African Olmec Basketball - Did Ancient Gods Invent The Ball Game?

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African Olmec Basketball - Did Ancient Gods Invent The Ball Game?
The ancient Maya ballgame designated pitz appears to be an important part of Maya political, religious, and social life. Played with an actual rubber ball ranging in size from that of a softball to the soccer ball, players would have to attempt to bounce the ball without making use of their hands through stone hoops attached to the sides of the ball court. Often the ball court alone would have been a focal point of Maya cities and additionally symbolized the entire city's wealth in addition to power. The playing arena appears to be in the shape of an I with high platforms on either side of the court enabling a lot of spectators. Moveable stone court markers known as hacha often depicting animals or skulls were inserted all around the arena. Murals depicting captives, warriors, Creation myths, and transfers of political power from one ruler to another were painted around the ball court. Often the ballgame provided neighboring cities an alternative to war for settling quarrels.

Ballplayers wore protective equipment all through the game in order to avoid bodily damage by means of the hard rubber ball that sometimes weighed up to 20 lbs. To guard ribs and the torso players would wear a yoke of leather or perhaps wood around their waists. Stone hachas were sometimes attached to the front of the yoke after the game for ceremonial purposes. In addition they wore padding around knees and arms, and large stylized animal headdresses which could have represented what they considered to be their animal counterparts or way. Handstones referred to as manopla were found to be held to hit the ball with extra force, and may have been used to commence the ball in play.

The spiritual story most associated with the ballgame is that of the Maize Gods and the Hero Twins from the Quich Maya book of creation, the Popol Vuh. As the tale goes, the Maize Gods appeared to be avid ballplayers who were killed and buried on the court by the Lords of Xibalba (the Underworld) for bothering them with the noise of the game. The head of one of the Maize gods was hung from a tree in the Underworld, and as a daughter of the Lord of the Underworld passes, it spit directly into her palm, miraculously impregnating her. The daughter bore twin sons, the Hero Twins, who avenge their father and uncle's deaths by resurrecting them on the ballcourt. The Hero Twins go on to survive the ordeals of Hell presented to them by the death gods, while the reborn Maize Gods remain on the ballcourt for humans to honor. The Maya as a result believed that it was required to play in the game for their own survival. The ballgame provided a way to show devoutness to the gods by way of sacrificing captured kings and even high lords, or the losing opponents of the game.

Popol Vuh

Very much of Maya traditions revolved around the text of the Popol Vuh, or Book of Counsel. The text recalls the creation of humans by the Heart of Sky and the Sovereign Plumed Serpent in a series of attempts, using materials such as clay, wood, and finally maize. The most important gods included Itzmna, lord of life; Ali Kin, the sun god; Ah Puch, god of death; Chac, god of water and rain; Yumkax, the corn god; and Ixchel, goddess of the moon, pregnancy, and of abundance. The Maya believed there was clearly a total of 13 heavens above earth and 9 underworlds beneath it. A god ruled each of these skies and lower worlds. The Maya honored these many gods mentioned in the Popol Vuh with sacrificial ceremonies where food, pottery, animals, and also humans were offered.