- "But what we're looking at is probably over a thousand years old and, contrary to the legend, construction was somewhat ongoing. The Mayans built new structures over old ones."
- ―Indiana Jones[src]
The Pyramid of the Sorcerer was a Mayan step pyramid made of stone, located in Uxmal, on the Yucatan Peninsula, in Mexico. Over 100 feet tall, it had a rectangular base, terraced stories, and the top, two temples. Distinctive from other Mayan pyramids, it had rounded sides on the massive rectangular foundation. Its doorway was designed to be opened by the insertion of four figurines into four shaped recesses, etched with the plumed serpent deity, Kukulcan. Built by the Mayans, it and the surrounding buildings eventually became overgrown with jungle. According to Mayan legend, the structure was built overnight by a dwarf sorcerer, though in reality, it was built in several stages.
Prior to 1941, excavations of the site by Franz Blom were published, and were read by Indiana Jones.
In July 1941, the Akashic Hall of Records, a mystical repository of knowledge whose location could shift around the world, moved its entrance to a doorway set into the lower side of the pyramid. Having seen a vision of the Hall's current location by using the stone sphere "key" at the Three Sisters formation in Costa Rica, Jones flew to the pyramid aboard Bert Brodowski's biplane. The Nazi agent masquerading as US Army Intelligence, Major Nichols had also discovered the Hall of Records' location, and managed to beat Jones to the site, and hid his plane.
After Jones landed, he instructed Brodowski to fly to Merida and contact the US Consulate about Nichols' treachery. Brodowski planned to leave after she got a chance to stretch her legs. Jones found the doorway that led into the Hall of Records, and used the Four Mayan Figurines he had found at the Incan Shrine to unlock the door. He descended into the chamber, where he received a few visions from the past, before encoutering Reginald Brooksbank, whom was believed to be dead, but had actually hidden in the Hall of Records when it had been based on Bimini. Brooksbank was unaware that he was now in the Yucatan. Outside, Nichols captured Brodowski and entered the Hall with her at gunpoint. In a brief altercation, Brooksbank was fatally shot, Nichols was vaporized by the orbs in the Hall, and Jones and Brodowski escaped to the outside of the pyramid, and the doorway to the Hall of Records sealed behind them, and Jones was able to retrieve three of the four figurines. With the Hall of Records no longer accessible from the pyramid, Jones and Brodowski flew to Merida.
Behind the scenes[]
The real Pyramid of the Sorcerer at Uxmal is more commonly known as the Pyramid of the Magician or Pyramid of the Dwarf.
