2. RELIGION
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!!
3. 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
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. VOCABULARY
CITY-STATE
A CITY THAT IS AN
INDEPENDENT POLITICAL
STATE WITH ITS OWN
RULING GOVERNMENT
HIEROGLYPH
A PICTURE OR SYMBOL
REPRESENTING AN IDEA,
AN OBJECT, A SYMBOL,
OR A SOUND
EQUINOX
ONE OF THE TWO DAYS
IN A YEAR WHEN THERE
IS AN EQUAL AMOUNT
OF DAYTIME AND
NIGHTTIME
10. INVENTING ZERO
• THE MAYA EXCELLED AT MATHEMATICS
• THEY INVENTED ZERO!!!
• THEY HAD SYMBOLS FOR EACH NUMBER AS SEEN BELOW
11. 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.
12. 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!!!!!
14. 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.
