Compare And Contrast Aztec And Mayan Civilizations

The Americas

Ancient America consists of three main civilizations. The Mayan Empire, The Incan Empire, and The Aztec Empire. “The Maya Civilization lived in Central America, including south Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras between 2500 BCE and 1500 CE. The Inca were a tribe around the 12th century who formed a city-state. The Aztecs were a people who came into the Valley of Mexico in the 12th century and quickly rose to become the dominant power in Mesoamerica.” (www.historywiz.com)

The Aztec Empire was mainly in the highly elevated Valley of Mexico, which is located in the mountains of Central Mexico. The Mayan Empire was located in Central America. The Mayans had several variations in their geography consisting of rainforests,

The Mayans most important god being Itzamna, god of fire who also created Earth. The Inca believed that their ruler was part god. The most important god to the Inca was Inti, god of the sun. The Aztec’s main god was called Huitzilopochtli who was god of the sun, war, and sacrifices. The Aztec people also had a temple called the Great Temple where priests performed sacrifices every day. The Mayans believed in afterlife but it wasn’t a nice one (unless you died in childbirth or died being sacrificed to the gods). If you didn’t, then the Mayan afterlife was “...a dark underworld where mean gods would torment you’’. (www.ducksters.com) However the Inca believed the afterlife would depend on how you lived your life. If you lived a good life you would go to the heavens but if you lived a bad life then you would go to the underworld. The Inca also mummified their people and had things called Huacas which were any object or person that could be possessed by spirits that would guide them. The Aztec people believed in several levels of afterlife. If you died in battle you were noble so you would go to the

They developed advanced systems of writing, numbers, and calendars. They had calendars to keep up with time and religious events. They also had a calendar known as the long count calendar which started on the day that the Mayans believed the Earth began. Some people also believed that they used that calendar to predict the end of the world. The Inca Empire had an intricate road system along with many other great achievements. They had a calendar made up of 12 months and were able to create large stone buildings. The Aztec people’s tools weren’t as developed as others but they still managed to accomplish great things. They had their own system of writing using pictographs which would symbolize objects, sounds, and occasions. The Aztecs had two calendars, one had 260 days and the other had 365 days. The second calendar had a day every 52 years when the Aztecs feared the world might end. They also built aqueducts.

The Mayans social construct consisted of the priests at the top, carpenters, architects, farmers, and slaves at the bottom. The Inca’s social construct was made up of the noble class at the top, then the people who ran the small-time government, then the artisans (or commoners), then the farmers at the very bottom. The farmers were the largest portion of the population. The Aztecs valued family and marriage. At the top of their social ladder was the king and then at the bottom were