The Maya
Where were the Maya located? Location – the Yucatan Peninsula; Guatemala, Honduras
What is a city-state? City-states – a city that is an independent political state with its own ruling government What was the Mayan religion like? Religion – largest buildings were temples; consulted gods before making decisions; offered human sacrifices
What are hieroglyphs? Hieroglyphs – a picture or symbol representing an idea, an object, a syllable, or a sound
What is a popol vuh? Popol Vuh – sacred book; gods purposely clouded human understanding like “breath on a mirror”.
What is pok-ta-pok? Pok-ta-pok – similar to basketball; first one to score wins; losers are sacrificed
What is a solar calendar? Solar Calendar – based on sun; 18 months
What is a sacred round? Sacred round – 260 days long and used to keep track of religious holidays
What science was most important to the Maya? Astronomy – sun shone directly on most important part of temple What math concept did the Maya develop? developed concept of zero; number symbols How did they make a living? farmers; made own clothing and pottery
What happened to the Maya? Theories - no one really knows 1. Civil war 2. Deadly disease 3. Famine 4. Earthquake 5. Invaders
Who discovered the location of the Maya? In 1839, two American archaeologists discovered the ruins of the city of Copan
The Aztec
Who are the Aztecs? grew strong and wealthy by conquering others Where were the Aztecs located? Originally nomadic; traveled around Mexico; built Tenochtitlan on a lake island
What is the Legend of the 5 suns? four previous universes had been created and destroyed offered human sacrifices to keep the sun god happy the heart was the most important part to sacrifice
What was their society like? ruled by priests and soldiers; born into “classes” What is Tenochtitlan? built on island with three causeways connecting the city to the mainland; “floating gardens”
What about schools? sons of Aztec nobles are taught by priests What was the Great Temple? largest temple in the city; surrounded by smaller temples dedicated to gods; skull rack
Who is Montezuma II? emperor in 1500’s drought, comet, lightning strikes temple – Doomsday?
Incas: Lord of the Mountains
Where were the Incas located? Western coast of South America mainly Peru Dry plains, Andes Mountains, plateaus, and jungle
What was their life like? king – Sapa Inca; also known as Son of the Sun Clans/tribes – most were farmers; potatoes were an important crop Guinea pigs – food; alpacas – wool; llamas – pack animals, wool hide, waste, and meat
What was “for the good of the empire?” stored food so no one went hungry Who is “He Who Sees Everything?” collected taxes; matchmaker
What was the Royal Road? 2000 miles long, 24 feet wide in most areas; dirt and paved with stones; all done by hand What were they known for building? bridges; one was in service
What are terraces? Flat piece of land carved out of side of mountain
What about a written language? They had none! Quipu – record keeping; messengers had to memorize messages and run long distances quickly
What is Machu Picchu? mountain fortress
What was their empire like? conquered others, but did not sacrifice all; let them live their lives the Inca way
The End of Two Empires
Aztecs Who is Hernan Cortes? Spanish explorer support from those conquered by the Aztec was welcomed by Montezuma II Montezuma was taken hostage, war broke out, Spanish fled, but hundreds killed attacked again in 1521 and finally won
Inca How were the Incas conquered? disease brought by Spanish; killed thousands of Incas Sapa Inca dies and his two sons took over; civil war
Who is Francisco Pizarro? Spanish explorer; discovered Incas in 1527 attacked unarmed Incas; captured Atahualpa 1534 conquered Incas