The Maya civilization had many complex religious beliefs, including that the gods created humans multiple times from materials like clay and wood before succeeding with corn dough. They believed in an underworld called Xibalba ruled by jaguar death gods, and that souls of the deceased traveled there. The Maya had over 150 gods with roles like creation, the elements, rain, the sun and death. They performed bloodletting and human sacrifice rituals to please the gods and ensure good harvests, victories in war, and entrance to the upperworld after death.

1. An task setting PowerPoint about the Maya Civilisation
The Maya Ci vi l i sat i on
Gods, Rel i gi on and Bel i ef s

2. Cr eat i on Accor di ng t he Anci ent Maya
The gods made ani mal s, but t he ani mal s di dn' t
speak t o t hem.
The gods t r i ed t o make humans out of cl ay but
t hey wer e l i mp, and mel t ed i n t he r ai ns.
They made humans out of wood but t he r ai ns
dr owned t hem.
Event ual l y t hey made humans f r om zucan ( mai ze
dough) and t hi s was a success.

3. The Under wor l d
The under wor l d was cal l ed Xi bal ba, whi ch means
' pl ace of f ear ' .
I t was r eached t hr ough caves and t unnel s.
Maya gods of deat h, who l ooked l i ke j aguar s,
l i ved i n t he under wor l d.
The Maya bel i eved t hat when t hey di ed t hei r soul s
t r avel l ed t o t he under wor l d.

4. The Gods
Many of t hem had over l appi ng r ol es and names.
The Anci ent Maya had many, many gods ( over
150! ) , onl y a f ew of whi ch ar e ment i oned by t he
same name i n di f f er ent sour ces.
Some had human f or m, some t ook t he f or m of an
ani mal , ot her s wer e a phenomena of nat ur e.

5. I t zamna
One of t he cr eat or
gods.
I nvent or of wr i t i ng.
Pat r on of l ear ni ng.
Por t r ayed i n human
f or m as an ol d man
wi t h no t eet h and a
l ar ge nose.

6. Kukul can
Supr eme god.
God of t he f our el ement s
wi t h t he f ol l owi ng i t ems
associ at ed wi t h each one:
mai ze- ear ( ear t h)
a f i sh ( wat er )
l i zar d ( f i r e)
vul t ur e ( ai r )
One of t he cr eat or gods.
God of r esur r ect i on and
r ei ncar nat i on .
Hi s name means ‘ f eat her ed
ser pent ’ .

7. I x Chel
Wi f e of I t zamnaaj .
Goddess of chi l dbi r t h,
heal i ng, weavi ng and t he
moon.
Por t r ayed i n human f or m
wear i ng a headdr ess of
snakes ent angl ed i n her
hai r , and t oes and
f i nger s t hat l ooked l i ke
j aguar cl aws.
Capabl e of causi ng f l oods
and dest r uct i on.
The mot her of many ot her
gods.

8. Hun I xi m-
Mai ze God
Fr om hi s head spr out ed an
ear of mai ze.
Was i mpor t ant because t he
di et of t he Maya was 80%
mai ze and t hey r el i ed on
t he har vest bei ng
successf ul .
Al so i mpor t ant because
humans wer e cr eat ed f r om
mai ze dough by t he gods.

9. Chac -
Rai n God
Br ought t he r ai n needed
t o make cr ops gr ow.
Cr eat ed st or ms, t hunder
and l i ght ni ng.
Caused war s and human
sacr i f i ce
Por t r ayed as a human wi t h
a cur l i ng snout and
r ept i l e f angs.

10. Ki ni ch Ahau
- Sun God
Tr avel l ed acr oss t he sky
dur i ng t he day.
Sunk bel ow t he ear t h and
ent er ed t he under wor l d
ever y ni ght , wher e he
became a j aguar god.

11. Ah Puch
Deat h god.
Por t r ayed as a human wi t h
a skel et al nose, j aw and
spi ne and a body cover ed
i n hi deous spot s.

12. Rel i gi ous Ri t ual s
The anci ent Maya woul d per f or m r i t ual s t o gai n
f avour wi t h t he gods.
Publ i c f est i val s r el at ed t o speci al dat es on t he
Maya cal endar or occasi ons t o pl ead f or a heal t hy
har vest , t he heal t h of a r ul er , or t o wi n a war .
Bef or e a r i t ual or f est i val , peopl e woul d go
wi t hout cer t ai n f ood or pi er ce t hei r t ongues, l i ps,
cheeks or ear s t o of f er a sacr i f i ce of human bl ood.
The f est i val s wer e col our f ul and noi sy wi t h
pr ocessi ons, banner s, dr ums and t r umpet s.

13. St one car vi ngs show
r ul er s and nobl es gi vi ng
bl ood sacr i f i ces.
They had a l ot t o l ose i f
t hey di dn' t keep t he gods
happy.
The gods coul d keep t hem
i n power , hel p def eat
t hei r enemi es and l et
t hem i nt o t he Upper wor l d
when t hey di ed.
Bl ood Let t i ng
Thi s l i nt el shows Shi el d
Jaguar , t he war r i or ki ng
of Yaxchi l an, st andi ng
over hi s wi f e, Lady Xook,
hol di ng an enor mous
f l ami ng t or ch. Lady Xook
i s pul l i ng a t hor n-
st udded r ope t hr ough her
t ongue i n an act of bl ood
l et t i ng t o honour t he
Photo courtesy of vintagedept@flickr.com -granted under creative commons licence -
attribution

14. Human Sacr i f i ce
One of t he mai n pur poses f or f i ght i ng bat t l es
was t o t ake capt i ves t hat coul d t hen be
sacr i f i ced.
Accor di ng t o a wr i t er i n t he 1500s, t he Maya
woul d pai nt t he body of t he vi ct i m bl ue, l ay
hi m on a st one pl at f or m at t he t op of a t empl e,
and f our men woul d hol d hi m by hi s ar ms and
l egs.
The execut i oner woul d cut bet ween t he vi ct i m' s
r i bs and r i p out hi s hear t wi t h hi s hand.
The hear t woul d be pl aced, st i l l beat i ng, on a
pl at e and gi ven t o a pr i est .
The pr i est woul d smear bl ood f r om t he hear t on
t he f aces of st one i dol s.

15. Ther e i s pl ent y of evi dence of t hese pr act i ses
at Chi chen I t za.
Photos courtesy of jimg944 and BruceHH (@flickr.com) - granted under creative commons licence - attribution
Vi ct i ms coul d be t hr own i nt o t he ‘ Wel l of
Sacr i f i ce’
( but not al l t hat of t en) .

16. Photos courtesy of redeo@ flickr.com -granted under creative commons licence - attribution
St one car vi ngs of
j aguar s and eagl es
eat i ng hear t s of
vi ct i ms.

17. The Wal l of Skul l s
Photo courtesy of jimg944 @ flickr.com -granted under creative commons licence - attribution

18. Bel i eve i t or not , t he vi ct i ms who
went st r ai ght t o t he t empl e t o have
t hei r hear t s r i pped out coul d be
consi der ed t he l ucky ones!
Wal l pai nt i ngs, cer ami c f i gur es, st one
car vi ng and pai nt i ngs on pot t er y show
some vi ct i ms bei ng t or t ur ed f or a l ong
t i me bef or e f i nal l y bei ng sacr i f i ced.
We won' t go i nt o t he det ai l s, i t ' s al l
a bi t gor y. . . . .

19. Many cul t ur es and
r el i gi ons bel i eve i n an
af t er l i f e, somewher e
you go af t er you di e.
The anci ent Maya
bel i eved t hei r soul s
went t o a ‘ pl ace of
f ear ’ . Onl y t he r ul er s
and nobl es bel i eved
t her e was a chance of
t hem get t i ng t o t he
Upper wor l d. Why do you
t hi nk t hi s was?
Wher e does a l ot of
t he evi dence f or what
we know t oday come
f r om? How open ar e
t hese sour ces t o
i nt er pr et at i on?
How do t he bel i ef s of
t he anci ent Maya
compar e wi t h di f f er ent
r el i gi ous bel i ef s
t oday?
Can you f i nd any
si mi l ar i t i es?What do you t hi nk about
t hei r under st andi ng of
t he wor l d?
Why mi ght t hey have
t hought t hi s?
Why do you t hi nk t he
anci ent Maya had so many
di f f er ent gods?
Woul d you l i ke t o be
al i ve i n t he 1st
mi l l enni um and l i vi ng
wi t h t he anci ent Maya?
What woul d be t he pr os
and cons?
Somet hi ng t o t hi nk about . . . . . .