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World History I
Western Hemisphere
Maya: 250 – 900 CE
The Maya were located in Northern Central America and the Yucatan Peninsula. The Mayan empire
was made up of city-states ruled by a god-king. These city-states were centers for religious ceremonies and trade
with the most famous being Chichen Itza. The Maya built pyramids, temples, palaces, and elaborate stone
carvings dedicated to gods and important leaders. City-states traded salt, feathers, shells, honey, cotton textiles,
and jade ornaments. Cacao beans (Chocolate) sometimes served as
currency. Maize, beans, and squash were the basis for
Mayan life. Farming in the Mayan empire consisted of
slash and burn farming, planting on raised beds above
swamps, and on hillside terraces.
Society consisted of Nobles (priests and leadIng warriors), merchants and artisans, and the peasant majority. The King was at the top of the class
structure and was regarded as a holy figure. The
throne was hereditary and passed down to the oldest
son, while the rest of the sons became priests.
The religion of the Maya was based on the worship of many gods. They believed that there were 13
layers to the sky and 9 layers to the underworld. The Mayans worshiped the gods of corn, death, rain, and war.
Gods could be good or evil or even both! The Mayans prayed to their gods and made offerings of food, flowers,
incense, and blood. The Mayans believed in human sacrifice of captured enemies to their gods. They also filled
a deep sinkhole lake with gold and jade to please the gods and keep the world in balance.
The Mayans created a great calendar. They believed that time was a burden carried on the back of a god
and it was passed on at the end of a day, month, or year. A period of time could be lucky or unlucky depending
on the god. The calendar had to be accurate to know who was in charge. The first calendar consisted of 260 days
broken down into 13-day months. Their final calendar consisted of 365 days with eighteen 20-day months with
5 days left over at the end. This calendar identified the best time to plant crops, attack enemies, and crown new
rulers. It was based on careful observation of the planets, sun, and moon.
The Maya also created a math system with the concept of zero. It consisted of a shell symbol for zero,
dots for numbers 1-4, and a bar for 5 (used for calendar and astronomical work only). Their system of writing
was a form of 800 hieroglyphic symbols called glyphs. The Popol Vul was the most famous ancient Mayan
book.
The Maya began on abandon their cities after being invaded by warlike people from the North. Warfare
disrupted trade which led to economic hardships. The Maya also began to experience a huge population growth
which led to over-farming of the land.
World History I
Western Hemisphere
Aztec: 1200 – 1519 CE
The Aztec empire is located in what is now present day Mexico and the Yucatan Peninsula. The Aztec god told
the people to look for a place where an eagle was perched on a cactus holding a snake in its mouth and build a
city there. The Aztec built their city on a small lake in the middle of Lake Texacoco and named the city,
Tenochtitlan. The population is estimated between 5 – 15 million people.
The Aztec empire was based on military conquest and tribute gained from conquered people. These tribute items included
gold, maize (corn), cacao beans, cotton, and
jade.
Aztec society consisted of a social
pyramid with the emperor at the top. The
emperor had absolute power and was treated
like a god. Below the emperor was the noble
class which included military leaders, government officials, and priests. The nobles owned
vast estates and had great wealth. This class
lived in luxury. The third group in Aztec society was the commoners. These were the merchants, artisans,
soldiers, and farmers. They helped to ensure that the empire ran smoothly. At the very bottom of the social
pyramid were slaves who were mostly prisoners of war.
The Aztec had an extensive trade network and traded with many other smaller civilizations in Central
America. Aztec agriculture was grown on chinampas, farm plots built on marshy parts of lakes. The Aztec
focused much of their economy on the conquering of other peoples and tribute more than trade which made
many enemies for the Aztec.
The Aztec religion was also polytheistic and focused
on elaborate public ceremonies. The sun god was the most
important god for the Aztec. They believed the sun god
needed human blood to make the sun rise every day. The
Aztec performed human sacrifice on a massive scale! They
sacrificed prisoners of war from neighboring civilizations.
Sacrifices were performed at the top of the Great Pyramid.
The hearts of the prisoners of war were cut out and their
blood was drained on huge tables with holes drilled into
them. It was because of this constant need for sacrifice that
the Aztec were a warring people creating many enemies for
them across Central America.
The last great leader of the Aztec was Montezuma. Montezuma dealt
with many domestic problems during his reign (droughts, war, and lack of
people to conquer for sacrificing.) The Aztec also began to face much
opposition from the surrounding provinces. When the Spanish Conquistador,
Hernan Cortez, arrived in 1519, the empire had many cracks in it. Cortez was
believed to be the returning Aztec god, Quetzalcoatl, who was to bring great
change to the Aztec people. With the help of the surrounding provinces and the
Aztec myth, Cortez was able to conquer Montezuma and the Aztec.
World History I
Western Hemisphere
Inca: 1230 – 1532 CE
The Incan empire stretched 2500 miles from Ecuador
to Chile, along the Andes Mountain in South America
and included about 16 million people. The major city
of the Inca was Machu Picchu but Cuzco was the center
of the universe.
The Inca had a powerful military but used force
only when necessary, unlike the Aztec. The Inca offered
honorable surrender to conquered people, allowing them
to keep their own customs and rules in exchange for
loyalty to the Incan Emperor. The empire was broken down
into manageable units governed by a central bureaucracy.
Quechua was the official spoken language of the Inca but
they did not have a written language.
Incans worked together in small groups called,
Ayllu, for the common good of the empire. They built
irrigation canals and agricultural terraces on hillsides for
farming. Tribute was paid to the empire in the form of
labor. Incans were required to work a certain number of days a year. This tribute was called mita and consisted
of producing craft goods for the state warehouse and helping to build public works (roads, palaces, irrigation
canals). The state controlled most of the economic activity by regulating the production and distribution of
goods. There was little private commerce or trade.
Land was classified into 3 different types in Incan society: State, Religious, and Community. The Incan
people farmed on all 3 types of land. The Inca also had a water management system that stored water for the dry
season. The Inca produced maize, quinoa (a type of grain), and potatoes. The Incans had public feasts with food
and maize beer. Mummies of Incan ancestors were also brought to these special events.
The Inca created a road system of 14,000 miles.
Guest houses along the road to provide shelter to the
Chasquis. The chasquis were running postal servers who
were in better shape then most marathon runners today.
The empire used the roads for communication, trade,
and travel. The Inca never developed a written form of
writing. Their history and literature was memorized and
retold to the next generation. Math was done with a number
system called the quipa, which was a set of knotted strings.
Knots and their positions on a cord indicated categories and
quantities.
The Inca had a day calendar and a night calendar which told them
which gods ruled. The Inca worshiped the sun god and made
sacrifices of llama to him. The Inca also possessed gold which they
called “sweat of the sun” A civil war between two brothers,
Atahualpa and Huascar torn the empire apart and helped Francisco
Pizzaro defeat the Inca in 1532 by pitting one brother against the
other and then destroying them both,