Mayan Daily Life and Culture By Elisa Lipkin, Nicholas Jin, Amy Cami, and Chris Kim

Interesting Facts By: Amy Cami Mayans had many excellent medical practices, by a few who were given a great education. The Mayans practiced human sacrifice for religious and medical reasons Built ball courts to play games No one knows exactly why the Mayan culture fell Developed first written language in America The Mayans worshiped nature gods especially the gods of sun, rain, and corn An important purification element to the Mayans were saunas

Religions and Beliefs The Mayan Gods Mayan religion and beliefs were characterized by the worship of nature gods. The Mayans were Polytheistic. The Gods were a lot like humans. They were born, grew up, and died, performed divination, conducted business, intermarried, and formed alliances. The Maya believed Gods could help them or hurt them. Different Gods Include: Izamna - fire, earth, and creator Kukulan - snake god, feathered serpent Chac - rain, and lighting Bolon Tzacab - storm, wind, and fire

Religions and Beliefs The Mayan Pyramids Souls The Mayans were known for their astronomical buildings. The Mayans built pyramids with flat tops for religious reasons. The best known pyramid is El Castillo. There were two types of pyramids, one was for climbing, and the other type was sacred. Souls Every person shared their soul with a different animal. This was called “Way’ Ob.” People could transform into their animals. Kings had jaguars as their animal. Jaguars were the symbol of the night. Usually only powerful priests could have more than one animal.

Religions and Beliefs Underworld, Heaven, and Sacrifice The Mayans believed in a heaven, an earth, and an underworld. It was believed that part heaven was for afterlife. When people died, most of the time their souls would go to the underworld. Only people who died at childbirth or were sacrificed could escape the underworld and live in the heavens. The underworld was filled with evil gods and demons. The demons would attack people if the Mayans did not worship in the right way, so they held ceremonies to keep this from happening. Woman never looked in a mirror because if they did they could get pulled through it and into the underworld. Men looked in mirrors as an act of courage. The Mayans also sacrificed people or other things. The Mayans had bloodletting ceremonies

Major Buildings The major buildings that mayans built was pyramids, temples, palaces, walls, residences and more. The Mayans mostly made buildings out of stone The palaces Some of the cities that have famous buildings are Lamanai, Coba, Caracol, Uxmal, and Chichen Itza

The Mayans Education The ancient Mayan education was taught differently from how it is done in America. They only taught education to higher ranked people like Priests, chiefs, leaders, and war leaders. Lower people still got education from their family, friends, and generations. They taught the younger ones what they ever learned throughout their lives. Mayans spoke in different languages and that is Qhuche, Cakchiquel, Kekchi, and Mam

Mayan Population The Mayans had many cities such as Tikal, Uaxactun, Copan, Bonampak, Dos Pilas, Calakmul, Palenque, and Rio Bec. The cities each had populations of about 5,000 people to 50,000 people. The total population of the mayans at its highest was around 2,000,000 people. From the late 18th century to the late 19th century, the mayan civilization began to decline. Something that is to this day unknown happened to the mayans. There are many theories as to why the mayan empire might have fell. Some scholars think that it could no longer hold its very large population. Others think that the mayan cities broke out into war.

Mayan Currency -Mayans did not use money-there was no universally accepted currency that can be used anywhere in the mayan region. -the value of valuable items even varied in the different parts of the mayan region. -the farther an item is from, the more value. -There were two kinds of goods: ~Prestige-valuable items, such as gold, decorated pottery, etc. (used by upper class people) ~Subsistence-daily household items, such as food, pots, etc. -Mayans produced all of their own subsistence goods: ~growing crops was most of the mayans’ daily task ~basic goods were made in homes or community workshops. -Mayans produced gold and other prestige items -Obsidian was one of the most precious item to the mayans, used in weapons and rituals.

Clothes of the Mayans Women Men Women dressed in very bright colors You can tell what village a person is from by looking at their huipils. Traje Huipil - Colorful blouse called huipil which is woven and embroidered. It may take months to make. They are distinguished by design, style, or pattern. No two huipils are the same. Corte - A woven wraparound skirt that reaches to one’s ankles. It can be up to 5 yards and is wrapped several times. Cortes are very similar. Faja - A sash that holds the huipil and corte together by the waist. Rebozo - A rectangular shawl that is part of the traje. Panuelo/Cintas - four to five foot colorful ribbons that are braided into the hair. Men Richer men wore colorful clothing made out of animal skins that were dyed with berries. They wore skirt like clothes around the waist, robes, and headwear. Everything was always very colorful and bright. Poorer men wore the same skirt like clothes made of animal skins around their waists except all of their clothes were duller colors.

Works Cited Nick: http://latinamericanhistory.about.com/od/Maya/p/Ancient-Maya-Economy-And-Trade.htm Chris:http://facstaff.gpc.edu/~shale/humanities/literature/world_literature/classprojects/mexico/maya.html http://latinamericanhistory.about.com/od/Maya/p/Ancient-Maya-Architecture.htm Amy: Cole:http://www.history.com/topics/maya Elisa: 1)http://www.religionfacts.com/mayan_religion/index.htm 2)http://anthropology.msu.edu/anp264-ss13/2013/04/24/mayans-religion-gods-animal-spirits-and-pyramids/ 3)http://mayas.mrdonn.org/religion.html 4)https://sites.google.com/site/ancientmayancivilization/mayan-religion http://www.ducksters.com/history/maya/religion_and_mythology.php 5)http://www.questconnect.org/guat_dress.htm

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