The Maya flourished thanks to a deep understanding of their geographic setting, and surprising adaptations to the environmental conditions that surrounded them. They conceived the world as a quadrangular space that was ordered and measured at the time of creation. The gods created the face of the earth, u wach ulew, as a propitious place for human life. In the words of the Popol Vuh:

All then was measured and staked out into four divisions, doubling over and stretching the measuring cords of the womb of sky and the womb of earth. Thus were established the four corners, the four sides...