Political Organization Maya Social and Political Organization Government

Lord was considered a god-king Responsible for political leadership Lords mostly men, but women had great influence on political decisions

King and Queen expected to sacrifice blood

Nobles Lived near ceremonial centers and helped lords run cities Gathered taxes, supplies, and labor for construction projects Served as war captains who led peasant armies during war

Priests Were powerful because they maintained favor with the gods

Led religious rituals, calculated positions of stars, and treated the sick

Practiced human sacrifice on a limited scale

Mayan priests at temple

Merchants/Artisans Merchants traded salt, cotton, fish, and animal skins for obsidian, jade, quetzal feathers, copal, and cocoa beans over long distances

Artisans produced sculptures, codices, and murals to pay tribute to gods

Peasants Men worked in fields; women manged household Rewarded for their loyalty by being allowed to attend royal marriages and important religious ceremonies

Slaves Recruited from surplus children, war prisoners, and criminals Required to do difficult or undesirable tasks like grinding maize Not badly treated, but sometimes were killed and buried with master

Economics

Specialization of labor Jade craftsmen Development of forms of economic exchange Imported jade and obsidian exported small jade, basalt, and ceramic works of art

Specialization Astronomers Mathematicians Warriors Architects and sculptors Potters Tool manufacturers Textile makers

Mayan symbol for movement Economic Exchange Mayan symbol for movement

Economic Exchange Traveling merchants served not just as traders but also as ambassadors to neighboring lands and allied people Traded mainly in exotic and luxury goods such as rare animal skins, cacao beans, and finely crafted works of art which rulers coveted as signs of special status Cacao used as money

Map of Mayan Trade

History

Earliest known ceremonial centers around 1200 B.C. Olmec” was not what the people called themselves It means “rubber people” and comes from the rubber trees that flourish in the region

Olmec Head at La Venta

By about 400 B.C., Olmec society had fallen on hard times and other societies soon took over

Mayans Began to develop around 300 A.D. Known as “The People of the Jaguar” Lived in what is now southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador

Olmec Influence on the Mayans Maize Ceremonial centers with temple pyramids Calendar based on the Olmec one Ball games Rituals involving human sacrifice

Cities: Tikal From about 300 to 900, the Maya built more than eight large ceremonial centers All had pyramids, palaces, and temples Some of the larger ones attracted dense populations and evolved into genuine cities The most important was Tikal Small city-kingdoms served as the means of Mayan political organization

Cities: Tikal Tikal was the most important Mayan political center between the 4th and 9th Centuries (300-1000 AD) Reached its peak between 600 and 800 with a population of nearly 40,000 The Temple of the Jaguar dominated the skyline and represented Tikal’s control over the surrounding region which had a population of about 500,000

Tikal: Temple of the Jaguar 154 feet high Served as funerary pyramid for Lord Cacao, Maya ruler of the late 6th and early 7th centuries