Mayans, Aztecs, and Incas

The Mayans, Aztecs, and the Incas were three popular civilizations of Latin America during the middle ages. Although, they had many remarkable similarities, they also had a lot of differences. They all thought of religion as significant and their class structure was similar as well. However, they’re roles and expectations of women and men differed. For starters, their similarities; class structure. At the top of their chain stood a emperor. After him follows the nobles, priest, and military commanders. The next level was a bit different. In the Mayan society, it was the merchants and artisans. In the Aztec and Incan societies, it was the commoners. After this level came the peasants, but only in the Aztec and Mayan societies, as the Incan class structure ended at the commoners. The last level was the low-ranking slaves. Thus stating, more than half of their class structures were the same. Religion was an important part of life for the Mayans, Aztecs, and Incas. Their distinct similarity was in which god was the most important. Both the Aztec and the Inca believed that the Sun God was the most essential god. Although there was no clear god that was the most important in the Mayan society, as the primary gods were forces or objects in nature that affected their daily lives, it can be assumed that the Sun God was very important to the Mayans as well. In all three civilizations, the priest conducted all of the rituals. Also, they all made sacrifices to the gods. Both animals, and sometimes humans, for more important rituals, were given as offerings. One big exception, however, was the case of the Aztecs. The Aztecs believed that the sun fought daily battles against darkness, andthat blood nourished him. Blood of warriors were believed to be especiallynourishing. As a result of this, several thousand people were sacrificed each year tothe gods, and a lot of them were prisoners of war. During the sacrifice, they wereslaughtered in a brutal way. Their living