Teotihuacan’s Continuing Influence on the Aztec Teotihuacan was one of the most remarkable Mesoamerican cultures that arose by AD 150. Although the fall of Teotihuacan came around AD 650, its unprecedented civilization which was one of prestige and great significance did not go unnoticed by later cultures. The influence of this prodigious city stretched from Northern Mexico to Central America, inspiring countless Mesoamerican civilizations and cultures for centuries. Perhaps what was the most impressive aspect of this ancient city was the grid format that was determined by two axes that were linked to the position of the sun and the stars. The grid informed all positioning of the numerous pyramids, temples, plazas, and ritual walkways that surrounded the central core of the city.
The Mayans The Mayan Empire is considered somewhat more advanced than other early civilizations in the Americas, primarily because it developed five hundred years before such cultures as the Inca and Aztec. The Mayans were an agricultural people who settled in southern Mexico and in Central America around 1000 to 1500 B.C. Their vast territory covered the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico, Belize, much of Guatemala, and parts of Honduras and El Salvador. The Mayans developed a writing system, possibly the first in the Western Hemisphere, which they used to record time and astronomical events as well as their history and religion. They also created an advanced form of Mathematics and a 365-day calendar that may have been more accurate than the calendar
Sumerian kings built many towers to please and worship their gods. The towers were made of brick plat forms with shrines at the top. A Ziggurat was an ancient Mesopotamian tower with staircases outside and a shrine at the top.
Houses were built from stone walls and roofed with pole and thatch. This was the basic home for lower level Mayan people. However, the Mayan kings lived in huge homes like palaces (Sharer, 111). Pyramids were severely inclined with decorative foundations and stairs that were not able to be climbed. Facades were also made with copious amounts of decorations and serpentine elements that integrated the rain god, Chaac (Mayan Architectural Styles).
Beginning in 2100-2050 BCE with the Nanna Ziggurat the flat head pyramid was seen in usage in Iraq. Keeping similar architecture style with the Khafre’s Pyramids built in 2520-2494 BCE located in Egypt present the structure of a three dimensional triangle. Both structures found in the Middle East can be compared similarly in the sense of shape, base, and structure while being built in different time periods with different resources and with distinct specific purposes. The Nanna Ziggurat is one of the most remarkable surviving archaeological remains. Ziggurats built above flat plains publically made known the wealth, and stability of city ruler’s and glorified its gods (Cothern and Stokstad 2011, 28).
With using the criteria`s of: scale, genius, effort, and significance; we will see what they were. The Maya`s remarkable achievements were: trade networks, calendars, and the number system; However their most remarkable achievement was building cities. Three good examples of the remarkable achievement by the ancient Maya were trade networks, number system, and the calendar. The trade network reached across Mesoamerica from southern Mexico to Honduras (Doc A). The Mayan`s carried many products on these routes including cocoa, basalt
<BR> <br>Bloody kings, cross eyed babies, and priests with jade teeth are all signs of the Mayan’s splendid civilization. The Mayans lived on the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico; and their classical period was from 200 - 900 C.E. The Mayans had an extraordinary civilization because of their rich culture and intellect. In a civilization “ a relatively high level of cultural and technological developmentâ€(Miriam Webster Dictionary) has to exist. The Mayan calendar is a great example of how intelligent the Mayans were.
The Mesopotamian’s Achievements Mesopotamian achievements are the most advanced among the River Valley civilizations. Mesopotamia established a set of laws to amend by. Also, Mesopotamia developed a writing system and a calendar/time system as well. In addition, the Mesopotamians had extraordinary advances in technology. Laws were established in Mesopotamia to follow and keep order.
Ek’ Balam eventually became the polity that constituted the region around the beginning of the Classic period. Ek’ Balam’s reached its height in power in the Terminal Classic around 770 to 840 CE. This is most notable for having the best preserved and abundant stucco sculptures and murals in all of the Yucatan. Ek Balam provides a rich resource of information for understanding northern Classic cities, due to the poor preservation of many other notable Maya sites for example Coba, Izamal and Edzna. It was during this height in power that the Lake Yumcab ceramic complex (750-1050/1100 CE) dominated the architecture and pottery of Ek’ Balam.
Pedram Sheraf World History November 30, 2009 Ancient Persians and Aztecs The world as it is presently is a product of cause and effect. This is to mean that the present day civilization is an accumulation of gradual developments which took different shapes and time. Most of these factors of civilization were embodied in the rise of new empires and the fall of old ones. The rule herein was that the new civilization or empire came up with better military technologies so that it was the epitome of the latest and most refined civilization. This is to mean that even the latest and the most refined forms of civilization still had vestiges of even the most cultural practices of the primordial empires.