Religion In The Mayan Society

852 Words4 Pages
Mayans were an extremely advanced civilization. Why? Their lives revolved around their religion. Lot’s of acts were done out of the benefit for the gods. Starting with religion and following into, arts, sciences and warfare, each had religion dipped in the roots to show the gods the undying faith of the Mayans. Mayans were a polytheistic society that built temples for their gods. Priests are held in high respect. Since it was said only specially trained people could only hope to understand the gods(Walker 450). Priests also took up the main jobs within the Mayan society ie.) astronomy, math, hieroglyphics, calendrics, rituals, medicine, teachers, prophecy(Walker 450) and more. The gods were very tricky to please which meant rituals had to be done at the right time or the purpose may fall short of the goal. The maya believed that everything was controlled and dictated by the gods. Whenever there was a natural disaster human sacrifices were made to please them. Sacrifices were chosen from orphans, slaves, enemy warriors, criminals, and lastly children that were either bought or stolen to use in the blood sacrifice(Walker 450). Any festival or ritual held for any of the harvest gods was the most important and everyone came to the city-state to support and show respect towards the gods(Walker 450). Mayans used art in a religious way as well. The Mayans painted everyday life but they also took turns depicting religious occasions. Some frescos displayed priests along with