During the first millennium AD, one of the world's great civilizations appeared in the dense jungles of Mesoamerica. All over the Yucatan Peninsula, the Maya mastered sophisticated principles of mathematics, architecture, agriculture and astronomy and created scores of powerful city-states. At the center of this world was the largest city of them all -- Tikal. Sprawling over twenty-five square miles, Tikal was situated in the heart of the Yucatan, near rivers that flowed to every corner of the Maya world. Tikal prospered from trade and military triumphs. Its rulers used its wealth to build a magnificent city of palaces, grand plazas and some of the largest stone pyramids seen in the Americas.