Term Papers on The Mayan Civilization

Term Paper Title	The Mayan Civilization
# of Words	1061
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	4.24

The Mayan civilization

The Mayan civilization lasted roughly 3,000 years.  The Mayan history is divided into three time periods.  The first time period is called the Preclassic  period, from 2,000 BC to 250 AD.  During this period we saw the birth and the rise of Mayas.  The second time period is called the Classic period, form 250 AD to 900 AD.  During this period the Mayan culture flourished.  The Classic period was the Mayans Golden Age that lasted for more than 600 years.  Architecture, Science, and art blossomed.  Then just as suddenly as they had risen, major cities fell into decline and were abandoned.  This time period is called the Postclassical period, from 900 AD to 1500 AD.
     Most of the Mayan documents were destroyed in the early years of the Spanish rule but a few priceless books and artifacts survived the Spanish destruction.  The priceless books survived because the Indians hid some and others were exported back to Europe as presents for the king and queen.  Most books were made from bark paper and coated with lime to make a fresh white surface.  The books were screen folded and bound with wood and deer hide.  The most famous of these books was the Dresden Codex.  This book was inscribed with unknown hieroglyphs.  In 1880, a brilliant German scholar cracked the code of the Mayan calendar.  This made it possible for scholars and explorers to translate the Mayan writing.  The Dresden Codex contains information on eclipses and the movements of Venus.
     Another valuable book that was saved was Popul Vuh or "Book of advice."
The Popul Vuh contained the Mayan creation story.  The Popul Vuh describes how the gods formed the earth from chaos and brought forth light and life.  The Popul Vuh also contains how man was created from corn to be the guardian of the world.  As a Mayan scholar said "I was amazed at the many ideas it has in common with the Bible.  I dimly saw a triune God, creation, Cain killing Abel, the battle of the Angels, all these formed a background upon which was woven a fantastic worship" (Lorang 74).
     Another priceless book that was saved was the Chilam Balam.  This book contained astrology, medicine, history, and prophecies.
     The Mayans central philosophy was a belief of time going cycles and the fear of the day the world would come to an end.  The Mayans believed there had been four ages prior to our own.  The Mayan believed that the sun, which they nourished with sacrifices, would one day no longer send its life force, therefore bringing an end to the fifth and last age of man.  Mayans counted days by two calendars. The first calendar was called tzolkin and it had 260 days.  The second calendar was called Haab and it had 365 days.  That meant that the Mayans had two names for every day.  Therefore, the same name combination would not recur for 52 years.  Each 52 year time period was known as a century to the Mayan.  Whenever a Mayan century came to an end the Mayan people would leave the cities and go up into the surrounding hills and watch the stars.
The Mayas would look up into the sky...

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