The Maya Maya Life and Society 7 7

The Maya

Maya Life and Society 7. 7. 2 7. 7. 4 7. 7. 5 The Big Idea People played different roles in Maya society, but together they made great achievements in art, science, math, and writing.

Social Structure n Main Idea 1: ¨ Roles in Maya society were based on a complex class structure.

Social Structure n The people of the upper classes were very different from the lower classes. ¨ The upper class was made up of kings, priests, nobles, and merchants and artisans. ¨ Most Maya belonged to the lower classes, which included peasants and slaves.

Social Structure n The lower class supported the upper class with food and labor, while the upper class led religious ceremonies for them in return.

Mayan Upper Class - shown in blue the ruler Mayan Lower Class - shown in red priests & nobles merchants & artisans peasants slaves

The Ruler I’ve got the power n The Maya believed their rulers were related to the gods. n He was often involved in religious ceremonies n He led the battles. n He was the richest member of society. He had beautiful clothing and jewelry.

Priests n Priests were the most educated people. n They used their knowledge of astronomy & math to plan religious ceremonies, which they led. n They were usually born into their role in Mayan society.

Nobles n Some nobles were professional warriors who fought battles against other cities and led their armies. n Nobles gathered taxes, supplies, and labor for important projects. Go ahead, make my day.

Merchants n Merchants organized the transportation and distribution of trade. n They traveled by sea, river, and roads to trade with other citystates. n They traded such goods as obsidian, jade, copal, and quetzal feathers.

Artisans n Artisans painted murals of Mayan life and important battles. Some were skilled weavers & potters.

Peasants n Most Maya belonged to the lower classes. n The lower classes lived outside the city. n The women worked in the house preparing food, weaving, & sewing.

Peasants n The men hunted and farmed in the fields. They had to “pay” their rulers with goods such as cloth and salt. n Peasants also built temples and pyramids, or served as soldiers.

Slaves n Slaves were the lowest class. n If captured in battle, a lower-class man usually became a slave. Dang!

Slaves n Criminals, orphans, and people who owed money could also become slaves. n Slaves were often sacrificed when their master died. In the movie Apocalypto, captured neighbors had their body painted blue and were then sacrificed.

1. The Maya civilization was located in _____. A. Mesoamerica / Central America B. South America C. North America D. May-a-merica

3. Which statement correctly identifies the reason that Maya civilization collapsed in the 900 s? A. Mayans rebelled against their kings and all of their demands. B. A long drought caused a famine making it C. hard to grow enough food for everyone in the cities. C. The Mayans were conquered by the Spanish. D. It is unclear why their civilization collapsed.

Religion n Main Idea 2: ¨ Religion in Maya society was often bloody. Mayans sacrificed animals for their blood

Religion n The Maya worshipped many gods related to different aspects of their daily life. n These gods could be harmful or helpful, so people tried to please them. Mayans depicted their gods (like you see here) on the outside of their buildings and painted them on their walls on the inside

Religion n The Maya believed that their gods needed blood to prevent disasters and the end of the world. n People pierced their tongues and skin to give blood to the gods. Nobody makes me bleed my own blood. Nobody!

Religion n The Maya also used human sacrifices to keep the gods happy. This Mayan priest is at the top of a temple and is ready to perform a blood sacrifice.

Religion n The Maya worshiped many gods and believed their gods controlled the sun (top right picture), rain, and other elements of nature. ¨ n The Maize / Corn God was a central religious figure (bottom right) They wanted to please the gods and hoped that in return they would be blessed with good weather and bountiful harvests

Religion n The Maya worshiped their rulers, because they believed their rulers could influence the gods. ¨ Mayan rulers were often priests too n They sacrificed food, animals, and even humans to please the gods Time to say goodbye. Dr. Evil’s orders.

4. The sacrificing of human lives was the only way to please the Maya gods. A. True B. False - Maya sacrificed animals & could also just pierce themselves when giving blood to the gods.

5. Which statement is not true? A. The Maya worshipped many gods related to different aspects of their daily life. B. The Maya believed that their gods would only do good for the Maya people. C. The Maya believed their kings communicated with D. the gods. D. The Maya felt blood was necessary to please the E. gods.

6. Why did the Maya want to keep the gods happy? A. They believed that gods controlled their harvests and prevented disasters & the end of the world. B. They believed the gods controlled the afterlife. C. They wanted to make the king. D. priest rulers happy. D. They wanted to keep control of E. their civilization area.

Maya Achievements n Main Idea 3: ¨ The Maya made achievements in art, science, math, and writing.

Maya Achievements n Art ¨ Some of the best known Maya art is their sculptures and their jade and gold jewelry.

Maya Achievements ¨A lot of the Mayan art was made for decorating the tombs of rulers ¨ This Mosaic mask, which was made of jade, was found over the face of the famous Mayan ruler King Pacal

Mayans also painted on their pottery, like this cup.

Maya Achievements

Maya Achievements

Maya Achievements n Architecture ¨ The Maya built cities without using metal tools.

Maya Achievements

Maya Achievements n Notable constructions of the Maya include… ¨ Ceremonial platforms ¨ Palaces ¨ Pyramids and temples ¨ Observatories ¨ Ball courts

Tulum Palace

n Tourists walk past a Mayan temple in the Tikal National Park

Palenque Temple

Observatory

Ball Court

Maya Achievements n Science and Math ¨ The Maya built observatories for priests to study the stars.

Mayan Achievements n Maya astronomers figured out that a year is about 365 days long. ¨ They also learned about the cycles of the moon and how to predict eclipses.

Maya Achievements n Science and Math ¨ The Mayans developed religious and agricultural calendars. ¨ The Maya calendar was more accurate than the calendar used in Europe at that time. Notice in the picture that there are two types of calendars

Maya Achievements n Science and Math ¨ The Mayans created a number system to go with their calendars. ¨ The Maya were among the first humans with a symbol for zero.

Maya Achievements n Writing and Oral Traditions ¨ They developed a writing system similar to hieroglyphics and wrote in bark-paper books.

Mayan Achievements n Their hieroglyphs were used by priest-kings to write record books, each of which was known as a codex ¨ The codices were often about religious ceremonies, astronomy, and the Mayan calendar

¨The codices were also used record important dates and events in the lives of the rulers

Maya Achievements n Writing and Oral Traditions ¨ Maya stories were passed down orally. After the Spanish arrived, the Maya stories were recorded in book known as the Popol Vuh.

3. In Maya civilization, the lowest rank of their social ladder was ___ and the highest rank was ____. A. the warriors; the priests B. the slaves; the rulers C. the commoners; the nobles

5. Maya cities were built around… A. huts. B. agriculture. C. religious centers. D. Machu Picchu.

7. Why did the Maya civilization eventually disappear? A. war-fare B. It is unsure why they disappeared. C. drought D. The arrival of the Spanish conquistadors.

8. Hieroglyphics is a system of ___. A. Architecture that helped in building the pyramids. B. farming used by the Maya men. C. writing that uses pictures D. to communicate. D. observing the stars.

9. A lot of Mayan art … A. was done with jade or were sculptures B. pictured people doing farm work. C. were of the stars. D. All of the above

10. The codices were the numbers in the Maya number system. A. True B. False - Codices were record books.

11. • is equal to what number in the Maya math? A. 2 B. 5 C. 6 D. 11

13. What helped the Maya priests realize who they needed to pray to for any given day? A. The Maya Calendar B. The rulers C. The pyramids D. Hieroglyphs