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200
Political organization founded
In about 200 CE, the Mayan civilization started to become more organized in terms of politics. The Mayas decided to have small cities instead of having an unified empire (they were unified by allainces and trade systems). The Mayas had strong, centralized leaders and if someone disobeyed the leader they were punished (obidience is the key to keeping harmony in the empire).
This is significant because we can see how even though they were a very different culture, they managed to keep harmony. -
230
Mayan women
(Date not accurate) Mayan women played a very important role in their civilization, unlike women in other communities. Women that participated in the government were very important and influential leaders. Women were also important because they were wifes and mothers of the kings (and other important figures) -
250
Religion (first founded)
The Maya religion was first founded in 250 when the Maya civilization was at its peak. The Mayas were polytheistic; they believed in more than 165 gods. They believed that everyone went to the undersworld unless you were sacrificed or you died in childbirth. They also believed that every person had an animal companion who shared their soul and one could transform into that conpanion. The main Gods were Itzamná and Kukulcán. -
250
Social classes
By the time that the Mayas started to become organized in terms of politics, they also became more divided in social classes. The social structure was divided between serfs, commoners, slaves and nobles. Nobles included people involved in politics, commoners were farmers, laborers and servants and serfs and slaves worked on land for the nobles. -
400
Mayan calendar
The Mayan calendar was created in 3114 BC (august 11th or September 6th). This calendar shows the cycles that marked the movement of the sun, moon and venus. The Mayas built a pyramid as their calendar. There are three types of calendar: Long count, Tzolkin and Haab. -
400
Tzolkin calendar
This Mayan calendar is very different from the one that we use today; it is made of 260 days each year. The only way that we know this is because of one of the Mayan sacred texts that remains today. Each day of this calendar is written with one number and one glyph. The Mayas believed in a continious cycle of their world, so when the two calendars (Haab and Tzokin) came together it was a very important day for them. -
400
Haab calendar
The Haab was one of the Maya calendars; it was the one that it's more like ours. This calendar had an astronomical year of 365 days in one year; it consisted of 18 months of 20 days. The remaining five days were considered unlucky. The Haab was related to seasonal changes and agriculture. This calendar is significant because it's very like the one that we use today. -
Jan 1, 1172
Halach Uinic
A Halach Uinic was tthe highest authority in the Mayan civilization. During the Spanish conquest, the Mayan civilization was divided into 18 states; 9 of those states were ruled by the Halach Uinic. Even though the Halach Uinic was the highest authority in the government, his power was still limited by councils and advisors. The succesor had to be a relative, if the Halach Uinic didn't have a son, the priests would choose a candidate. -
Jan 1, 1554
Popol-Vuh (first written)
The Popol-Vuh is the Mayans sacred text, and it was written between 1554-1558. This text talks about the creation story of the Maya and about its creator. The creator's name is the heart of the sky. The transition from being nomads to being settled in one place is also in the Popol-Vuh. -
Collapse of the Maya culture - end of classic period
Even though the Mayan Empire lasted for many years, like many other empires, it collapsed. This collapse came with the abandonment of the classic period in the 8th and 9th century (AD). The collapse it's one of the biggest mysteries of history. Some of the reasons for the collapse could've been: too large of a population, foreign invasion (toltecs), collapse of trade toutes and epic diseases. Non of these reasons have been proved, but this are the main beliefs (the only things that make sense)
