Egyptian And Mexican Pyramids Essay

At the top of these temples is where the most important ceremonies and sacrifices took place. In Fiero’s text they were described as being like the Mesopotamian ziggurat. “The Maya temple was a terraced pyramid with a staircase ascending to a platform capped by a multiroomed superstructure. A shrine and sanctuary, it also served as a burial place for priests or rulers.” ( Fiero 461) Many of their temples were built with astronomy in mind, and certain ones were aligned to the movements of Venus, the sun and the moon.

Both civilizations had the similar idea of having a Hierarchy with a pharaoh in Ancient Egypt rule, and a King in the Maya. Along with a Hierarchy, the two civilizations believe in hereditary rule. This meant that rank, wealth, and power were passed on through bloodline from parents to children. They created very similar social classes with a majority of peasants, and their government was a form of Theocracy meaning that religion was a very important branch. They were polytheistic meaning they believed in many gods, and both kings and pharaohs were seen as gods who could intercede with religion to help citizens. Although the governments and religions of both civilizations were highly similar, the doctrines of religion were different. The Mayans believe in blood-sacrifices and often did human sacrifices to please and feed their gods. The Ancient Egyptians, however, sacrificed animals and burned incense opening to meditate and communicate with their gods. Both cultures had very similar styles of governments, and religious beliefs and these were two of the most important parts of their

Of the three theories on how the Great Pyramid was built, in descending order of acceptability, the most suitable theory is Clifford Wilson’s followed by Joseph Davidovits’ and Erich Von Däniken’s argument. Clifford Wilson’s theory is the best because he illustrates how the pyramids were built and provides the evidence to prove his theory, however; this is unlike Joseph Davidovits’ theory because Davidovits does not fully answer questions that arise concerning his theory. The three theories have similar points, but contain very different ideas on the construction of the Great Pyramid. This is obvious in Clifford Wilson’s argument where he is repeatedly disproving Von Däniken’s theory that the “gods” created the pyramids, whereas in

The priestly class lived in the cities, while the general population lived away in small farming villages. The priests would carry out daily religious duties, particularly sacrifices, and the peasants would gather periodically for religious ceremonies and festivals. They built the ceremonial centers in a specific design for religious practices. They constructed tall pyramid temples, warren-like single story palaces, and a ball court that was surrounded by a broad central plaza. The architectural features of the Mayan pyramids include towering roofs, corbel vaults, and elaborate embellishment with stucco reliefs (Palfrey 2). It is amazing to imagine the detail that the Mayans were able to create in their architecture with only primitive tools. For the Mayans, science and religion were linked. Time was extremely important and their agriculture and religious ceremonies required a system that could record time.

The Maya were noted as well for elaborate and highly decorated architecture, including temple-pyramids, palaces and observatories, all built without

Much of the pyramids history is on the inside. One of the many things inside of the pyramids are (sometimes also known as mummies) are the bodies of the pharaohs. When pharaohs died in Ancient Egypt, they were believed to become gods. In order to properly put them at rest, they had to do a proper burial. To do this, people has to take out every organ of the body except for the heart. The heart is told to hold the soul, so they couldn’t remove it. After this, they stuff the body with cloth and sew the skin up. They put chemicals on the body to dry it out, and set for 40 days. The body was then covered in oils, precious stones, and amulets and bound with longs strips of cloth over and over again. A highly decorated mask was set on the face and wrapped again in cloth. This whole process took about 70

The differences of the Mayan religious and the American religious is that for the only way for the sun to rise they have to sacrifice blood.The Mayans believe in more than one god so they are called polytheism.They also built huge monument to honor their kings and their gods.The physical labor was a honor to their gods.The most important god they have to honor is the sun god by farming corn because if they did not the sun would not rise and plants would die,the fruits would not be non nutritional,and animals would die.

Architecture, the basis of life for the Mayans. Architecture, specifically regarding pyramids. Now, when we think of the word “pyramid” most people will automatically think of the Great Pyramids of Egypt (we’ll get to those). But the Mayans had just as pyramids just as great. See, the technical building of the Maya pyramid was the same as the Egyptians. Both civilizations had pyramids of their own architectural design; Egypt with the well-known triangle and the Mayans with staircases. The use of slaves would help rise the pyramids from the ground, stacking, piling, pulling, and layering stone and clay. The main difference

     Paralleling the pyramids in Egypt were the ziggurats of Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia (meaning between two rivers, the Tigress and Euphrates) began making these structures around roughly 2000 BC. They were made of bricks that they produced on the building’s work site. There were sun-dried bricks to make up the solid inside of the ziggurat, and there were kiln fired bricks that made up the structures façade. These bricks were much smaller than the stones used in Egypt and also did not have to be brought from far away. Some of the ziggurats were built on top of older ones. Like Egyptian pyramids, the ziggurat was believed to be a kind of gateway between heaven and earth, but unlike the pyramids, the ziggurats where not tombs for kings. Rather they were believed to be the earthly homes of gods. Egyptians built their massive structures outside of major populated areas. But the ziggurats were in prominent areas. Cities had their own patron god or goddess (some places even had two ziggurats, one for a god of both sexes) and priests were the only ones allowed into these temples. They had the honor of catering to the needs of the gods and were powerful figures in their respective communities. Mesopotamians also built the Tower of Babel, which was supposed to have been built as bridge from earth to heaven. It was most likely located in Neo-Babylonia (home of the Hanging Gardens) and was also one of

     According to Egyptian and Sumerian mythology, there was a battle between two families of gods for supremacy and control over the ancient lands and the pyramids of Giza were strategic strongholds for the gods. (vi) The different shafts and chambers of the great pyramids are said to point to various constellations that represent several Egyptian gods. (vii) It is also thought by some that the pyramid may have been a place where Egyptians made a pilgrimage to honor the gods or their pharaoh who, according to legend was a descendent of the gods. (viii)

The Mayan cities origin coincides with the collapse of the Olmec, yet the Mayans were able to control more territory. Archeologists have made great strides in the study of the Mayan cultures through the use of hieroglyphic inscriptions found on tombs, walls, and pottery. One of the key distinguishing factors of the Mayan society was the temples found in each of its cities. These temples were thought to be sacred, and the entrance was only permitted to those who held substantial power.

The Egyptian pyramids have been the subject of many outlandish claims and construction theories for centuries. The Great Pyramid for example has been associated with pyramid power, curses, Atlantis, Mexican pyramids, Stonehenge, Nazca, the Bermuda Triangle, Biblical prophecy, Martian faces, advanced civilizations, space aliens, cavity resonators, and even levitation. It is not surprising that some who have proposed such theories have been dubbed "pyramidiots". This paper will attempt to give a more logical solution to the methods ancient Egyptians may have had used, and the problems they may have had, using factual information, scientific evidence and a bit of common sense.

First, the Maya pyramids are constructed symmetrically in order for them to stand for thousands of years. You can also tell that “Temple I in the great plaza,” was constructed symmetrically by drawing a line down the middle of the piece of artwork and you can see that it is exactly the same on both sides. I have actually been to the pyramids of chichen itza, which is similar to “Temple I in the great plaza,” and I was able to walk up the pyramid and it was so fascinating to be able to see how these pyramids and temples were made. The amount of time and energy that was put into these was so fascinating just in order for these pyramids and temples to stay constructed and stay constructed for so long. There were a lot of engineering and mathematical skills that were put into making “Temple I in the great plaza,” in order for the structure to be so

The ancient Egyptian people were very religious. Their religion was very important to them; they worshiped their gods, and they glorified them. Their kings or pharaohs were also believed to be gods. The burial of their kings was a very important aspect for Egyptian life, and their belief in afterlife. This belief led to the construction of elaborate funerary architecture. These royal tomb structures were first known as mastabas,

The limestone’s that were used to build the pyramids were taken from quarries along the Nile River. When the building was completed the Great Pyramid was surfaced using white casing stones that slanted and were flat at the top (Krystek, 2010). The smooth blocks were beautiful, extremely well polished and white. This came to be known as the Casing Stones (Krystek, 2010). These have since then been cut off by Arabs who use them to build mosques in Cairo. However, a few of them still remain. Before the Arabs begun to strip off the casing stones they were very beautiful to look at. The original pyramid with its white casing would operate like humongous mirrors that powerfully reflected light on the moon and be seen like a star on earth (gizapyramid.com, 2011).