Maya Math Simplified

Njord Kane

• Publisher: Spangenhelm Publishing
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781943066094
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Geschichte
• Subtopic: Lateinamerikanische & karibische Geschichte

The Mystery of Maya Math Code is solved and simplified!

Presented in a manner that is not long winded by explaining centuries of theories regarding ancient mathematics, Maya philosophy, and history. This book jumps straight into the Maya mathematical system in a simplified and easy to understand manner.

There are many books already out there regarding the Maya, their history and all about their calenders. This book is not about Maya history or prophecies about the end of the World. This book is about Maya mathematics and arithmetic only and it's explained in very concise and simplified form.

The Maya used mathematics to create engineering feats that stand firm today,. Their mathematical calculations were accurate and complexi with their knowledge in astronomy.

It is astounding how easy it is to master their math system! In a few pages, you too will be able to master the Maya math system!

The Maya Math Code is simplified!

Chapter 1

Who were the Maya?

The Maya are an indigenous people whose culture had built a thriving ancient city-state civilization in Mesoamerica.

MesoAmerica is the location that lies in the area from Mexico to South America. An area considered to be the 'middle' of the Americas and is also known as the Central Americas.

Along with the Maya, there are many other indigenous cultures in the Mesoamerican area. Some of these other cultures are the Mexica (Aztecs), Mixtec, Purepecha, Huastec, Olmac, Toltec, Zapotec, and Teotihuacan.

These indigenous Mesoamerican cultures are credited with the creation and innovation of many inventions. They used advanced mathematics to engineer and build great pyramid temples that still stand after thousands of years. They were clear masters of observed astronomy and created highly accurate calendars.

They maintained stable enough societies to allow the practicing of fine arts and integrated it into a complicated writing system that balanced both math and writing into a complex theology. The Maya are credited as being the first culture in the New World to utilize a fully developed written language.

They practiced elective medicine and for the most part, used an intensive agriculture system to maintain huge populations.

The Mesoamericans had discovered the wheel, but the absence of draft animals and an often demanding terrain made human labor the most utilized means for the transportation of goods and building materials. Suitable bovine or equine were not introduced into the Americas until later when Europeans brought them over.

The areas dominated by the Maya are known today as the southern Mexican states: Chiapas, Campeche, Yucatan, Quintana Roo, and Tabasco. The Maya civilization spread all the way through the nations of Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, and Honduras. A very large expanse of city-states that ruled the area linked by trade routes.

Map showing where Ancient Maya were located in Mesoamerica.[2]

Descendants of the ancient Maya civilization live today in the Yucatán Peninsula of Southern Mexico, Guatemala, and parts of Honduras and El Salvador.

The proximity of the Mesoamerican people to each other in the region led to a high degree of cultural interaction between each other. The consistent interaction between Mesoamerican civilizations within the region created a cultural diffusion that allowed Mesoamericans to share a great degree of their cultural practices and knowledge with each other. Knowledge in mathematics was also exchanged between these cultures.

Mesoamericans continually influenced each other, even when their interaction wasn't always peaceful. The writing and epigraphy used to create the famous 'Maya Calender' weren't even of Maya origination. They had assimilated it into their own culture from neighboring cultures in their region.

The writing used in the region had come from previous cultures and evolved over time within each different Mesoamerican culture. Script and usage becoming slightly altered or modified as each unique scribe used it in relation to their own culture.

The Maya people were not necessarily known as being great inventors themselves, but were instead great innovators that absorbed others advancements and continued to develop upon them within their own culture. The culture of the ancient Maya seemed to promote the application of inventions of the many other nearby cultures in the area and sought ways to improve upon them on their own.

Like many of the other Mesoamerican cultures, the Maya did not have a separation between religion and government. Church and State were one of the same. They considered the gods to be the everyday rulers of their daily lives and depended on their priests and rulers to ensure that the gods were appeased and didn't destroy the earth or extinguish the essential life sustaining Sun.

The Maya religion required a highly complicated method of worship that demanded bloodletting and sacrificial rituals that were often fulfilled by the kings and queens. These efforts were necessary because it was believed to "feed" the gods. It was the sacred duty and responsibility of the ruler to often feed the gods with their own blood. The believed their rulers had the power to pass in and out body to the spirit world and acted as messengers to the celestial world.[3]

Geographically, the Maya were formed individually as independent city-states. They used a government structure that allowed their individual rulers a great deal of individual governance within their own municipalities, instead of a strong centralized governing structure ruled by an emperor or empress.

The Maya civilization wasn't a single unified empire, but were instead a multitude of separate entities that shared a common cultural background. They shared several similarities with the Greeks, in that the Maya were religiously and culturally a nation, but were politically separate sovereign city-states.

The Tikal city center, one of the most powerful Classic Period Maya cities.[4]

Maya city centers were the epicenters for trade, religious, and other cultural activities which also included some local administration.[5] There were many Maya cultural centers located in what's considered "the Maya Area" that spreads across a large expanse covering a wide range of climate conditions.

Their culture spanned across mountain ranges into semi-arid plains and reached into the thick labyrinths of the rain forests. A diverse area that allowed for a diversity of trade.

Map of the Maya Area in the Yucatán peninsula.[6]

The period of time before the arrival of Christopher Columbus and European expansion to the Americas is called the 'Pre-Columbian Period.' The Pre-Columbian period of Maya history divides into five distinct time periods.

The Paleo-Indian Period (“First People” - 3500 BC),

The Archaic Period (3500 BC - 2000 BC),

The Preclassic Period (2000 BC - 200 AD),

The Classic Period (200 AD - 900 AD),

The Post Classic Period (900 AD - 1697 AD).

It was during the Paleo-Indian period when early nomads crossed into the Americas over 15,000 years ago. These were the "First People" to inhabit the Americas. They'd first crossed into North America until eventually splitting off from other groups and eventually migrating south through Mexico into the Yucatán Peninsula of Mesoamerica.

These migrating “First People” in the Maya region developed their tool and hunting technologies and went from being nomadic hunter-gatherers into forming more permanent settlements. These settled groups became more developed as they exploited the plentiful local resources.

These now settled groups progressed into the Archaic period and began advancing into a more complex society. These archaic settlements developed culture and technology that was shared with neighboring settled groups. The exchange of ideas between these groups formed into a shared culture that began developing into a culturally distinct people.

The Maya Civilization originated in the Yucatán region during the Preclassic Period at around 2000 BC. There is some argument as to when the Preclassic Period began for the Maya. It's argued to have began as late as 2600 BC, while there's claim that it's earlier because there are permanent Maya settlements along the Pacific coast that date to 18...

Table of contents

• Preface
• Chapter 1
• Chapter 2
• Chapter 3
• Chapter 4
• Chapter 5
• Chapter 6
• Chapter 7
• Chapter 8
• Chapter 9
• References