Search Results: Maya Civilization

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Maya Civilization
Definition by Joshua J. Mark

Maya Civilization

The Maya are an indigenous people of Mexico and Central America who have continuously inhabited the lands comprising modern-day Yucatan, Quintana Roo, Campeche, Tabasco, and Chiapas in Mexico and southward through Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador...
Maya Religion
Definition by Maria C. Gomez

Maya Religion

Maya religious beliefs are formed on the notion that virtually everything in the world contains k'uh, or sacredness. K'uh and k'uhul, similar terms which are used to explain the spirituality of all inanimate and animate things, describe the...
Maya Government
Definition by Maria C. Gomez

Maya Government

Ancient Maya government was formed on the basis that rulers were thought to have been god-like, which to some might suggest one unified state. However, the consensus amongst anthropologists supports that each major Maya city remained its...
The Mayan Pantheon: The Many Gods of the Maya
Article by Joshua J. Mark

The Mayan Pantheon: The Many Gods of the Maya

The pantheon of the Maya is a vast collection of deities worshipped throughout the regions of Yucatan, Quintana Roo, Campeche, Tabasco, and Chiapas in Mexico and southward through Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador and Honduras. These gods informed...
Interview: Preclassic Maya
Interview by James Blake Wiener

Interview: Preclassic Maya

The genesis of Maya civilization in Mesoamerica was marked by an effervescence in the arts, the beginnings of their written language with glyphs, and a great attention to detail in the sphere of urban planning. Yet, despite these tremendous...
The Classic Maya Collapse
Article by Mark Cartwright

The Classic Maya Collapse

The Mesoamerican Terminal Classic period (c. 800-925) saw one of the most dramatic civilization collapses in history. Within a century or so the flourishing Classic Maya civilization fell into a permanent decline when once-great cities were...
Maya Architecture
Definition by Mark Cartwright

Maya Architecture

Maya architecture is best characterized by the soaring pyramid temples and ornate palaces which were built in all Maya centres across Mesoamerica from El Tajin in the north to Copan in the south. The Maya civilization was formed of independent...
The Maya Calendar and the End of the World: Why the one does not substantiate the other
Article by Joshua J. Mark

The Maya Calendar and the End of the World: Why the one does not substantiate the other

The Popol Vuh recounts the story of twins who journeyed to Xibalba. For the Maya, their round of adventures serves as a metaphor for timeless, repeating cycles and for the regeneration of earth and all living things. – Gene S. Stuart, Mayanist...
Early Explorers of the Maya Civilization: From Aguilar to Waldek
Article by Joshua J. Mark

Early Explorers of the Maya Civilization: From Aguilar to Waldek

Although John Lloyd Stephens and Frederick Catherwood are consistently credited with the `discovery' of the Maya Civilization, there were many who preceded them who sparked their interest in making their famous travels through Mesoamerica...
Maya Religion: The Light That Came From Beside The Sea
Article by Joshua J. Mark

Maya Religion: The Light That Came From Beside The Sea

The Mayan religious text, the Popol Vuh (known by many names, among them, The Light That Came From Beside The Sea) is the Quiche Maya story of creation translated into Spanish in the early 18th century CE by the missionary Francisco Ximenez...
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