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3/27/19
Class period: Ruby
I'm going to inform you on three civilizations that lived in the Americas.

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The Mayan were an interesting civilization who developed their own culture based on another civilization. The Mayan were influenced a lot by another civilization called the Olmec. The Olmec was the first civilization to develop a calendar and religious practices which is where the Mayan git their's from. The Mayan believe in over 160 gods, that sounds like a lot and you might be thinking, so what if they have that many gods it doesn't really affect them. Well it does, that means there are 160 gods they have to look up to and be afraid of, in Mayan belief, gods created the world, and could very easily influence or even destroy it. To prevent any of this from happening and for their lives to be well, they sacrificed to their gods. The Mayan even performed human sacrifice, meaning they would kill someone in order to please their gods. Though, it seems they lived simple lives, not everyone had the same life, there were many people and there are different roles these people take on. The type of roles there were are the ruler, being the most powerful, the nobles, being helpers of rulers, merchants, people who roam and sell items of the Mayan, then peasants who farm and pay taxes to the rulers, and slaves who have no power

This picture of a pyramid is one made by the Mayan. They used these as temples where they would setup shrines for their gods. Here is where their human sacrifices are made too their 160 gods.

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This video explains some of the life and government of the Maya.

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Although they did not invent writing and calendars, the Maya advanced astronomy, trade and religion. They believed that nature was a cycle of destruction and creation, and their priests were mediators between the people and the gods. Buildings, sports, contests, and tribal warfare were all deeply connected to their religious beliefs.

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The Mayan's territory was in 5 of today's countries. It's right at the Most South Western point of Mexico, also part of Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, and Honduras. Some of these countries may sound unfamiliar, though if you take a quick look at the map, you can see it's right above where North America and South America meet.

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Tenochtitlan, the largest city of the Aztecs. Here they had five social classes, ruler, nobles, merchants, peasants, and slaves. The peasants lives were simple, they got married young, men at 20, women at 16. The men arranged the marriage with the women's family. Once married, the men built their houses to start their family in, once that's done and the women has children, the men farm while the women stay and care for their home and their children. These families didn't eat much meat, they mainly ate food made of corn. There were only very special occasions where they ended up eating meat. Also, according to their religion, the sun is a god, and they sacrificed humans every day because they believed if they didn't, the sun wouldn't rise.

This is a picture of a market place in Tenochtitlan where people can buy goods for their house or just food to eat.

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This video explains some of the life and government of the Aztec.

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The Aztecs were the most advanced civilization in Mesoamerica, with established art, law, and poetry. Tenochtitlán was as large as any European city, and contained massive government buildings and temples. However, high taxes and the practice of human sacrifice earned the Aztecs many enemies among other native tribes.

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The Aztecs also were entirely in North America just like the Mayan. They are a little off to the left of where the Mayan resided. Their civilization was entirely in Mexico.

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And here is our third and last civilization, the Inca! The Inca, being the civilization that started the latest in the 1500's C.E, gathered the largest populations of our three civilizations, they had over 10 million people living under their rule. These 10 million people lived under 3 social classes, which is less than both the Aztec and the Mayan, here the order is, emperor and his family, nobles/merchants, and commoners. Unlike the Mayan and Aztec, there are no slaves in the Inca civilization. The commoners of the Inca lived just like the Aztecs, they married at the same age, the children are the same social class as their parents, but they stay at home until they are married. That might be the same but their religion is different, girls at the age of 8-10 are chosen to be priests depending on how beautiful and graceful they are. Also, priests work directly in a god's shrine.

This is Macchu Picchu one of the seven wonders of the world. The Inca were the ones who built this city, though it wasn't used very long as the Inca evacuated soon after the city was finished being built. This city was made perfectly for life in the mountainous area, and the remnants all intact with the stones barely even being moved, make the city much more impressive.

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The Aztec was a large civilization. At their peak they had over 5 million people living under their rule. Though with all those people, there wasn't much unity around their empire, a lot of people wanted freedom. Anyways, the Aztecs arrived around 1250 C.E to the Americas. They used pyramids as temples just as the Mayan did, the Aztec built these up to 200 feet high. These were placed in the plaza were multiple religious events occur. For their class system, it's just the same as the Mayan the have their ruler, nobles, merchants, peasants and slaves. Marriage between people happened at the groom's age of 20, and the bride's age of 16, there family arranged the marriage with the groom and they started their family. First, the groom builds the house their family will live in, there the women care of the house needs and kids, once they have kids. The man from there works in the fields to provide for his family. In their civilization, the most common food was made of maize, or corn. They didn't eat meat very often, they only did on special occasions where they would prepare meals of turkey and chicken. The Aztecs also had a few of their own religious practices. Like the Mayan, they practiced human sacrifice, though, the Aztecs held sacrifices daily in temples. They also believed that the sun was a god and their sacrifices made it rise and fall every day. But remember, these daily practices by the Aztec people mostly happen in Tenochtitlan, their main city.

This picture is a few Aztecs dancing with drums. This is one of their celebrations, because it is an event it is held in the plaza of their city.

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This video explains the life and government of the Inca.

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Recounts the history of the Inca Empire in South America. The segment also reveals parts of Inca civilization that still remain today, including the ancient city of Machu Picchu, Peru.

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The Inca was located and the east of South America, it passed through around 8 countries. Though, most of its territory was in Peru.