Imagine you went back to 1800 B.C. to witness the daily life of many early empires. It would surprise you that they share many characteristics of modern-day life! Many civilizations developed calendars, hierarchies, and governments, which are still around today. The development of empires influenced future societies because of their government structure, the use of religion, and architecture.
First, the most successful empires used a government system to rule over their people. The Aztecs turned each town into a city-state. Then, each city-state became unified into an empire. They had a supreme political leader who represented the gods. To decide, a council of people aided the emperor. (Aztec Source C & F). They organized the Mayan empire into 18 city-states. Each was independent and did not unify into a single Empire. The Mayans also had a Halach uinic, which acted like a King with a council to help decide (Maya Source D). In most countries, each one has a system of government to rule its people. Although they may not share some characteristics of ancient empires, they still received a
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The Aztecs had a polytheistic belief and used human sacrifices in their rituals. They used these sacrifices to “feed” the sun god so that it continued to move and provide warmth (Aztec source H). The Mayans also believed in many gods, making them polytheistic like the Aztecs. The Mayans were also animistic, thinking that every object had a soul. Instead of using human sacrifices, priests led festivals and rituals that honored the gods (Maya source H). Third off, the Incas were very religious. They connected most of community life to religious beliefs. They promoted religion so much that the state endorsed it. (Inca Source I). Overall, the use of worship was something that carried on throughout history. Although these empires did not pioneer religion, they still influenced why it is still around
During the Classical era, civilizations around the world had to develop and perfect their own methods of governing their empires. Two of the largest empires at the time were Han China as well as the Imperial Roman Empire. As they created their own ways of running a kingdom, they began to create ideas that were comparable, but also had ideas that were contradictry. Both of these kingdons were focased on expansion of their boarders and their culture. These empires had an agricultural base that was the building blocks for their power.
Empires throughout history have all had their own methods to political control. Some very similar others could not be any more different. Some of the great empires such as the Han and the Roman had very similar approaches to political control. Although both the Han and the Roman empires had similar forms of government both bureaucracies, both empires had many individual characteristics as well.
Keep similar ideas together: The Aztecs lived in a mountainout area with lots of rain. They had a good connection with water to support their farming systems. The Aztecs also participated in human sacrifice. They were polytheistic, meaning they believed in many gods, which they sacrificed people in order to please.
The Inca believed in afterlife they took good care of the dead bodies. They actually brought gifts to dead bodies so they could use them in the afterlife. They also believed heaven was divided into four quarters if people was good then they went to the part of heaven when the sun is out and if they lived a bad life then they went to the dark side of heaven. The mayans focus on two thing when they grow they make sure they have stable supply of food and that they have enough to trade.
Religious authority along with political organization contributed to these empires’ success and development more than military power. Military power proved an empire’s power over its periphery and that they had the possibility of taking over other empires through a mighty
The other was the practice of ritual human sacrifice. Human sacrifice was a huge part of Aztec life. Specifically, the sacrifice of living hearts was thought to be especially pleasing to the gods. Usually the sacrifices were captives whom were captured while raiding other nearby city states. The bravest of those captives were considered to be the most pleasing to the gods when sacrificed.
The Aztecs’ main god was the sun or Huitzilopochtli. They believed that the sun needed constant replenishment so that it could move across the earth everyday and prevent the world from ending. However, the only way to keep this from happening, and provide mobility for the sun was to offer human sacrifices; he needed human flesh and blood. This accounts for the human sacrifices that the Aztecs had as well as the many festivals, which their ultimate goal to sacrifice humans for Huitzilopochtli and other gods as well. It is important to point that the Aztecs believed that they were living in the 5th and last era, but that they needed to keep the world from ending.
All the great empires , most notably the Byzantine and Mongols were all defeated after enjoying long periods of success. Mongols were successful because they were interacting with many countries because of their conquests. Conquering others allowed the trade routes in Asia to move north. All these great countries and civilizations were so successful , mostly in part that they all worked together and their ideas spread to one another.
The Aztec believed in polytheism which means the Aztec believed in multiple gods, they would do human sacrifices were done with an obsidian sacrificial knife done by the head priest. Furthermore the Aztecs social system
The early modern era was a time when empires thrived across the globe. The Western Europeans were not the only ones to construct successful empires either. The Russian, Chinese, Mughal, and Ottoman empires added to this phenomenon. Although these empires share many similarities, they also have their differences. During the time, 1450 CE -1750 CE, European empires in the Americas and their Russian, Chinese, Mughal, and Ottoman counterparts are similar in that they all thrived and united diverse peoples and different in that European empires developed something entirely new, an interacting Atlantic World, while the other empires continued older patterns of historical development.
The Shang/Zhou dynasties and the Maya civilizations were both powerful entities built around political control. The two governments power came from religion, as their leaders were viewed to be Gods by the people they ruled over. However, the contrasts between them, such as Shang/Zhou China’s monarchy and the Maya’s warring city-states, defined each cultures varied political advancements.
For one,the Aztecs made sure to worship each deity in their due order (Berdan 897). In an encyclopedia article, it is stated that the Aztecs believed in many gods, each one with their own important domain, their own temples, priests, and rituals (Berdan 897). From this, one can reason that the Aztecs wanted to make each of their gods feel worshiped, if only out of fear what disasters could entail their neglect. Also, around the same that they speculated that catastrophe would strike according to their carefully calculated religious calendars, they’d perform even more elaborate sacrifices (Berdan 897). According to the Aztecs, earthquakes would destroy the fifth sun (the present world), and since they estimated that it would most likely happen at the end of every fifty-two years, their ceremonies became more extravagant - some of which involved gory mass human sacrifice, extraction of hearts, and blood bathed stairs (Berdan 897; Brady 6).
A major part of Aztec life, centered around religion. The Aztecs believed in a polytheistic, animistic religion. There were about 128 major deities, including gods of rain, fire, water, corn, the sky, and the sun, which showed you how large of a scale their religion was. When it comes to Aztec religion and culture, it becomes crucial to
Women’s rights were the same in all three empires being confided to domestic affairs. Another common place between the three was law while the systems were different each valued justice
Other similar practices, were communions, fastings, and feasts. Later on, Aztec