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MayansVS.Aztec
EventhoughtheMayansandtheAztecswerebothintwodifferenttimeperiodsbothof
thesecivilizationshassimilaritiesanddifferences.Thereweremanysimilaritiesanddifferences
intheirGovernment,socialandclassstructureaswellastheirartsandeducation.TheMayan
civilizationoccurredinabout250to900C.E.whiletheAzteccivilizationoccurredduringthe
fifteenthandsixteenthcentury.TheMayanswerelocatedintheYucatanPeninsula,whichisin
Mexico.OntheotherhandtheAztecwerelocatedinCentralMexico.
TherulersinbothcivilizationswereconsidereddecedentsfromGod.Thehigherclass,
whichincludednoblesandpriests,pertainedamajoramountofpower.OntheotherhandThe
Mayancivilizationweredifferent,unliketheAztectheMayaneverunified.TheMayadidnt
haveoneofficialruler,theyhadcitystates,whichhadtheirownruler.FortheMayanstheir
government,dependingonwhichcitystate,commissionedart.Inordertobecomepartofthe
governmentortobecomeapriestthepersonhadtobelongtothenobilityclass.Theirnew
leaderswerechosenbythedivineright,whichmeanttheoldestsonwouldbecometheruler.In
theAzteccivilization,thegovernmenthadastrictpolicyontheirtaxes,theyalsohadavery
strongarmy.Whenanemperordied,anewemperorwaselectedbyahighcounciloffournobles
andwhowererelatedtothepreviousrulerandhavetobenoblesovertheageofthirty,educated,
anexperiencedwarriorandmilitaryleader.
Therearemoresimilaritiesthandifferencesbetweenthesocialandclassstructureofthe
MayansandAztecs.Therewastheexactsameorderofsocialstructure,Godsandrulerswereon

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topwhileslaveswereatthebottom.Inordertobecomepartofthegovernmentortobecomea
priestthepersonhadtobelongtothenobilityclass.Slaveswerealsocandidatestobesacrificed
inreligiousrituals.Warfareprisonerswhowerentsacrificed,aswellascriminalscouldbecome
slaves.Howeverthedifferenceisintherightsthatslaveshadineachcivilization.MayanSlaves
hadnorightsatallandnorightsinsociety.Beingaslavewasalsoinherited.Alsocommoners
wereforbiddenfromwearingclothesoranysymbolofnobility.OntheotherhandanAztec
slavehastherighttomarryandtoalsohavechildren.Theirchildrenwouldnotbeslavesbecause
slaverywasntinheritedfortheAztec.IntheAztecsocialstructureonlythenoblescouldreceive
goodsandservicesfromthecommonersandweretheonlyonesallowedtoweardecoratedcapes
andjewelry.Therightsandtheprivilegesvariedbythesocialstatus.
BoththeMayansandtheAztecswouldcreatearchitecturesandsculpturestorepresent
theirgods.Themajorinfluenceoftheirartwastheirreligion.Temples,ornaments,
architectures,andaltarswereconstructedasmonumentswereleadersandtheirGods.Asfor
educationdependingontheirsocialstatusandgendermostkidswenttoschool.IntheAztec
civilizationthepurposeofschoolwastotraintheboystobecomewarriors,asforthehigher
classtheyweretrainedtobecomepriestsandgovernmentofficials.IntheMayacivilization
peoplefromthehigherclassweretheteachers,priests,leadersandwarleaderswereusuallythe
teachers.TheMayanswerewellknownfortheirmathematicalandastronomicalsystems.They
haddevelopeddifferentcalendarsincludingasolarcalendarandasacred.TheAztecswerentas
advancedastheMayanswere.Asforthelowerclasstheironlyeducationwastheonetheygot
athomefromtheirparents.Theylearnedwhattheirparentslearnedfromgrowingupanditwas

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allpasseddownfromgenerationtogeneration.Theusualageforattendingschoolwereages6to
13.Bothcivilizationssharedverysimilarvaluesastoartandhadafewdifferencesintheir
perspectivesabouteducation.
InconclusioneventhoughtheMayansandAztecstookplaceduringtwodifferenttime
periodstherewerestillcommonaspectsofeachcivilization,notonlyweretheresimilaraspects
butdifferencestoo.Thewaybothempireschosetheiremperorsweredifferentbutbothwerestill
basedonreligion.Therightsthateachclassvariedbutweredifferentfortheslavesineach
civilization.Theyhasmoresimilaritiesinthebasesoftheirartisticaspectsandminordifferences
intheireducationguidelines.

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WorksCited
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mayanslavery.N.p.,n.d.Web.17Sept.2013.
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Nativeweb.N.p.,n.d.Web.17Sept.2013.
<http://www.nativeweb.org/pages/pyramids/overview.html>.
Sharer,Robert.TheAncientMaya.N.p.:n.p.,n.d.Print.
tarltonlawlibrary.N.p.,n.d.Web.17Sept.2013.
<http://tarlton.law.utexas.edu/exhibits/aztec/maya_social.html>.
Thames,andHudson.TheArtofmesoamerica.N.p.:n.p.,n.d.Print.