9 Mysterious Facts About Mayan People - You Will Be Amazed

An ethnolinguistic group of indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica. The ancient Maya civilization was formed by members of this group, and today's Maya are generally descended from people who lived within that historical region. 

Today they inhabit southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, ElSalvador and Honduras. "Maya" is a modern collective term for the peoples of the region, however, the term was not historically used by the indigenous populations themselves. There was no common sense of identity or political unity among the distinct populations, societies and ethnic groups because they each had their own particular traditions, cultures and historical identity.

1. The Most Spoken Mayan Language

K’iche’ is the Most Spoken Mayan Language with 2.3 Million Speakers. Although most people know Mayans only for their powerful ancient civilization, Mayan facts show that the language of Mayans is still present in the modern world. Around 2.3 million people still speak a language called K’iche’, which is the most widely spoken of nearly 30 Mayan languages that are spoken in Guatemala, Mexico, Belize and Honduras. 

All these languages descend from Proto-Mayan – a theoretical language that was supposedly spoken in the region more than 5,000 years ago and was reconstructed by 20^th-century linguists from modern Mayan languages and classic Mayan inscriptions.

2. Mayan People Were Religious

the great Maya civilization centred around religion, which had an important effect on many other areas of life. The modern Maya religion, which is still practised nowadays in Guatemala, Belize, western Honduras and some areas of Mexico, has been influenced by Roman Catholicism over the centuries and is quite a bit different from the ancient Maya religion that is millennia old. The old Maya religion is responsible for many great achievements of the Mayan civilization, including the in(famous) Mayan calendar and spectacular pyramids.

3. Mayans Had Over 150 Gods

the ancient Maya religion is very complex, having over 150 gods who are each clearly defined by their characteristics and purposes. Five of these gods were worshipped very often according to ancient texts, and are thus considered to be the most important ones. The first is Itzamn (also known as Zaman), the lord of the heavens and night and day, who was always ready to be called upon in hard times. 

The second, the right hand of Itzamn, is Chac, sometimes even more important than the lord of the heavens himself, since he is the god of rain and thus in a way also the god of life. The third god is Ah Mun, the corn god and the god of agriculture, the fourth is Ah Puch, the god of death, and the fifth is Ek Chuah, the god of war, human sacrifice and violent death

4. Mayan Used To Eat

ancient Maya civilization started millennia ago, the diet of its people was surprisingly good and far surpassed those of most other civilizations of the time. The majority of the early Mayans were farmers who planted their fields as a community, using various farming tools and techniques. 

Their main crops were corn, beans, avocados, chilli peppers, pineapples, squashes and an ingredient which is still very important to many modern diets – cacao. When it comes to animal meat, the Maya people mainly hunted deer, rabbits, fish and turkeys; the latter was also kept as domestic animals. The Mayan diet frequently also included delights such as tomatoes, sweet potatoes and papaya

5. Mayan Culture

Mayan Culture Is Best Known For Its Art, Architecture and Mathematical Systems. They are very proficient when it came to creating art, architectural wonders and complex mathematical and astronomical systems that were far ahead of their time. 

The most prominent accomplishments of Mayans in these areas are certainly the construction of pyramids, the Mayan calendar, Mayan scripture, stone sculptures, wood carvings, murals on the walls of buildings, calculations of the length of the tropical solar year, and the Mayan vigesimal numeric system that enabled them to use huge numbers in their calculations in various areas of life.

6. Pyramid Built

many large palaces, pyramids and other public buildings that were built in various Mayan city-states are still around today to be admired and show us the amazing architectural skills of ancient Mayan builders. The pyramids are probably the best-known legacy of their old kingdoms – the Mayans built two basic types of pyramids. Both types were built for religious purposes, had steps to the top, and were of the characteristic pyramidal shape. 

But one type had a temple on the top and was meant to be climbed by priests to offer sacrifices to gods, while the other was built solely for the gods and was not meant to be climbed. One of the most famous Mayan pyramids is El Castillo, a temple to the god Kukulcan in the city of Chichen Itza.

 It is just under 100 feet tall and has 91 steps on each of its four sides; when adding up the numbers of all steps and adding 1 for the platform on the top, the result is 365 one step for each day of the year. Another very famous Mayan pyramid is La Danta in Guatemala, which is one of the biggest pyramids on the planet by total volume.

7. The Mayan Calendar

The Mayan calendar is one of the greatest achievements of the mighty ancient civilization, as Mayan facts show. Not only because the Mayans’ observations of the sky and their understanding of time were amazing for that era, but also because the calendar has caused much ado in modern times. According to the Mayan calendar, the end of the world was supposed to occur on December 21, 2012, but we are still here, so it seems that those who were expecting the world to end were reading the calendar wrong. 

And indeed, the date in the Mayan calendar doesn’t signify the end of the world, only the end of one of the so-called creation periods in the Mayan long count calendar. In a way, the end of the Mayan creation period is similar to the end of the year we now celebrate each December 31.

8. Sacrifices Conducted By Mayans

Many of the day-to-day habits of the old Mayans were anchored in religion, so it is no surprise that blood sacrifice to the gods was a common occurrence among the Mayans. Little children were usually the top choices for such sacrifices because of their pure souls, which were believed to bring prosperity. On some occasions, slaves or prisoners of war were used instead of children. 

One of the most surprising Mayan facts reveals that some of the modern Maya people still perform blood sacrifices, but they – of course – don’t use human blood. They use cattle or chicken blood instead.

9. Patient Treated In Sickness

Mayan medicine couldn’t have been as evolved as modern medicine, but compared to other civilizations of the time and many civilizations that lived centuries after the ancient Mayans, they had a profound knowledge of the human body and possible ways of healing it. 

This is due to the simple fact that medicine, as were almost all other areas of life, was tightly connected to religion, so the select few who were allowed to heal were given an excellent education. Mayan healers were called shamans, and although a part of their healing relied on sorcery and the goodwill of the gods, they knew how to suture deep wounds (using human hair), heal fractures, and even carry out some dentistry.