0. Ancient Mayans *

2. El Castillo *

3. Introduction
The Maya developed an advanced civilization around 2600 B.C.in the Yucatan area in Mexico and Central America
Accomplished mathematicians, astronomers, and invented an advanced form of writing. *

4. Mayan Cities Center for rituals and religion
Pyramids such as “El Castillo” served as ceremonial sites for priests. *

5. Cities
Mayan Cities
More about Mayan Cities

6. Mayan Government
The Maya Empire was not one unified nation. They were a collection of city-states. There was no central government. One noble family controlled each city.
Each city had a noble family in charge of it. Control of the city passed from father to son.
The head of the noble family in each city had government officials to help him rule his city.. Some of these officials acted as judges, others were in law enforcement.
Each city-state ruled only itself. But officials did visit other cities on government business.
They had large marketplaces where people bartered goods
The government disappeared without specific reason

7. Mayan Religious Beliefs
Believed that Gods controlled everything
Main god was god of maize (corn)
Priests had great influence because Mayans thought priests could talk to the Gods
Polytheism = Belief in many Gods
Mayan Religious Beliefs
Gods symbolized as animals: Rain God = snake, Sun God = Jaguar, Death God= bat
Food and animal sacrifices common; humans (such as defeated tribes) sometimes

8. Astronomy Masters of the Night Sky- known for their observatories
Accurately charted the planets by using a forked stick like implement
Created an accurate yearly calendar
Predicted eclipses of the sun *

9. Religion: Importance of Agriculture
Mayan religion reflected the fundamental role of agriculture in their society
Popol Vuh, was the Mayan creation myth that taught that the gods had created human beings out of maize and water
Gods kept the world in order and maintained the agricultural cycle in exchange for honors and sacrifices

10. This is Chaac, the God of Rain

11. Job Specification
The jobs ranged anywhere from teachers to cloth makers. The highest paid jobs were of course, kings or the ruling family. At the bottom of the "Social Pyramid" were slaves. Most of the jobs the Maya had, we still have today. One of the jobs that the Mayan had and we don't are warriors. They used warriors back then to protect their country and civilization. One of the many reasons  having many jobs in the civilization was because it helped them out a lot. It helped them because they would have more resources to sell which made the civilization wealthy. Also having more jobs made the town smarter because they knew a lot of different information. Having many jobs helped the Maya become more advanced and smarter.
Mayan Daily Life

12. Maya
Mayas were skilled farmers, weavers, potters, and created elaborate buildings without the use of metals. *

13. Mayan calendars
The Maya developed a sophisticated calendar. The ritual calendar that developed in Mesoamerica used a count of 260 days. This calendar gave each day a name, much like our days of the week. There were 20 day names, each represented by a unique symbol. The days were numbered from 1 to 13. Since there are 20 day names, after the count of thirteen was reached, the next day was numbered 1 again. The 260-day or sacred count calendar was in use throughout Mesoamerica for centuries, probably before the beginning of writing.

14. Mayan numbers
The Mayans had a number system consisting of shells, dots, and lines.  You could write up to nineteen with just these symbols. The Maya were one of the only ancient civilizations that understood the concept of zero. This allowed them to write very large numbers

15. Investigate Corn Beans Squash Avocado Tomatoes Chili peppers Quetzal
Honeybees
Pottery
Writing
Architecture
Astronomy *

16. Social Classes: Priests Wealthy Nobles Craftsman/Merchants
Commoners and low level government officials
Slaves and servants

17. Arts and Architecture Early construction materials were wood and
adobe and later stone.  
Majority of stone structures found in the
remains of Mayan cities were temples
Masters of pottery, making handsome pots, plates and vases
Despite not having metal tools, the Maya were masters of stone sculpture
Art was intimately connected to religion, with most of their artwork serving a religious purpose
More Arts and Architecture

18. Public Works
The most notable works of the Maya include palaces and pyramids & temples.

19. Writing
Mayans created the most advanced pre-colonial writing in the Western Hemisphere
Over 800 different images were used to record their history
king
sky
house
child *

20. References The Ancient Maya
Civilization.ca-Mystery of the Maya
Ancient Mayan Civilization l
Traditions of the Sun
Pyramid of El Castillo atwork.com/hos_mcgrane/chichen/chichen_castle.html# *