Located on the Yucatan peninsula the Mayans lasted from around 250 B.C.E. to about 900 C.E. We still have writings from the Mayan culture because they carved in stone instead of writing on paper. They believed that the world had three layers; the upper world, middle world, and the lower world. The three worlds were linked by a great tree called the Wacan Chan. I do not agree with the fact that they sacrificed so many people to their gods. It might have been alright but they were sacrificing way too many bodies. It would almost be the same as Catholics do with the body and blood of Christ when they do communion. I also disagree with the fact that the Mayans can predict when the world will end. I don’t think anyone really knows when the world will end but God. So this whole situation with them saying the world is going to end in 2012 is a bunch of nonsense. Although they may be very smart with the stars and astrology that doesn’t mean they know when the world will end. I do not think that the world will end in 2012, because they were saying the same stuff before the new millennium came saying the world will not be as we know it. Well 2000 came and we still are living the same, if not then we are living better. I think the world will end one day but not the near future, it will not be in my life time. In conclusion, I think the Mayans were crazy and don’t think the Mayans knew much accept for knowing all about the stars.
I would have to disagree with you, the Mayan’s never actually said the world was going to end in 2012 they just said it was the end of a world age which would transition into a new age. Nothing about a doomsday. That’s like if some historian in the far future looks back at American civilization and all they have to say about America was that Harold Camping predicted the world would end on May 21, 2011. Plus, Y2K was never imagined to be the end of the world by smart people. People that didn’t know anything about computers thought that they would shut down because the date would be read 01/01/00 and didn’t think that computers could tell the difference between 1900 and 2000. Mayan’s were excellent at mathematics and independently thought of the concept of zero in the 4rd century AD. The Asians were the second civilization to understand a concept of zero and that wasn’t until the 9th century AD.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Robert, they never said the world would end, 2012 was just the begenning of a new age. However, I do agree that their prediction will not come true. Our countries stupid media process blows anything interesting out of proportion, regardless of truth or credability. They will play hypathetical stories, such as the 2012 mayan doomsday, just to get people to watch, solely for entertainment. The mayans were definately not the only civilization to predict a doomsday. Their predicition is more interesting because it has and exact date associated with it. Also, I think they knew alot more than just astronomy. They were obviously masters of architecture having built amazing structures, as they did. structures that would be difficult to build today. Also they did it without the help of modern machinery, or even animal power. This suggest their ingenuity and excellent problem solving skills. They were extremely involved in their religion, which takes social structure and dedication. They were also skilled farmers, which also takes dedication. I think that they are just more famous for their amazing knowledge of astronomy, rather than that's all they were could do. They were a very skilled, and well adapted civilization, and were succesful as a people because of this.
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