The Maya Civilization: Advanced Alphabet, Calendars, and Cultural Practices

TLDR The Maya Civilization was highly advanced, with achievements such as a developed alphabet, the invention of zero, and advanced calendars. They were not a unified people, but rather a collection of different cities and city-states that often warred with each other. Despite the suppression and assimilation of their culture, the Maya people continue to practice ancient traditions and speak ancient languages.

Timestamped Summary

00:00 The Maya Civilization had a highly developed alphabet, invented zero independently, and had advanced calendars based on astronomical observations.
05:56 The Maya civilization was not completely lost, as there are still Maya people today who continue to practice ancient traditions and speak ancient languages, and it is incorrect to view the Maya as one unified historic people, as they were actually a collection of different cities and city-states that often warred with each other.
11:31 The Maya civilization began to spread and build architecture during the middle pre-classic period, with city centers and city-states growing organically and connecting through causeways, resulting in a complex network of cities and a highly populated civilization.
16:33 The Maya temples were likely used for ceremonies and ritual sacrifice, and their society was highly hierarchical with independent city-states ruled by divine kings, although not all cities had this structure, and they engaged in warfare with each other; initially, researchers believed the Maya were peaceful, but later discovered evidence of fortresses and defensive walls, as well as a violent culture; they also traded with each other, exchanging goods, ideas, and art, and were influenced by the Olmec civilization.
22:07 The Maya civilization had a priestly class that organized ceremonies and rituals, developed a mathematical system and astronomy, and accurately predicted solar eclipses.
27:33 The Mayan long-count calendar reset in 2012, which was a resetting of the world order rather than the end of the world, and their creation story involved multiple attempts at creating humans using different materials.
33:01 The Maya civilization employed innovative irrigation systems, including aqueducts, water pressure, and filtration using zeolite and quartz, as well as terraced farming, raised beds, and slash-and-burn agriculture, which may have contributed to their decline due to over-farming and overpopulation. They also had a ball game called Pock-to-Pock or Pock-a-Talk that simulated war.
38:04 The Maya civilization had a unique ball game where they used their hips, elbows, and knees to move a rubber ball and throw it through two stone rings, unlike any other game in history.
43:39 The fall of the Maya civilization was more of a dispersal than a complete collapse, with some cities continuing to thrive and new ones being developed long after the supposed fall, but the arrival of the Spanish and Christian missionaries led to the suppression and assimilation of Maya culture, including the burning of their written history.
49:09 The hieroglyphic stairway in the city of Kopan was disassembled and put back together incorrectly by archaeologists in the 1930s, resulting in the loss of its original message, and the suppression of indigenous languages and culture in Guatemala during the colonial period led to a genocide against the Maya people in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but they have managed to maintain their traditions and cultural identity.
54:40 The Maya civilization would sacrifice young boys in cenotes, which were considered portals to the underworld, in order to nourish the gods with human blood and ensure the functioning of the world.
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