MAYAN TRADITION

MAYAN RELIGION

• The Maya were a religious people, who feared the nature of their gods.
• Death rituals became a very important part of their religion
• Maize, highly prized in Maya culture, was put in the mouth of all dead as a symbol of rebirth and food for the journey to the afterlife
• Similarly, jades or stone beads were put in the mouth as currency
• In the background, they are doing a ritual to appease the gods.

MAYAN DEATH IDEALS

• The Maya greatly respected death
• They also thought that some deaths are more noble than others
• If you died by suicide, sacrifice, complications of childbirth, and in battle you are thought to go directly to heaven
• The guilty and evil suffered in Xilbalba, the Mayan underworld
• Otherwise it was a journey with the possibility of rebirth
• The Maya associated red with death and rebirth

DEATH SYMBOLS

• Whistles carved from rocks into the shapes of gods or animals were common in graves to guide them in the afterlife
• Important rulers were buried with polychrome pottery, effigy figurines, jade and marble pieces, masks, mushroom figures, obsidian, exotic shells, and valuable stones.

ROYAL BURIALS

• Important rulers were placed in tombs at the bottom of the funerary pyramids
• These pyramids had 9 or 13 steps, symbolizing Xilbalba and heaven.
• The bodies of the dead were wrapped in cotton mantles before being buried.
• Graves faced north or west, in the directions of the Maya heavens, and others were located in caves, believed to be entrances to the underworld.
• Elite members of society were buried in vaults with an array of luxury items.

pok-a-tok

• The Mayan afterlife was a terrifying place of demons that could easily harm one as help one in the soul's journey toward paradise.
• " Sacrifice " included death incurred during the game of Pok-A-Tok considered the game of the gods.

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• The game was usually played on a court floor which would sperate the human world from the supernatural world.
• The losing team would be sacrificed to the gods.
• Generally the losing team were captives and were starved or wounded in order to ensure the outcome of the game.
• The game could also be played a second time with one of the losing team's members head wrapped up and used as a ball.

Bloodletting

• The act of shedding one's own blood was also known as auto-sacrifice, or bloodletting.
• The elite were obsess with offering of their own blood.
• It was considered to be a major part of all important calendar events.

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• The purpose of blood offering was to send human energy, and to receive divine powers from the gods.
• The Mayans thought the gods had wanted them to sacrifice their blood in order to survive.

LORD AND LADY Begin TO DANCE FESTIVAL

• It was celebrated in the honor of Ixchel, a goddess of the moon, beehives, fertility, medicine, and wearing.
• A pretty young woman was chosen to represent Ixchel.
• She was then sacrificed by priests and flayed, her skin was then worn by a man who would sit at a loom and pretend to weave while people danced around him.

using the Aztec method

• The Mayas used the primary Aztec method of slicing the victim's chest open and taking out the heart to offer to the gods
• Fourchacsins held the victim on the sacrificial stone while a specialist cut open the victim's chest.

RESOURCES

• Ancient History Encyclopedia
• Ascot Elite
• Blog Spot:Maya Burial Practice