What is a civilization? A civilization is a group of people that share the same way of learning, living, and having the same religious beliefs. Two civilizations have a couple of differences and similarities. Both civilizations have interesting and fascinating facts about life and religion. Those two civilizations were the Olmec and the Maya civilization.
What is the Olmec civilization? The Olmec civilization is one of the earliest civilizations and lasted from 1500 B.C. to 600 A.D. Many other civilizations were influenced by the Olmec, so historians called them the "mother culture" of the Americas. Their most ancient city scientists have found was San Lorenzo, which is located near a river. The reason they were located near a river is that they used it to travel between cities and use it for their very strong trade system.
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The Maya civilization had some interesting facts as well.
For example, they got influenced by the Olmec, lasted from A.D. 300 to A.D 900, and were split into social classes. A social class is a group of people in a society that have a ranking in that specific society. Also, they studied astronomy and developed a number system that represents nothing. The largest city was Tikal and the city had about 100,000 people living there. Instead of having of having a central government, they had powerful kings that ruled cities and controlled areas. Although they fell from power, their cultural influence remained and continued later on.
These civilizations had a couple of things they have alike or have in common. For instance, the Olmec and Maya both ruled parts of Southern Mexico. In comparison, scientists are not completely sure both civilizations fell from power, but they do have some theories. Obviously, they both are ancient civilizations. Not to mention, they both had a number and writing system that helped them create calendars and to record
history. Although they had similarities, they also have some differences. To illustrate, the Maya lasted for six hundred years while the Olmec lasted for three times as long as that. Even though, the Olmec's writing system allowed them to make a 365-day calendar, the Maya's writing system allowed them to record history. The Olmec's oldest city is San Lorenzo. Whereas the Maya's largest city is Tikal. In conclusion, the Maya and Olmec are two ancient civilizations that have many similarities and differences. Do you remember what a civilization is? It is a group of people that have the same religion, life, and learning. Not to mention they had a lot of interesting facts. Did you learn anything new or interesting?
One of the similarities between two civilizations in terms of religion affect political hierarchy would be how did the kings keep their power. First of all, most of the emperors of China started out as a general in the military and that is the same for the Aztecs because they believed that the best warrior shall be the ruler of the Aztecs. In order for the Aztec rulers to stay in power, they eat human flesh and the human heart just like their gods. They do this so they can be seen more like and god or more superior than the regular citizens. In China, they do not eat human flesh nor do they do anything to please their gods instead they follow the ways of the Mandate of Heaven and do the things that a good emperor or “son of heaven” should do. They are similar because they do things to make people consider them as partially “god” or a god.
The Olmecs who resided along the Gulf of Mexico about 4000years ago were the earliest group of people to become advanced. They were termed the “mother culture of Mesoamerica.” Their advancements included them being artists, carving large head statues of Basin, engineers, graphic writing and trade. They were the first known major American Indian societies in Mesoamerica.
Mexican civilization is very much affected due its contact. with France, New Orleans of the USA.”Design, style and gastronomy are expressions that show the vibe of Yucatan, sentiment relevance more than its personal kingdom.”(4).
The people of early Mesoamerica had an abundance of different foods. One main food they had though in the 3 main groups (Aztecs, Olmecs, and Mayans) was maize. Maize is a corn like plant derived from teosinte that was domesticated around seven thousand B.C. to five thousand B.C.. Maize was about seventy percent of the Mesoamerican diet and around twenty one percent was meat . The Olmec’s had corn, beans, squash, and chili peppers (194). Each of their food items went in to a balanced diet of carbs, minerals, and vitamins. According to Concise Thematic Analysis “The Olmec system produced a food surplus that freed members of the community to take on specialized roles” (194) which just goes to show how much was around for them. Mayans ate corn and beans as their most important part of their diets, but also had some small domestic meats such as dog, turkey, duck, and fish. The Mayans also had honey and alcoholic drinks made from a stingless bee. The Aztecs had a good variety of plant foods as well with maize topping the charts of their diet with having other stable foods such as sweet potatoes, tomatoes, beans chilies, squashes (also big in their diet), carrots, etc. They also, had a lot of animals to choose from but they did not
These civilizations present many resemblances that were once part of the foundations of their society. Although both of these civilizations were at one point enemies of one another, they had similar correlations that shaped and formed their cultures and societies. The main difference between these two civilizations is religion. Without its differences, each civilization had governed its people in manners that it could not be differentiated among each other. Overall, these civilizations presented different methods of leading a civilization and still had similarities among one another.
Around 3500 B.C.E to 3000 B.C.E., civilizations emerged in many places. Egypt and Mesoamerica are distinctive two of them. Considering the different aspects of civilization, historians can find some same characteristics and differences which are valuable for historians to understand civilization in-depth.
The Maya and Aztec civilizations were both indigenous people that flourished in Mesoamerica during different periods of time. Maya 's classic period is dated from 250 to 900 AD, which was considered to be the peak of their civilization. They covered much of the Yucatan Peninsula and were centered in what is now known as Guatemala. The Aztecs dominated from 1325 AD to 1521 AD, in what is now modern day Mexico. Although they shared cultural similarities such as their social structure, they also had their differences in military and religious rituals.
All three empires had some form of writing, the use of a calendar and math. They all had elaborate and highly decorated ceremonial architecture, including temple pyramids, palaces and observatories, all built without metal tools. They had no metal tools, no draft animals, and very little use of the wheel. They did understand the use of the wheel, but because of the geography where they lived they could use it very little. All three civilizations were warlike; because they were sedentary and could grow enough food for the people to eat they always had large populations, which gave them manpower for military expeditions.
One of the biggest parts of any civilization would be religion. In the Maya civilization and the Roman civilization religion played a big part in their culture. Both of these civilizations had polytheistic religions, but later the Romans became monotheistic which is something the Maya didn’t do. The Romans had the same gods as the Greeks but the Maya had a unique religion and unique practices. In the Maya civilization they practiced human sacrifice for religion purposes, however in the Roman civilization they watched gladiators fight to the death for
These three civilizations were focused on their religions, causing some similarities. They all built cities as religious centers. Both the Mayas and the Aztecs worshipped their gods through human sacrifice. The Olmecs were so dedicated to their gods that they transported 50 ton boulders from the mountains to the shore. For the Mayas, even their games were related to their religion. The Aztec society was constantly at war for the sole purpose of making sacrifices to their many gods. Religion dominated the cultures of these Mesoamerican empires.
Abounding similarities exist between the Mesopotamian and Greek societies. As history progresses many cultural advances occur, but societies also adopt some of the same characteristics as preceding societies, you will notice this between the Mesopotamian and Greek civilizations. After learning about the Greek civilizations I immediately began generating connections to Mesopotamian societies. I noticed similarities in all aspects of society, whether it was religion, military, architecture or any other cultural idiosyncrasies.
The two time periods overlap each other as a result from different groups in the region gradually shifting from being a separate archaically developed people into adopting local culture and technology that was distinctly Maya.
Near 1800 B.C, the Maya people found settlement within Teotihuacan territory and quickly became known as one of the most dominant indigenous societies within Mesoamerica. Best known for their agricultural skills, pottery work, hieroglyphic writing, mathematics and of course calender making this civilization. However, the Maya were the regional groups of Olmec heritage who were the first major Mesoamerican civilization.(Grahm, Liz. 2014) In 1500 B.C, the Olmecs began the effective cultivation of the crops of corn, beans, chili peppers and cotton, along which they established fine arts and the use of symbols to record history. Due to the Olmecs innovative talents at the time, they were also able to branch off and establish other cities.
A civilization is the starting point of a society. Civilizations have existed for millions of years and are the basic unit of structure for a society. Civilizations were the base of great societies such as Egypt and Rome. If not for civilizations these societies would not have flourished or even existed.
For thousands of years, people all over the world have developed, progressed, and eventually formed civilizations. A civilization is a community characterized by elements such as a system of writing, a development of social classes, and cities. Early civilizations such as ancient Greece, classical Rome, Mesopotamia, and classical China have made many contributions to society that still affect people in the modern world. The inventions, progress, and contributions of the people of these ancient civilizations and others have shaped the world that we all live in today.