History- The Mayan civilisation

1. An task setting PowerPoint about the Maya Civilisation
The Maya Ci vi l i sat i on
Gods, Rel i gi on and Bel i ef s

2. Cr eat i on Accor di ng t he Anci ent Maya
The gods made ani mal s, but t he ani mal s di dn' t
speak t o t hem.
The gods t r i ed t o make humans out of cl ay but
t hey wer e l i mp, and mel t ed i n t he r ai ns.
They made humans out of wood but t he r ai ns
dr owned t hem.
Event ual l y t hey made humans f r om zucan ( mai ze
dough) and t hi s was a success.

3. The Under wor l d
The under wor l d was cal l ed Xi bal ba, whi ch means
' pl ace of f ear ' .
I t was r eached t hr ough caves and t unnel s.
Maya gods of deat h, who l ooked l i ke j aguar s,
l i ved i n t he under wor l d.
The Maya bel i eved t hat when t hey di ed t hei r soul s
t r avel l ed t o t he under wor l d.

4. The Gods
Many of t hem had over l appi ng r ol es and names.
The Anci ent Maya had many, many gods ( over
150! ) , onl y a f ew of whi ch ar e ment i oned by t he
same name i n di f f er ent sour ces.
Some had human f or m, some t ook t he f or m of an
ani mal , ot her s wer e a phenomena of nat ur e.

5. I t zamna
One of t he cr eat or
gods.
I nvent or of wr i t i ng.
Pat r on of l ear ni ng.
Por t r ayed i n human
f or m as an ol d man
wi t h no t eet h and a
l ar ge nose.

6. Kukul can
Supr eme god.
God of t he f our el ement s
wi t h t he f ol l owi ng i t ems
associ at ed wi t h each one:
mai ze- ear ( ear t h)
a f i sh ( wat er )
l i zar d ( f i r e)
vul t ur e ( ai r )
One of t he cr eat or gods.
God of r esur r ect i on and
r ei ncar nat i on .
Hi s name means ‘ f eat her ed
ser pent ’ .

7. I x Chel
Wi f e of I t zamnaaj .
Goddess of chi l dbi r t h,
heal i ng, weavi ng and t he
moon.
Por t r ayed i n human f or m
wear i ng a headdr ess of
snakes ent angl ed i n her
hai r , and t oes and
f i nger s t hat l ooked l i ke
j aguar cl aws.
Capabl e of causi ng f l oods
and dest r uct i on.
The mot her of many ot her
gods.

8. Hun I xi m-
Mai ze God
Fr om hi s head spr out ed an
ear of mai ze.
Was i mpor t ant because t he
di et of t he Maya was 80%
mai ze and t hey r el i ed on
t he har vest bei ng
successf ul .
Al so i mpor t ant because
humans wer e cr eat ed f r om
mai ze dough by t he gods.

9. Chac -
Rai n God
Br ought t he r ai n needed
t o make cr ops gr ow.
Cr eat ed st or ms, t hunder
and l i ght ni ng.
Caused war s and human
sacr i f i ce
Por t r ayed as a human wi t h
a cur l i ng snout and
r ept i l e f angs.

10. Ki ni ch Ahau
- Sun God
Tr avel l ed acr oss t he sky
dur i ng t he day.
Sunk bel ow t he ear t h and
ent er ed t he under wor l d
ever y ni ght , wher e he
became a j aguar god.

11. Ah Puch
Deat h god.
Por t r ayed as a human wi t h
a skel et al nose, j aw and
spi ne and a body cover ed
i n hi deous spot s.

12. Rel i gi ous Ri t ual s
The anci ent Maya woul d per f or m r i t ual s t o gai n
f avour wi t h t he gods.
Publ i c f est i val s r el at ed t o speci al dat es on t he
Maya cal endar or occasi ons t o pl ead f or a heal t hy
har vest , t he heal t h of a r ul er , or t o wi n a war .
Bef or e a r i t ual or f est i val , peopl e woul d go
wi t hout cer t ai n f ood or pi er ce t hei r t ongues, l i ps,
cheeks or ear s t o of f er a sacr i f i ce of human bl ood.
The f est i val s wer e col our f ul and noi sy wi t h
pr ocessi ons, banner s, dr ums and t r umpet s.

13. St one car vi ngs show
r ul er s and nobl es gi vi ng
bl ood sacr i f i ces.
They had a l ot t o l ose i f
t hey di dn' t keep t he gods
happy.
The gods coul d keep t hem
i n power , hel p def eat
t hei r enemi es and l et
t hem i nt o t he Upper wor l d
when t hey di ed.
Bl ood Let t i ng
Thi s l i nt el shows Shi el d
Jaguar , t he war r i or ki ng
of Yaxchi l an, st andi ng
over hi s wi f e, Lady Xook,
hol di ng an enor mous
f l ami ng t or ch. Lady Xook
i s pul l i ng a t hor n-
st udded r ope t hr ough her
t ongue i n an act of bl ood
l et t i ng t o honour t he
Photo courtesy of vintagedept@flickr.com -granted under creative commons licence -
attribution

14. Human Sacr i f i ce
One of t he mai n pur poses f or f i ght i ng bat t l es
was t o t ake capt i ves t hat coul d t hen be
sacr i f i ced.
Accor di ng t o a wr i t er i n t he 1500s, t he Maya
woul d pai nt t he body of t he vi ct i m bl ue, l ay
hi m on a st one pl at f or m at t he t op of a t empl e,
and f our men woul d hol d hi m by hi s ar ms and
l egs.
The execut i oner woul d cut bet ween t he vi ct i m' s
r i bs and r i p out hi s hear t wi t h hi s hand.
The hear t woul d be pl aced, st i l l beat i ng, on a
pl at e and gi ven t o a pr i est .
The pr i est woul d smear bl ood f r om t he hear t on
t he f aces of st one i dol s.

15. Ther e i s pl ent y of evi dence of t hese pr act i ses
at Chi chen I t za.
Photos courtesy of jimg944 and BruceHH (@flickr.com) - granted under creative commons licence - attribution
Vi ct i ms coul d be t hr own i nt o t he ‘ Wel l of
Sacr i f i ce’
( but not al l t hat of t en) .

16. Photos courtesy of redeo@ flickr.com -granted under creative commons licence - attribution
St one car vi ngs of
j aguar s and eagl es
eat i ng hear t s of
vi ct i ms.

17. The Wal l of Skul l s
Photo courtesy of jimg944 @ flickr.com -granted under creative commons licence - attribution

18. Bel i eve i t or not , t he vi ct i ms who
went st r ai ght t o t he t empl e t o have
t hei r hear t s r i pped out coul d be
consi der ed t he l ucky ones!
Wal l pai nt i ngs, cer ami c f i gur es, st one
car vi ng and pai nt i ngs on pot t er y show
some vi ct i ms bei ng t or t ur ed f or a l ong
t i me bef or e f i nal l y bei ng sacr i f i ced.
We won' t go i nt o t he det ai l s, i t ' s al l
a bi t gor y. . . . .

19. Many cul t ur es and
r el i gi ons bel i eve i n an
af t er l i f e, somewher e
you go af t er you di e.
The anci ent Maya
bel i eved t hei r soul s
went t o a ‘ pl ace of
f ear ’ . Onl y t he r ul er s
and nobl es bel i eved
t her e was a chance of
t hem get t i ng t o t he
Upper wor l d. Why do you
t hi nk t hi s was?
Wher e does a l ot of
t he evi dence f or what
we know t oday come
f r om? How open ar e
t hese sour ces t o
i nt er pr et at i on?
How do t he bel i ef s of
t he anci ent Maya
compar e wi t h di f f er ent
r el i gi ous bel i ef s
t oday?
Can you f i nd any
si mi l ar i t i es?What do you t hi nk about
t hei r under st andi ng of
t he wor l d?
Why mi ght t hey have
t hought t hi s?
Why do you t hi nk t he
anci ent Maya had so many
di f f er ent gods?
Woul d you l i ke t o be
al i ve i n t he 1st
mi l l enni um and l i vi ng
wi t h t he anci ent Maya?
What woul d be t he pr os
and cons?
Somet hi ng t o t hi nk about . . . . . .