different Maya languages were born. It was known as the only civilization in the development of the written language in the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as art, architecture, and mathematics and astronomy systems.
The talk of the ancient Maya refers to the history of one of the most important cultures of Central America in pre-Columbian times, because it has a world-renowned scientific and astronomical heritage. Their civilization has contributed many advantages to other civilizations in Central America because of the great interaction and dissemination of the culture that characterized the region. Progress, such as writing, engraving, and calendaring with the Mayans, has not only arisen but has been fully developed. The influence of that civilization can be detected in Honduras, Belize, Guatemala and Western El Salvador as far away as central Mexico, more than 1,000 km (620 miles) from the Mayan region. Architectural and artistic traces of the Maya were found outside the area and are believed to be due to trade and cultural exchange.
The Mayan people did not disappear completely at the time of the decline of the classical period or with the arrival of the Spanish invasion and colonization of the Americas, where the Mayans are now the majority of the inhabitants of all Mayan areas and have maintained the distinctive traditions and beliefs that are the result of the fusion of ideas and cultures for pre-Columbian and post- Invasion. At present millions of people speak different Maya languages.
The Mayan literature illustrates the life of this culture. Examples include the play "Raphael Atchi" written in the language of Atchi, which was announced by UNESCO in 2005 as a masterpiece of the intangible oral heritage of mankind, and of the literary works of Popul Fuh for historical legends. . What was destroyed by the Spanish invasion is a model of the pre-Columbian civilization that is estimated at 3,000 years of ancient history.
