Essay Sample about Mayan Civilization

📌Category: History, Mesoamerica
📌Words: 1362
📌Pages: 5
📌Published: 11 June 2022

Evidence for the Mayan civilization has been shown from as early as 2600 B.C.E. With Mesoamerican Indians roaming the area of Guatemala and northern Belize, it became a great place to start and expand. Around 1500 B.C.E, Mayans started settling in villages around this area as it was a great location for agriculture. The reasoning behind this is due to the fact of Guatemala’s climate. Guatemala has a tropical climate and is usually hot all year round, but provides a decent amount of rainfall. With this being so, it makes perfect for agriculture. These Mesoamericans used the location to create crops such as corn, beans, squash, etc. Once the Mayan civilization started, it became a cultural pot. To begin with, the Mayans built many pyramids and temples that were made for their beliefs. With a temple inside and a long stoned staircase, it shows the dedication the early Mayan people had for their society.  Moving on, the Mayan civilization lasted a very long time. To help separate the periods, historians have split the period into three major intervals. Pre-Classic (1800 B.C. - 250 A.D.), Classic (250 A.D. - 900 A.D.), and finally Post-Classic (900 A.D. - 1500 A.D.).  During the Pre-Classic period, this is when the lifestyle inside of the Mayan land was first starting to be formed. This is also why it is known as the formative period. This is when agriculture was first flourished in the Mayan community. As stated before, they would grow corn, beans, squash, etc. Throughout this period farmers in this region would expand their land and growth to the lowland and highland of the continent. With this, agriculture prospered in this area. Also throughout the Pre-Classic period is when most early beliefs and religions inside of this civilization originated. Along with other things such as pyramid constructions, city construction, religious beliefs, etc. To focus more on religious beliefs, the Mayans believed in animism/catholicism and were polytheistic. Important gods include Itzam Ná (The god of creation.), Kisim (The god of death.), Huracán (Often known as Heart of Heaven or Heart of Earth.), and Ix Chel (The goddess of rainbows.). Although there are more, these are the most mentionable. To celebrate these religions and gods, the Mayans did multiple rituals as well. Most rituals would be to please or to give offerings to the gods. Human sacrifice was a common ritual within the Mayan civilization. They would sacrifice human lives to the gods to satisfy them. While although the most common way of human sacrifice was bloodlet, it is a well-known myth that it was done by gruesome death. Another common ritual was lowering children into cenotes. They would then ask them to speak to the gods for them. Hours later they would retrieve the child that way the child can relay the message that they heard from the deities. Another ritual that the Mayans would perform is inside of temples they would leave jewels such as jade, gold, sacred tools, or other precious items. Marriage was also a big ritual in Maya. Mayans would keep most marriages inside of the same social class, as marriage outside of social class was considered unnatural. Marriage would also happen at typically a young age, but only when populations would start declining. But overall, the Mayans had a very unique and different lifestyle than what ours is like today. 

Mayan Accomplishments

The Mayans were a very advanced civilization for their time. It had made multiple historical advancements that are still of use in our today’s lifestyle. To start off, the Mayans believed heavily in the field of astronomy. Space, stars, overall the cosmos. And their understanding of that topic is groundbreaking for that time period. To provide an example, the Mayans found a way to help predict solar eclipses. By using a sense of a lunar calendar and also creating a normal calendar that is almost a replica in accuracy compared to ours. To use a statement from History.com Editors,” The first, known as the Calendar Round, was based on two overlapping annual cycles: a 260-day sacred year and a 365-day secular year. Under this system, each day was assigned four pieces of identifying information: a day number and day name in the sacred calendar and a day number and month name in the secular calendar. Every 52 years is counted as a single interval or Calendar Round. After each interval, the calendar would reset itself like a clock.” This statement provides a well in the detailed description of the Mayan calendar. This new discovery allowed Mayans to keep a well and accurate record of their progress chronologically for a short period of time. The problem with this system however is that with it going on like an endless cycle it poorly showed true accuracy in a sequential format. So to fix this problem, Mayans found a new method of tracking time. A new type of calendar, named Long Count. According to History.com again,” The Long Count system identified each day by counting forward from a fixed date in the distant past. (In the early 20th century, scholars found that this “base date” was August 11 or August 13, 3114 BC.) It grouped days into sets, or cycles, as follows: baktun (144,000 days), k’atun (7,200 days), tun (360 days), uinal or winal (20 days), and kin (one day).” Overall, the Mayans found a well way to improvise their way to tell time.

Another well-known Mayan accomplishment is their pyramids. Mayans created multi-leveled limestone/sandstone pyramids for multiple reasons. To start, the Mayans created some pyramids as a tribute to their religion/beliefs. They would use the pyramids to offer blessings to their gods or to perform other rituals. The Mayans however had many architectural buildings. Mayans have invented many other things such as chocolate, rubber, proper mathematics, and many other things.

Mayan government

Finally, their government. Their ideology of leaders compared their leaders as gods. Meaning that they were always right, and they had all the power. Although the government sense changed throughout the cities of the civilization of Maya, this belief usually stayed around the same. With this also, it was an unspoken rule to typically keep the line of power inside of the family. However, the government changed throughout the different eras of the Mayan civilization. You have the Pre-classic(1500 B.C.E - 250 C.E.), Classic (250 C.E. - 900 C.E.), and finally the Post-Classic(900 C.E. - 1530 C.E.). Typically the characteristics of these different periods help differentiate them. To provide an example, the Classic period can be known for its rapid increase in trade, and known for being the most knowledgeable period. Or like the Post-classic period, it’s known for its high decline throughout the cities. To start with politics, most politics did not begin until the late Preclassic or Early Classic. And unlike some other civilizations Mayans allowed some women to lead. When the king wasn’t at the correct age to lead or was at war, the woman inside of the family would take over as the leader. And it is classified by multiple historians that the Classic period had around 72 major political units. These 72 units however did not all exist simultaneously, in fact, most policies and laws were spread out throughout the entire classic period. 

Another point I would like to focus on is their economy. Most of Maya was intertwined with a social hierarchy. What I mean by this is that most of their money was determined by a person’s social status. Similar to our society, they had elites, middle class, low class. Based on their social class would determine their location of residence. According to worldhistory.org, “The elites were typically situated near the temples in the city center and their homes were built of stone. The “middle class,” was further from the city centers, with homes made of wattle and daub. Wattle and daub are essentially the new world equivalent of thatch-roofed homes. The “lower class,” were typically even further from the city centers and had wattle and daub homes as well. However, this take on the social structure of the Maya may be shifting.” The middle class was mostly the producers. They would be the one who works, and overall is the construction of Maya. The lower classes would do slave work or low-level work. As far as currency-wise, the Mayans used basic agriculture as currency. They would trade or buy products with their crops such as corn, beans, squash. But the main source of currency was cacao beans. These beans were used to create chocolate and were exchanged for goods and services. 

To sum up my overall project, Maya was an amazing civilization that was very complex.  It had amazing inventions and complex society. This project has explained its economy, its achievements, way of life, food, government, and multiple other pieces of information about the Mayans. Thank you for listening.

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