Human Sacrifice Astronomy Architecture: The Maya

"The world will end in 2012!" "Mayans predict the end of the world." These and similar lurid headlines caused one or two worry lines on the forehead. As we know, nothing bad happened. In the end, the Mayan calendar simply said that a new phase would begin after December 21, 2012. But who is this people that still fascinates people hundreds of years after their disappearance?

The Maya people lived in southern Mexico, Guatemala and in the region of northern Belize. Their civilization existed from around 2000 B.C. to around 900 A.D. They did not have a unified empire, but lived in city-states that repeatedly came into conflict with each other.

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The Maya traded (jade, obsidian) and had great knowledge of agriculture. They cultivated maize, beans, pumpkin and sweet manioc. They were no strangers to architecture either: they had the skill to erect large buildings such as temples and pyramids, for which they used sandstone. The people worked with gold and copper, so they already had a certain basic knowledge of chemistry. They used their own script, most of which had already been deciphered by scientists. They wrote their findings on paper made from the bark of the wild fig tree. Astronomy was their hobbyhorse, so to speak, as we have known since the doomsday theory. Thanks to their sculptures and relief carvings in and on the temples and the characters found, we now know a lot about their lives.

As far as we know, the Maya civilization consisted of around 40 cities, each of which had between 5,000 and 50,000 inhabitants. The main cities were Tikal, Uaxatun, Copan, Bonampak, Dos Pilas, Calakmul, Rio Bec and Palenque.

This is how the company was structured

There were four social levels among the Maya:

The nobility,
the priests,
the people and
the slaves.

The most powerful men of the nobility were the "Halach Uinic". This title was passed down from father to eldest son. Each Halach Uinic had an assistant, a "batab", who helped with the control of the rules and the collection of taxes.

Priests were highly respected and carried out administrative tasks, as well as being teachers, astronomers and mathematicians. In some respects, priests were therefore even more influential than the nobility. The duties of holy men also included performing rites such as predicting the future and interpreting spiritual omens. Human sacrifices were only performed by one particular priest: The "Nacom". This priest was chosen for life and cut out the heart of the victim during the ceremonies.

The common people worked as farmers, carpenters or architects. The magnificent art must be attributed to these talented members of society.

Slaves were prisoners of war, orphans, children of slaves and even theft was punished with a life of slavery.

We know from their writings that they worshipped nature gods such as the god of the sun, moon, rain and also the god of maize. A central theme of their religion was the belief that everything (including inanimate objects) had a soul.

Their knowledge of astronomy included, for example, the calculation of a year (18 months of 20 days each and a five-day phase that was unlucky for the Maya). In addition to the positions of the moon and Venus, they were also able to accurately determine solar eclipses.

However, they were anything but a peaceful, exploratory people. The latest findings show that they often waged wars with other Mayan peoples in order to expand their power. Captured prisoners of war were enslaved or tortured, mutilated and then sacrificed in honour of the gods.

The religion of the Maya

Religious rituals were fundamental in their society. They believed that torture and human sacrifice would bring fertility. However, if a ritual was not performed, the cosmic balance was in danger of being broken. Natural disasters and chaos would be the result. No one wanted to risk that, so honoring the gods was part of their daily lives.

This was done using different approaches:

Human sacrifices: Were not performed on a daily basis. However, it was common on certain occasions, such as. In times of war. Sacrifice took place either by beheading or by cutting out the still beating heart.

Pok-A-Tok: This ball game was used to demonstrate humility to the gods. The players (mostly prisoners of war) had to pass a heavy ball through a high-hanging ring. According to the rules, neither hands nor feet were allowed to be used. The ball was therefore played with the shoulders, head, elbows or even knees. It sometimes took days for such a "game" to end with the death of a team. However, researchers disagree as to whether this served as a punishment for the losers or as a reward for the winners (honorable death).

Cenotes: The Mayan people believed that gods lived in wells. So children were regularly lowered down there for a few hours. The parents hoped they would come back with a message from the world of the gods. To appease the gods in the cenotes, gifts such as clay pots, jewelry or grain were transported through the well to the gods. However, there were also human sacrifices. In this case, the dead were pushed into the natural wells.

Where have they gone?

Of course, one now wonders what led to the decline of this culture. After all, the Mayan cities were simply abandoned around 900 AD. Historians have various theories as to what could have happened. They range from natural disasters and overpopulation to disease and self-extinction through excessive warfare. However, the Maya did not die out: their descendants still live in Latin America today.

As most of the Mayan sites are still hidden in the inaccessible Mexican jungle, we are sure to hear more interesting news from this fascinating people soon. .