Xander Jones
1st Period
October 25, 2016
The Secrets of the Mayans
Many have wondered and marveled at the magnificent architecture of the Mayans, but, did you know that it is all based off astronomy? To what extent does Mayan astronomy relate to modern astronomy? The Mayans have a complex astronomy regime. The entirety of Mayan government relies on the knowledge of many renowned astrologers. Mayans would sacrifice anyone, but those who held the knowledge were spared. The Mayans acquired knowledge of astronomy far more advanced than any part of the world at the time. The few writings that were not burned by the Spanish demonstrate knowledge of constellations, the solar system, and most impressively, a spherical Earth. The knowledge that the …show more content…
The entirety of Mayan government relies on the knowledge of many renowned astrologers. There are 13 levels of government in Mayan society, and the scholars, astronomers and teachers hold the top 3 apart from the king. This is important since it shows how much the Mayans valued knowledge, and were ready to respect those who had it. The probable reason for much of the the archaeological influence is because of this. The King was chosen based on how stars aligned. This is valuable knowledge, because it shows how much astronomy is intertwined with their society. Because of this, we can come closer to understanding how much astronomy means to the Mayans. This could potentially be why the Mayans cared so deeply. Mayans would sacrifice anyone, but those who held the knowledge were spared. In the Temple of the Warrior, the altar on top is used to sacrifice to the gods of Chichen-Itza in order to keep rain coming, however, it was believed that those who had knowledge were sacred, and should not be sacrificed. Nowadays, astronomy is not such a big part of our lives, and we do not value it above all else. It probably would not be a good idea to be as extreme as the Mayans, but we may want to value intelligence more. The reason this practice continued through most of the years of the Maya, is because they blamed droughts on sacrificing scholars. The fact that there were no recorded uprisings about this …show more content…
Aveni is of utmost importance to my essay, and even as it is a secondary source, it provides a view of the astronomical alignment before reconstruction was done, and provides a clear view of the so-called "Astronomical Council of A.D. 763", as outlined in chapter 8. The text also provides an accurate rendering of the terrain with lines of alignment to provide a reference to me as I read his works. Particular aspects of the text that prove to be of utmost importance are descriptions of exact astronomical alignment, and the proof shown for an organized structure within the astrological scholars of the time. Another invaluable resource in the book, are analysis ' of more than just the city at Chichen- Itza, most especially the city of
1st Period
October 25, 2016
The Secrets of the Mayans
Many have wondered and marveled at the magnificent architecture of the Mayans, but, did you know that it is all based off astronomy? To what extent does Mayan astronomy relate to modern astronomy? The Mayans have a complex astronomy regime. The entirety of Mayan government relies on the knowledge of many renowned astrologers. Mayans would sacrifice anyone, but those who held the knowledge were spared. The Mayans acquired knowledge of astronomy far more advanced than any part of the world at the time. The few writings that were not burned by the Spanish demonstrate knowledge of constellations, the solar system, and most impressively, a spherical Earth. The knowledge that the …show more content…
The entirety of Mayan government relies on the knowledge of many renowned astrologers. There are 13 levels of government in Mayan society, and the scholars, astronomers and teachers hold the top 3 apart from the king. This is important since it shows how much the Mayans valued knowledge, and were ready to respect those who had it. The probable reason for much of the the archaeological influence is because of this. The King was chosen based on how stars aligned. This is valuable knowledge, because it shows how much astronomy is intertwined with their society. Because of this, we can come closer to understanding how much astronomy means to the Mayans. This could potentially be why the Mayans cared so deeply. Mayans would sacrifice anyone, but those who held the knowledge were spared. In the Temple of the Warrior, the altar on top is used to sacrifice to the gods of Chichen-Itza in order to keep rain coming, however, it was believed that those who had knowledge were sacred, and should not be sacrificed. Nowadays, astronomy is not such a big part of our lives, and we do not value it above all else. It probably would not be a good idea to be as extreme as the Mayans, but we may want to value intelligence more. The reason this practice continued through most of the years of the Maya, is because they blamed droughts on sacrificing scholars. The fact that there were no recorded uprisings about this …show more content…
Aveni is of utmost importance to my essay, and even as it is a secondary source, it provides a view of the astronomical alignment before reconstruction was done, and provides a clear view of the so-called "Astronomical Council of A.D. 763", as outlined in chapter 8. The text also provides an accurate rendering of the terrain with lines of alignment to provide a reference to me as I read his works. Particular aspects of the text that prove to be of utmost importance are descriptions of exact astronomical alignment, and the proof shown for an organized structure within the astrological scholars of the time. Another invaluable resource in the book, are analysis ' of more than just the city at Chichen- Itza, most especially the city of