Ancient : The Ancient Maya Knowledge Organiser Glossary What did the Ancient Maya believe? The indigenous people of Yucatan and other areas of Religion was very important to the Ancient 1 Maya Maya people. Their impressive are Who were the Ancient What were Ancient Maya cities like? Central America. evidence of that. Maya? Ancient Maya cities teach us of their power, skills and Something in the very distant past and no longer The Ancient Maya were achievements. There were many different cities and the 2 Ancient The Ancient Maya worshipped their kings in existence. people who made their largest cities were enormous. as though they were gods but they also homes in an area known The city buildings were made from white stone and towered A society, culture and particular way of life in a worshipped their ancestors and a range of as . 3 different gods and goddesses. above the surrounding farmlands. The most important certain area. They lived for thousands building in a city was the in the middle — where We know that there are many different gods of years – from around the king lived and people worshipped. 4 Temple A building devoted to the worship of a god or gods. and goddesses. So far we have discovered 1000BC to 1700AD. around 160 of them! A city and the surrounding areas which have their The Ancient Maya people 5 City-States shared a common culture own ruler. The Ancient Maya had gods for everything: and religion but they lived sun, moon, rain, water, farming, life, death, A person who studies and prehistory in different city-states. 6 Archaeologist maize, lightening and many more. In their Each city-state had its own by examining sites and artefacts. opinion, the gods controlled everything and ruler and they often fought they told many stories about them. with each other. 7 God/Goddess A superhuman being or spirit who is worshipped. 8 Ancestor A person in your family that lived before you.

9 Worship To show devotion to a person or a god/goddess.

Where is Mesoamerica? How did the Ancient Maya write? 10 Sacrifice Killing an animal or a person as an act of worship. Mesoamerica is the strip of land joining North and The Ancient Maya had their own form of writing. A plant originating in Central America — also known South America. We also call it Central America. 11 Maize They wrote words using glyphs. Some glyphs stood for part as corn. of a word and some stood for a whole word. 12 Cacao Seeds from a tree that you can make chocolate from.

13 Codices An ancient text in the form of a book. What did the Ancient Maya eat and drink? A character or symbol that stands for a word or part The Ancient Maya ate foods that they could 14 Glyphs of a word. farm, hunt and forage for. These included chilli, avocado, venison, fish, squash, 15 Base-20 A number system which works in groups of 20. honey and turkey. However the two most important plants were the maize plant – They also had their own 16 Tzolk’in The 260-day . from which they made tortillas — and the number system which had cacao tree from which they made their symbols for 0, 1, 5 and 20. 17 Haab The 365-day Maya calendar. precious hot chocolate. The system worked on groups of 20, unlike our system which 18 Long Count The Maya calendar which measures 1,872,000 days. works with groups of 10. People who enter a country or region so they can take 19 Invaders it over.

20 Decline To go down or decrease slowly.

Significant People and Places Significant People and Places

Central America Chichen Itza Great Ball Court Pakal the Great Ix Chel and

Central America is a region Tikal is the ruin of a great Chichen Itza was built by the Palenque was an Ancient Bonampak is an Ancient Maya The Great Ball Court is located Pakal the Great ruled over Two of the many Ancient found in the southern tip Ancient which may Ancient Maya in the Northern Maya city-state found in archaeological site. It is known in Chichen Itza but ball courts the city-state of Palenque. Maya gods and goddesses. of North America, where have been called Yax Mutal. Lowlands. It was one of the modern day Southern . for the murals located in the like this one were found in He ruled for 68 years — the Ix Chel was the goddess of the the continent joins with It is located in a rainforest in largest cities and in the centre It is smaller than Tikal and temple. The murals show cities across the Maya lands. longest in history of any ruler moon, water and cycle of life. South America. The Ancient modern day and is the Temple of Kukulcan. Chichen Itza but has some images of war and sacrifice Here they played and watched in the Americas. Chaac was the god of rain. He Maya were one of the great was one of the most powerful of the best architecture and although many say the Ancient the game of ‘Pok-a-Tok’. The could strike with his lightening civilizations located in this Maya cities. The Tikal Temple carvings. Pakal the Great Maya were also peaceful. game was a life or death battle. axe and thunder and rain part of the world. is 47 metres high. ruled here. would come.