Children of the Maize
"Itzamna's Desolation" (left) and the ceremonial ball game (right).
Illustrations from Pinterest.
Author's Notes
This story briefly covers the rise and fall of the Mayan empire, as told by descendants. I took many liberties, as the details and historical timeline of Mayan writing are not yet fully researched. Several Mayan myths credit Itzamna, the creator god (left), with providing the Mayans their glyph language, but the historical controversy rages still regarding which Mesoamerican society actually developed the first written language. While agriculture was around much earlier than 300 BCE, even in the Americas, Itzamna is credited with teaching the Mayans how to farm, how to write, and also how to hold court (including blood sacrifices and ballsports, as seen below).
There's a huge transformation element at work in nearly every part of Maya mythology, and this story didn't have the space to go into how and why Itzamna has so many different forms. The Bird-god Itzamna, Priest-god Itzamna, and Caiman-god Itzamna (the lizard / alligator form) are each different visages that historians have agonizingly pieced together. The word ajaw, meaning leader or ruler, generally refers to an individual of noble class who oversees a portion of the ajaw's lands, people, money and crops. Our modern equivalent would probably be a governor or lieutenant. The kuhul ajaw, their master, was the supreme and "divine" ruler, believed to be a manifestation of heaven within an earthly form.
What I really wanted to highlight was how and why writing became important: counting seasons established numerical accuracy, and writing evolved soon after as a means to record who owed who what. However, what we see most frequently (the only pieces still standing) are the huge pyramid structures emblazoned with detailed accounts of divine rulers and their accomplishments. This seemed like an easy in for Itzamna to actually supply pieces of the Maya script. Finally, regarding their disappearance as a culture: overpopulation, drought-conditions, and fractured, warring tribes all contributed to their exodus away from the enormous cities, but no one really knows the answer for sure.
Background information taken from:
Itzamná: The Mayan Supreme Being and Father of the UniverseItzamna, Wikipedia