Why is the ancient Mayan civilization remembered?

Answer 1

They are remembered for many reason, almost too many to explain. One of the most obvious is the Mayan Calendar. The Mayan Calendar consists of three "rounds" the the biggest round that is in the outside is the Solar Round; this round has 365 symbols corresponding to the 365 days in a year (hence the 'Solar round') The other two rounds rotate around the out side or the Solar Round and are called the Sacred Rounds. The inner round haws 13 symbols as the Mayans believed that the celestial realm had 13 layers, and the outer sacred round had 20 symbols as the Mayans believed that there were 20 months in a year. The Mayans however didn't use the 4 positions we use to signify a year( e.g. 1996 = one thousand. nine hundred. ninety. six. or 1. 9. 9. 6.) the Mayans used a modified 'base 20' arithmetical system called the Long Count Calendar and used 5 positions. (e.g. 2012= 13.0.0.0.0) One other reason the Mayan Calendar is so special, is the fact that it takes 52 years for the Mayan Calendar to match the same symbols again.

Another thing the Mayans are remembered for is the Meso-American game called Pok-ta-Pok. This game demonstrates strength and creativity. The game was played by mainly men, but woman and even children were known to play. The game can be played one on one or with two teams of 11 players. It is played in a 'Arena' that is shaped like a rectangle. at both ends of the arena there was a ring suspended from the wall. The aim of the game was to get the ball; this ball was made of solid rubber from the native trees and weighted up to ten pounds, through the rings, however you could only use your hips( players wore thick belts to protect their hips from the ball) feet and shoulders. It is said on special occasions that the winning team would be sacrificed in honor of the Gods, as the Gods could only have the Best, and the losing team had the dishonor of not being sacrificed.

The Mayans were also remembered for their architecture; take for example one of their temples. It consists of four sides, each side had 91 steps and at the top there is an extra step. This is special due to the fact that

91 (times) X 4= 364

and 364 (plus)+ the 1 extra step is 365

which is also the number of days in a year.