Mayan Culture vs. the Seven Dimensions of Religion

Throughout the humanities course, I have been intrigued by a vast amount of information on different cultures. However, there was a particular section that truly caught my attention, and has piqued an interest in me that has caused me to do my own research aside from this paper. The culture of the Mayas, and the Aztecs has been extremely fundamental in understanding my ancestry, being that I am Mexican American. I took an interest in their beautiful architecture, their ritualistic and sacrificial religious practices, as well as their history and how they began. Throughout this paper I will outline the similarities and differences of these two cultures, as well as articulate an understanding of the humanity disciplines outlined above.

​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

These were said to have been very big, joyous celebrations with lots of drinking and merrymaking between neighboring friends and family. The Mayans ate a lot of things at these parties, including vegetable stews, roasted meats, maize cakes and the desirable cocoa. As their guests left their extravagant party, the Mayans would give their guests a gift, almost like a goody bag, but the host would give their attendees a vase and a pedestal. This is like when your grandmother gives you some food take home after visiting her. Every Mayan person would have to these feasts, even the poor. In return for going to someone’s party, one had to throw their own party and invite them; the only people who did not have to exactly return the favor would have been poor. As mentioned before, every person had to throw the feast. If the person died before they could throw their extravagant party, their heir would have to throw that party; there was no getting past that (McManus). Though this had a role in the lives of the Mayans, this was still little of what the Mayans did.

The Maya of Mesoamerica, along with the Aztecs of Mexico and the Incas of Peru, made up the high civilizations of the American Indians at the time of the Spanish conquest. Both the Aztecs and the Incas were late civilizations, between 1300-1533 AD, but the Maya of the Yucatan and Guatemala exhibited a cultural continuity spanning more than 2,000 years, 1000 BC-AD 1542. Many aspects of this culture continue yet today. The Ancient Maya in their time had actually refined writing.

There are many similarities between the Mayan and American religious beliefs. The Mayan were a civilization that worshiped many gods. The American religious beliefs consists of one god. Both of these cultures are based on religion they are both very different. These religions are different in many ways and very similar.

‘’Have you ever known about the Mayan religious and the American religious, like how they are similar and different like the sacrifices,home's,beauty,and the numbering system.

The Mayan way of life revolved their religion. They had a polytheistic religion praising many gods. Each god had a certain thing that they would rule over or take care of. Chac was the god of rain, Kinich Ahau was the sun god, and Yum Cimil was the god of the underworld. There were many gods and goddess for almost every reason one could think of, there is even a goddess of suicide. They would perform human sacrifices, bleeding rituals, and dances to praise and to

The Maya, Aztec, and Inca had contrasts in their religions because of their rituals. Mayans performed the rituals on specific days of the year and as such the rituals were closely related with celestial and terrestrial cycles. In almost every ritual, bloodletting by the humans was practiced. Bloodletting was practiced to appease the God. It was a public ritual and normally performed by religious leaders. In the ritual sharp objects like stingray spine were pierced into the tongue, ear or foreskin of the person. The blood was poured over the idol of the god or was collected in a paper and burned. The Mayan people make any sacrifice to please their gods. Human sacrifice was also commonly practiced by the Mayans. It was a belief that the blood

Religion and trade were two of the most important aspects of Mayan civilization. Religion affected the government as the ruler was seen as a divine being, giving him immense power and influence over the people. Also, religion had a cultural impact as people believed they were created to appreciate the gods and to honor them. In fact, they were so devoted they would conduct human sacrifices to please the gods. The religion itself was passed down from generation to generation through an oral tradition. Due to the increase of cultural interaction through trade, the Mayan religion incorporated other ideas over time.

The Maya, whose memory is slowly being pieced back together, were a complex people who developed a sophisticated culture long before some history books might lead us to believe. Early in the video, viewers are introduced to cultural references when Tikal is compared to modern day New York and Copan is likened more to Paris. Similar to many other civilizations, the Maya consisted of both rulers – kings who claimed to be descendants of Gods - and a ruling class. Beyond this was what is referred to as a hierarchical social ordering (commonly associated with the Classic era), with nobility, warriors/priests, scribes/traders, artisans, community laborers, and servants/slaves. Their civilization was great, dominant and very socially multifaceted. Perhaps most peculiar was the fact that they were not centrally located with a single set of rulers. Instead, the separate city-states were ruled by individual leaders. In some instances, rulers would have control beyond their particular borders, but that was a rarity.

The Mayan religion was based in the regions of Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, and some southern parts of Mexico. It is a southeastern variant of Mesoamerican religion. Death and afterlife beliefs have always played an important role in all religions. Some religions have similar beliefs while others are very different. The Maya religion is very similar to Roman Catholicism. Many Mayas were able to adopt Catholic beliefs while still maintaining their own faith: many of their customs remain evident today.

The Mayan Civilization at its height was one of the greatest civilization to ever reign on the planet. Their advances in astronomy and mathematics well in advance has helped present civilizations to prosper. But one of the great questions is what happened to the Mayans? Why did they collapse? What caused them to collapse? It is a question that had gone unanswered for decades until some of the worlds great historians and scientist finally concluded to three reasons why the Mayan Civilization collapsed. The Mayans Collapse was fast and occurred due to Deforestation and Climate Change, Overpopulation, and Internal and Exterior Rivalry.

Maya culture is one of the oldest and most intelligent tribal races. The flourishing period of Maya was between 300 and 900. The principal food in Maya was maize, which was also called “the maize culture”. They had no livestock such as sheep and horses. Also, they made the calendar and divided a year to 18 months. In addition, they built huge stone temples and held bloodletting ceremonies in order to sacrifice

Almost every aspect of Maya life was centered on religion. These ancient Mesoamerican peoples worshipped many gods and goddesses; this was part of their daily lives, despite class differences in their sophisticated society. Religion served as a basis for the government and social life. Priests and shamans played an important role in their government, conducted religious ceremonies, and made sacrifices to the gods. The Maya believed in the supernatural, and used this belief to explain life and their universe. Every object, whether it is part of nature or man made, was considered sacred and worshipped.

Many decades ago, northern Central America and southern Mexico cultures developed complex political and social ranks. Researchers today know this region as Mesoamerica, known for its rich soil, abundant amount of rainfall, and agriculture. (Judge & Langdon, 2012) The Mesoamericans, Aztec and Mayan tribes, developed into complex civilizations for multiple reasons. These societies were advanced and complex for their time in areas, such as architecture, agriculture, militarism, and education. Each had unique religion and political systems as well. The rise and fall of both were due to several factors.