How were the customs of the Mayans

What were the customs of the Mayans like? If you have visited southern Mexico and seen places like Chichen Itza, In the Yucatan Peninsula: Comalcalco, surely you have asked yourself this question. Because that ancient Mesoamerican civilization it still arouses enormous interest in us.

Throughout its more than three thousand years of history, the Mayan culture reached a high level of development. He was able to build colossal pyramids and other constructions that have perfectly withstood the passage of time; to organize complex political systems under the structure of city-states; to establish commercial networks with wide territories and to achieve an important intellectual level of development, with the most advanced writing in all of Central America. If you want to discover what the customs of the Mayans were like, we encourage you to continue reading.

How were the customs of the Mayans in their period of maximum splendor

The best way to get closer to the customs of the Mayans is to focus on the time of the arrival of the Spanish. And this for two reasons: it is the most documented stage and the time when that civilization had achieved a higher degree of development. We are going to see these customs structuring them in the different areas of society.

The religion

Like all their Central American neighbors, the Maya were polytheists. Among their deities, was Itzamna, the creator god who also embodied the cosmos and, more specifically, the sun. But also the four Chaac or gods of the storms; the pawatun held the Earth and the bacab they did the same with the firmament.

Also of great importance was the deity of the feathered serpent, which received different names depending on the area (for example, in Yucatán it was called Kukulkan), And Quetzalcoatl, the god of life. The Mayans even had their sacred book on the mythical origins of the world. It was him Popol Vuh, also called the Advice Book for treasuring much of the knowledge of your civilization.

On the other hand, the Mayans had a somewhat cruel concept of their gods. They paid tribute to them by human sacrifices because they believed that that was how they fed and pleased them. But, in addition, we could say that they killed to live longer. The Maya believed that by providing lives for their deities, they lengthened their own.

It wasn't the only reason they made human sacrifices. They were also carried out to ask for good harvests and other issues related to functioning of the Universe like the seasons and the weather.

Finally, while their Olympus was only destined for the gods, the Mayans had their own sky. The Xibalba It was that place, but both good and bad went to it. Depending on their behavior, they were treated mildly or harshly there.

Mayan ceremonies

Closely linked to religion were the ceremonies of the Mayan people. This was not the case in all cases, some of them were profane. But, in any case, everything related to their ritual acts will surely attract your attention. We are going to show you some of these ceremonies.

The worship of the cenotes

These torcas or areas of sunken karst terrain are very frequent in the Yucatan peninsula, where there are tourist cities of the so-called Riviera Maya. How are you going to visit them if you travel to the area, we will tell you that, for the Mayans, the cenotes were Sacred places. They were considered the gateway to the underworld and therefore performed ceremonies and sacrifices in them.

The ball game, inevitable when talking about what the customs of the Mayans were like

Very different character had for this town the pok to pok or ball game, one of the most popular ceremonies of their customs. Even today you can see in the archaeological sites the fields where it was practiced. But it was also of enormous importance to the Mayans. Through their parties, they resolved disputes between cities, that is, it was an alternative to war.

However, those who lost the shock were usually euthanized. Therefore, it also had a prominent ritual component. As you will be interested to know what this game consisted of, we will tell you that it was about passing a ball over a masonry net without touching the ground. And they could only hit him with the shoulders, elbows or hips.

Hanal Pixan, his day of the dead

As is the case today, the Mayans also had their day of the dead. It was the festival hanal pixan and remembered loved ones with incense, music, meals, and other ceremonies.

Acts of appreciation for the harvests

Be grateful for the harvest is an act that is present in all cultures of the world, past and present. The Mayans had various ceremonies for the entire process of the fertility of the land.

With the Pa Puul they requested the sky to rain and with the sac ha they asked for the corn to develop. Once the fruits of the earth had been collected, they thanked them with the dance of Nan Patch. For this last ceremony, they created dolls from corncobs, placed them on altars and offered prayers while drinking pinol, made with the corn itself.

Other rituals

Finally, the xukulen It was a ceremony of approaching Itzamna, the creator god, to ask him for health and prosperity, while the Hetzmek it was a kind of baptism ceremony for the little ones.

Politics and social structure

The Mayans had as their government the monarchy, although very different from what existed for example in Spain, England or France in those times. However, there were certain similarities. Their kings were considered sons of god and, therefore, his power came from divinity. At the same time, they exercised the government of their city-state or territory and even acted as priests.

Regarding society, the ruling or upper class was formed, in addition to the king himself, by other priests of shamanic character. Religion was very important in the Mayan world and that is why shamans had great power. They even participated in the decisions of the monarch. Finally, a third rung among the wealthy were the noble, whose titles were hereditary and who also advised the king.

On the other hand, there was the lower class in which the workers and servants next to the lowest link, the slaves. The latter lacked all rights and were the property of the nobleman who had bought them. Finally, with the development of the Mayan civilization, a middle class, made up of civil servants, merchants, artisans and middle-ranking military personnel.

The army and the war

Precisely the war had great importance in the mentality of this pre-Columbian people. They were frequent among them or against nearby territories and the Mayan army was well prepared and behaved with huge discipline. Had mercenariesBut all healthy adult men had to participate in wars and it even appears that women played a role in these conflicts too.

On the other hand, these Mayan warriors used as weapons bow and arrow. But, mainly they used the atlatl, a dart thrower, and already in Spanish times, a long sword or greatsword. In addition, they lined their bodies with armor made of padded cotton hardened with salt water.

Mayan cities and architecture, the best known of the Mayan customs

The cities of this pre-Columbian town were not urbanistically planned. So, expanded irregularly. However, almost all of them have a center made up of ceremonial and administrative buildings and, around this, several residential areas that were added over time.

Much more complex was the Mayan architecture, to the point that this civilization is considered one of the most developed of antiquity in terms of construction. They even had specialized workers.

They built squares, patios, courts for the ball game and sacbeob or driveways. But above all palaces, temples, pyramids and even observatories. Many of these constructions, in addition, were decorated with paintings, sculptures or stucco reliefs.

Perhaps one of its most successful buildings is the triassic pyramid. It consists of a main building flanked by two smaller ones on its sides and facing inwards, all built on the same base surface. They came to make them of enormous dimensions and it is believed that this form was related to the mythology of that town.

Mayan art

Mayan art has a purpose mainly ritual, although it also covered other topics. It is made up of stone or wood sculptures, paintings, precious stones, and ceramics. They had a special predilection for colors green and blue for which they used the jade of those tones a lot.

On the other hand, in their cities the stone stelae. But above all, the facades decorated with stucco painted in bright colors. In fact, they had an important mural painting. As for their ceramics, they knew advanced firing techniques although they didn't have potter's wheels. For this reason, round pieces such as glasses were manufactured with other techniques such as roll warping.

The language and writing, essential to know what the customs of the Mayans were like

Each territory of this civilization had its own language. However, they all came from a common language called proto-mayan who is believed to have been born in the highlands of Guatemala. Likewise, all the preserved texts of the Classic Period (around the XNUMXrd century BC) seem to have been written in the so-called cholti or classic Mayan language.

Precisely the writing system of this town is very important to know their customs. And this for two reasons: it reached a high level of sophistication and, above all, we know them thanks to the inscriptions and texts that they have left us.

While there are researchers who deny it, others point to this writing as highly developed. The first samples date from the XNUMXrd century BC. But before, there were already other Mesoamerican writing systems such as Zapotec.

It’s a type of glyphic writing, that is, based on hieroglyphics in the style, for example, of ancient Egyptian. Going a little deeper, we will tell you what it uses logograms or representations of a word, combined with syllabic signs. And it has now been almost entirely deciphered.

Four pre-Columbian Mayan books are preserved. The Codex of Madrid is of the divinatory type and is based on the tzolkin or sacred cycle of days for this Mesoamerican people. The Dresden Codex it contains astronomical and astrological tables, as well as descriptions of ceremonies related to the new year. For his part, Paris Codex It is considered a kind of manual for Mayan priests. Finally, the Codex Grolier, whose authenticity was disputed until recently, has recently been confirmed as true and contains images of deities.

Astronomy and the Mayan calendar

So much has been speculated about astronomical knowledge and the dates of the Mayan calendar that it is necessary to talk about it all. It is true that this pre-Columbian town studied the celestial bodies carefully.

But its purpose was not the knowledge of the universe, but had a astrological purpose, divinatory. As a curiosity, we will tell you that they considered the eclipses of the sun and the moon as particularly premonitory of misfortunes.

As for the calendar, the Mayans achieved calculate solar year even better than the Europeans of his time. They divided their time into days or kin, scores or winai and 360-day years or do. But equally, they were based on three interlaced time cycles: the aforementioned tzolkin, 260 days; the haab of 365 and the call calendar wheel, of 52 years.

Economy and trade

Finally, we will tell you about the Mayan economy. Regarding their agriculture, it seems that they knew Advanced techniques. They practiced it in terraces and other raised surfaces that they watered through channels. Among the agricultural products they obtained, corn, cassava, broad beans, squash, sunflower or cotton were very important. But the cocoa, especially by its ruling classes, so much so that it was sometimes used as currency.

On the other hand, the Maya seem to have been big merchants. The big cities celebrated markets and they became important commercial centers. Goods were transported by animals along its roads or by boat through rivers and reached the entire Mesoamerican region. The most popular items were textiles, jewelry or ceramics, but also food products.

In conclusion, we have shown you how were the customs of the Mayans, one of the most advanced pre-Columbian peoples in the entire American continent. They formed a society very interested in astronomy and architecture, but also in commerce and valuables.