1. 2/28 Aim: How were the Mayans and Aztecs Similar? Different?
HW: ½ page compare/ contrast Aztec and Mayan achievements
The Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza, Mexico. Temple to the god Kukulkan.

4. Mayan Architecture Temple at Chichen Itza
Illustration of Tikal before the civilization fell
Temple at Tikal

5. Aztec Architecture
Aztec temples near Mexico City

6. Mayan Written Language
The Mayan language is called Nahuatl
Which is a system of pictograms

7. Aztec Written Language
Aztec language was also based on Nuhatl which is still spoken in some parts of Mexico and Central America today

8. Adapting to their Environment: Mayan Farming Techniques
In order to support a large population, the Mayans had to adapt to their tropical environment. Rain forests were cleared, then raised fields that caught and held rainwater were built. They also built channels that could be opened to drain off excess water.
Most Mayans were farmers. They grew corn, beans, and squash – the basic food crops of Middle America.
Men usually cultivated the crops, while women turned them into food

9. Adapting to their Environment: Aztec Farming Techniques
As the Aztec’s population grew, they found
an ingenious way to create more farmland.
They built Chinampas, or artificial islands
Made of earth piled on reed mats that were
Anchored to the shallow lake bed where they
grew corn, beans, and squash

10. Mayan Religious Beliefs
The Maya worshipped a pantheon of nature gods, each of which had both a benevolent side and a malevolent side. The most important deity was the supreme god Itzamná, the creator god, the god of the fire and god of the hearth.
Another important Mayan god was Kukulcán, the Feathered Serpent, who appears on many temples and was later adopted by the Toltecs and Aztecs as Quetzalcoatl. Also important was Chac, a hooked-nose god of rain and lightning.
Mayan priests would perform
Rituals of human sacrifice to the Gods

11. Aztec Religious Beliefs
The Aztec priests were a class apart. They performed the rituals needed to please the many Aztec gods and prevent droughts, floods, or other disasters. The chief Aztec god was Huitzilopochtli, the sun god. His giant pyramid-temple towered above central Tenochtitlan.
Huitzilopochtli, the Aztecs believed battled the forces of darkness each night and was reborn each morning. To give the sun strength to rise each day, the Aztecs offered human sacrifices.
Priests offered the hearts of tens of thousands of victims to Huitzilopochtli and other Aztec gods. Most of the victims were prisoners of war, but sometimes a noble family gave up one of its own members to appease the gods.

12. Mayan and Aztec Achievements: Astronomical Calculations
Both the Mayans and Aztecs created accurate 365-day solar calendars mainly for religious purposes. Mayan priests needed to measure time accurately in order to hold ceremonies at the correct moment. As a result, priests became expert mathematicians and astronomers. Some used their knowledge of astronomy and mathematics to foretell the future

13. Decline of the Mayas
About 900 A.D, the Mayas abandoned their cities, leaving their great stone palaces and temples to be swallowed up by the jungle.
No one knows for sure why Mayan civilization declined. Possibly, frequent warfare forced the Mayas to abandon their traditional agricultural methods. Or, overpopulation may have led to over farming, which in turn exhausted the soil.
Heavy taxes to finance wars and temple building may have sparked peasant revolts.

14. Decline of the Aztecs
At the height of Aztec power in 1519, word reached Tenochtitlan that pale-skinned, bearded men, had landed on the east coast. Montezuma, king of the Aztecs, possibly believing that Hernando Cortes, was the god-king returning from the east, invited Cortes into his capital.
Later, Relations between the Aztecs and
Spaniards soon grew strained, and the Aztecs
Drove the Spanish from the city. Montezuma was killed in the fighting. By 1521 however, Cortes and his Indian allies captured and demolished Tenochtitlan. The Aztecs had been conquered

15. The Mayas and the Aztecs
Architecture
1. Study the examples of Mayan and Aztec Architecture and illustrations of the city. Describe 3 ways they are similar: 1. 2. 3.
Written Language
Study the examples of Mayan and Aztec written language. Describe 2 ways they are similar.
How is it similar to other ancient civilizations?
Adaption to Environment: Farming Techniques
Provide examples as to how the Mayans adapted to their tropical environment
How did the Aztecs adapt to their environment?
Religious Beliefs
Explain 2 ways the religious beliefs of the Mayans and Aztecs were similar.
Explain one way they were different
Mayan and Aztec Achievements
Astronomical Calculations
1. Which achievement was accomplished by both
the Mayas and Aztecs?
2. Why was this achievement useful?
Decline
Explain 2 possible theories as to why the Maya’s civilization declined.
How did the decline of the Aztecs differ from the decline of the Maya?
The Mayas and the Aztecs

16. Close: 16