Hundreds of years ago, long before what we know call South America, two civilizations, the Mayans and the Incas, lived in and conquered the continent. While these two civilizations existed hundreds of years apart from each other, they still shared many similarities as well as differences.
The Mayans were a Mesoamerican (the Americas prior to the Spanish Conquest) civilization that spanned from about 2000 BCE to approximately mid 1500s following the arrival of the Spanish. The Mayans lived in what is now Guatemala and Belize. Though noted for being the first to develop a full writing system, the Mayans also were known for their art, architecture, astronomical, and mathematical systems. The Mayans were also very religious, and worshipped nature gods such as Itzamna (creator god and God of Sun), the Four Chaacs (gods of rains, thunder, lightning), and Chen
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Though significantly larger, this empire did not last as long as the Mayans, spanning from the 1400s to the 1500s. Unlike the Mayans, the Incas had an all-powerful ruler: the Sapa Inca, who they believed to be the “son of the sun”. The Sapa Inca owned everything and also controlled the whole government and its positions. Many of these government positions were based on nepotism, meaning that he gave his family members high-ranking positions. The people who held these positions made all the decisions and laws, and if you were to break the laws, then the punishment would almost always be death. The Incas had a strong government, with everyone working for the government and in return, the government would keep them fed and clothed but still enslaved. The Incas, much like the Mayans believed in nature gods, like Apu Illapu (Rain god) and Pachamama (goddess of the