Tikal is one of the best preserved and most well-known of all Guatemala Maya cities, which form the culture that inhabited the country before it was settled by European explorers. The city is home to the famous Maya temples, which although aren't as huge as Egypt's pyramids, are still an important part of early human civilization and culture.
In the past, the city is likely to have been called Yax Mutal. The city was discovered by Ambrosio Tut, a gum-sapper, who reported the location of the ruins to La Gaceta, a local Guatemalan newspaper. Tikal has been said to be the capital of an ancient Maya state, which controlled an empire of vassal states that stretched all the way from the southern highlands to the Caribbean islands.