Introduction

The Maya Civilization lasted for about 3,500 years. It started in 2000 B.C.E and ended in 1500. This civilization once lived in what is now southern Mexico and big part of Central America. They built stone cities in the The City of Tikal.

The Inca Civilization started around 1400 C.E and ended around 1532 C.E. This civilization was located In parts of Peru and Ecuador They had many cultural beliefs and many achievements.

The Inca Civilization

(Ancient History encyclopedia)

The Maya Civilization

(livescience.com)

Geography: The Mayan Civilization

The Maya civilization had beautiful geographical features. The Mayans lived in houses made of stone this city was called the " City of Tikal", which was located in Guatemalan Jungle. The wonderful highlands were surrounded by pine forest. The north and central parts were filled with rainforests, swamps, and grasslands and southern lower parts were filled with jungles.

As you can see in this picture it shows how the City of Tikal is deeply hidden in the Guatemalan jungle

(nytimes.com)

Just like the Mayas the Incas also had beautiful geographical features. The Incas were located in the Andes Mountains in parts of Peru and The Ecuador. Their cities were located on top of the Andes mountains, these mountains are 2,500 miles long. They also had an amazing river called the "Amazon River" which is more than 4,000 miles long. They also had magnificent valleys in the mountains which is where the center of the Inca empire was located.

Geography: The Inca Civilization

This part of the Inca empire on the Andes mountains

(ngm.nationalgeographic.com)

Culture:The Mayan Civilization

In the Maya Civilization, culture was very different than it is right now in modern time. The Mayans would marry at a pretty young age, The girls would marry between 14-16 years of age and the boys at around 20. The boys and girls who weren't married were taken to Atanzahab or in other words the match maker so they can be matched up with someone in order to marry a woman. Like many civilizations back then the females would do things around the house and the males would work outside such as in the fields.

In this picture you can see two people getting married and they were matched up by the match maker.

(harmsc.pbworks.com)

Just like The Mayans the Incas also had different culture from today, but still had some differences. Like the Mayas Girls married around 15-16 and boys at 20. Unlike the the Mayans they didn't go to a matchmaker to pair them up instead they were sent to marriage markets (this only applied for men, it's how they got a wife). These markets were managed by curacas. The majority of the Incas were born into this clan called Ayllu. Similar to the Mayans females worked around the house such as taking care of kids and cooking, meanwhile the males worked, out on the field.

Culture: The Inca Civilization

As you can see in this picture is a couple about to get married.

(Katmeana.weebly)

Religion: The Mayan Civilization

The Mayan civilization has a very interesting religion. To begin with they are polytheistic. This means they believe in more than one god. Most of their different kinds of gods were based on every day events. The Mayan people would go to temples to worship their gods. They would also make sacrifices for them(sacrifices include humans and animals) and the priest would explain signs. By this it means that the priest would explain events that would happen that make the people curious about, such as storms or why the sun rises. They would honor the gods by giving them beautiful things. The Mayans also had an animal the worshiped, this animal is a jaguar and this animal was important to them.

This is one of their famous temples called the Chichen Itza

(Titantravel.co.uk)

Religion: The Inca Civilization

Just like the Mayans the Incas also had an interesting religion. Just like the Mayans they were polytheistic and had gods based on events in their daily lives. Some of the gods and goddess are Paca Mama who is known as the "mother of earth" and Illapu which is the weather god. For the Incas the main god is named Inti and they believed that all gods received powers from Virococha. The Incas called sacred objects or places huacas, they made sacrifices and offerings to huacas. Their priest would work in temples and there were shrines dedicated towards each god or goddess.

This is one of their religious events that they have.

(topofblogs.com)

Achievements: The Mayan Civilization

The Mayans had many achievements that changed the world. One of their most famous achievements was the solar calendar, the solar calendar was special type of calendar that used the sun in order to work. some of their other achievements were their great work at building cities, their religious beliefs, and their artwork. They were also able to spread their culture across Meso America. They also were able to come up with a technique to clear land, they would set trees on fire in order to clear land. They were also known for their temples and buildings and for learning astronomy, mathematics, writing, engineering, and architecture.

This is one of their pieces of art

(incamayanaztec.com)

Achievements: The Incas

Similar to the Mayan civilization, the Inca civilization achieved many things, except they didn't make their own calendar. The Incas were well known for their greatest achievements in engineering. They built many temples, fortresses, palaces, and stone buildings. They also made many engineering equipment, as well as aqueducts and irrigation canals. The Incas were also able to use bronze in order to make tools. One of their greatest achievements were making rope suspension bridges.

This is a rope suspension bridge made by the Incas.

(mnn.com)

Political System: The Mayan Civilzation

The Mayans had their own rules and their own way to run their civilization. In this civilization the priest were they only ones who could read or write most things, such as important papers. There was also people who collected taxes from the people in the city. They overall had one Ruler which they called "True man". The rulers would rule the state and decides many important decisions as well. The Mayans lived in city states and had a very large population at one point.