Ulama game: Encyclopedia II - Ulama game - History

Ulama game - History

The word Ulama comes from the Nahuatl word ullamaliztli ("ballgame"). In its heyday in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, ulama was played by the Olmecs (the probable inventors), Aztecs, Mixtecs and Maya in an area extending from modern-day Mexico to El Salvador and possibly in modern-day Arizona and New Mexico. Archeologists have uncovered 700 ball courts, rubber balls that have been dated as far back as 1500 BC and figurines recognizable as ulama players dating from c. AD 400.

Ulama playing fields (Aztec tlachtli) were built in city centers near the temples. The long oblong fields – like the one at Monte Albán – have a wider part at each end and banked or vertical stone walls.

Although archeologists and historians disagree on specifics, the game had mythical and religious significance. According to the Popol Vuh, the Mayan hero twins were summoned to Xibalba, the Mayan underworld, where they won a game against the lords of death and resurrected their father and uncle who became the maize god.

The Aztecs brought their prisoners to their cities, let them grow famished, and finally compelled them to partake in a match of ulama. Weakened prisoners usually lost and were decapitated. The northern Aztec province of Tochtepec was taxed for 16,000 rubber balls a year – although not all the rubber was necessarily used for ballgames. Historians assume that Spanish Catholics suppressed the game as a pagan practice.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "History", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki