Warm-Up 1. Categorize - What makes a civilization a civilization and not just a group of people? (DOK 1) 2. Recall- How is our calendar divided up? (DOK 2)

The Mayan Empire was established around 250 A.D. At it’s height, the Mayan Empire controlled the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico and parts of Guatemala, Honduras, Belize and Southern Mexico and had 2,000,000 people. The Empire had over 40 large cities. The capital city was Tikal in Guatemala The Empire lasted until 900 A.D., with a few cities lasting until 1500 A.D.

The Mayans were polytheists whose chief God was Itzamna, ruler of sky and heaven. The Mayans had another major city called Chichen Itza The Mayans used hieroglyphics to record their trade, history and observations The Mayans bartered in markets and sometimes used cocoa beans as money The Mayan Empire was controlled by Kings

The Mayans use these to develop a very modern calendar, with 52 weeks and 365 days in a year. This calendar is shown by “El Castillo” in Chichen Itza. It has 364 steps and a top platform, thus equaling 365. It also has 52 panels on each side. The Mayan developed knowledge of math and their observation of the skies from their observatories. On 2 days each year (Spring and Autumn equinoxes, the suns rays cascade down the side of the pyramid ending on the 2 carved heads to give the illusion of a serpent. They also created the concept of zero

The only way a civilization lasts is if they had fresh water. The Mayan area did not have rivers or many lakes. The Mayans mostly got their water from Cenotes, limestone caves which filled with fresh water.

Using your new knowledge of the Mayan Empire, draw and fill in a civilization chart as best you can… The categories are: Cities, religion, trade, government, jobs & skills and written communication. The chart should look like this…