Across
- 2. The Maya believed that ___________ gave the gods strength, so they also made __________ offerings by sacrificing animals and, sometimes, humans.
- 5. The Maya used their knowledge of mathematics and astronomy to develop a complex calendar system composed of _____ main calendars for religious and other purposes.
- 6. _______________ was very important to the Maya, who built their cities around religious and ceremonial centers.
- 8. The Mayans played a game where two teams of nobles tried to hit a solid rubber ball through a stone ring by using their leather-padded elbows, _____________, and hips.
- 10. The second calendar was the sacred, or ritual, calendar called the ________________ (TSAWL-keen).
- 13. Priests used the sacred calendar to determine the best days to ___________, hunt, cure, do battle, and perform religious ceremonies.
- 15. It was extremely important to ____________ the gods.
- 16. Many gods had animal characteristics. The ____________ was especially important to the Maya.
- 18. _____________ plazas provided gathering places for people to attend rituals and ceremonies.
- 19. Tzolkin means ________________.
- 22. The Maya religion was _________________, which means it included many gods.
- 24. Are there still calendar priests in southern Mexico who use the 260-day calendar to predict the future, according to Mayan tradition?
- 25. The Maya honored their gods with ________________ such as plants, food, flowers, feathers, jade, and shells.
Down
- 1. The Sacred Round was based on 13 months of 20 days each, making 260 days in all. It had two cycles that worked together to identify a particular day. One cycle was made up of the numbers 1 to 13, while the other cycle was a set of 20 day names. Each of the day names represented a particular god. Every 260 days, a given _______________ of numbers and day names, such as 1 Ik, would occur.
- 3. The Maya believed that the gods had created the world and could influence or even ______________ it.
- 4. Priests performed sacrifices and conducted ceremonies. They consulted sacred books, read omens, interpreted signs, and ________________________. (three words)
- 7. According to Maya beliefs, only _______________ could explain divine signs and lead people through rituals aimed at pleasing the gods.
- 9. The people who were sacrificed were usually ______________, slaves, or nobles captured during war.
- 11. The primary Maya gods were forces or objects in _____________ that affected people's daily lives, such as rain, corn, and death.
- 12. _________________ have learned about the Maya religion from studying present-day Maya practices, ancient artifacts, and documents written during the Post-Classic period.
- 14. Surviving __________ from the ball courts shows members of the losing team being sacrificed and the captain of the defeated team being beheaded.
- 17. Like Maya art and architecture, the calendar system reflects a highly ______________ civilization.
- 19. The Maya believed in more than one hundred and ___________ gods.
- 20. The Maya divided the year into 18 months of 20 days each. This adds up to 360. To make their calendar a full year, they added 5 more days which they viewed as “____________” days.
- 21. Every Maya city had at least one ball court where a game called _____________ took place.
- 23. The first was a daily calendar, based on the ________ (sun) year that totaled 365 days, as our calendar does.