Mayan Religious History Background
The Mayan civilization was one of the most dominant indigenous societies of Mesoamerica. The Maya were centered in one geographical block covering all of the Yucatan Peninsula and modern-day Guatemala; Belize and parts of the Mexican states of Tabasco and Chiapas.
The Maya lived in three separate sub-areas with distinct environmental and cultural differences. The earliest Maya settlements date to around 1800 B.C. The earliest were agricultural, growing crops such as corn, beans, squash, and cassava. Maya farmers began to expand their presence both in the highland and lowland regions. The Maya derived a number of religious and cultural traits as well as their number system and their famous calendar from the Olmec. The Pre-Classic Maya also displayed more advanced cultural traits like pyramid-building, city construction, and the inscribing and decorating of monuments. The Maya were deeply religious and worshipped various gods related to nature.The Mayan were seen as the mediators between the gods and between the people. The Classic Maya built many of their temples and palaces in a stepped pyramid shape, decorating them with elaborate reliefs and inscriptions. These structures have earned Maya their recognition of great artists of Mesoamerica. Maya also had significant advances in astronomy and mathematics. They developed the use of the number zero and the overall development of the 365 day based calendar. Maya were also known for their ability to build a great developed civilization in a tropical rainforest climate. Usually, ancient societies flourished better in drier climates as opposed to a tropical climate. Foreign invaders were disappointed by the region's lack of gold or silver, though the Maya took advantage of the area's lavish natural resources. The Mysterious Decline of Maya Through the late eighth and ninth century, something unknown happened to dismantle the Maya civilization down to it's original foundations. One by one, the lowland cities were abandoned around A.D. 900. At that time, the whole Maya civilization had collapsed.The reason as to the unknown collapse of this civilization has led to many scholars developing theories to figure out exactly what had happened to this society. |
Maya Temple BuildingChichan Itza, the principal Maya City.Mayan Pyramid Time |