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Definition
Copan
Copán (in modern Honduras) is located on the floodplain of the river of the same name. It was the most southerly of the Classic Maya centres and, at an altitude of 600 metres, the highest. Copán reached the height of its power in the 8th...
Definition
Religion in the Ancient World
Religion (from the Latin Religio, meaning 'restraint,' or Relegere, according to Cicero, meaning 'to repeat, to read again,' or, most likely, Religionem, 'to show respect for what is sacred') is an organized system of beliefs and practices...
Image Gallery
A Gallery of Maya Cities
The Maya Civilization flourished between 250-950 although it drew upon earlier civilizations such as that of the Olmecs (1500 - 200 BCE) and Zapotec (600 BCE - 800 CE) and lasted through the Post-Classic Period of 950-1524. The great cities...
Image
Maya Spouted Jar
This spouted vessel is one of the most elegantly sculpted stone containers in the corpus of Maya art. Its form with the vertical spout parallel to the central axis of the main chamber is known from the late 1st millennium B.C. and is especially...
Definition
Ghosts in the Ancient World
A belief in an afterlife was central to every major civilization of the ancient world and this encouraged the recognition of the reality of ghosts as the spirits of the departed who, for one reason or another, either returned from the realm...
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Maya kakau glyph
This ancient Maya glyph is pronounced "kah-kah-oo." Various forms of this glyph can be found on Maya vessels, some of which are known to have contained chocolate in some form.
Definition
Kapilavastu
Kapilavastu (“Place of Kapila”) is the name of the city where Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha, l. c. 563-483 BCE) grew up and lived for the first 29 years of his life before leaving to pursue the spiritual path which led to his enlightenment...
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Maya Ruins of San Gervasio on Cozumel, Mexico
The ruins of San Gervasio — located on the island of Cozumel in Mexico — were once an important site of pilgrimage to Maya people who lived from c. 1000-1650 CE. A sanctuary of the Maya goddess Ix Chel used to be located at this location...
Video
The Maya Calendar, Culture and History: an Introduction to a Mesoamerican Civilization
The Maya are a people indigenous to Mexico and Central America who have continuously inhabited the modern regions of Yucatan, Quintana Roo, Campeche, Tabasco, and Chiapas in Mexico and southward through Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador and...
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Maya Temple Ritual
Artist's impression of a Maya priest performing a temple ritual. Created by Amplitude Studios for the video game Humankind.