Tikal and the Classic Maya

Tikal was one of the most powerful Classic Maya city-states, with tens of thousands of people at its height. Its rulers raised temple-pyramids above the rainforest and recorded their reigns in hieroglyphic inscriptions, including a takeover linked to Teotihuacan in 378. Rivalry with Calakmul shaped Maya politics until Tikal and other southern cities were abandoned in the 9th and 10th centuries.