The rise and fall of the Maya Empire's most influential city - Geoffrey E. Braswell episode artwork

EPISODE · Aug 16, 2026 · 8 MIN

The rise and fall of the Maya Empire's most influential city - Geoffrey E. Braswell

from TED-Ed · host TED-Ed

Trace the rise and fall of the Maya city Chichen Itza, and how Yucatán’s unpredictable environment contributed to its demise.--During the 8th century CE, warfare and failing agriculture forced Maya people to move north, to hotter, drier Yucatán. Because of its freshwater access, Chichen Itza became the most powerful Maya city, with nearly 50,000 citizens at its height. But the region presented its own challenges and the city's golden age wouldn’t last forever. Geoffrey E. Braswell traces the city's rise and fall.Lesson by Geoffrey E. Braswell, directed by Hernando Bahamon, Globizco Studios.Support Our Non-Profit Mission----------------------------------------------Support us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreonCheck out our merch: http://bit.ly/TEDEDShop----------------------------------------------Connect With Us----------------------------------------------Sign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletterFollow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebookFind us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitterPeep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagram----------------------------------------------Keep Learning----------------------------------------------View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-maya-empire-s-most-powerful-city-geoffrey-e-braswellDig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-maya-empire-s-most-powerful-city-geoffrey-e-braswell/digdeeperAnimator's website: https://www.globizcostudios.com----------------------------------------------Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Ophelia Gibson Best, Paul Schneider, Joichiro Yamada, Henrique Cassús, Karthik Cherala, Clarence E. Harper Jr., Vignan Velivela, Ana Maria, Exal Enrique Cisneros Tuch, Tejas Dc, Khalifa Alhulail, Martin Stephen, Jose Henrique Leopoldo e Silva, Mandeep Singh, Abhijit Kiran Valluri, Morgan Williams, Devin Harris, Pavel Zalevskiy, Karen Goepen-Wee, Filip Dabrowski, Barbara Smalley, Megan Douglas, Tim Leistikow, Ka-Hei Law, Hiroshi Uchiyama, Mark Morris, Misaki Sato, EdoKun, SookKwan Loong, Bev Millar, Lex Azevedo, Michael Aquilina, Jason A Saslow, Yansong Li, Cristóbal Moenne, Dawn Jordan, Prasanth Mathialagan, Samuel Doerle, David Rosario, Dominik Kugelmann - they-them, Siamak Hajizadeh, Ryohky Araya, Mayank Kaul, Christophe Dessalles, Heather Slater, Sandra Tersluisen, Zhexi Shan, Bárbara Nazaré, Andrea Feliz and Victor E Karhel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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The rise and fall of the Maya Empire's most influential city - Geoffrey E. Braswell

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