Mayan Essay

Essay On The Mayans
While the European continent was entrenched in the horrors of the Dark Ages, the Mayan culture
was thriving. Not only did the Mayans create a complicated written language, they had far
exceeded the Europeans in their study and mapping of the stars and planets, mathematics, and
architecture. What happened to the Mayan people? How did they come to be? Why was this
isolated culture so advanced? The disappearance of the great Mayan civilization is as much a
mystery as its growth. As the other civilization like Rome and Greece, every each of them has its
rise and fall. But no culture has fallen quite like the Maya Empire, seemingly swallowed by the
jungle around it after centuries of cultural, urban, agricultural and intellectual evolution. The Mayan
were well on their way to becoming such a great and powerful empire when suddenly the
civilization collapsed and the mighty cities were abandoned. The empire simply fell into ruin in a
very short time. Thus, they are many theories as to what happened to the civilization but they are
two main theories that need to be highlighted. Some NASA–funded researches, including an
archeologist Tom sever believed that the fall of the empire happened because they did it to
themselves. Like many other...show more content...
The text told a surprising story of renegade princes from Tikal, who tried to create an empire on
their own by waging a full–force attack on their home city with the help of neighbouring allies.
Unfortunately, it was a por timing. The invasion occured during the height of drought and the result
was devastating. Pyramids and temples were torn apart to build fortifications, and the few trees left
in the rainforest were cut down to build fences. The war destroyed the cities, leaving behind ruins
and refugees. The government was too weak to overcome any problem due to the
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Mayan Beliefs And Beliefs
Maya's expressed their beliefs through art and architecture,they felt as if it would make them closer
to their God.Humans were sacrificed to appease the rain gods.Humans were sacrificed in different
ways including getting pushed in a sinkhole,and getting their heart cut out while they were wide
awake they would use the human blood as an incense,because they thought the smoke would carry
their request to God.Cenote Sagrado haves many beliefs including there were two dimensions,which
is the otherworld,which includes the gods,and the other dimension is the human world.The two
dimensions existed among three realms the heavens or upper world which is home of the celestial
gods,the earth or middle world which is home of the Maya,and the underworld

The Ancient Maya Essay
The Maya of Mesoamerica, along with the Aztecs of Mexico and the Incas of Peru, made up the high
civilizations of the American Indians at the time of the Spanish conquest. Both the Aztecs and the
Incas were late civilizations, between 1300–1533 AD, but the Maya of the Yucatan and Guatemala
exhibited a cultural continuity spanning more than 2,000 years, 1000 BC–AD 1542. Many aspects
of this culture continue yet today. The Ancient Maya in their time had actually refined writing. They
had an extensive written language, which was both phonetic as well as ideographic. One of only five
independently created writing systems in human history. Maya words were in hieroglyphs, each
picture with its own meaning. Unlike other ancient...show more content...
The gods were modeled after animals for sacrificial purposes and religious ceremonies. The
ancient Maya had many beliefs. They had possessed an in depth understanding of astronomy,
engineering, and mathematics. The Maya believed that the Sun, Moon, and other planets, had
been journeys of the gods. The Mayan priests studied their measurement of time. The Maya had a
calendar with 18 months each containing 20 days, plus 5 unlucky days that made up the Mayan
year. They also had a religious calendar that had 260 days in it. Each day was given a name and a
number. They believed that each day was a god that carried the weight of the day on its back. The
Mayan civilization in all stages has been based on agriculture. Indian corn or maize was
domesticated from a wild grass in central Mexico about 7,000 years ago and sustained most
sedentary Indian civilizations from that time. In the humid areas, a surplus of water and rapid
growth of trees and vines encouraged the slash–and–burn farming method. The farmer cleared the
cornfield by cutting bushes and girdling the trees, usually near the end of the rainy season,
allowing the piled brush to dry under the hot sun of the dry season. It is known that the Mayas
enjoyed chocolate. They had it in many forms from a frothy drink to a pulpy mush. The Mayas
referred to chocolate as "The Drink of the Gods." They had other food such as cornmeal,
maize, black

The Mayan Empire Essay
The Mayan Empire
The Mayan Empire was one of the most innovative and interesting civilizations. It was an ancient
civilization that was one of the most advanced and innovative ones. They inhabited the Yucatan
peninsula and the empire lasted for about 3500 years ending around the year 1500 AD. It is
considered the greatest civilization among the original cultures of the western hemisphere.
The empire was located in what is now known as Central America. They lived in the area that is
now Belize, Honduras, Mexico, and Guatemala. The whole are lies south of the tropic of cancer,
and north of the equator. It contained over 120,000 sq miles, which is the about the size of Great
Britain, or a little bit smaller than California. It is...show more content...
The climate is very hot from May to August and rainy through the rest of the year, so the farmers
have a lot of free time to serve the king. This serving time helped make the amazing developments
from the Maya.
By far, the major innovations and skills were in astronomy. Mayan priests would consistently take
measurements using tools such as a forked stick. Using their amazing astronomical knowledge,
they were able to predict future eclipses. They were also able to chart the complex motions of the
sun and other astronomical bodies. Using this knowledge, they designed a calendar that was the
most complex and accurate of all ancient calendars. In fact, it was only 19 minutes per year off
from the actual calendar. It even contained month and week divisions. One of these months was only
five days long, called the Wayeb, and was considered unlucky.
In mathematics, the Mayans were quite intelligent. They developed a number system using a
combination of dots and bars. These dots and bars were stacked together in piles of twenty, with the
dot meaning one and the bar meaning five. They also made the original discovery of the number
zero. This is a very important development.
They also developed an advanced system of writing similar to Egyptian Hieroglyphics. They
contained over 800 signs, and each one usually represented an entire word. It was a very visual
language and the meaning of the sign reflected what it looked like. Their writing was highly
sophisticated; only

The Mayans Essay
The Mayan civilization was a bountiful society that flourished from around 300 BCE and ended
around 900 CE, their most ~~ time known as the Classic Period. During their time, they not only ~,
but invented many ~~ that some are even used today. They are well known for creating the first
writing system, cuneiform, the concept of zero, calendars, mathematics, the length of the solar year
at about 365.242 days, and ball–courts for sports. The Mayan people were the direct descendants
from another group of people called the Olmecs, who lived from around 1200 BCE to 400 BCE.
Though their original name is unknown, researchers have dubbed them the "Olmecs", meaning "the
rubber people", taken after the indigenous rubber trees found in the area in which...show more
content...
The Mayans, as mentioned before, were never unified, and constantly warred with each other.
With rapidly growing amounts of people and already existing tensions, there is a very fair
possibility that large wars may have started breaking down the society, leaving them open for
invaders as well. The government holding the areas together may have begun to diminish and
eventually the whole structure of the civilization would have been destroyed. As religion was such
an immensely dominating part of the Maya society, tensions would have also affected priests who
dealt with the main religious practices, including the use of traditional rituals, ceremonies, or
worshiping their gods. This could've caused lack of faith, or ~), adding to the strain of the society
and making everything chaotic. There is also evidence of tensions arising from changing trade
routes, once from land to going across the sea, probably another effect of the shifting climate.
Researchers discovered in a
Yet another theory of the Mayan's fall is that conflict from within their civilization didn't destroy the
people, but rather it might've been destroyed from the outside, possibly by invaders from their close
neighbors Mexico who may have invaded for ~~and either (massacred everyone?) or caused
everyone to flee? The last Mayan civilizations were

Mayan Astronomy Essay
Before advanced technology, the Mayan observed the "Seven Stars" Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus,
Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn using positional and horizon astronomy just like the Greeks and
Mesopotamians before them. Although the Mayans observations were made with the naked eye they
still had many interpretations associated with the sun and moon. They also independently
discovered octa eteris, a mesh between eight solar years with five Venus cycles of 584 days and 99
lunar months. Mayan warfare was also scheduled to get the most astrological benefits. To the Mayan
astronomy was a sacred activity.
One of the many scientific discoveries that have influenced today's society is the invention of the
cell phone. In 1876 an older male with the name of Alexander...show more content...
This nebula is about 1/3 of a light–year thick, and five light–years across. Most nebulae are shaped
are more sphere shaped and most commonly a butterfly shape. Abella 39 is one extremely rare cases
in which the geometry is much simpler. This star, unlike its usual common shape is in the form of a
cat eye. This star is off center in the constellation about one tenth of a light–year.
Hercules is one of the largest constellations but doesn't have many brightly lit stars which makes is
hard to see in cities. This constellation is better viewed with the naked eye because of how dull its
stars are. Hercules is located in the southern hemisphere. Hercules contains a cluster of over 500,000
stars called the M–13 cluster. In mythology Hercules was believed to kill the Dragon, the guardian
of the garden of Hesperides.
In the winter me and my family like to take a short trip to Jupiter because of its nice, hot weather.
The vacation is always fun, but we try to stay away from the big red spot. It's always stormy there!!
It's only 5 planets away from the sun so my tan comes out very nicely and i show it off when i get
back to Earth. We always drive to the moons too, they're smaller and not as hot so i don't sunburnt
and we like to explore each community. It's a great time every

Mayan Calendar Essay
Throughout the years, many different cultures have created many different calendars. Each culture
like the Mayans and Egyptians and others have all used celestial bodies to help determine the
months and years. Each culture has their way of using the celestial bodies to create a calendar
because they had different methods of calculating the time. Having a calendar helped them keep
track of seasonal and celestial events and on predicting eclipses and moon phases.
Originally, the calendars were constructed by ancient civilizations by using the celestial bodies in
which the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars were used as references to calculate the time and to
determine seasons, months, and years. Every culture has kept track of time in their own...show more
content...
The walls have written and paintings on them which, include the calculations of the Mayan Calendar
which many people believe their calculation prophesies the "end of the world" which the
archaeologist have confirmed not to be true. In Xultun, they have discovered paintings, which
according to William Saturno states, "Maya paintings are incredibly rare, not because the Maya
didn't paint them often, but because they rarely preserve in the tropical environment of Guatemala."
These paintings contain illustrations. The first painting has a king wearing a royal outfit that
contains feathers and a man kneeling beside the king holding a stylus possible being a scribe.
Underneath the painting, there is a label that could be translated to, "Younger Brother Obsidian" or
"Junior Obsidian." The next painting has three men wearing feathered headdresses and medallions
which also have a label translated to, "Older Brother Obsidian" or "Senior Obsidian." The paintings
weren't the only things found, a wall filled with calculation was also found. The wall was filled with
charts of numbers representing bars and dots. Maya astronomers, priests, and mathematicians at the
time used to calculate the moon ages to create the Mayan Calendar and to predict the next eclipses
from observing the heavens. Mayan calculation

The Mayans Essay
The Mayans The ancient Mayan civilization settled in the Yucatan Peninsula in around 900 AD.
This civilizations was one of the most advanced of its times. They created their own religion,
language, mathematical structure, a very precise calendar, and many other things. The Mayan
way of life revolved their religion. They had a polytheistic religion praising many gods. Each god
had a certain thing that they would rule over or take care of. Chac was the god of rain, Kinich
Ahau was the sun god, and Yum Cimil was the god of the underworld. There were many gods and
goddess for almost every reason one could think of, there is even a goddess of suicide. They would
perform human sacrifices, bleeding rituals, and dances to praise and to...show more content...
The children in upper class families would be taught many different skills, whereas the
commoners' children would just learn the skill of their parents. The children would continue to
live with their parents until the got married. There were many regulations about sex and
marriage. Homosexuality and inbreeding was strictly forbidden. If they practiced those they
would become an outcast. There was also no marriage outside the classes unless the chief of the
district approved it. The Mayans were also were technologically advanced. They used their own
math system. One dot stood for one, a bar symbolized five, and a shell figure was zero. The
numbers were expressed vertically with the highest on top. The also created a very precise
calendars. Two different calendars were calculated 260–day and a 365–day. They were able to
calculate the dates because at noon time there was no shadow. This was important for them to use
in predicting eclipses, scheduling religious ceremonies, and when to plant and harvest.
Agriculture and trade were the basis of the economy. A wide variety of things were grown. The
predominate crop was maize. However, beans, squash, pumpkin, chili peppers, tomatoes, frijol,
yucca, cocoa, tobacco, avocado, and sapota were grown and traded. The goods were taken to
major cities and traded for things like cloth, jade, pottery, fish, deer meat, and also salt. All of these
were traded by canoe. They also domesticated dogs and

Mayan Achievements Essay
The most remarkable achievement of the Maya is their number system. However from all of their
achievements I feel the less but still important ones was the cities and buildings they built, their
trade network, and their calendar. The reason to why their number system is truly their most
remarkable achievement is because it would already be hard to make a number and then have to
give it a name of what you or anyone would call it. Not only did they make their own number
system, but they also understood. It can be very difficult to make your own language or number
system and understand it. It is also very remarkable because at their time not a lot of cultures had
the knowledge of the zero, they did. The reason I feel that their calendar

The Mayan Civilization
The Mayan Civilization at its height was one of the greatest civilization to ever reign on the
planet. Their advances in astronomy and mathematics well in advance has helped present
civilizations to prosper. But one of the great questions is what happened to the Mayans? Why did
they collapse? What caused them to collapse? It is a question that had gone unanswered for
decades until some of the worlds great historians and scientist finally concluded to three reasons
why the Mayan Civilization collapsed. The Mayans Collapse was fast and occurred due to
Deforestation and Climate Change, Overpopulation, and Internal and Exterior Rivalry. The
Classical Maya was lost to the archaeological records until the last 200 years due to it's
abandonment. When the Mayans left there great cities, thick vines and jungles overtook the great
monuments they once built. But in the last 200 years, in depth research has lead to breakthroughs
into what the Classic Maya was like. The earliest Mayans were agriculturalist, growing crops such
as corn (maize), beans, squash and cassava. The Mayans also invented a very accurate calendar, a
math code using 0's, constructed buildings still intact today, and a writing system that took decades
to decode. The Mayans were situated in one geographical block covering all of the Yucatan
Peninsula (Mexico), modern–day Guatemala, Belize, parts of the Mexican states of Tabasco and
Chiapas, and the western part of Honduras and El Salvador. Due to their location on the

Mayan Civilizations
Many ancient civilizations had noteworthy accomplishments, specifically in Mesoamerica three
civilizations had many great feats in the time of which they prospered. These imposing civilizations
were the Mayans, who were cultured with advancements in mathematics and sciences. The Aztec
who had a detailed understanding of the trade. And lastly the Incas who developed vast road and
irrigation channels that connected their empire. The Mayan civilization had a highly advanced society
which made substantial advances in mathematics, sciences as well as architecture. In the capital city
of Tikal (present day Guatemala) they built five major pyramids whose heights ranged from one
hundred and thirty–eight feet to more than two hundred feet. Some of...show more content...
The warlike Aztec people were also renowned conquerors and the capital city of Tenochtitlan grew
rapidly due to tributes from conquered peoples. With the city growing at such a rapid rate it drew in
people looking for jobs and trade therefore increasing the population to an almost unheard of count of
four hundred thousand people, making Tenochtitlan the largest city inMesoamerica. When the
Spanish conquistadors arrived, they were dumbfounded by the well structured markets and the
sheer amount of people who could be found buying and selling goods there. The markets sold
almost everything that could be produced by the peoples of the time these items include but are
not limited to food products, valuable metals such as gold and silver, and also animal bones,
shells and feathers. Tenochtitlan was considered one of the greatest cities in mesoamerica not only
because of it's methodical trade squares but also because of the unseen ways that the early peoples
developed farming and also the organized grid like structure of which the city was set up. The
people used a method of farming that involved bed of soil that "floated" on the water, these beds
were called Chinampas and they were the main way that the Aztecs cultivated crops for the

Ancient Maya Essay
Ancient Maya The ancient Maya were a group of American Indian peoples who lived in Southern
Mexico. Their descendants, the modern Maya,live in the same regions today. Agriculture was the
basis of the economy of the Mayan and corn was the principal food.(Voorhies 324) Other crops
included avocados, tomatoes, and chili peppers. They cultivated an enormous variety of
plants.(Foley 20) In hieroglyphic writing, astronomy, and mathematics, the Mayan Indians were far
ahead of any other people in the New World.(Foley 20) The Mayan invented a solar "civil" calendar
including three hundred sixty– five days.(Ivanoff 86) The accuracy of the Mayan calculations is all
the more extraordinary in view of the fact that they had no...show more content...
As population rose, the nobles of the independent city states both intermarried and made war on
one another. Ultimately, the system of rule that had served the Maya for centuries had failed.
Faced with famine, foreign invasion, chronic warfare, and perhaps disease, an era ended what is
generally called the Classic Maya collapse. Although writing in the New World did not originate
among the Maya, they gave writing its greatest refinements.(Miller)What Mayan writing seems to
represent is a sacred language used only by the elite, initiated, and known only by them. The
language of the Mayan was identical with that of the Yucatan Indians, given the fact that writing
was identical. The Maya kept records on large stone monuments called stelae. They used the
Steele to record important dates and to take note of great events in the lives of their rulers.(Price
91)They also used the stelae to recount the positions of the "heavenly bodies"_ particularly the
Moon, Venus, and Jupiter.(Miller)The men and the older boys did most of the farm work. They
also did most of the hunting and fishing. The women and older girls made family clothes and
prepare the meals. The Maya made small sculptures of clay and carved huge ones from stone. Some
of the large sculptures stood over thirty feet high.( Voorhies 326) Early Classic stone sculpture
usually features a single Maya ruler celebrating his reign.Many fine

The Fall of the Mayan Empire Essay
The fall of the Mayan Empire The collapse of the Mayan Empire is one of history's greatest
mysteries. It was one of the most advanced and developed civilizations of its time period, reining
during the Pre–Classic period and into the Classic and Post–Classic Periods (2000 B.C. – 900 A.D.).
The territory stretched from the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, down to modern day El Salvador in
Central America. Its achievements were monumental for the era, being the first empire
communicating with the use of a written language having over 800 symbols and producing the first
365 day calendar. They maintained an in–depth understanding of astrological cycles that would assist
in planning harvesting cycles and predicting solar eclipses. The Mayan's...show more content...
They have found iconographic elements and works of pottery and tools that are not consistent
with the Classic Mayan model, suggesting that foreign invaders drove the Mayan's from the
region . However, most scientists believe this phenomenon to be a symptom rather than a cause,
and say this theory is highly debatable. With the vast number of Mayan people, coupled with its
historical resilience, it seems unlikely that a singular military force could wipe out the entire
region. Many who reject this theory believe it was not solely foreign controversy. Internal conflict
coupled with outside invaders could have ultimately led to the fall of the empire. Although some
scientists believe that it was not warfare at all that caused the decline. Another highly analyzed
theory is the "Epidemic Diseases Theory". This theory postulates that widespread disease crippled
the region and led to rapid depopulation, although there is speculation about the exact type of
disease. James Brewbaker believes that the disease originated from the corn in the lowland regions
of the area. In his article in Economic Botany, he writes, "the maize mosaic virus (MMV), is
proposed as the contributing cause of the collapse" . This is a devastating virus that is transmitted
from insects of the tropic lowlands into the corn. It is fairly conclusive that the insects of the region
spread this illness, although the exact disease is not known. They

Mayan Culture Essay
Maya, a beautiful, noble, mysterious name 'what kind of brilliant achievements have ever had?
Even the Maya predicted that the end of 2012 doomsday have caused panic around the world.
However, it is such a strong civilization that seems to have evaporated from this earth overnight. Let
people have deep curiosity on Mayan culture! Let us work together to understand more Maya it.
It is said that the Maya people started to construct religious buildings before the year 1000 AD. The
earliest relics consisted of simple earth mounds and later evolved into pyramids. Early Mayan
culture seemed to be influenced by earlier Olmec civilizations. After their civilization was spread to
today's Yucatan Peninsula, the Olmek civilization fell through its demise. 200 BC to 800 AD is the
most...show more content...
The most prominent of these are the pyramids and royal palaces built in the religious center. Other
important archaeological remains are the carved slate, which are written in hieroglyphs to describe
the genealogy, the victory of the war, and other accomplishments. Palenque is the most beautiful
Mayan city in classical times, and even people call it "Athens of America". Another famous city is
Copan. From the point of view of modern ruins, Tikal, Copan and Palenque can be regarded as the
largest three city states in the classical Mayan civilization. From the ninth century AD, the Mayan
culture in the classical era of the sudden sudden decline at the same time, the reason is still the
subject of historians. Between the 10th and the 11th centuries AD, the once flourishing Mayan cities
were abandoned and covered by jungles. Since then, with the rise of Chichen–Iza, some Mayan city
states have emerged in the northern savannah of the Yucatan Peninsula, beginning the classical
period after the Mayan culture in history. The regime of the city of Chichen Itza was overthrown in
1221 AD, followed by a city–state alliance led by Maya Pan. In 1441, the Mayan Pen

Mayan Essay

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