The Best of Times, the Worst of Times

Really sorry about that.

 

That's because I must've accidentally pressed "?" rather than " ' ". I don't know how it happened (it did in some other of my posts too) but I just didn't feel like correcting it.

As for the "bring on the flames" part I'm not going to fall for that.

 

Umm... guys, could we keep this on topic, please? Thanks 8)

Hel Khat - Mayans would have been fascinating to live among. Not so sure about the Aztecs (a bit too... umm... bloody for me). As for the Mayan calendar, I've done quite a bit of research into it, and it is quite interesting. There's no way to adequately explain it in a simple forum without boring you to tears, but basically, one could think of it like an odometer. The "long count" would begin at 0.0.0.0.0 (where each place is either 18 or 20 steps, instead of 10), and began in 3114 BC. The calendar will cycle around and reach 0.0.0.0.0 again in the year 2012, which is not the end of time, but rather a new beginning - a new "galactic cycle". (specifically, the first day of the new cycle will be Dec. 23, 2012)

Today's date, reckoned by the Mayan calendar, is:
12.19.9.11.4

I'll shut up now...

 

Wow that is strange cause that's my mom's birthday. It figures she'd have something to do with the end of the world

Actually I doubt is would boar me to tears cause I am interested in this subject but then you also sumed it up very nicely. If there are any other important notes that you think it would be cool if I knew or that you think I should be aware of please feel free to PM me

Also from what I understand the Mayans were not actually the patrons of peace themselves and that they warred among themselves quite often...

 

Yes, the Mayans warred among themselves and with neighbors (they actually conquered all their immediate neighbors), but relative to other pre-Columbian Latin American peoples (except for the Incas), they were peaceful.

 

Nonono, Luchaire, that stuff is actually really interesting to me. Some of those South American cultures really had their shit together before the Spanish came along and fucked it all up.

 

The Mayans were a very caste-based society; sure, they invented all sorts of great things, but the common people weren't even allowed in the buildings where they were housed. So if you wanted to be a Mayan, priesthood's the only way to get ahead.

 

Ain't that the truth!

True, but in a society like that, which lacked such little things as poverty and crime, why would you need to get ahead? Ahead of what? Yes, the "nobility" class and the priests held all the wealth, but... so?

 

I meant that, if you wanted access to anything above basic tools, you'd need to be a priest.

 

I also find the Inca's to have been an interesting race can anyone tell me anything about them? Also I am very interested to know if there were any noted similarities between the 3 cultures? (Aztec, Mayan, and Inca) And finally did any of them co-exist for any period of time?

 

For anyone who really is interested in the Mayan calendar, here's a few sites that have respectable and accurate information:

http://webexhibits.org/calendars/calendar-mayan.html

http://www.public.iastate.edu/~rjsalvad/scmfaq/calendar.html

http://www.pauahtun.org/basic.html

Interestingly, the Mayan had calendar names/figures for massive time periods. A "hablatun" for example, is 1,280,000,000 years - anyone want to wager a guess why they needed to track time in that sort of scale? It's one of the fun mysteries of the ancient world...

 

(See now how can you possibly post more then a line in reply to this!!! ) OK I give Why?? onder:

 

I could tell you heaps about the Inca. I took a course last year on pre-Columbian Indian civilizations... want me to scan all my notes
You'd have to be more specific to keep me from writing a Thesis on the subject.

Many similarities between the three, but many major differences, too. And yes, they coexisted. They were the last in a series of cultures that thrived before the coming of the Spanish. The Inca didn't interact with the Maya or Aztec (much) because they were geographically separated (Incas = Peru, Maya and Aztec = Central America), but the Aztec and the Maya traded and fought with eachother, although the Maya that were around by the time of the Aztec were a much diminished people. The "classic" Maya civilization had collapsed by then, leaving only Mayan people, but not their empire. (The cause of the fall of the Mayan civilization is unknown - theories abound, but proof is scanty).

 

Were there any likenesses in their forms of worship? which of the three was the most advanced and which the most primative?

 

I'm not big on South American civilizations, but I know that it didn't even occur to the Aztecs to shed blood to settle conflicts before the Spaniards came along. I think they used a P.O.W system to settle disputes.

 

Um... Actually, they had a brutal war-based society. Advancement of social rank was based on war success. There were countless wars of conquest of their neighbors, and they enslaved and brutalized those they defeated.

What you refer to were called "Flowery Wars" and were done at certain times between consenting nations (the Aztec "Empire" was actually a conglomeration of tribute-paying nations) for the purpose of securing prisoners to sacrifice to the gods. Human sacrifice was the norm, and certain gods had insatiable appetites - thus, the availability of victims depended on the ability to capture them. The warriors who fought in these Flowery Wars understood that to be captured was to be sacrificed, and viewed it as an honor.

The issue of human sacrifice is looked at now with typically modern distaste, but one has to take into account the Aztec world view. They believed that the gods kept the world alive, but only as long as the gods themselves lived. If the gods were not fed, they died. And the preferred food of the gods was, naturally enough, human blood and/or hearts.

They were similar in that all three were polytheistic, but their gods did not overlap (with one or two possible exceptions between Maya and Aztec). All offered human sacrifice to the gods, but the Maya and Inca never took it to anywhere near the scale of the Aztec.

Advanced and primitive is subjective, but I'd cast my vote for Inca as far as advanced goes. Their empire was vast (stretching from modern Chile to Columbia and on both sides of the Andes), and they governed it more efficiently than Ancient Rome. Their stonework was so precise that in some walls still standing today, built of square blocks of stone, a razor blade cannot be inserted between the blocks.

Hell, I don't know. No one does. That's why it's a mystery!

 

Sorry for derailing your thread Luchaire.

I didn't answer the worst of times part so far. Aside from wars those would be the times of slavery or plagues for sure. And generally any other time when you're poor and no one gives a damn about whether you're alive or dead.

 

People do seem to be reading the question as "If you were one of the social elite, where would you want to live?" I think. A lot of past times look attractive to live in if you were one of the movers and shakers or priviledged few of that time, but it's kinda like saying you could be a popstar/film director/respected writer now. What about if you have to just be a normal person, a part of the working class?

 

Definitely modern times (though not present) then. With labour unions (preferably before they became what they're today), developed healthcare and human rights. Definitely a free democratic country also. It might be good to start a fluorishing career soon after WW II when countries were getting back to ordinary life (aside from cold war of course) and there was a high demand for people of all proficiencies. Most importantly though women's place was in the kitchen (This is just a joke Windmills, please put that rolling pin away) Perhaps US would be a good choice. If not there than one of the Marhsall Plan countries.

 

easy again early america post revolutionary pre civil war this was a time and place ripe with opportunity for the working class to become elite although the western movement in america fits that bill too maybe moreso. I just would have like to live during the formative years of a someday great political power.

worst during the crusades or any time the catholic church decided to take persecution to the heathen (I'm sure there were other times although none so well documented)