VOCABULARY
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MAYA CALENDAR, MATH AND ASTRONOMY
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MAYAN LANGUAGE
Learn about Mayan language and writing.
MAYA ARCHITECTURE
Learn why the Maya built their temples.
MAYA BALLGAME
Learn about the ancient Mesoamerican ballgame.
MAYA MUSIC
Learn about ancient Maya music.
ANCIENT FOODS
Learn some of the foods the ancient Maya and other groups ate.
Ancient - very old; a long-ago time.
Aztec - In the 15th and early 16th centuries the Aztecs ruled a large empire in what is now central and southern Mexico. The Aztec are so called from Aztlán ("White Land") They shared many of the cosmological beliefs of earlier peoples, the Maya. The Aztec empire was expanding when its progress was halted in 1519 by the appearance of Spanish explorers. The ninth emperor, Montezuma II was taken prisoner by Hernán Cortés and died in custody. With the Spanish capture of Tenochtitlán in 1521, the Aztec empire came to an end .
Carve - to cut; in art, to shape a material by cutting away.
Cenote - A natural waterhole. Cenote is a corruption by the Spanish of the Maya word dzonot, a sink-hole created when limestone caves collapse. Water in cenotes is filtered through limestone and was one of the main sources of drinking water.
Chac - the Rain God and Cosmic Monster Chac is a dragon-like monster with a crocodile head and ears like a deer. Since he exists on the edge of the sky, this cosmic monster marks the path between the natural and supernatural worlds. In the story of creation, Chacs were placed at the four corners of the world. They bring the rains by shedding their blood and create thunderbolts by hurling down their stone axes. Chac was also the name given to Maya elders who assisted at ceremonies and sacrifices.
Codex - a book, especially an ancient written record. Aztec codices (more than one codex) were made with paper from bark or animal skin and folded accordion-style. The codices recorded many details of Aztec life and history. The Spanish conquerors destroyed all the codices they could find, but some (like the Codex Mendoza) were reproduced from memory.
Colonial - having to do with a colony, or a group of people, from one land living in a new land and having control over the new land and its people. Spanish Colonial Mexico is the time period in Mexico from about the arrival of Spanish conquistadors in 1519 until Mexican Independence in 1821.
Conquistador - one who conquers, or wins; a leader in the Spanish military takeover of America in the 1500s.
Cortés - a Spanish military leader and conquistador who sailed to Mexico in 1519 and was welcomed by the Aztec ruler Montezuma. Hernando Cortés was searching for gold and riches when he conquered the Aztecs in 1521. In Mexican masks, Cortés is usually shown with fair skin and a lot of hair, including a beard and mustache.
Diablo - Spanish word for devil.
Fiesta - Spanish word for celebration.
First Mother and First Father - The First Mother and First Father are the Creator Couple described in the Popol Vuh. All the other gods who came into being were the children of this couple. The First Mother, the Moon Goddess, was born six years before the First Father, Hun Nal Ye. Also known as the Maize God and the Plumed or Feathered Serpent, the First Father was responsible for a new creation of the cosmos.
Haab - One of the three Maya calendars, and the one which is the most closely like ours in length. The haab is known as the "Vague Year" by archaeologists, since it is 365 days in length, or about a quarter day short of the actual solar year.
Hispanic - coming from or having to do with one of the countries where Spanish is spoken.
Indigenous - having come from a certain area originally; native to a place.
Manta - A square of cloth, used as a blanket or cloak. It is still worn by Mays today.
Maya - The Maya civilization began about 2600 B.C. and rose to prominence around A.D. 250 in what is now Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador. Inheriting the inventions and ideas of earlier civilizations, they developed astronomy, calendar systems, hieroglyphic writing, ceremonial architecture. They created masonry without metal tools. Their civilization began to decline around A.D. 900, although some continued to thrive until the Spanish conquest in the early sixteenth century.
Mayan - The language group of the Maya peoples, composed of 31 languages. (The term should be reserved for Mayan languages. The word "Maya" should be used for the name of the people, either as a noun or an adjective.)
Maize God - Like the Sun God, the Maize God is associated with life and death. He follows the path across the sky, descends into the Underworld, is reborn, and returns to the Sky World. He is shown with a flattened and elongated forehead and partly shaven head and eyebrows, leaving patches of hair on the top of his head,. he resembles a ripened ear of corn. The Maya elite shaped their childrens skulls to resemble the Maize God’s elongated head by tying two boards front and back against the infant’s head.
Milpa - A cornfield.
Missionary - a person carrying out a mission or a goal, especially a religious mission. In Colonial Mexico, missionaries were priests who spread the Christian religion and served Spain.
Olmec - A Mesoamerican culture on the Mexican gulf coast which was at its height from 1200 to 600 B.C. They probably influenced other great civilizations of Mesoamerica, including the Maya. The Olmec were probably the first to develop large religious and ceremonial centers with temple mounds, large sculptures, huge altars, and sophisticated systems of drains and lagoons.
The Olmec were probably also the first Mesoamericans to invent writing with glyph and the 260-day calendar.
Pageant - A public show where people, often in costume, march or act out historical events or stories.
Pom - The resin of the copal tree, used by the Maya for rubber, chewing gum and incense.
Pre-Hispanic - the time before Spanish contact and conquest in the New World; before the 1500s.
Religion - belief in a supernatural God or gods; a system of belief, faith and worship.
Ritual - an act or set of acts carried out according to certain rules; often a religious act performed on special days or after certain events.
Toltec - The Toltecs ruled much of Maya central Mexico from the tenth to twelfth centuries A.D. The Toltecs were the last dominant Mesoamerican culture before the Aztecs, and inherited much from Maya civilization. The Toltec capital was at Tula, 80 kilometres north of Mexico City. The most impressive Toltec ruins are at Chichén Itzá in Yucatán, where a branch of Toltec culture survived beyond the civilization's fall in central Mexico.
Tradition - beliefs and behaviors passed down over time, one generation to the next.
Tribute - payment in the form of goods (textiles, food, weapons, etc.) sent to a ruler.