Astronomy In Mayan Civilization

​Many of the cultures that we have today have evolved from past events. Such as language it was something that became known throughout the years. Some of the languages that came from that were English, Spanish, German, and Latin to name a few. These languages were derived more past civilizations. One important civilization that is known for having great success is the Mayan civilization. The Mayan civilization is known for many things like they fully developed written language, art, architecture, math and some other factors. Historians have said that they don’t know an exact date of when this civilization rose up but they do mention that it flourished for about 2000 years. Although staring in 250 AD it is said that it was the start of their high point and it continued until the arrival of the Spanish in 1524. The Maya area covers southern Mexico and northwestern Central America. According to Sharer the area is divided into three regions: the Pacific coastal plain to the south, the highlands in the center, and the lowlands to the north. Even though these three regions were under the same civilization they all practiced different religious rituals. Religion plays a big role in every civilization. Some civilizations tend to praise more than one god and they always mention that what they have is thanks to their god. When they see things going wrong they often say that their god is punishing them because they did something that the god/s did not like. This tends to be the same

The Maya deemed the Sun as a brash and masculine life force as it acts as the source of all maturation completed in this world (Stone & Zender: 62). In modern times, the Sun is the source of energy for all living organism, so it is possible that the Maya made that discovery as well, thus declaring the Sun as the most powerful creature of nature. Additionally, believed power of the Sun and sunlight was often depicted during the comparison between the two and the jaguar — the strongest and most respected animal in Maya culture (Miller: 158). The strength and stamina of the jaguar is believed to be similar to that of the Sun. Hence why the Maya Sun God K’inich Ajaw is depicted as a young and strong man, a person who can keep up with the vigor

A crucial concept throughout history is the tendency of societies to fall apart completely (Diamond 684). Today, the United States, relying on technology to remedy the ills of the world, is a great deal like the Mayan Society. Diamond explains the dangerous misconceptions that Mayan society and other civilizations did not consider in their early development.

The Mayans were also were technologically advanced. They used their own math system. One dot stood for one, a bar symbolized five, and a shell figure was zero. The numbers were expressed vertically with the highest on top. The also created a very precise calendars. Two different calendars were calculated 260-day and a 365-day. They were able to calculate the dates because at noon time there was no shadow. This was important for them to use in predicting eclipses, scheduling religious ceremonies, and when to plant and harvest.

The Maya civilization was one of the most dominant indigenous societies of Mesoamerica. The growth of the great Mayan civilization is as much a mystery as its disappearance. The Maya Empire, centered in the tropical lowlands of what is now Guatemala, reached the peak of its power and influence around the sixth century A.D (http://www.history.com/topics/maya#). As a youth growing up in Belize Central America, I was very much intrigued by the Mayan civilization as we would regularly take educational field trips to the massive stone temples of Xunantunich and Altun Ha. Both Mayan ruins were no more than 50 miles away from my childhood home. Most of what we know about the Maya comes from what remains of their architecture and art, including stone carvings and inscriptions on their buildings and monuments. The Maya were deeply religious, and worshiped various gods related to nature, including the gods of the sun, the moon, rain and corn.

The Mayans achieved many accomplishments. They had a very advanced system of writing hieroglyphics. They also, were advanced in carving and sculpting. They were good at making paper from fig trees They had an advanced calendar that had 18 months and each had 20 days.

The Mayans were an advanced civilization that lived for over 600 years with an estimated population of over 19 million. Scientists, historians and archeologists have been able to prove their level of advancement in different ways. Mayans aligned their limestone structures such as palaces and temples to celestial bodies with mathematical precision. They became effective farmers and their understanding of Agriculture led them to improve the productivity of their main source of nutrition which was corn (Maize). (Olver, 2015) Their knowledge of Astronomy led them to create the most accurate calendar in the ancient world. They also created a writing system and had a government system with laws and punishment assigned to those who broke their laws. (Criscenzo del Rio, 2000)

The astronomy that the Aztecs and the Maya developed was phenomenal. They were both great at predicting eclipses, as well as being the civilizations with the most accurate synodic periods of the Moon, Earth, Venus, and Mars at that time period. Clearly these people knew what they were doing and what they were looking at. Astronomy was such and important piece to their culture that you can see in both of the

The Mesoamerican society of the ancient Maya was one of the most dominant civilizations of its time. Centered in what is now Guatemala, this empire reached its peak around the sixth century CE. The Maya excelled in a variety of fields such as agriculture, pottery, writing, and mathematics, just to name a few. Many of their accomplishments can be traced back to their deeply religious way of life. Understanding the Mayan religion gives us insight into their values and traditions; it allows us to see the world through the eyes of the ancient Mayans. Astronomical discovery is at the heart of Maya religion and culture. Without the advent of modern technology such as telescopes and computers, they were able to successfully track cycles of celestial

The Mayans were an advanced civilization that had made great accomplishments. They had an advanced culture with gods and plenty of sacrifices to them. They also invented the basis of basketball, writing, and herbal medicines. Their cities were remarkable and they had schools, ball courts, shops, and hospitals too. The Mayans lived for a very peaceful time, until the Spanish came.They started to take down the Mayan civilization. the Spanish burned their codices and destroyed the basis of Mayan culture. Many Mayans died and the rest of them lived in small villages scattered around Mexico. The once inhabited land of the Mayans and their cities were just now overgrown

The Mayan empire was a very complex civilization. The Mayan empire who was a civilization that was located in Mexico and parts of South America. Their civilization lasted nearly 3,000 years before their empire collapsed. Astronomy to the mayans was very important because in their society they believed that the stars where messages from the gods. Since the mayans were polytheistic they believed that each star was a deity or god. They believed in many gods and where religious, they had a god for everything. The mayans like the aztecs thought the sun was a god. There obsession with the stars lead to many discoveries.

Astronomy started many beliefs that we have today such as creationism. Mesopotamians believed that many gods controlled life. They believed that Enki was the God of water, and that he controls the flow of the Euphrates and Tigris, on which Mesopotamians relied on for survival.

The Classical Maya was lost to the archaeological records until the last 200 years due to it’s abandonment. When the Mayans left there great cities, thick vines and jungles overtook the great monuments they once built. But in the last 200 years, in depth research has lead to breakthroughs into what the Classic Maya was like. The earliest Mayans were agriculturalist, growing crops such as corn (maize), beans, squash and cassava. The Mayans also invented a very accurate calendar, a math code using 0’s, constructed buildings still intact today, and a writing system that took decades to decode. The Mayans were situated in one geographical block covering all of the Yucatan Peninsula (Mexico), modern-day Guatemala, Belize, parts of the Mexican states of Tabasco and Chiapas, and the western part of Honduras and El Salvador. Due to their location on the

Achievement Masters The Classic Mayan Civilization dominated lower Mexico and upper Central America to create a vast amount of achievements. The Mayans developed and mastered the practices of architecture and astronomy. These practices of Mayan architecture and astronomy can relate to today's advanced practices of theses subjects and to Mexican history. The Classic Mayan Civilization lasted from 250 CE to 900 CE which was the height of its civilization.

The Mayan people were very interested in knowing more about what went on above, and studies the constellations, and were even the first to discover the Orion Nebula. They also observed the movement of the planets, sun and earth. More areas of note of the Mayans include their calendar and writing system. Their calendar included a 260-day sacred year and a 365-day secular year, which restarted every 52 years.