THE MAYANS

RELIGIONClick icon to add picture

HUMAN SACRIFICE WAS A BIG PART OF THE MAYA RELIGION. THEY OFFERED THEIR SACRIFICES ON TOP OF PYRAMIDS. THE PRIESTS WOULD THEN STRAP THEIR PRISONER TO A STONE ALTAR, WHO WOULD BE PAINTED BLUE, AND THEN VIOLENTLY CUT OPEN THE CAPTIVES CHEST AND TAKE HIS/HER HEART OUT. IN THE GAME OF POK-TA-POK, THE TEAM THAT LOST THE GAME WOULD BE SACRIFICED BECAUSE THEY WERE CONSIDERED EVIL. GOOD LUCK!!

MYSTERIOUS WRITING

• ARCHAEOLOGISTS FOUND HIEROGLYPHS CARVED INTO DIFFERENT MAYA BUILDINGS AND WALLS.

• HIEROGLYPHS WERE A TYPE OF WAY THAT THE MAYANS COMMUNICATED WITH EACH OTHER.

• THEY WERE KIND OF LIKE A CODE. ONCE YOU FIGURE OUT THE CODE YOU CAN READ WHAT THEY SAY.

• IT WASN’T UNTIL THE 1960’S THAT ARCHAEOLOGISTS STARTED TO CRACK THE ANCIENT CODE

HIEROGLYPHS

THE MAYA: PEOPLE OF MYSTERY MORE THAN A THOUSAND YEARS AGO, THE MAYAN CIVILIZATION BUILT CITIES, TEMPLES, AND PYRAMIDS ACROSS CENTRAL AMERICA, DISCOVERED ASTONISHING MATHEMATICAL TERMS, AND AFTER WHAT SEEMED LIKE THOUSANDS OF YEARS OF SUCCESS AND PROSPERITY, THEY MYSTERIOUSLY VANISHED FROM THEIR HOME. THERE ARE MANY THEORIES TO WHAT MIGHT HAVE HAPPENED TO THE MAYANS, THOUGH NO ONE KNOWS IF THEY ARE TRUE.

WHERE DID THEY GO?

• ONE THEORY SUGGESTS THAT THE FARMERS ROSE UP AGAINST THE PRIESTS AND NOBLES AND STARTED A CIVIL WAR• SOME HAVE GUESSED THAT DISEASE WIPED OUT THE MAYA

POPULATION.• DID DISASTER STRIKE? EARTHQUAKE? FAMINE? • PERHAPS INVADERS FROM CENTRAL MEXICO ATTACKED THE

MAYA.

Click icon to add picture

THE MAYANS HAD A VERY ACCURATE CALENDAR, ALMOST EXACTLY LIKE OURS IN MODERN DAY. EACH INDIVIDUAL GLYPH STANDS FOR ONE OF THE 18 MONTHS IN THE MAYA CALENDAR. THE MAYA, WORKING WITHOUT SCIENTIFIC TOOLS, CALCULATED THAT THERE WERE 365.2420 DAYS IN A YEAR. MODERN ASTRONOMERS, USING THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY, MEASURE THE YEAR AT 365.2422 DAYS!!! THE MAYA SOLAR CALENDAR, BASED ON THE SUN, IS NOT EXACTLY LIKE OURS. THEY HAVE 18 MONTHS IN A YEAR WHILE WE ONLY HAVE 12 MONTHS, NAMED LIKE POP AND ZIP. THEY HAD ONE OTHER CALENDAR, THE SACRED ROUND. THE SACRED ROUND WAS USED TO KEEP TRACK OF RELIGIOUS EVENTS AND WAS 260 DAYS LONG. BECAUSE THERE WERE TWO CALENDARS, ALL CHILDREN HAD TWO BIRTHDAYS.

VOCABULARY

CITY-STATEA CITY THAT IS AN

INDEPENDENT POLITICAL STATE WITH

ITS OWN RULING GOVERNMENT

HIEROGLYPHA PICTURE OR SYMBOL

REPRESENTING AN IDEA, AN OBJECT, A

SYMBOL, OR A SOUND

EQUINOXONE OF THE TWO DAYS IN A YEAR WHEN THERE IS AN EQUAL AMOUNT

OF DAYTIME AND NIGHTTIME

MATHEMATICS!

INVENTING ZERO• THE MAYA EXCELLED AT MATHEMATICS

• THEY INVENTED ZERO!!!• THEY HAD SYMBOLS FOR EACH NUMBER AS SEEN BELOW

COMING OF AGE

• BEFORE THE AGE OF 5, MAYA CHILDREN DID NOT HAVE MANY RESPONSIBILITIES AND WERE NURTURED BY THEIR PARENTS AND OTHER RELATIVES.

• WHEN THEY TURNED 5 THOUGH, THEY HAD MORE RESPONSIBILITIES AND CHORES.

• A SYMBOL OF BEING FIVE FOR A BOY WAS TO HAVE A WHITE BEAD BRAIDED INTO HIS HAIR. A GIRL HAD A STRING TIED TO HER WAIST WITH A RED SHELL ATTACHED.

GRADUATION CEREMONIES

• THE SYMBOLS OF THEIR CHILDHOOD REMAINED UNTIL THEY REACHED THE AGE OF 14

• EACH INDIVIDUAL HAD AN INITIATION CEREMONY TO MARK THEIR PASSAGEWAY TO ADULTHOOD

• THEY WOULD DO IT WHEN THE STARS WERE “FAVORABLE”• THE PRIEST WOULD THEN CUT THE BEAD FROM THE BOY’S HAIR AND THE

GIRL’S MOTHER WOULD CUT THE STRING FROM THE GIRL’S WAIST

• THEN THE PARENTS, FAMILY, AND NEIGHBORS WOULD HAVE A PARTY!!!!!

WEDDING RINGS!

ARRANGED MARRIAGES?!!

• AFTER THE INITIATION CEREMONIES, BOYS WOULD MOVE INTO A HOUSE FOR BACHELORS AND STAYED THERE UNTIL THEY “SET THE DATE”.

• IN THE HARD LIFE OF MAYA FARMERS, MARRIAGES WERE NOT SEEN AS ROMANTIC AFFAIRS, BUT AS BUSINESS DEALS.

• PRIESTS HAD TO BE CONSULTED BEFORE THE MARRIAGE DATE WAS SET.• THEY CONSULTED THE STARS AND THE GODS TO FIND A DAY THAT WOULD

BRING GOOD FORTUNE.

THERE WILL BE AN OPEN NOTE QUIZ

TOMORROW!!!

THE END!