Ancient Mayans

The Mayans were the indigenous Mesoamericans who lived in the lands of modern-day Yucatan, Guatemala, Quintana Roo, Campeche, Tabasco, Chiapas, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador. They lived in many small states ruled by kings that were centred by a city.

Early Mayan civilizations began around 1800 B.C, when they were mainly agricultural. They grew corn, squash, beans and cassava.

Cities

Mayans began building cities at 100 BCE. Hundreds of cities were built across the rainforests of Mesoamerica. While all cities were structured differently, most cities had temples and pyramids, palaces, ceremonial platforms, ball courts, and stelae.

There were two types of pyramids built in Mayan cities. One type was meant to be climbed, made for human sacrifices. An example of this pyramid would be the Chichen Itza. The other were sacred and not meant to be touched, often built with steep stairs or false doors. They were only climbed by priests to be closer to the gods.

Palaces were built for the royal family with large, elaborate buildings. One example would be Palenque’s palace with courtyards, patios and towers. The palaces were often larger than needed so there were administrative centres for government officials to regulate trade and tribute.

Ceremonial platforms were limestone platforms about 12 feet high for religious ceremonies and public announcements.

Ball games were played on courts where players attempted to shoot goals without using their hands through stone hoops on either side of the court. The losers were sacrificed to the underworld.

Stelae were tall carved pillars all around cities. They usually related to the lineage or heroic deeds of kings.

Religion

The Mayans were polytheist, worshipping over 165 gods. Their gods had human-like characteristics, as they were born, could grow up, and die.

Mayans believed that all souls went to the Underworld, except for human sacrifices and those who died during childbirth who went to heaven and looked after their relatives on Earth.

By Catherine Xu

References

https://www.history.com/topics/maya
http://www.storyofmathematics.com/mayan.html
https://www.ancient.eu/Maya_Civilization/
https://www.historyonthenet.com/features-of-mayan-cities/
http://anthropology.msu.edu/anp264-ss13/2013/04/24/mayans-religion-gods-animal-spirits-and-pyramids/
http://mayas.mrdonn.org/religion.html
https://www.livescience.com/41781-the-maya.html