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    Daily Life

    Farming: Farmers had their own land as well as gardens. Farmers drained areas to keep the water out of the crops. They also built irrigation from swamps for the crops such as maize, chillies, beans, tomatoes etc to grow in the fields. The Maya made use of many different trees like Coco bean trees which were considered valuable and sometimes as money.

    Nobles, Freemen and Slaves: Each Maya city was ruled by a leader called halach umic, and he controls over the city and all the villages connecting with it. When the leader died it would go on to his ealderest son.

    Although the cities traded they also spend a lot of time in war. When they were not fighting the ruler would show how important he was to his neighbours by building big temples and palaces.

    Maya farmers were freemen. They lived in villages outside the cities and they worked in teams with other families and friends to tend the farm. There were no cattle or horses to pull goods or other things so the noble people had slaves who had been captured by war or had been punished because of criminal deeds.

    Religion

    The Ball Game and Sacrifice: A fast ball game was first played Maya ancestors and it was called Olmecs. Special courts were built for the the game in the main ceremonial centres of each cities. The players wore protected clothing and competed to score points by hitting the hard rubber solid ball with there forearm, elbows,or hips.

    One aim was to get the rubber ball through one of the stone rings at the other sides of the court. It was a simple sport but religious and some players might have been sacrificed at the end of the game.

    Only rulers were allowed to speak with the gods but the people could praise them and give their blood. On special days the ruler would sting his forehead for the blood to drop out on strips of paper and then they would burn it up, then the Mayas believed that they could please the gods.

    Since the jaguar was one of the Mayas most sacred animals it is not unknown for the Maya to sacrifice even jaguars to the gods.

    Here is more information on a structure dedicated to jaguars and eagles from our webmaster's visit to Chichen Itza.

    The Sacred Cenote of Chichen Itza: The Maya thought that a purifying sacrifice was pleasing to their gods. The Sacred Cenote in Chichen Itza is a well used by the Mays for some of their sacrifices. It is a great hole which measures almost thirty meters across. The green scummy water lies over twenty meters below its steep rim. Victims would find it impossible to climb out of the cenote if they were thrown into it.

    Here is more information on the Sacred Cenote from our webmaster's visit to Chichen Itza.

    Pages Created: Tuesday, 12-May-98 11:50:14 EST
    URL: http://www.best.com/~swanson/maya/eg_maya_project3.html
    This page has been visited . times since August 15, 1997
    Web pages developed by L.C. Swanson.