Politics and the Political System of the Ancient Maya

Politics and the Political System of the Ancient Maya The Mayan civilization flourished in the rainforests of southern Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize, reaching its apex around A.D. 700–900 before falling into a swift and somewhat mysterious decline. The Maya were expert astronomers and traders: they were also literate with a complicated language and their own books. Like other civilizations, the Maya had rulers and a ruling class, and their political structure was complex. Their kings were powerful and claimed to be descended from the gods and the planets. The Mayan City-States The Mayan civilization was large, powerful, and culturally complex: it is often compared to the Incas of Peru and the Aztecs of Central Mexico. Unlike these other empires, however, the Maya never unified. Instead of a mighty empire ruled from one city by one set of rulers, the Maya instead had a series of city-states that only ruled the surrounding area, or some nearby vassal states if they were powerful enough. Tikal, one of the most powerful Mayan city-states, never ruled much farther than its immediate borders, although it did have vassal cities such as Dos Pilas and Copn. Each of these city-states had its own ruler. Development of Mayan Politics and Kingship The Mayan culture began around 1800 B.C. in the lowlands of the Yucatan and southern Mexico. For centuries, their culture slowly advanced, but as of yet, they had no concept of kings or royal families. It wasnt until the middle to late preclassic periods (300 B.C. or so) that evidence of kings began to appear at certain Mayan sites. The founding king of Tikals first royal dynasty, Yax Ehb Xook, lived sometime in the Preclassic period. By A.D. 300, kings were common, and the Maya began building stelae to honor them: large, stylized stone statues that describe the king, or Ahau, and his accomplishments. The Mayan Kings The Mayan kings claimed descent from the gods and planets, laying claim to a quasi-divine status, somewhere between humans and gods. As such, they lived between two worlds, and wielding â€Å"divine† power was part of their duties. The kings and royal family had important roles at public ceremonies, such as the ball games. They channeled their connection to the gods through sacrifices (of their own blood, of captives, etc.), dance, spiritual trances, and hallucinogenic enemas. Succession was usually patrilineal, but not always. Occasionally, queens ruled when no suitable male of the royal line was available or of age. All kings had numbers that placed them in order from the founder of the dynasty. Unfortunately, this number is not always recorded in the king’s glyphs on stone carvings, resulting on unclear histories of dynastic succession. Life of a Mayan King A Mayan king was groomed from birth to rule. A prince had to pass through many different initiations and rites. As a young man, he had his first bloodletting at the age of five or six. As a young man, he was expected to fight and lead battles and skirmishes against rival tribes. Capturing prisoners, particularly high-ranking ones, was important. When the prince finally became king, the elaborate ceremony included sitting on a jaguar pelt in an elaborate headdress of colorful feathers and seashells, holding a scepter. As king, he was supreme head of the military and was expected to fight and participate in any armed conflicts entered into by his city-state. He also had to participate in many religious rituals, as he was a conduit between humans and the gods. Kings were allowed to take multiple wives. Mayan Palaces Palaces are found at all of the major Mayan sites. These buildings were located in the heart of the city, near the pyramids and temples so important to Maya life. In some cases, the palaces were very large, multistoried structures, which may indicate that a complicated bureaucracy was in place to rule the kingdom. The palaces were homes to the king and the royal family. Many of the king’s tasks and duties were carried out not in the temples but in the palace itself. These events might have included feasts, celebrations, diplomatic occasions, and receiving tribute from vassal states. Classic-Era Mayan Political Structure By the time the Maya reached their Classic Era, they had a well-developed political system. Renowned archaeologist Joyce Marcus believes that by the Late Classic era, the Maya had a four-tiered political hierarchy. At the top were the king and his administration in major cities like Tikal, Palenque, or Calakmul. These kings would be immortalized on stelae, their great deeds recorded forever. Following the main city were a small group of vassal city-states, with lesser nobility or a relative of the Ahau in charge: these rulers did not merit stelae. After that were affiliated villages, large enough to have rudimentary religious buildings and ruled by minor nobility. The fourth tier consisted of hamlets, which were all or mostly residential and devoted to agriculture. Contact with Other City-States Although the Maya were never a unified empire like the Incas or Aztecs, the city-states nevertheless had much contact. This contact facilitated cultural exchange, making the Maya much more unified culturally than politically. Trade was common. The Maya traded in prestige items like obsidian, gold, feathers, and jade. They also traded in food items, particularly in later eras as the major cities grew too large to support their population. Warfare was also common: skirmishes to take slaves and victims for sacrifice were common, and all-out wars not unheard of. Tikal was defeated by rival Calakmul in 562, causing a century-long hiatus in its power before it reached its former glory once again. The powerful city of Teotihuacan, just north of present-day Mexico City, wielded great influence on the Mayan world and even replaced the ruling family of Tikal in favor of one more friendly to their city. Politics and the Decline of the Maya The Classic Era was the height of the Mayan civilization culturally, politically, and militarily. Between A.D. 700 and 900, however, the Maya civilization began a swift and irreversible decline. The reasons the Mayan society fell are still a mystery, but theories abound. As the Maya civilization grew, warfare between city-states grew as well: entire cities were attacked, defeated, and destroyed. The ruling class grew as well, placing a strain on the working classes, which may have resulted in civil strife. Food became a problem for some Maya cities as the population grew. When trade could no longer make up the differences, hungry citizens may have revolted or fled. The Mayan rulers might have avoided some of these calamities. Source McKillop, Heather. The Ancient Maya: New Perspectives. Reprint edition, W. W. Norton Company, July 17, 2006.

Why Setting Your Story Matters

Why Setting Your Story Matters Why Setting Your Story Matters Imogen Clark lives in Yorkshire, England with her husband and children.  She also writes books for young teenage girls under the pen name Lucinda Fox. In this article, Imogen talks about how establishing a real sense of setting in her novel improved her story, and even benefitted her marketing strategy.Picture the scene: You've read a great book that you want to share with your friend but your memory is letting you down on the details.â€Å"What's the title?† they ask. Blank. â€Å"Who wrote it?† Nothing. â€Å"Well, where's it set?†And, of course, you remember this because the setting of a book stays with you long after the metadata has faded. This is because it's the setting that takes a reader deep into the world of a novel, creating those vital visual images that allow them to travel with the protagonist. Whether a story is set in the heart of the Amazon jungle, a post-apocalyptic landscape, or on one street in London, the way that setting is described can make all the difference to a reader's experience. "It's the setting that takes a reader deep into the world of a novel." @imogenclark IlkleyBut this is not the side of the town that I wanted to portray in my book. In the novel, my protagonist, Cara, is trapped in Ilkley, forced to care for her terminally ill father whilst her elder brother escapes to London. The twee parts of the town - the areas that attract the tourists - mean nothing to her. Instead, she (and therefore the reader), focus on the darkly ominous moor that rises up like a shadow behind her house. The Ilkley of the book is a dank place where the sky remains resolutely grey.Of course, back in the real world, the sun does occasionally shine in Yorkshire, and I had pangs of guilt at drawing such a bleak picture of my hometown. But I had to remember that I had to see it through Cara's eyes, and not my own. "Authors need to depict a place through their character's eyes, not their own."  @imogenclark I can safely say that as a result of my developmental editor's advice to better establish a better sense of place, my book has immeasurably improved. It sits solidly in its setting and truly belongs there. Giving my book a home has also helped me with the writing and hopefully gives my readers a more satisfactory experience too. If they were to describe my book to their friends they might say, â€Å"Oh, you know. The one that’s set in Ilkley.†Please  share your thoughts, experiences, or any questions for Imogen Clark, in the comments below!Postcards From a Stranger is available in paperback  and on Amazon Kindle.