The American Egypt, a Record of Travel in Yucatan El Egipto americano, recuerdos de un viaje a Yucatan Arnold Channing y Frederick J. Tabor Frost For travelers who began to reach the Peninsula in the 19th century, Maya culture was an enigma. Waldeck wanted to highlight a supposed resmeblance between Egyptian and Maya cultures and claimed the latter came from one of the lost tribes of Israel. Decades later an Englishman, Arnold Channing, emphasized this false claim with he title of his book. Gran Museo del Mundo Maya (Mayan World Museum of Mérida) opened in 2021. The contemporary building, designed by by Grupo 4A Arquitectos, is in the form a ceiba, a sacred tree believed by the Maya to connect the living with the undaerworld and heavens above. The museum's permanent galleries house a collection of more than 1100 remarkably well-preserved ancient Mayan artifacts.
