Editing Tikal (section)

==Etymology==
[[File:Tikalemblem.jpg|thumb|Emblem glyph for Tikal (Mutal)]]

The name Tikal may be derived from ''ti ak'al'' in the [[Yucatec Maya language]]; it is said to be a relatively modern name meaning "at the waterhole". The name was apparently applied to one of the site's ancient reservoirs by hunters and travelers in the region.<ref name=mg30>Martin & Grube 2000, p.30.</ref> It has alternatively been interpreted as meaning "the place of the voices" in the [[Itzaʼ language|Itza Maya language]]. Tikal, however, is not the ancient name for the site but rather the name adopted shortly after its discovery in the 1840s.<ref name=d136>Drew 1999, p.136.</ref> [[Maya script|Hieroglyphic inscriptions]] at the ruins refer to the ancient city as ''Yax Mutal'' or ''Yax Mutul'', meaning "First Mutal".<ref name=mg30/> Tikal may have come to have been called this because [[Dos Pilas]] also came to use the same emblem glyph; the rulers of the city presumably wanted to distinguish themselves as the first city to bear the name.<ref>Schele & Mathews 1999, p.64.</ref>
The kingdom as a whole was simply called ''Mutul'',<ref name="Sharer & Traxler 2006, p.1">Sharer & Traxler 2006, p.1.</ref> which is the reading of the "hair bundle" [[Maya script#Emblem glyphs|emblem glyph]] seen in the accompanying photo. Its precise meaning remains obscure.<ref name=mg30/>