Ancient Civilizations

The Maya, Aztec, and Inca were three civilizations that lived in Latin America during the middle ages. It is hard to oversee the fact that they had remarkable similarities, but also some differences. Their class structures were similar, and they all valued religion. However, when it came to the roles and expectations of men and women, there are differences between the three civilizations. For starters I shall discuss the political structure of these three cultures.

The Ancient Maya shared a similar ideology and worldview, but they were never amalgamated as a single empire. Instead, the Maya lived in individual political states that were linked together through trade, political alliances, and tribute obligations. Some of these states were independent, while others were part of bigger political hierarchies. The Maya states were originally governed by simple chiefdoms. By the Classic Period, Maya governance had appropriated on the form of powerful centralized leaders who legitimized their rule through their political connections and their divine lineages. Individuals who disobeyed their rulers faced severe retribution because the Maya people believed that obedience to their leader was critical to preserving the harmony of the Maya universe. Human sacrifice had begun prior to the Classic Period, and was used as a tool of social and religious control to demonstrate the power of the ruler and the gods. At the time of the Spanish conquest, the Yucatan was prorated into 18 separate Maya states, with many smaller towns and villages under the jurisdiction of a capital city. Nine of these states were governed by a single ruler called a halach uinic (or ahaw), while the others were led by convocations of nobles of elite lineage or were allied with larger states. The halach uinic power was limited by his convocations(council), special military, and foreign advisors, but he was still considered to be the highest ascendency in his state and was required to be from an elite...