Top 12 Most Important People of the Ancient Maya Civilization

The Maya civilization, based in Mexico and Central America, is one of the oldest-known civilizations. The Maya people inhabited the lands of Yucatan, Campeche, Tabasco, El Salvador, and Honduras and had an amazing culture with some fascinating beliefs such as no one is ever born and no one ever dies. They worshiped the gods and their ancestors. The civilization was divided into small provinces and states, each one of which was ruled by a king. These states never united to form a unified civilization and each developed at its own rate. The Maya civilization was also notable for its achievements in writing, developing the most sophisticated writing system in the world at the time. They used a logosyllabic system where one glyph represented one word, closely following the spoken language of the pre-Columbian world. The Maya civilization adopted a system which allowed each ruler to follow his own path in a bid to get the upper hand over the others. It has been divided up into the Preclassic, Classic, Postclassic and Contact periods. The Classic period saw the development of major cities and infrastructures that went on to define the civilization, and it was marked by urbanism and the arts. Monument inscriptions were also believed to have originated during this period. Most of the major cities of the region were believed to have declined during the Postclassic period with the exceptions of Chichen Itza and Puuc which were transformed at this time. Art and culture in the Maya civilization were mostly reserved for the royal courts, and art was created from perishable and non-perishable material. Blue and green were the most important colors of the Maya civilization, and every work of art was painted with these colors. The Maya civilization was built on the four basic pillars of politics, art, the royalty, and a fight for survival. Language and mathematics were also very important, as was the introduction of the calendar. The people were great believers in the supernatural and developed astronomical and mythical systems to keep these beliefs alive. So the Maya civilization was one of the most sophisticated civilizations of the ancient world and that also means they had their famous and important leaders and people who were crucial in building that empire. Here are the top 12 most important and famous people of the ancient Maya civilization: Thank you for watching!