The Mayas, Incas, and the Aztecs are all civilizations that we still don’t completely understand. You may have seen movies or read stories about these people but you have to understand we are all only going off our intuitions. The people part of that civilization are long gone now, but they left us with artifacts that have helped us find out who these people were and what they believed. In my essay I will talk about three ancient civilizations, the Mayas, the Incas, and the Aztecs. I will say a little about their geography, religion and achievements as well.
The Mayas
The Mayas are a Mesoamerican civilization; they lived in what today is known as southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, parts of Honduras, and El Salvador for thousands of years beginning …show more content…
The Incas arose from the highland of Peru in the early 13th century. The Incas lived in the areas that are now known as Ecuador, Peru, western and south central Bolivia, northwest Argentina, north and northcentral Chile and southern Colombia. The capital city of the Incas was Cuzco, and they spoke Quechua. The Incas were polytheistic and their religion was closely connected to everyday life of the Incas. Like the Mayas, the Incas would try to keep the god on their side with human sacrifices. The Incas preferred to sacrifice children or teenager because they were said to be pure. Sacrifices were not the only ways of praising the gods they would also fast and pray. The Incas are especially recognized for the way they expanded an empire as big as the Roman Empire without the use of wheels, written language, good communication, iron, or steel. The Incas founded this system of knotting rope called Quipu; they would record economic transaction and data using the Quipu. The Incas found ways of preserving their food like meats by drying them out in the sun. The Incas succeeded in farming although they lived among the steep peaks of the Andes by terrace farming. Terrace farming was like giant green staircases that they constructed to help level the area to grow their crops. Another one of their achievements was that they invented a network of roads and highways that connected their territories on a huge …show more content…
The Aztecs did not call themselves Aztecs, they called themselves Mexica. The Aztecs spoke N’ahuatl. Hopefully you have already realized that just like the past two civilizations, Mayas and Incas; the Aztecs are also polytheistic. The Aztecs worshipped many gods and their gods mostly represented the forces and manifestations of nature. The Aztecs also played “basketball” like the Mayans but called it Ullamaliztli. An achievement was that the Aztecs had mandatory public schooling for all children, and schools were divided by social class and gender. Another was that the Aztecs created their own language and it was called N’ahuatl, the alphabet for this language was a form of picture
The Mayas
The Mayas are a Mesoamerican civilization; they lived in what today is known as southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, parts of Honduras, and El Salvador for thousands of years beginning …show more content…
The Incas arose from the highland of Peru in the early 13th century. The Incas lived in the areas that are now known as Ecuador, Peru, western and south central Bolivia, northwest Argentina, north and northcentral Chile and southern Colombia. The capital city of the Incas was Cuzco, and they spoke Quechua. The Incas were polytheistic and their religion was closely connected to everyday life of the Incas. Like the Mayas, the Incas would try to keep the god on their side with human sacrifices. The Incas preferred to sacrifice children or teenager because they were said to be pure. Sacrifices were not the only ways of praising the gods they would also fast and pray. The Incas are especially recognized for the way they expanded an empire as big as the Roman Empire without the use of wheels, written language, good communication, iron, or steel. The Incas founded this system of knotting rope called Quipu; they would record economic transaction and data using the Quipu. The Incas found ways of preserving their food like meats by drying them out in the sun. The Incas succeeded in farming although they lived among the steep peaks of the Andes by terrace farming. Terrace farming was like giant green staircases that they constructed to help level the area to grow their crops. Another one of their achievements was that they invented a network of roads and highways that connected their territories on a huge …show more content…
The Aztecs did not call themselves Aztecs, they called themselves Mexica. The Aztecs spoke N’ahuatl. Hopefully you have already realized that just like the past two civilizations, Mayas and Incas; the Aztecs are also polytheistic. The Aztecs worshipped many gods and their gods mostly represented the forces and manifestations of nature. The Aztecs also played “basketball” like the Mayans but called it Ullamaliztli. An achievement was that the Aztecs had mandatory public schooling for all children, and schools were divided by social class and gender. Another was that the Aztecs created their own language and it was called N’ahuatl, the alphabet for this language was a form of picture