Download Mayan Civilization

Aztecs, Mayans and Incas
• Who were the Aztecs?
• Civilization in the Valley
of Mexico
• Ruled the region from
1100s to 1500s
Aztec Empire
•Arrived in the Valley of
Mexico in 1148
•Economy based on
agriculture
•Spanned from the Pacific
Coast to the Gulf of Mexico
•Major city: Tenochtitlan
•By 1520, included 20
million people
• What was life like in
Aztec Culture?
• Aztec culture divided
into 2 classes, commoners
and nobles
• Noble male children
attended school until 15
• Women were subordinate
to men
• Slavery was common
• What was life like in
Aztec Culture?
• Laws were simple and
harsh
• Most crimes punishable by
death, beatings or
mutilation
• Slander ( or lying) was
punishable by the loss of
your lips!
• What caused the end to
the Aztec Civilization?
Aztec Rule Montezuma
though Spanish explorer
Cortez was a returning god.
Montezuma offered gifts of
gold.
Excited by the riches, Hernan
Cortes and an army to defeat
the Aztecs in 1520
• Education
• One of the first civilizations to
require education
• What were some
• Medicine
contributions the Aztecs
• Surgery
made to the world?
• Muscle relaxing medication
• Mathematics
• Idea of zero
• Accurate calendar
• Food
• Popcorn
• Chocolate
• Chewing gum
• Contributions difficult to trace
because of destruction by
Catholic missionaries
• What were the beliefs
of the Aztec people?
• Aztecs religion was
polytheistic (more than
one god), they
worshiped about 1,000
different gods.
• The head of the gods
was Huizilopochtlid,
god of war and god of
sun.
• What did
the Aztecs
Believe?
• They put their greatest efforts into
making strong, beautiful temples to
please their gods.
• Their arts had a part in their
religion. They drew pictures that
told about their gods.
• They recorded religious events with
hieroglyphics and even number
symbols.
• They worshipped the sun god the
most.
• What did Aztecs
believe?
• The god of the Sun had told the
Aztecs to wander until they
found an eagle with a serpent
in its mouth perched on a
cactus growing from a rock.
When they found this, they
claimed the area around it,
which is now known as
Tenochtitlan.
• Who was responsible for
worship in Aztec Culture?
• Priests and priestesses
were very important
people. They acted as
doctors, and taught
science, art, writing,
music, dance, history,
and counting.
• Where did people
worship?
• Religious ceremonies took place in
a temple called a teocalli.
• This temple had sacred pools for
ceremonial cleansing, gardens,
living quarters for a priest, and
racks to hold the skulls of victims.
• Religion played a great part in
Aztec life.
• How did Aztecs
worship?
• Sacrifice was one of the main events in
the Aztec religion.
• Priests made human sacrifices to make
the sun god happy.
• Aztecs fought in wars to capture men
to sacrifice.
• On God's Feast Day, they killed their
slaves for the gods.
• Human sacrifices were offerings to the
sun and earth so that food would
grow.
Pre-Classic(2600 B.C.E-250 B.C.E)
Classic (250 C.E-900 C.E)
Mayan Collapse
Post-Classic period ( 1000-1600 C.E)
• Where did Mayan
Civilization occur?
Southern Mexico: Yucatan
peninsula, and modern
Chapas, and Tabasco in
Mexico
• What was life like in the
Mayan Civilization?
leader
nobles
Trade/warriors
Farmers/slaves
• Land divided into states
(major city and
surrounding towns) were
headed by a ruler who
was often a priest
• What was life like in the
Mayan Civilization?
• Very few people lived in
the urban centers
• Mostly involved in
agriculture
• What was life like in the
Mayan Civilization?
• Mayan civilization had unique
ideas of beauty
• Crossed Eyes:
Considered particularly beautiful
• Babies were given objects to stare
at to encourage crossed eyes
• High, flat, sloping forehead
• Tied boards to babies foreheads
• What did Mayan People
believe?
• Polytheistic (more than
one god)
• Gods were not good or
evil,
• Like Aztecs, religious
ceremonies closely tied
to natural cycles ( moon
phases, seasons, etc.)
• What did the Mayan
people believe?
• Religious ceremonies
consisted of singing, dancing,
competitions, dramatic
performances, and some
human sacrifice
• Human sacrifice usually
voluntary
• Participants gives blood or
pieces (arms, tongue, eye, etc) to
the god
• What did the Mayan
people believe?
• Mayan people believed
in an afterlife
• Heaven was reserved for
people who died in
sacrifice, childbirth or
hanged
• Hell or xibal was for
everyone else
• What was the role of
priests in Mayan society?
• Believed priests could
talk to gods
• Most daily life directed
by priests
• Decided: when to plant,
who could marry,
sometimes leaders
• What did Mayan People
believe?
• Believed in the underworld,
the sky and the Earth
• Knowing the past meant
knowing the cycle of the
present and knowing the
present provided information
for knowing the future
• This focus on time led to
development of sophisticated
calendars and time keepers
• Why did the Mayan
Civilization end?
• It took 170 years for the
Spanish to get control of
Mayan lands.
• Mayans remained
independent until the
1700s
• Mayan culture, language,
and art still practiced
• What are some
contributions the Mayan
civilization made to the
world?
• Written language
• Calendars
• Art and architecture
• Temple building
• City development
• Where was the Inca
civilization?
Along the coast of
South America.
Modern Chile, Peru,
parts of Argentina
and Boliva
Andes Mountain
Range
• When was the Inca
civilization?
• Little historic record of where
the Incas came from.
• No written language
• Cuzco( in modern Peru) is the
center.
• Incas began spreading out from
Cuzco in the 1400s
• eventually created one of the
largest empires in all of history
• What was it like to live in
Inca Society?
leader
Royal family
Tribal leader
Clan leader
Common people
• Royal family had absolute
power
• Relationships within clans
based on community and
cooperation
• Strongly head belief that
there is enough for
everyone
• Conquered people
required to pay a labor
tax which provided roads
and farmlands through the
Andes mountains
• What was it like to live in • Most people lived above
10,000 feet in elevation
Inca society?
• Worshiped at over 15,000
ft. in elevation
• Difficult today, scientists still
wonder how the Incas did it
• Clothing made from Alpaca,
and lama wool for the cool
temperatures at high
altitudes
• What did Incas believe?
• Polytheistic (more than one
god)
• Gods mostly tied to natural
objects or events
• Main god- Sun-god
• Sun-god was the only god to
have temples
• Royal family descended from
the sun-god
• Referred to as “the Giver of
Life”
• What did the Incas
believe?
• Worshipped with
monthly festivals to honor
gods
• Human sacrifice rare in
Incan Culture
• Reserved for major
festivals or the crowning of
a new emperor
• What
contributions did
Inca Civilization
make?
• Engineering
• Forts built of cut stone that fit so precisely
together they do not require mortar and
are still standing in near perfect condition
• Highly sophisticated network of roads, more
roads than the Romans
• Aqueducts and irrigation systems
• Advanced Surgery and Medicine
• Textiles and Ceramics
• Why did the Inca
Civilization end?
• Inspired by Cortes’ victory
over the Aztecs, Francisco
Pizzaro, another Spanish
explorer invaded in 1531
with 200 soldiers
• Pizzaro captured the Incan
ruler and killed him in 1533.
• Pizzaro did not gain
complete control over the
region until the 1560’s.
• Probably built at the
height of the Incan
Empire around 1450
•7,500 feet above sea
level
•Self sustaining city
•One of the great
wonders of the world