Mayan Accomplishments
The Mayans are one of the most interesting and mysterious history civilizations out there. Nobody knows where they came from, how they managed to build their amazing stone cities in the rainforest without any stone tools, or why they seemed to die out at around 900 ce. Their accomplishments in astronomy and the understanding of time were great, and their cities were breathtaking.
Like I said before, nobody know exactly when or where the Mayans came from. While their original history is shrouded in mystery, historians now think that they first settled in the yucatan, now mexico, around the years 2600 BC to 1800 BC. There is also evidence that they lived in guatemala, El salvador, Honduras, and belize. When they first began, they were mostly …show more content…
Like many cultures, the Mayans believed in a heaven and an underworld in the afterlife. You would go to their heaven if you were good, and to the underworld if you did not worship correctly. The leader of the heavens was called Itzamn, who also ruled the night and day and would be called upon in the bad times. The ruler of the underworld was called Ah Puch, the god of death. the modern Maya call Ah Puch Yum Cimil (lord of death). More important gods included Chac, the god of rain and weather, Ah Mun, the god of corn and farming, and Ek Chuah, the god of war and sacrifice. The Mayans also believed that everything contained k’uh, which means sacredness. K’uh is also used to define the life force in all objects, and ties into the god's …show more content…
The cities were all made of stone, and beautifully structured. The building's design was usually pyramid like, with plazas or courtyards surrounding them. They ranged in size from single houses to palaces. The cities were also huge. For example, one of the main cities, Tikal, help over 60,000 people, with 10,000 individual buildings. The Mayans also were advanced enough in mathematics to create an accurate calendar. There were two different calendars used. One was like our own with 365 days but with 18 months. With this calendar, each month was twelve days long, with the exception of the “unlucky month” with only five days. The other was only 260 days
Like I said before, nobody know exactly when or where the Mayans came from. While their original history is shrouded in mystery, historians now think that they first settled in the yucatan, now mexico, around the years 2600 BC to 1800 BC. There is also evidence that they lived in guatemala, El salvador, Honduras, and belize. When they first began, they were mostly …show more content…
Like many cultures, the Mayans believed in a heaven and an underworld in the afterlife. You would go to their heaven if you were good, and to the underworld if you did not worship correctly. The leader of the heavens was called Itzamn, who also ruled the night and day and would be called upon in the bad times. The ruler of the underworld was called Ah Puch, the god of death. the modern Maya call Ah Puch Yum Cimil (lord of death). More important gods included Chac, the god of rain and weather, Ah Mun, the god of corn and farming, and Ek Chuah, the god of war and sacrifice. The Mayans also believed that everything contained k’uh, which means sacredness. K’uh is also used to define the life force in all objects, and ties into the god's …show more content…
The cities were all made of stone, and beautifully structured. The building's design was usually pyramid like, with plazas or courtyards surrounding them. They ranged in size from single houses to palaces. The cities were also huge. For example, one of the main cities, Tikal, help over 60,000 people, with 10,000 individual buildings. The Mayans also were advanced enough in mathematics to create an accurate calendar. There were two different calendars used. One was like our own with 365 days but with 18 months. With this calendar, each month was twelve days long, with the exception of the “unlucky month” with only five days. The other was only 260 days