Inca Empire

Like all enlightened peoples of antiquity, the Incas clothed their origins in the form of myths.
The most famous of them in his "Commentaries" brought to us Garcilaso de la Vega. He wrote it down from memory, from the words of his contemporaries, the Indians. This myth tells that Manco Capac and his sister-wife Mama Oklio, fulfilling the will of their father Sun-Inti, left the waters of Lake Titicaca to turn the savages who inhabited the surrounding lands on the path of civilization and create a great empire. From their father, they received a magic golden rod, which was supposed to show them where to establish the center of their state. Not far from the village of Pakari-Tambo, lying at the foot of the Wanakauri hill, Manko Kapak stuck this rod into the ground, and by the will of divine providence, he went into it with great ease. It was a sign that it was there that the capital of the future empire was to be founded. Such a manifestation of supreme will is quite comparable to an eagle holding a snake in its beak on an island in the middle of Lake Texcoco, where, as we remember, the Aztecs founded their state.

The protagonist of Inca mythology was Manco Kalik. Like Quetzalcoatl for the Nahua and Bochica for the Chibcha, he simultaneously combined the features of a demigod and a great leader who led his subjects to the path of civilization. Indeed, something truly great had to happen in order to preserve in the memory of generations up to the present day, the legends about this man ascended to the level of a deity and the founder of the state, who survived time itself and that consistently destroyed culture at the origins of which he stood.

From there the settlers reached the valley where the village of Pakari-Tambo was located. There they settled. Several centuries later, it was from this place that they began the conquest of the Cuzco region and subsequently created their state there. After Manco Capaca, Tahuantinsuyu was ruled by 12 of his Inca successors. However, from the first of them, who lived in the XIII-XIV centuries, Sinchi Rocky, Lloque Yupanqui, Maita Capaca, Capaca Yupanqui, Inca Rocky and Jauar Huacaca, only names have come down to us. The true history of the empire began with the Viracocha Inca, who ruled in the first half of the 15th century. His shameful escape to the village of Kacia, in the Shakishauan Valley, when he was fleeing from the Chunks, led to the fact that his son Cusi Yupanqui Pachacutec became the hero-liberator of the Incas.

All the deeds of the Incas, since the era of Pachacuteca, were preserved for posterity with the utmost care, since the Incas themselves highly valued their fame and had a clear idea of ​​the meaning of history. The unchanging purposefulness of their activities to exalt Tahuantinsuyu is evidenced by the creation of a special honorary post of the official historian of the empire, elected from the Panaka of each Inca, in other words, from the composition of the numerous relatives of the ruler left by him after death, primarily wives and children. The history of the empire was passed down from generation to generation, so that all its most important events were always fresh in the memory of the kipukamajoks of each panaki, even after the Spanish conquest. Valcarcel wrote that when the Spaniards came to Cuzco, the first information about the history of the Incas during the time of Vaca de Castro (Cristobal Vaca de Castro, they received from the surviving kipukamajoks of each panaki, never mixed with each other.
It is thanks to this that we know about the battles of Pachacuteca from the Aymara stakes on the shores of Lake Titicaca, about his campaigns against the peoples of the south of present-day Peru right up to the coast, and about everything else too.

According to legends, the founder of the Inca "empire" was the legendary Manco Capac, who bore the title of Inca as a sign of his divine origin. There are several versions of the origin of Tahuantinsuyu. According to one of them, Manco Capac and his sister-wife Mama Okllo, fulfilling the will of their father-sun - Inti and mother-moon - Kiglia, left the waters of Lake Titicaca in order to turn the savages who inhabited the surrounding lands on the path of civilization and create a great one " empire ". From their father, they received a magical golden rod, which was supposed to show them where to establish the center of the state. Not far from the village of Pakaritampu, which lay at the foot of the Huanakauri hill, Manco Capac stuck this rod into the ground, and by the will of divine providence, he entered it with extraordinary ease. It was a sign that it was here that the capital of the future "empire" should be founded.
In many ways, this myth is close to the myth of Tenochtitlan, erected by the Aztecs on an island in the middle of Lake Texcoco. It is hardly possible today to answer unequivocally whether Manco Capac really existed or whether it is a mythical character. He combined the features of a demigod and a great leader, who, like the legendary Maya-Toltec Quetzalcoatl-Kukulcan, led his subjects to the path of civilization. The legendary Manco Capac founded a small state in the Cuzco Valley. The emergence of this state, which later turned into the greatest "empire" of pre-Columbian America, can be roughly dated to the first half of the 13th century.

What happened next, we still imagine very superficially. There are several different, sometimes very contradictory interpretations of the history of the Incas, especially its initial stage. From the fog of all sorts of myths and legends, the Incas begin to gradually emerge only around 1437 or 1438. In that harsh time for the inhabitants of Cuzco, they faced a worthy, strong adversary - the neighboring Indians - Chunks.
According to one of the legends, the beginning of the war was unsuccessful for the Incas, and soon the Chunks, led by their victorious commanders Anco Huallo, Astu and Tamay Huaranki, already stood in front of the gates of Cuzco, like the great Carthaginian general Hannibal in front of the Collin gate of Rome. The panic began.
At the most critical moment of the many hours of bloody battle for Cuzco, when the initiative passed from hand to hand more than once and it was completely unclear to whom the capricious fortune would smile, an ambush detachment of selected Inca warriors struck in the rear of the advancing hordes of chunks. The Incas have won! It was the bloodiest and most brutal battle in the history of the ancient American wars. Thousands, if not tens of thousands of soldiers were killed on both sides. One of the most dangerous enemies of the Incas was defeated, and then turned into an ally.

Soon after this legendary and very difficult victory, the Inca Pachacuti (or Pachacutec) became the ruler of the Incas.
Pachacuti Inca (1438-1471) was one of the key figures in the history of the Inca "empire". The year 1438 should probably be considered the beginning of its creation. The historicity of his personality is beyond doubt. He reorganized the army, increasing its combat effectiveness, and increased the generals. Under Pachacuti, the military campaigns of the Incas were carried out in the southern and southeastern directions: in an extremely stubborn struggle, the Incas seized the lands of the Aymara Indians along the shores of Lake Titicaca, took possession of colossal herds of llamas and alpacas (a type of llama) - almost hundreds of thousands of heads. For those times, it was an outstanding victory and tremendous wealth. From now on, the armies of Cuzco no longer felt the need for vehicles, clothing and food. The capture of these flocks meant no less to the Incas than the later possession of their treasures to the Spaniards. Pachacuti declared the animals "royal" property, and founded the richest temples on the islands of Lake Titicaca. As a result of his conquests, the foundations of a huge Inca "empire" were laid, and he himself, in fact, became the first "emperor" of the Incas - the "emperor" -the creator. Pachacuti was one of the most prominent personalities in ancient American history - warrior, politician, philosopher, historian, architect, poet.

While Pachacuti, the winner of the Chunks and Aymara, fought at Lake Titicaca, he had an heir, Tupac (Topa) Yupanqui, whose military glory would later overshadow his father's. (It is believed that Pachacuti had around 100 sons and 50 daughters in total.) The relationship between Pachacuti and Tupac Yupanqui, as often happens between strong personalities, even when they are closely related, was apparently tense, if not frankly hostile. However, in the great northern campaign, they both acted together. As a result, the northern border of Tahuantinsuyu ran through the territory of present-day Ecuador, and the size of the Inca state became equal to the area of ​​modern Great Britain.
In 1471, shortly before the death of his father Pachacuti, Tupac Yupanqui became the new Inca. Tupac Yupanqui (1471-1493) significantly expanded the boundaries of the Inca "empire", uniting the entire ancient Peruvian ecumene, and entered the pre-Columbian history of South America as an "emperor" - a conqueror.
Legends tell differently about the numerous military campaigns of this Peruvian Alexander the Great. According to one of them, unexpectedly and swiftly invading Chimor - the largest state on the territory of Peru, the most dangerous for the Incas, - he quickly took possession of it. The ruler of Chimor, the powerful Minchansaman, did not expect such a powerful blow from the north, where the Chimorians did not have a common border with the Incas, and therefore no fortifications. The victory over the more developed than the Inca state, Chimor, an elongated narrow (50-70 km) and long (about 1,000 km) strip along the coast, opened the Incas access to the Pacific Ocean. One after another, the rich Peruvian coastal valleys and the capital of Chimora at the mouth of the Moche River, the largest city of pre-Hispanic South America, Chan Chan (an area of ​​26 km) with a population of about 20-30 thousand people, were captured. After the defeat, Chan-Chan became empty.
Having conquered Chimor, the Incas apparently captured untold riches. The Spaniards did not find such treasures anywhere in America as in the tombs of the “kings” and nobles of Chimor that they plundered. Their total cost was a fantastic sum for those times - about a million (!) Golden Spanish castellanos. It can be assumed that most of the gold that the Indians collected as a ransom for the captive later, in 1532, by the Spaniards of Inca Atahualpa, was either sixty years earlier plundered on the coast by the Incas themselves, or, at least, processed by the hands of the most skillful Chimorian craftsmen. jewelers hijacked from Chan Chan to Cuzco.

There were no more trips to the north. The explanation is quite simple: the Incas are mountain dwellers and felt out of place, getting into an unusual natural and climatic zone, located several kilometers below their own. This is partly why the Inca forays into the coastal plain of Ecuador were unsuccessful: the hot swampy area turned out to be unattractive for people accustomed to clean, cool mountain air. In addition, in the mountainous regions of Ecuador, the armies of Tupac Yupanqui had to wage grueling and not always successful battles with freedom-loving and warlike local tribes. It is possible that the Ecuadorian leaders sent some kind of irregular tribute to the Incas, but they basically retained their independence. Further advancement of the Incas north to the Chibcha-Muisca Indians and even further north, towards Mesoamerica, did not follow.
If the old Pachacuti still caught the conquest of Chimor (about 1471) (perhaps he was one of the initiators of this campaign), then a new southern campaign took place after his death. Tupac Yupanqui's campaign south is the largest military operation in pre-Columbian American history.

At the head of a huge army, Tupac Yupanqui moved through the lands of present-day Bolivia to the northern part of modern Argentina, then crossed the Andes again, entered the deserted Atacama Desert in the north of the territory of present-day Chile, moving more than a thousand kilometers to the south. But he could not cross the Maule River. Having met the courageous and fierce resistance of the Chilean Araucanavas (Mapuche), he was forced to stop. Here lies the southern border of Tahuantinsuyu.
Thus, the "empire" included vast territories located in the south-west of Bolivia, north-west of Argentina and the north of Chile, approximately equal in area to all the rest of its lands. It is difficult to say whether the Incas knew, when undertaking a southern campaign, that in that region there are richest deposits of copper and precious metals. In any case, it seems that this particular area was the ultimate goal of Tupac Yupanqui.
Although after Tupac Yupanqui there were attempts to further expand the borders of the state, including to the east (in the humid and hot Amazon, Inca troops died or returned from there empty-handed), in general, the borders of the "empire" remained almost unchanged. The followers of Pachacuti and Tupac Yupanqui had to think not so much about conquests as about protecting the borders of their huge "empire". To this end, along the eastern border of Tahuantinsuyu, the Incas erected a number of fortresses and connected them with a stone wall almost 200 km long stretching along the ridges of the mountains - an American likeness of the Great Wall of China. True, unlike its ancient Chinese counterpart, the Great Wall of Peru was not so powerful, but rather a symbolic one. Its height did not exceed the height of a person, and therefore it was suitable only for repelling the onslaught of an enemy unfamiliar with the art of a correct siege. Only the eastern border of the "empire" required constant protection from the warlike neighbors of Tahuantinsuyu - Guarani Indians, Diagita, etc.
In 1493, Tupac Yupanqui died, poisoned, according to some legends, by one of his many concubines. His youngest son, a native of the city of Quito (Ecuador), Huayna Capacu (1493-152?), Who came to the throne thanks to the cunning palace intrigues of his uncle, the famous military leader Huaman Achachi, inherited a huge "empire", which had no equal in the entire Indian America. From north to south, it stretched almost 5 thousand km, and its territory was equal to 2,754 thousand km 2. Huayna Capac completed the work of his father and grandfather with dignity, seizing Ecuadorian lands and defending the borders of the "empire" in the southeast from the claims of the militant Chiriguano to carangians, and in the south - the indomitable Chilean araucanas.

However, first of all, he had to deal with restoring order within the "empire", which had grown enormously as a result of the campaigns of his grandfather and father. Dozens of large and hundreds of small pukars, with garrisons of soldiers, sometimes numbering several thousand soldiers, provided the protection of the "empire" from both external and internal enemies who rebelled against the Inca domination of "kingdoms" and "provinces" that peacefully or forcibly entered the composition of Tahuantinsuyu (and there were a lot of them - more than 200: Bilkas, Jauha, Bombao, Cahamalka, Guanca, Bombakome, Quito, Karangi, Hatuncan, Ayavire, Chukiaba, Parna and others).

The participants in the largest uprising (on the island of Pune, off the coast of present-day Ecuador) were dealt with very cruelly: every tenth rebel was thrown into the sea or stabbed, beheaded, quartered, stoned to death, hanged, etc. Not everything was calm and at court "Emperor": one of his many uncles - the Inca Walpaya tried to poison him in order to free the throne for his own son ... Failed.

Huayna Capac, was the last Inca to rule Tahuantinsuyu before the arrival of the Spaniards. During the years of his long reign, most of which he spent in the north, in the city of Quito, this ruler managed to do a lot to strengthen the Inca "empire", remaining in the people's memory as an "emperor" -administrator, "emperor" -a peacemaker. When Huayna Capac suddenly died (from the plague or from smallpox, and perhaps from some other disease, the epidemic of which then swept the entire north of the "empire"), without having time to name an heir, his eldest legitimate son, the arrogant Huascar, ascended the throne in Cuzco ...
At that time in Quito, the beloved city of Huayna Capaca (northern capital of Tahuantinsuyu), was ruled by one of Huascara's half-brothers - the independent and power-hungry Atahualpa. Having conceived to use the death of his father in his own interests and the interests of the clan of the Kyoto (Ecuadorian) aristocracy, he stated that Huayna Capac, dying, bequeathed to divide Tahuantinsuya into two parts: supposedly such a huge "empire" had become difficult to govern from one center, and that the northern half of the state he must rule - Atahualpa. As a result, when in the far north (in Panama) a "flock of hungry dogs" - the Spanish conquistadors - led by the adventurer Francisco Pizarro was preparing to conquer the treasures of the legendary Tahuantinsuyu - the most powerful tree of the non-American "empire" - a merciless struggle for the throne broke out in it. two brothers, which led to a bloody feud.
In the end, in 1532, the ambitious Atahualpa won the victory, in whose subordination were the best Inca commanders who still served his father - Kiskis (Kaskis) and Chilko-Chim (Kalkuchima) - and selected, selflessly loyal troops, trained even during Huayna Capake, Inca Guard. In this internecine war, the "empire" has lost its former power.

Huascar was captured and imprisoned, but it was he who was the true legitimate heir to the throne, since he was the son of Wayne Kapaka and his sister, that is, according to the Inca rules of the lawful wife - koyo. However, Atahualpa was only a bastard, that is, the illegitimate son from the marriage of Huayne Kapaka with his beloved wife, or rather, the concubine - the incomparable beauty Tokto Koka, the daughter of the leader of the Kara tribe (the former "king" of the city of Quito). Despite the capture of Huascar, the population of Tahuantinsuyu still recognized Huascar as legitimate Inca.
At the end of 1532, or at the beginning of 1533, Huascar was killed by order of his brother-usurper, and then Atahualpa himself fell at the hands of the Spanish conquistadors (1533).

Other Incas came to the throne ... The last of them was Tupac Amaru, executed by the Spaniards only in 1572. However, after the conquest of the "empire" by the Spaniards, the power of the Inca "emperors" was largely illusory. They "ruled" only in the very remote, high-mountainous regions of Tahuantinsuyu, which had not yet submitted to the conquistadors, where in 1539 the so-called Novoinka kingdom was created with the center in Vilcabamba.

Inca cities: Vilcabamba - Vilcazuaman - Vitkos - Gran Pahaten - Ingapirca - Inkalyakhta - Inkahuasi (Ayacucho) - Inkahuasi (Canyete) - Corihuairacina - Cusco - Machu Picchu - Moray - Ollantaytambo - Paitachiaku Paimpakuka - Rakchi - Sacsayhuaman - Tambo Colorado - Tambomachai - Tarahuasi - Tipon - Tiwanaku - Tukume - Tumebamba - Huamanmarka - Uinyay Huayna - Uchkus Inkanyan - Teach Kosco - Chinchero - Choquequirao - Shinkal - Yukai - Vila Vilajaro (Panamanca) - Apurimac - Toro Muerto - Pikimachai - Pumacocha - Kumbe Mayo - Kenko - Korikancha - Morai - Pikillakta - Puyupatamarca - Rakchi - Rumikolka - Tambomachai - Tarahuasi - Tipon - Huayna Picchu - Huamanmarka Huyntajyatay - Puyupatamarca Temple of the Sun - Temple of the Moon - El Brujo - Lambayeque - Lima - Akaray - Aspero - Buena Vista - Cantamarca - Paramonga - Pachacamac - Puclyana - Puruchuko - Puno - Silustani - Hiskairumoko - Tacna - Tokepala - Huancavelica - Huanuco

Mayan civilization

Maya - a group of Indian peoples, related in language. Where did these peoples come from? How did they appear in the jungles of Central America? There is no exact answer to these and other questions. Today, one of the main points of view on this issue is that America was settled from Asia through the Bering Strait during the Upper Paleolithic, i.e. about 30 thousand years ago.
Maya is one of the brightest civilizations of pre-Columbian America. This is a "culture-mystery", "culture-phenomenon" full of contradictions and paradoxes. It gave rise to a huge number of questions, but not all of them have answers. The Maya, living practically in the Stone Age (they did not know metals until the 10th century AD, wheeled carts, plows, pack and draft animals), created an accurate solar calendar, a complex hieroglyphic writing, used the concept of zero before the Arabs and Hindus, predicted solar and lunar eclipses, calculated the movements of Venus with an error of only 14 seconds per year, have reached astounding excellence in architecture, sculpture, painting and ceramics. They worshiped their gods and at the same time obeyed kings and priests, built temples and palaces under their leadership, performed ritual ceremonies, sacrificed themselves, fought with neighbors.
The Maya created cities that were extraordinary in themselves, built only on muscle strength. And for some reason, almost all the cities of the classical period bear traces of violent destruction. Currently, more than 200 ruins of ancient cities are known. Complete list of famous Mayan cities here.

In ancient times, the Maya represented various groups that shared a common historical tradition. In this regard, the characteristics of their cultures were similar, the physical features were the same, and they spoke languages ​​belonging to the same linguistic branch.
When studying the Mayan civilization, there are several periods. Their names and chronology are as follows:
- early pre-classical (about 2000 - 900 BC)
- middle pre-classical (900 - 400 BC)
- late pre-classical (400 BC - 250 AD)
- early classical (250 - 600 AD)
- late classical (600 - 900 AD)
- postclassical (900 - 1521 AD)

This rigorous scientific information does not in any way explain why the Mayan cities began to decline, their population declined, and civil strife intensified.
But the processes that finally destroyed the great civilization, which took place during the colonial period, which lasted from 1521 to 1821, are quite obvious. Great humanists and Christians - not only did they bring the flu, smallpox and measles - they formed their colonies on the American continent with fire and sword.
What did not benefit the Maya before, the fragmentation and absence of a single governing center of the state, did not benefit the conquerors either. Each city was a separate warlike state, and more and more efforts had to be made to seize the territory.

And the Mayan cities were built with great skill and scope. It is worth mentioning Lamanai, Kahal Pech, El Mirador, Calakmul, Tikal, Chichen Itza, Uxmal, Copan. Some of these cities have existed for over a millennium. The ruins of each of them are a gift to archaeologists, historians and tourists.
Of great interest are the ideas of an extinct civilization about time and space. The Mayan cyclical time associated with natural and astronomical phenomena was displayed in various calendars. According to one of the predictions, the next (last) cycle will end on December 22, 2012. The end of the cycle will be marked by a flood, after which this world will perish, a new universe will be born and a new cycle will begin ... Well, we have every chance to be convinced of the accuracy of the Mayan predictions.

During the 1st - early 2nd millennium AD, the Maya people, speaking various languages ​​of the Maya-Quiche family, settled in a vast territory, including the southern states of Mexico (Tabasco, Chiapas, Campeche, Yucatan and Quintana Roo), the current countries of Belize and Guatemala and western regions of El Salvador and Honduras. These territories, located in the tropical zone, are distinguished by a variety of landscapes. In the mountainous south, there is a chain of volcanoes, some of which are active. Once upon a time, powerful coniferous forests grew here on the generous volcanic soils. In the north, the volcanoes merge into the Alta Verapaz limestone mountains, which further north form the Peten limestone plateau, characterized by a hot and humid climate. Here the center of development of the Mayan civilization of the classical era took shape. The western part of the Petén plateau is drained by the Pasion and Usumacinta rivers, flowing into the Gulf of Mexico, and the eastern part by the rivers carrying waters into the Caribbean Sea. To the north of the Peten plateau, humidity decreases with the height of the forest cover. In the north of the Yucatec plains, humid tropical forests give way to shrubby vegetation, and on the Puuk hills the climate is so dry that in ancient times people settled here along the shores of karst lakes (cenote) or stored water in underground reservoirs (chultun). On the northern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, the ancient Mayans mined and traded salt with the inhabitants of the interior.

Initially, it was believed that the Maya lived in large areas of the tropical lowlands in small groups, engaging in slash-and-burn agriculture. With the rapid depletion of the soil, this forced them to frequently change their places of settlement. The Maya were peaceful and took a special interest in astronomy, and their cities with tall pyramids and stone structures also served as priestly ceremonial centers where people gathered to observe unusual celestial phenomena. According to modern estimates, the ancient Maya people numbered more than 3 million people. In the distant past, their country was the most densely populated tropical zone. The Maya knew how to preserve soil fertility for several centuries and turn land of little use for agriculture into plantations where they grew maize, beans, pumpkin, cotton, cocoa and various tropical fruits. Maya writing was based on a strict phonetic and syntactic system. The deciphering of ancient hieroglyphic inscriptions refuted previous ideas about the peacefulness of the Maya: many of these inscriptions report wars between city-states and about captives sacrificed to the gods. The only thing that has not been revised from previous ideas is the exclusive interest of the ancient Maya in the movement of celestial bodies. Their astronomers very accurately calculated the cycles of motion of the Sun, Moon, Venus and some constellations (in particular, the Milky Way). The Maya civilization in its characteristics reveals commonality with the nearest ancient civilizations of the Mexican highlands, as well as with distant Mesopotamian, ancient Greek and ancient Chinese civilizations.

In the archaic (2000-1500 BC) and early formative periods (1500-1000 BC) of the pre-classical era, in the low-lying regions of Guatemala, small semi-wandering tribes of hunters and gatherers lived, feeding on wild edible roots and fruits, as well as game and fish. They left behind only rare stone tools and a few settlements, definitely dated to this time. The Middle Formative Period (1000-400 BC) is the first relatively well-documented era in Mayan history. At this time, small agricultural settlements appeared, scattered in the jungle and along the banks of the rivers of the Peten Plateau and in the north of Belize (Cuello, Kolha, Kashob). Archaeological evidence suggests that during this era, the Maya did not have pompous architecture, division into classes and centralized authority. However, in the subsequent late formative period of the pre-classical era (400 BC - 250 AD), serious changes took place in the life of the Maya. At this time, monumental structures were being built - stylobots, pyramids, ball courts, a rapid growth of cities was observed. Impressive architectural complexes are being built in cities such as Calakmul and Cibilchaltun in the north of the Yucatan Peninsula (Mexico), El Mirador, Yashaktun, Tikal, Nakbe and Tintal in the jungles of Petena (Guatemala), Cerros, Cuello, Lamanay and Chalchapuiz (Belize), Salvador).

Settlements such as Kashob in northern Belize grew rapidly during this period. At the end of the late formative period, exchange trade between distant settlements develops. The most appreciated items are jade and obsidian products, sea shells and quetzal bird feathers. At this time, sharp flint tools, etc., appeared for the first time. eccentrics are stone products of the most bizarre shape, sometimes in the form of a trident or a profile of a human face. At the same time, the practice of consecrating buildings, arranging hiding places, where jade products and other jewelry were placed, took shape. In the ensuing early classical period (250-600 AD) of the classical era, Mayan society developed into a system of rival city-states, each with its own royal dynasty. These political formations revealed a commonality both in the management system and in culture (language, writing, astronomical knowledge, calendar). The beginning of the early classical period, approximately coincides with one of the oldest dates recorded on the stele of the city of Tikal - 292 AD, which, in accordance with the so-called. the "long Mayan count" is expressed in the numbers 8.12.14.8.5. The possessions of individual city-states of the classical era extended an average of 2000 square meters. km, and some cities, such as Tikal or Calakmul, controlled much larger territories.
The political and cultural centers of each state formation were lush cities, whose architecture was a local or zonal variation of the general style of Mayan architecture. The buildings were located around a large rectangular central square. Their facades were usually decorated with masks of the main gods and mythological characters, carved from stone or made using the relief technique. The walls of long narrow rooms inside buildings were often painted with frescoes depicting rituals, holidays, and military scenes. The lintels, lintels, staircases of palaces, as well as free-standing steles were covered with hieroglyphic texts, sometimes interspersed with portrait, telling about the deeds of the rulers. On lintel 26, in Yashchilan, the wife of the ruler is depicted helping her husband to put on military regalia. In the center of the Mayan cities of the classical era, there were pyramids up to 15 m high. These structures often served as tombs of revered people, so kings and priests practiced here rituals aimed at establishing a magical connection with the spirits of their ancestors.

The ritual ball game was important in the Mayan religion. Virtually every major Mayan settlement had one or more of these sites. It is, as a rule, a small rectangular field, on the sides of which are pyramidal platforms, from which the priests watched the ritual. Meanwhile, there was a cult of the game. In "Popol Vuh", an invaluable collection of Mayan myths, the ball game is mentioned as a game of the gods: in it the death deities Bolon Tiku (or as they are called in the text of Lord Xibalba, that is, the underworld) and two brothers of the demigod Hun competed in it - Hagpu and Xbalanque. Thus, the players initiated on the stage one of the episodes of the struggle between good and evil, light and darkness, male and female, a snake and a jaguar. The Mayan ball game, like similar games of other peoples of Mesoamerica, contained elements of violence and cruelty - it ended in human sacrifice, for which it was started, and the playgrounds were framed with stakes with human skulls.

Most of the northern cities built in the post-classical era (950-1500) lasted less than 300 years, with the exception of Chichen Itza, which survived until the 13th century. This city bears an architectural similarity to Tula, founded by the Toltecs around 900, suggesting that Chichen Itza served as an outpost or was an ally of the warlike Toltecs. The name of the city is formed from the Mayan words "chi" ("mouth") and "itza" ("wall"), but its architecture in the so-called. style Puuk, violates the classic Mayan canons. For example, the stone roofs of buildings are supported by flat beams rather than stepped vaults. Some drawings carved in stone depict Mayan and Toltec warriors together in battle scenes. Perhaps the Toltecs captured this city and, over time, turned it into a prosperous state. During the postclassic period (1200-1450), Chichen Itza for a time entered into a political alliance with the nearby Uxmal and Mayapan, known as the Mayapana League. However, even before the arrival of the Spaniards, the League disintegrated, and Chichen Itza, like the cities of the classical era, was swallowed up by the jungle. In the post-classical era, maritime trade developed, thanks to which ports arose on the Yucatan coast and nearby islands - for example, Tulum or a settlement on the island of Cozumel. In the late postclassic period, the Maya traded with the Aztecs in slaves, cotton, and bird feathers.
According to Mayan mythology, the world was created and destroyed twice before the third, modern era, which began in the translation into European chronology on August 13, 3114 BC. From this date, time was counted in two systems of chronology - the so-called. long account and calendar circle. The long count was based on a 360-day annual cycle called a tun, divided into 18 months of 20 days each. The Maya used the decimal rather than decimal system of counting, and the unit of chronology was considered 20 years (katun). Twenty katuns (i.e. four centuries) made up baktun. The Maya used simultaneously two systems of calendar time - 260-day and 365-day annual cycles. These systems coincided every 18,980 days, or every 52 (365-day) years, marking an important milestone for the end of one and the beginning of a new time cycle. The ancient Mayans calculated the time ahead until 4772, when, in their opinion, the end of the present era will come and the universe will once again be destroyed.

The families of the rulers were entrusted with the obligation to conduct the rite of bloodletting at every important event in the life of the city-states, be it the consecration of new buildings, the onset of sowing season, the beginning or end of a military campaign. According to the mythological ideas of the Maya, human blood nourished and strengthened the gods, who, in turn, gave strength to people. It was believed that the blood of the tongue, earlobes and genitals possesses the greatest magical power. During the ritual of bloodletting, thousands of crowds of people gathered in the central square of the city, including dancers, musicians, warriors and nobles. At the climax of the ceremonial action, the ruler would appear, often with his wife, and bleed himself with the thorn of a plant or an obsidian knife, making an incision in the penis. At the same time, the wife of the ruler pierced her tongue. Then they passed a rough agave rope through the wounds to increase the bleeding. Blood dripped onto strips of paper, which were then burned at the stake. Due to blood loss, as well as under the influence of drugs, starvation and other factors, the participants in the ritual saw the images of gods and ancestors in the clouds of smoke.

Maya society was built on the patriarchy model: power and headship in the family passed from father to son or brother. Classical Maya society was highly stratified. A clear division into social strata was observed in Tikal, in the 8th century. At the very top of the social ladder were the ruler and his closest relatives. Next came the highest and middle hereditary nobility, possessing varying degrees of power, followed by a retinue, artisans, architects of various ranks and status, below were rich, but ignoble landowners, then - simple farmers-communes, and on the last steps, there were orphans and slaves ... Although these groups were in contact with each other, they lived in separate city blocks, had special duties and privileges, and cultivated their own customs.

The ancient Maya did not know the technology of smelting metals. They made tools of labor mainly from stone, as well as from wood and shells. Farmers used these tools to cut wood, plow, sow, and harvest. They did not know the Maya and the potter's wheel. When making ceramic products, they rolled clay into thin flagella and placed them one on top of the other, or stuck together clay plates. Ceramics were fired not in ovens, but on open fires. Both commoners and aristocrats were engaged in pottery. The latter painted the vessels with scenes from mythology or palace life.
Until now, the disappearance of the Mayan civilization is the subject of controversy among researchers. At the same time, there are two main points of view on the account of the disappearance of the Mayan civilization - ecological and non-ecological hypotheses.

Environmental hypothesis based on the balance of relationships between man and nature. Over time, the balance has been upset: an ever-growing population is faced with the problem of a lack of quality soil suitable for agriculture, as well as a shortage of drinking water. The Maya ecological extinction hypothesis was formulated in 1921 by O. F. Cook.
Non-ecological hypothesis covers theories of various kinds, from conquest and epidemics to climate change and other disasters. Archaeological finds of objects belonging to another people of medieval Central America, the Toltecs, speak in favor of the version of the Mayan conquest. However, most researchers doubt the correctness of this version. Climate change geologist Gerald Haug has suggested that the Mayan crisis was caused by climate change, especially drought. Also, some scientists associate the collapse of the Mayan civilization with the end of Teotihuacan in Central Mexico. Some scholars believe that after Teotihuacan was abandoned, creating a power vacuum that has an impact on the Yucatan, the Mayans were unable to fill this vacuum, which led to the decline of civilization.
In 1517, the Spaniards appeared in the Yucatan under the leadership of Hernandez de Cordoba. The Spaniards import diseases previously unknown to the Maya from the Old World, including smallpox, influenza and measles. In 1528, colonists led by Francisco de Montejo begin the conquest of northern Yucatan. However, due to geographic and political disunity, it would take the Spaniards about 170 years to completely subjugate the region. In 1697, the last independent Mayan city, Tayasal, was subdued by Spain. Thus ended one of the most interesting civilizations of ancient Mesoamerica.

Mayan cities:

Guatemala: Aguateca - Balberta - Gumarkach - Dos Pilas - Ishimche - Ishkun - Yaxha - Caminalhuyu - Cancouen - Quirigua - La Corona - Machakila - Mishko Viejo - Naastun - Nakbe - Naranjo - Piedras Negras - Sakuleu Seyasal - San Bartolo Takalik Abah - Tikal - Toposhte - Huashaktun - El Baul - El Mirador - El Peru

Mexico: Akanmul - Akanseh - Balamku - Bekan - Bonampak - Ichpich - Yaxchilan - Kabah - Calakmul - Koba - Komalkalko - Kohunlich - Labna - Mayapan - Mani - Nokuchich - Oshkintok - Palenke - Rio Bek - Sayil Santa Rakosapaeten - Shkapetaen Tonina - Tulum - Uxmal - Haina - Tsibilchaltun - Chacmultun - Chakchoben - Chicanna - Chinkultik - Chichen Itza - Chunchukmil - Shkipche - Shpuhil - Ek Balam - Edzna

Belize: Altun Ha - Karakol - Kahal Pech - Kueyo - Lamanai - Lubaantun - Nim Li Punit - Shunantunich

Honduras: Copan - El Puente

Salvador: San Andres - Tazumal - Hoya de Seren

Aztec civilization

Aztecs (astecs) (self-named. mē xihcah) - Indian people in central Mexico. The population is over 1.5 million people. The Aztec civilization (XIV-XVI centuries) had a rich mythology and cultural heritage. The capital of the Aztec empire was the city of Tenochtitlan, located on Lake Texcoco (Tescoco) (Spanish. Texcoco), where the city of Mexico City is now located.

In Nahuatl, the native language of the Aztecs, the word "Aztec" literally means "someone from Aztlan," a mythical place somewhere in the north. The modern use of the word "Aztecs" as a term uniting peoples bound by trade, customs, religion and language was proposed by Alexander von Humboldt and adopted by Mexican scholars of the 19th century as a means of distinguishing contemporary Mexicans from the native Indian population.
The Aztecs themselves called themselves "Meshica", or "Tenochka" and "Tlaltelloca" - depending on the city of origin (Tenochtitlan, Tlatelolco). As for the origin of the word "mexica" (ast. mexica, from which, in fact, the word "Mexico" comes), then very different versions of its etymology are expressed - the word "Sun", in the Nahuatl language, the name of the leader of the Aztecs - Meshitli (Mexitli, Mextli), a type of alga that grows in Lake Texcoco.

The Aztec culture is associated with a cultural complex known as nahua because of the common language. According to legend, various groups who later became Aztecs came to the Anahuac Valley, around Lake Texcoco, from the north. The location of these valleys and lakes is known for certain - this is the heart of modern Mexico City, but it is not known for certain where the Aztec people come from.
Legend has it that the ancestors of the Aztecs came from the north, from a place called Aztlan, and belonged to the last of the seven nahuatlaks(“Speakers of Nahuatl”, from the word “tlaca” meaning “person”). According to legend, the Aztecs were led by the god Huitzilopochtli, which means "left-handed hummingbird." There is a well-known legend about an eagle sitting on a cactus, on an island in the middle of a lake and eating a snake - an image from a prophecy that it was in such a place that a new house should be founded. This scene - an eagle eating a snake - is depicted on the Mexican flag.

So, in 1256, the Aztecs stopped on a rock washed by a spring and surrounded by thickets auee... It was Chapultepec, then the forest. Lake Texcoco stretched before them.
By the time of the Aztecs, the lands around Lake Texcoco had long been divided among the coastal city-states. Having recognized the supreme power of the ruler of the city of Askapotsalco, the Aztecs settled on two small islands and built Tlatelolco (Tlaltelolco). Tenochtitlan (Tenocha city) was founded in 1325. Over time, it became a large artificial island, now this place is the center of Mexico City.
According to legend, when the Aztecs arrived in the Anahuac Valley, the local population considered them the most uncivilized group, but the Aztecs decided to study; and they took all the knowledge they could from other peoples, mostly from the ancient Toltecs (whom they might confuse with the more ancient civilization of Teotihuacan). For the Aztecs, the Toltecs were the creators of the whole culture, the word "toltecayotl" was synonymous with culture. The Aztec legends identify the Toltecs and the Quetzalcoatl cult with the mythical city of Tollan (modern Tula, Hidalgo, Mexico), which they also identified with the more ancient Teotihuacans.

The Aztecs adopted and combined some traditions with their own; among them is the myth of the creation of the world, which describes four great epochs, each of which ended in a universal catastrophe. Our era - Naui Ollin, the fifth era, the fifth sun or the fifth creation - escaped destruction thanks to the self-sacrifice of the god Nanahuatl, which means "all in wounds" (in Russian it is usually translated "all in buboes"; the smallest and most humble god who suffered from pain caused by a serious illness; he turned into the sun). This myth is associated with the ancient city of Teotihuacan (literally - "the place of transformation into a god"), which was already abandoned and abandoned at the time when the Aztecs came to the valley of modern Mexico City.

Another myth describes the Earth as the creation of two twin gods - Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl. Tezcatlipoca lost a foot during the creation of the world, therefore he is depicted without a foot and with a bare bone. In some cult forms, Quetzalcoatl is also called white Tezcatlipoca.
The Aztec Empire, like most European empires, was ethnically highly diverse; it was more of a unified tribute collection system than a unified management system. Although the cities under the rule of the Aztecs were subject to great tribute, excavations show a steady increase in the well-being of the commoners after the subjugation of these cities. Trade was conducted even with enemy cities. The only people to defeat the Aztecs, the Purépecha, was the main manufacturer of copper axes.
The main administrative contribution of the Aztecs was the system of communications between the conquered cities.

In Mesoamerica, there were no draft animals or wheeled vehicles, and roads were built for walking. Usually road building was part of the tribute. The roads were constantly monitored so that even women could travel alone; travelers could rest, eat and even visit the restroom every 10-15 kilometers. Also, messengers constantly ply along these routes ( pinani), keeping the Aztecs informed of the latest developments.
The creation of the Aztec empire led to one of the largest population explosions - the population of Mesoamerica increased from 10 to 15 million people.

The most important official in Tenochtitlan's government is commonly referred to by Europeans as the Aztec emperor. From the Nahuatl language, the title of the emperor is Way Tlatoani (azt. HueyTlahtoani) translates roughly as "Great Orator". Tlatoke (azt. tlatoque- "orators") were the aristocracy, the upper class of society. The power of the Tlatoani grew with the rise of Tenochtitlan. By the time of Auizotl's reign, the title "Tlatoani" could already be considered an analogue of the imperial title, but, as in the Holy Roman Empire, it was not inherited.
From 1397 to 1487, the empire was headed by Tlacaelel ( Tlahcaé lel from Nahuatl - "brave heart"). He could become tlatoani, but chose to remain in the shadow of the jaguar mat. Tlacaelel was a nephew tlatoani Itzcoatl and brother of Chimalpopoca and Motecusoma Iliuicamin, and bore the title "Sihuacoatl" (in honor of the goddess Chihuacoatl, equivalent to the councilor). As it is written in Ramirez's manuscript, "what Tlacaelel ordered was carried out as soon as possible." He was a tough reformer, he created a new structure for governing the country, ordered the burning of most of the Aztec books, claiming that they were all false, and rewrote the history of the Aztecs. In addition, Tlacaelel reformed the religion by placing the tribal god Huitzilopochtli on a par with the ancient gods Tlaloc, Tezcatlipoca, and Quetzalcoatl. His feats include (perhaps exaggerating) the introduction of the custom of "flower wars" and the establishment of constant human sacrifices so that the Sun continues to move across the sky.
By the time of the Conquest, the Aztec state occupied an area from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean, from the estuaries of the Balsas and Panucodo rivers to the Mayan lands. Separate colonies existed on the lands of Guatemala. On the other hand, the city-state of Tlaxcala in the north of the Pueblo Valley did not obey the Aztecs.

Traditionally, society was divided into two social strata, or classes: the maceuali, or the peasantry, and the pilli, or the nobility. Initially, the status of the nobility was not inherited, even though the sons pilli had better access to resources and training, so it was easier for them to become pilli... Over time, social status began to be inherited. Likewise, the Aztec warriors became pilli thanks to his military achievements. Only those who took prisoners in war could become permanent warriors, and over time, military glory and loot in the war made them pill. As soon as an Aztec warrior captured four or five prisoners, he was called tequiwa and he could get the rank of Eagle or Jaguar. Later he could get the rank tlacateccatl or tlacochkalcatl... To become tlatoani, it was necessary to capture at least 17 prisoners. When the young man came of age, he did not cut his hair until he captured his first prisoner. Sometimes two or three young men united for this, then they were called iyak... If after a certain period of time - usually three battles - they could not take the prisoner, they became maceually... It was considered a shame to be a warrior with long hair, meaning no prisoners, but there were those who preferred to be maceuali.

The rich booty of war led to the emergence of a third class that was not part of the traditional Aztec society - post office, or traders. Their activities were not exclusively commercial; the post offices were also good scouts. Their soldiers despised them, however, one way or another, they gave them the loot in exchange for blankets, feathers, slaves and other goods.

Slaves, or "tlacotin," also constituted an important class distinct from prisoners of war. This slavery was also very different from what was observed in the European colonies and had much in common with the slavery of classical antiquity. First, slavery was personal, not inherited, the children of a slave were free. A slave could have personal property, and even his own slaves. Slaves could buy their freedom, and slaves could be freed if they were able to prove that they were mistreated, or they had children with their masters, or they were married to their masters.
Usually, at the death of the owner, those slaves whose work was highly valued were freed. The rest of the slaves were passed on as part of the inheritance.

An Aztec could become a slave as a punishment. A murderer sentenced to death could be given as a slave to the widow of the murdered at her request. A father could sell his son into slavery if the authorities declared his son disobedient. Debtors who did not pay their debts could also be sold as slaves.
In addition, the Aztecs could sell themselves as slaves. They could remain free long enough to enjoy the price of their freedom - about a year - after which they went to a new master. This was usually the lot of unlucky gamblers and old Auini courtesans or prostitutes.
Although it was possible to drink pulque, a fermented beverage with a low alcohol content, the Aztecs were not allowed to get drunk until they reached the age of sixty. Violation of this prohibition was punishable by death.

As in modern Mexico, the Aztecs were passionate ball players, but in their case it was "tlutli" - the Aztec version of the ancient Mesoamerican game of "ulama". This game was played with a solid rubber ball the size of a human head. The ball was called "ollie", which is where the Spanish "ule" comes from (Spanish. hule) meaning rubber.
According to other sources, the ball was made of stone, and the game was unusually cruel - the weight of the ball was so great that it was a big problem to throw it into a special ring, located high enough without causing physical injury. A good "incentive" to play was the fact that the members of the losing team were sacrificed.
Aztec cities usually had two special complexes for this game. Players could hit the ball with their hips. The goal of the game was to throw the ball through the stone ring. The lucky player who managed to do this was given the right to take the audience's blankets, so the victory was accompanied by running, shouting and laughter. People were betting on the outcome of the game. Poor people could put their food, pilli could put their riches, "flowed" ( owners) could put their concubines or even cities on the line, and those who had nothing put their freedom and risked becoming slaves.
The ritual ball game ended with the sacrifice of the best player or the captain of the winning team (however, according to other sources, the captain and players of the losing team).

In Mesoamerica and South America, during the heyday of the Aztec state, sacrifice was widespread; however, the Aztecs practiced them on a special scale, sacrificing people on each of the 18 holidays of their sacred calendar.
Note that a person was not always sacrificed. Animal offerings were frequent, for which the Aztecs bred a special breed of llamas. They also sacrificed things - they were broken in honor of the gods. The cult of Quetzalcoatl required the sacrifice of butterflies and hummingbirds. Self-sacrifice was also practiced; during special ceremonies, people inflicted wounds on themselves, performing ritual bloodletting, and wore special thorns that constantly injure the body.
Blood has been central to the cultures of Mesoamerica. There are many myths in which the Nahua gods sacrifice their blood to help humanity. In the myth of the Fifth Sun, the gods sacrifice themselves so that people can live. (All sacrifices are to maintain the energy of the sun, which, according to the Aztecs, gives them life)
All this prepared people for the highest sacrifice - human. Usually the victim's skin was painted with blue chalk (the color of the sacrifice); then the victim was brought to the upper platform of a huge pyramid. Here the victim was laid on a stone slab, the victim's belly was cut with a ritual knife (it is difficult to open the chest with an obsidian knife), after which the victim's heart was taken out and lifted up towards the Sun. The heart was placed in a special stone vessel - kuaushikalli or chak-mool, and the body was thrown onto the stairs, from where the priests dragged it away. The sacrifice was considered (and, as a rule, was) voluntary, but not in the case of prisoners. If faith was not enough, drugs could be used. Then the body parts were disposed of in various ways - the entrails were fed to animals, the skull was polished and displayed in tsompantli, and the rest was either burned or cut into small pieces and offered as a gift to important people. Recent (2005) archaeological evidence indicates the removal of muscle and skin from a portion of the remains found in a large temple complex.
There were other types of human sacrifice, including torture. The victim was shot with arrows, burned or drowned. It is difficult to keep track of the measure here. Aztec chronicles describe how about 84,400 captives were sacrificed in four days to build the main temple. However, it is unclear how the urban population of 120,000 was able to capture, accommodate and dispose of such a number of captives, especially considering that Auizotl sacrificed them with his own hand. This equates to 17 sacrifices per minute for four days. Some scholars believe that the death toll could not exceed 3,000 and that the death toll was overstated for military propaganda purposes.

The Aztecs led the so-called « flower wars » (Spanish. guerrasfloridas) - special raids for capturing captives, for making sacrifices, which they called nestlahualli - it was a kind of "debt payment to the gods" so that the sun could shine during the next 52-year cycle. Human soul-heart and soul-blood are necessary so that the world does not collapse - this idea formed the basis of the practice of capturing people in subjugated lands, and the population was ordered to meet warriors with flowers in their hands (one of the reasons that gave the name to the "flower wars").
It is not known whether the Aztecs performed sacrifices before coming to the Anahuac Valley, or whether they absorbed this custom as well as many other customs and cultures. Initially, the sacrifices were dedicated to Sipe-Totek, a deity of northern Mesoamerica. The Aztec chronicles state that human sacrifice began during the reign of Tisoc. During the reign of Tlacaelel, human sacrifice became an integral part of the culture of the Aztecs, not only for religious but also for political reasons.

There is little information regarding Aztec cannibalism. There are only a few reports of cannibalism since the Conquest, and none of them speaks of widespread ritual cannibalism. Typical reports of Aztec cannibalism:

Cortez writes in one of his letters that his soldiers caught an Aztec roasting a baby for breakfast.

Gomarra writes that during the capture of Tenochtitlan, the Spaniards offered the Aztecs to surrender, since they (the Aztecs) had no food. The Aztecs invited the Spaniards to attack, then to be captured and eaten.

In the books of Bernardino de Sahaguna, there is an illustration showing an Aztec roasted by an unknown tribe. The caption below the illustration states that this was one of the dangers that threatened the Aztec traders.

In the chronicle of Ramirez, compiled by the Aztecs after the conquest, in the Latin alphabet, it is written that at the end of the sacrifice, the meat of the victim's palms was given as a gift to the warrior who captured it. According to the chronicle, the meat was supposed to be eaten, but in fact it was replaced by a turkey.

In his book, Juan Bautista de Pomar states that after the sacrifice, the body of the victim was given to the warrior who captured the victim, and then the warrior boiled it so that it could be cut into small pieces in order to present them as a gift to important people in exchange for gifts and slaves; but this meat was rarely eaten, as it was believed that it had no value; it was replaced by turkey or simply thrown away.

Civilization Mochica

Among the early Peruvian civilizations, the Mochica culture (beginning and middle of the 1st millennium AD) deserves close attention. The section of the northern coast, which constituted the territory of the Moche, is a hilly desert bounded by the ocean and mountains, 30-40 km wide, cut at intervals of 15-30 km by valleys of small rivers originating in the Cordillera ridges. Two such valleys, Moche and Chikama, formed the core of the Moche region. The development of the Mochica culture covers five periods: 1-2 - the era of formation, 3 - the time of its rapid development, 4 - prosperity, 5 - decline. The era from the end of the 2nd century to the beginning of the 4th (approximately 2nd - 5th centuries A.D.) was a time of radical restructuring of Mochica society, as evidenced by the widespread use of copper tools, the achievement of technological excellence in the production of ceramics, the construction of monumental complexes, the walls of which in the future, they began to decorate with plot paintings, the flourishing of the art of vase painting and the sculptural image of the human face, finally, the emergence of that socially stratified pantheon of deities, which serves as the object of this study. In the period of the 3rd or the end of the 2nd centuries, the expansion of the Moche begins in the valleys south of Moche (in Viru - the center of the Galinaso, Santo, Nepena culture), apparently expressed in the establishment of control over the local population (in Viru), then in mass migration (in Santa). During the 5th century, these lands were lost again.
The origin of Mochica remains unclear, but the Salinar culture and the traditions of earlier antiquities such as Kupisnike played a significant role in its development. Appearing on the eve of our era, Mochica existed until the 7th century, reaching its highest flowering in the 3rd - 6th centuries. Its economic basis was highly developed irrigation agriculture. Natural fertilizers were widely used, primarily guano, which was mined on the coastal islands. The main agricultural tool was a hardwood digging stick with a long blade, sometimes copper. Agriculture was supplemented by the breeding of llamas and guinea pigs. Fishing and sea fishing have traditionally played an important role in the economy. For fishing and sailing to the offshore islands and along the coast, small reed boats were used.

The creators of the Mochica culture were excellent metallurgists and jewelers. At least already in the 2nd century. AD they smelted copper, fused it with gold and silver. Probably, the technique of casting from a lost wax model and gilding of items by etching were known. The metal was used both for the manufacture of jewelry and luxury goods, and in everyday life (needles, awls, spinning wheels, fish hooks, etc.). In general, the metallurgy and metalworking culture of the Mochica culture is close to the Colombian tradition.
Both huge pyramids and dwellings were built of rectangular mud bricks - adoba. On the bricks of the great pyramids of the Moche Valley, geometric imprints have been found, which are interpreted as signs of the communities that were responsible for the construction of the monumental structures of the Moche capital. The walls of the temple buildings were covered with frescoes of mythological content. Images of mythical characters and scenes are found on objects made of metal and wood, on textiles and in great numbers on ceramics.
The dead were buried in narrow pits, with a ceiling made of twigs and adobes. The dead were laid on their backs wrapped in mats. Ordinary burials contained several vessels and other things. Along with such burials, richer ones are also known, for example, the burial of the "warrior-priest" in the Viru valley, where an elderly man in a copper mask was buried, he was accompanied by the remains of a child, two women and a man. The grave contained a huge number of vessels, wooden wands with carved inlaid tops, feather products, headdresses and other items.

On the northern outskirts of the Mochica territory, in Sipan (Lambayeque Valley), the ruler's burial was found, which was made between the middle of the 2nd and 3rd centuries. In the thickness of the muddy platform, on which the temple buildings once stood, a rectangular grave was discovered, in which there was a wooden coffin with the remains of a man lying on his back. In his hands he held something like a golden scepter. The lower part of the face was covered with a golden mask, the body was wrapped in cloth. Under and above him were a huge number of things of a prestigious nature - headdresses, gold inlaid jewelry, feather ornaments, precious shells, gold and bronze plates that replaced the carapace, gold standards, etc. The ruler was accompanied by two women and several men. A dog was buried with one of them. Countless ceramic vessels have been found in the tomb.
In the same platform, another grave was found, plundered by professional grave robbers - huqueros. A number of great jewelry comes from it. The presence of rich burials was also noted in the pyramids of the Moche Valley.

The Moche and Chikama valleys were the center around which at the beginning of the 1st millennium AD the Moche unification was formed, although early Mexican materials were found further north, in the Piura Valley. In the 2-3 centuries, the construction of the pyramids began in the Moche Valley. Judging by the iconography and archaeological data, by the middle of the 1st millennium, the Moche had already developed a state. It was at this time that its expansion to the south began, first to the Viru and Santa valleys, and in the VI century, and further, to the Nepena valley. In the following valleys - Kasma and Culebras - there are no materials from the Mochica culture, but they were found even further south, in the Uarmay valley. Around the same time, the cultural territory expanded to the north, up to the Leche Valley.
In the 7th century, the Mochica civilization fell into decay, the southern valleys came out of its power. It is possible that at this time there were two associations: the northern one with the center in Pampa Grande and the southern one, the capital of which was located on the site of the Galindo settlement, in the middle reaches of the Moche River. In the late 7th - early 8th centuries, as a result of the invasion of the Incas, the Mochica culture was conquered and ceased to exist.

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INTRODUCTION

CONCLUSION

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INTRODUCTION

By the time Spanish ships arrived off the east coast of the New World, this vast continent, including the islands of the West Indies, was inhabited by many Indian tribes and peoples at different levels of development.

Most were hunters, fishermen, gatherers, or primitive farmers; only in two relatively small areas of the western hemisphere - in Mesoamerica and the Andes - the Spaniards met highly developed Indian civilizations. The highest cultural achievements of pre-Columbian America were born on their territory. By the time of its "discovery", in 1492, up to 2/3 of the entire population of the continent lived there, although in size these areas accounted for only 6.2% of its total area. It was here that the centers of origin of American agriculture were located, and at the turn of our era, the original civilizations of the ancestors of the Nahua, Maya, Zapotecs, Quechua, Aymara appeared.

In the scientific literature, this territory is called Middle America or the Zone of High Civilizations. It is subdivided into two regions: northern - Mesoamerica and southern - Andean region (Bolivia - Peru), with an Intermediate zone between them (southern part of Central America, Colombia, Ecuador), where cultural achievements, although they reached a significant degree, did not rise. to the heights of statehood and civilization. The arrival of the European conquerors interrupted any independent development of the aboriginal population of these areas. Only now, thanks to the work of several generations of archaeologists, are we finally beginning to understand how rich and vibrant the history of pre-Columbian America was.

The New World is also a unique historical laboratory, since the process of development of local culture took place as a whole independently, starting from the late Paleolithic era (30-20 thousand years ago) - the time of the continent's settlement from Northeast Asia through the Bering Strait and Alaska - and up to those until he was put to an end by the invasion of European conquerors. Thus, in the New World, almost all the main stages of the ancient history of mankind can be traced: from primitive mammoth hunters to the builders of the first cities - the centers of early class states and civilizations. Even a simple comparison of the path traversed by the indigenous population of America in the pre-Columbian era with the milestones in the history of the Old World gives unusually much for identifying general historical patterns.

The term "discovery of America" ​​by Columbus itself, which is often found in the historical works of various authors, also requires some clarification. More than once it was rightly pointed out that this term is actually incorrect, since before Columbus the shores of the New World were reached from the east by the Romans, the Vikings, and from the west by the Polynesians, Chinese, and Japanese. It should also be borne in mind that this process of interaction and interchange of two cultures was not one-sided. For Europe, the discovery of America had colossal political, economic, and intellectual implications.

The continent of America from the period of its discovery to this day has many mysteries. Before the conquest of the continent by Europeans, it was a distinctive cohesion of several cultures. Scientists are deeply engaged in the study of three, the most striking, civilizations, the history of which goes back hundreds of years - these are the ancient civilizations of the Aztecs, Incas and Mayans. Each of these civilizations has left for us a lot of evidence of its existence, by which we can judge the era of their heyday and about the sudden decline or partial disappearance in general. Each culture carries a huge cultural layer studied and still being studied, expressed in the creations of architecture, evidence of writing, in the remains of handicraft art, as well as in the language that has come down to us. Facing each time with the ancient culture of Latin America and not rarely with the modern one, we find a lot of interesting things in it and even more unsolved and surrounded by a halo of mysticism. What is one myth about the fairyland "El dorado" worth? Many fragments of the distant era of the existence of the civilizations of the Incas, Aztecs and Maya, unfortunately, are forever lost, but there is much that we are in direct contact with, but it also gives us ways to unravel a lot, sometimes inexplicable, to us, modern people, regarding art in general. distant worlds. Until recently, the problem of studying these ancient cultures was the "closeness to the eyes and minds of scientists around the world" of Latin America itself. With great obstacles and intervals, during the breaks, work was and is being carried out related to excavations and searches for architectural treasures. Only recently, with the exception of literary information, has expanded access to territories and places associated with the inhabiting of ancient tribes and peoples. People who have been there and talk about what they have seen seem to be overwhelmed with the most unusual impressions of what they have experienced and seen. They enthusiastically talk about places where, supposedly, religious rites were once performed, about ancient Indian temples, about many things that we could not clearly imagine without seeing in reality. Listening to them, one can imagine and understand all the greatness and value of the monuments of ancient civilizations, they carry with them a truly huge layer of information necessary for understanding and correct perception of the existence of our ancestors and, in general, the history of human development.

In generalizing the three cultures, I would like to give a general, emphasizing their originality, verbal portrait of each. Among the ancient civilizations of America, the Aztecs, Mayans and Incas can be distinguished. The roots of these great civilizations are lost in the mists of time. Much remains unknown about them, but it is known that they have reached a high level of development. The Maya, Aztecs, and Incas all had tremendous advances in astronomy, medicine, mathematics, architecture, and road construction. The Maya had a very accurate calendar, although they did not have telescopes or other special devices for observing the sky. The calendars of the Aztecs and Incas are very similar, meanwhile, to the Mayan calendar. The Aztecs were a very warlike people who in the 13th century lived in the Anahuac Valley, where the city of Mexico is now located, whose territory was later expanded as a result of long wars of conquest and turned into the main political zone of Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec state, whose population was 60,000 people before the beginning of the "conquest".

The Aztecs had extensive knowledge in the field of astronomy, which they inherited from more ancient cultures. The Aztec civilization also inherited the architecture of the pyramids, sculpture and painting. The Aztecs mined and processed gold, silver, coal. They built many roads and bridges. The Aztecs developed the art of dance and many sports; theater and poetry. They had a ball game very similar to basketball today. And, according to legend, the captain of the team, which once lost, was beheaded. The Aztecs had a very good education, disciplines such as religion, astronomy, history of laws, medicine, music and the art of war were taught. The Inca state reached its climax in the XY century. Its population was over 12 million. The Inca religion had a cult of the sun god, according to which they appointed their emperors. Society was not built on the foundations of democracy, as it was divided into classes. The people were supposed to be engaged in agriculture or crafts and were obliged to cultivate the land. Trade was poorly developed. The capital of the Inca empire had communications with the entire territory of the empire through magnificent bridges and roads.

Further, the subject of my more detailed consideration will be the civilization of the Aztecs. It was not for nothing that I opted for the Aztecs, as I was interested in the fact that their culture has survived to this day and numerous Aztec tribes live in our time, inhabiting their ancestral lands.

THE INCAS

inca mayan calendar aztec

Day is breaking. The sun's rays, breaking into the morning sky, painted the snowy peaks of the Andes in pale pink colors. Here, at an altitude of 4300 meters above sea level, the Indians who meet the dawn rejoice in the warmth that drives away the cold at night. The sun's rays have already illuminated the temple of the sun in the center of the capital of the Inca state, the city of Cuzco (which means center of the world ). The golden walls of the temple shone in the sun. The statues of lamas, vicunas and condors, cast in solid gold, sparkled in the Inca garden in front of the temple. As a sign of reverence for the sun god, Indians passing by the temple send air kisses. They believe that the sun gives them life and provides them with everything they need - how grateful they are for these generous gifts!

XIV-XVI centuries on the west coast of South America, the power of a powerful golden empire ... Thanks to the leadership of talented architects and engineers, the social life of the Incas reached a very high level. The territory of the state covered all the lands from the southern regions of modern Colombia to Argentina and reached a length of 5000 km. The Incas believed they had conquered almost the entire world. , - it was written in the magazine National Geographic ... And those lands that still remained outside their state did not represent, in their opinion, any value. However, in another part of the world, no one even knew about the existence of their state.

Who are the Incas? What is their origin?

When the ascent of the Inca culture began (1200-1572), all the preceding outstanding civilizations of South America left the arena of history or were rapidly approaching decline. The Inca country was located in the southwestern part of the mainland, stretching from north to south for many thousands of kilometers. During its heyday, 15-16 million people lived on its territory.

Legends tell about the origin of this people. Sun God IntiI watched with sadness the life of people on earth: after all, they lived worse than wild animals, in poverty and ignorance. Once taking pity on them, the Incas sent their children to the people: a son Manco Capacaand daughter Mama Okllo. Having given them a staff of pure gold, the divine father ordered them to settle where the staff would easily enter the ground. It happened not far from the village of Pakari-Tambo, which lies at the foot of the Wanakauri hill. In fulfillment of the divine will of the Sun, his children stayed and founded a city that they named Cuzco. They gave religion and laws to the people who lived there, taught men to cultivate the land, extract rare metals and process them, and women to weave and run a household. Having created the state, Manco Capac became its first Inkoy- the sovereign, and Mama Okllo - his wife.

In accordance with the worldview of the Incas, the supreme creator of the Universe and the creator of all other gods was Kon-Tiksi Viracocha.In creating the world, Viracocha used three basic elements: water, earth and fire. The Inca cosmos consisted of three levels: the upper one is heavenly, where the Sun and his wife-sister Moon live, directly influencing the life of mankind; the middle one in which people, animals and plants live; the lower one is the dwelling place of the dead and those who are to be born. The last two worlds communicate through caves, mines, springs and craters. Communication with the upper world is carried out through the mediation of the Inca, who fulfilled the will of the Sun on Earth.

The official state ideology was the cult of the Sun (Inti).Almost daily, white lamas were sacrificed to him, burning them at the stake. In order to ward off epidemics and attacks of enemies, to win the war and for the health of the emperor, the Sun was given tall, beautiful children without any flaws at the age of 10 years. The second rank deity was considered Mama Keela- patroness of women, women in labor, then god of lightning and thunder(Il-yapa), goddess of the morning star(Venus) and many other divine stars and constellations.

Spirits were among the sacred forces, whose cults were especially widespread among the broad masses of the people. They lived in rocks and caves, in trees and in springs, in stones and in the mummies of their ancestors. They prayed to the spirits, made sacrifices, and dedicated days to them. The places where gods or spirits lived were called "huaca".

All religious ritual in Inca society was run by the priests. The high priest was the Inca's brother or uncle. He wore a sleeveless red tunic and wore the image of the Sun on his head. He often decorated his face with colorful parrot feathers. He was forbidden to marry and have illegitimate children, eat meat and drink anything other than water. The high priest's rank was for life. His duties included the observance of the exact rules of the solar cult, the coronation of the great Inca and his marriage.

From the fog of legends and myths, the Incas emerge around 1438, when they defeated the neighboring tea people. The organizer of this victory, the son of the ruler of Cuzco-Viracocha Inca, assumed the supreme power, and with it the name Pachacuti. The historicity of his personality is beyond doubt.

Further expansion of the Incas developed mainly in the southern and southeastern directions. In the middle of the 15th century, the Incas intervened in the struggle between the Aymara chiefdoms and, as a result, relatively easily subjugated the area around Lake Titicaca. Here the Incas took possession of colossal herds of llamas and alpacas. Pachacuti declared the animals royal property. From now on, the armies of Cuzco did not feel the need for vehicles, clothing and food.

Together with his heir, Tupac Yupanqui, Pachacuti organized a great northern campaign, during which the Inca state finally confirmed its status as an empire striving to unite the entire ancient Peruvian oecumene. The Inca expansion on the plateau near Titicaca brought them very close to confrontation with the kingdom of Chimor. The ruler of the latter, Minchansaman, also began to expand his possessions. However, both the highlanders and the lowland dwellers tried to delay the open confrontation. Both of them experienced difficulties when they found themselves in an unusual landscape and climatic zone.

Tupac Yupanqui led an army into mountainous Ecuador, where he had to wage a grueling struggle with local tribes. The Incas tried to make forays into the coastal plain of Ecuador, but the hot swampy land turned out to be unattractive for people accustomed to the mountain air. Moreover, its large population actively resisted.

In the late 60s - early 70s of the 15th century, it was decided to attack Chimor. The victory remained with the Incas, although the peace concluded by the kingdom of Chimor was relatively honorable for the latter. Only after the uprising that broke out soon, the coastal state was finally defeated. Chimor lost all possessions outside Moche, and Inca military posts settled in this valley itself.

After the death of Pachacuti, Tupac Yupanqui set off on a new campaign. Without much difficulty, small states and tribes of the central and southern coast of Peru were subordinated to them. The Incas met with stubborn resistance only in the small valley of Canyete, south of Lima. Even easier than the seizure of the southern coast of Peru, the conquest of the thousand-kilometer expanses south of Titicaca took place. Small groups of pastoralists, farmers and fishermen in the local oases were unable to offer his army any noticeable resistance.

After the southern campaign of Tupac Yupanqui, the empire reached its natural boundaries. The peoples who lived on the plateau in the mountain valleys and in the oases of the Pacific coast were united under one rule. The Inca rulers tried to expand the borders of their state to the east as well. Tupac Yupanqui's successor, Wayne Capac, defeated the Chachapoya tribes in the Eastern Cordillera. However, further to the east - to the Amazon - the Incas could not advance.

The eastern border was the only one that needed constant protection. Here the Incas erected a series of fortresses, and on the territory of modern Bolivia, these fortresses were even connected by a stone wall stretching along the ridges of mountains almost 200 km long.

Under Huayne Kapaka (1493-1525), the Inca empire reached its climax. After his death, an internecine war broke out between two pretenders to the Inca throne - Ataulpa and Huascar, which ended in the victory of Ataulpa. This fight was used by Pizarro, who lured Ataulpa into a trap. Taking a huge ransom in gold from Ataulpa, the Spaniards then executed him and enthroned Huascar's younger brother Manco Capac. The latter soon raised an uprising, but was unable to reconquer Cuzco and led his supporters to the north-west of the capital, where, in a remote mountainous region, he created the so-called Novoin kingdom. Its last ruler was executed by the Spaniards in 1572.

The Incas called their state Tahuantinsuyu - "The Land of the Four Parts"... Indeed, the empire was divided into four parts (suyu) - provinces. They were not administrative - territorial units in the modern sense. Rather, they were symbolic areas representing the four cardinal points. The Chinchaisuyu territory extended into the central and northern coastal and mountainous regions, right up to the northern border that today separates Ecuador and Colombia along the Ancasmayo River. The second province - Collazuyu - was located to the south and covered the plateau, part of Bolivia, northern Argentina and the northern half of Chile. The third - Antisuyu - lay in the east in the Amazonian selva. The fourth - Kontisuyu - extended westward, down to the ocean. The focus of these four parts, the starting point was Cuzco, located at an altitude of 3000 meters above sea level.

In turn, the provinces were subdivided into districts, which were governed by an official appointed by the Inca. The district included several villages. Each of them belonged to one or even several genera. The clan owned a strictly defined area of ​​land. From the communal land, every man received an allotment (tupu), and a woman only half of it.

All land in the empire was divided into three parts: the fields of the community, the "land of the Sun" (the income from it went to the maintenance of the priests and sacrifices), as well as the fields of the state and the Inca (intended to supply the state apparatus, warriors, builders, the Inca itself and his retinue , in case of natural disasters, as well as to the fund of widows, orphans and old people). The lands of the priestly fund and the state were cultivated by free residents in their free time, after the allotments of families were cultivated. This additional work was called mink... He was perceived as a necessary, feasible and sacred contribution of everyone to a common cause.

The standard of living of ordinary members of the community and their families was almost the same (the amount of food, clothing, the quality of houses and utensils). There were no hungry poor. Those who could not work were provided by the state with the necessary minimum.

The basis of the Inca economy is agriculture and animal husbandry. They cultivated the same plants and those. the same animals as everywhere in Peru. Natural conditions forced the creation of irrigation structures: dams, canals. The fields were arranged in terraces. The land was cultivated by hand, with special sticks as tall as a man.

The craft production was well organized. Most of the goods were produced in the community, and the most skilled potters, gunsmiths, jewelers and weavers were relocated to Cuzco. They lived on the support of the Inca and were considered public servants. Their best works were used for cult needs and gifts, tools and weapons were kept in state warehouses. The Incas achieved great success in metallurgy. Copper and silver deposits were developed. Weaving was especially developed. The Incas knew three types of looms, on which they could even make carpets.

There was no relationship of purchase and sale, they were replaced by a developed regulated state exchange, the functions of which were to meet the needs of residents of different climatic zones. The form of exchange was city and country fairs, which were organized every ten days.

The socio-political organization of the Incas was very original and fully corresponded to its goals. The primary and basic unit of the Inca society was the family, headed by a father who was called Purek. The highest level of government was represented by four suyuyuk-apu, who were the supreme leaders of the four suyu. Above them stood only Sapa Inca ("The Only Inca") - the ruler of all Tahuantinsuyu, the autocratic coordinator of her life, who had another official title Intyp Churin("Son of the Sun"). It was believed that he descended to earth in order to fulfill the will of the Sun. The subjects of the Sapa Inca also called themselves "the Incas"and read themselves as God's chosen people.

Only a husband of royal blood could be on the throne in Cuzco. The future Inca had been preparing for a difficult role for a long time: he comprehended the secrets of being, studied religion, various sciences and kipu - nodular letter... He was also trained in good manners and martial arts.

Sapa Inca was deified as Intip Churin - the Son of the Sun. According to the convictions of the subjects of Tahuantinsuyu, the prosperity and troubles of the empire and the entire people depended on the health and well-being of their ruler. Sapa Inca was deified as a "son of the Sun" with all the manifestations of cult service to the ruler that follow from this fact. But the most interesting and unusual institution that contributed to the ideological strengthening of the power of the Sapa Inca was one of the oldest, called "panaka". Panaka is the totality of all direct male descendants of the sovereign, except for his son, who became the successor. The successor son inherited the throne, but not the father's wealth. The property of the Inca remained his property even after the death of the ruler. Of course, she really disposed of the Panaka's values, but symbolically they belonged to the mummies of Sapa Inca and his koya. Preserved through the process of mummification, dressed in royal attire, their corpses sat on thrones in palaces that belonged to the rulers during their lifetime. The rulers were served as if they were alive, trying to prevent their every desire, to satisfy any need, "fed", "watered" and in every possible way pleased. The deceased emperors were carried on palanquins so that they could "go" to visit each other, visit the living Incas, who not only worshiped their predecessors, but consulted with them on the most pressing issues, and during such negotiations, the members served as mediators in the conversation. Panaki. From time to time, the royal mummies were taken to the central square of Cuzco to participate in various solemn ceremonies. Thus, most of the empire's resources "belonged to the dead." This fact speaks of the theocratic nature of statehood in Tahuantinsuyu. As a sign of imperial power, he wore a maskapaychu on his head - a band made of the finest red wool, decorated with korikenke feathers (a rare species of falcon that lives in the Andes).

In his palace, the Inca sat on a low carved mahogany throne. Visitors could not see his face - he was fenced off from them by a curtain. At the service of the Inca were hundreds of concubines, he was served by up to eight thousand servants from among the representatives of noble families. Fifty of them had access to the ruler and were replaced every seven to ten days.

During his travels, he was guarded by a guard, dressed in shiny "uniforms" adorned with gold and silver jewelry. The Inca was carried in a stretcher made of gold (only the frame was made of wood). After death, the body of the Inca was embalmed. The mummy was seated on a golden throne, and a golden statue of the emperor was erected next to it. By the time the Spaniards arrived in Tahuantinsuyu, the veneration of the mummified remains of the emperors already had the meaning of a state cult. When talking about social differences in Tahuantinsuyu, it should be noted that they were determined by origin and personal merit. In the empire, there were two groups of nobility: the capital and the provincial. In Tahuantinsuyu in the category of aristocracy could also be obtained for outstanding services in the military field, for exceptional engineering skills and talent in science, art, literature.

There were categories in the empire that remained outside the social structure of the community sector. These are yanacona, aklya, kamayok and mitmak, and a person's belonging to one of these categories could be combined with belonging to others.

The term "yanacona" denoted all those who were not subject to conscription for public works and were not subject to taxes, but were personally dependent on their owners. Unlike the community members, they were completely deprived of the means of production.

A category similar to that of the Yanacona was formed by aklya - women who, even in childhood, were identified to serve the Sun. Most of the Aklya, however, did not perform priestly functions, but were engaged in spinning and weaving. The procedure for the formation of the Aklya Institute was as follows. Every year, beautiful, intelligent girls of four or five years old were selected throughout the country and placed at the temples of the main cities of the provinces. Here they learned music, singing, and cooking, spinning and weaving. At the age of 10-13, the brides were "certified": some were elevated to the rank of "mothers - servants of Inti": they performed religious rituals in honor of Inti and performed some other sacred duties, others continued to perform the usual functions for aklya, that is, they were part of the servants and worked not only at churches, but also in the houses of the Kuscan aristocracy. Therefore, it was quite common for Yanacona men to be rewarded with wives from the Aklya community as a reward for service, regardless of whether the Yanacons were already married or not. The Aklya Institute existed not only among the Incas, but also in the kingdom of Chimor, and even earlier - among the Moche.

Camayoc is the least studied group of the population of ancient Peru. They were specialists-professionals in various types of work, had a narrow specialization and personally, and not indirectly through the community, depended on the administration. The Kamayoks were on state allowances, but they had no chance of getting into administrative posts due to their too limited qualifications.

The Mitmak constituted the largest population in the Tahuantin Suyu non-communal sector. The term "mitmak" was used to denote migrants who were forcibly deported en masse from one region of the empire to another. This kind of practice was driven by both political and economic considerations. The population from the central regions was moved to the border areas, and the newly conquered or prone to revolts - to the long-ago pacified areas or to the opposite outskirts of the empire. With the help of immigrants, large state farms were organized on virgin lands or on insufficiently intensively cultivated lands, which were sometimes given great strategic importance. Among other groups of "government workers", the mitmak stood closer to the rank and file members of the community. For two years after the resettlement, they remained dependent on the state, after which they began to engage in ordinary agricultural work, preserving the traditional organization.

The objective social and property stratification of the Inca society did not completely coincide with the officially recognized scale of social divisions. In Inca society, in principle, no one was free to choose either place of residence, or occupation, or the time allotted to one or another type of activity, or even in the choice of a spouse. All this was regulated, on the one hand, by custom, and on the other, by the practice of state administration.

In the Inca Empire, ten age categories of citizens were legalized. For men, the first three groups consisted of children under nine years of age (“playing children”); the fourth group - from 9 to 12 years old (hunting with snares); the fifth - from 12 to 18 years old (livestock protection); sixth - from 18 to 25 (military or courier service); seventh - from 25 to 50 years old (purekhs who paid taxes and worked for public needs); eighth - from 50 to 80 (raising children); the ninth - from 80 onwards ("deaf elders"); and the tenth group - sick and infirm without age restrictions. The female classification was somewhat different from the male, but its principles were the same.

When moving to the adult age category, the person's name changed. The first name was given in infancy and, as a rule, reflected the impression of the child (for example, Oklew - innocent, pure). The person received the second name during puberty. It was final and characterized the inherent qualities of a person.

The imperial ambitions of the Incas pushed them to create a certain class of citizens of low birth, who would be able to perform various types of work aimed not only at satisfying their own needs, but above all, at providing everything necessary for the highest aristocracy of the empire. Although the Incas did not spare their subjects in the work, they nevertheless forced them to spend a lot of time participating in various festivals, religious rituals, state ceremonies and celebrations. It must be recognized that such generosity on the part of the state strengthened the connection between the imperial power and the people, whose life was thus diversified and, to some extent, made easier.

In this society, subordinated to intensive labor, people's lives were strictly regulated. The state told them where to live, what kind of agricultural crop to grow on their land, how and what to wear, and even with whom to marry.

A simple subject of Tahuantinsuyu could find moral support primarily in the family and community (ailyu) created through the male line. The Ailyu consisted of several families who lived next to each other and were engaged in collective labor. Several communities could live in a large village, each of which occupied its own complex of walled buildings. Each community honored their ancestors and had the right to a certain place in the main village square during the holidays.

A man, a member of the Ailu, after marriage, received from Sapa Inca (from the state) a land allotment (topu), large enough so that he could feed himself and his wife. The size of such plots depended on the fertility of the soil in a particular area, but if the topu was equal to two acres, then in this case the head of the family received two more after the birth of each son and one for the maintenance of his daughter. As the owner of the topu, the married man automatically became a pureh, the head of the tax-paying family hearth. At the same time, it should be noted that although formally the land allotment was allocated to a man (only after marriage), it, in fact, was issued to both husband and wife as one whole, emphasizing their equal share in bearing the tax burden. Moreover, within the framework of the Andean cultural tradition, both men and women viewed their roles in work as complementary, considering them useful and necessary for the survival of all family members. The spirit of solidarity prevailed in the Ilyu itself. The men worked together to build houses for the newlyweds, and when one of them was called to work out his mita (tax), to serve labor service or to serve in the army, those who stayed at home, on behalf of his family, were engaged in processing his tops. During the spring sowing, men and women worked side by side, singing religious hymns. The men, lined up in a row, dug up the earth with the help of a chakitala (a foot plow that was used as a shovel) - a long stick with a footboard above a bronze point. They were also followed by women lined up in a row, breaking the clods of earth with a hoe with a wide bronze blade called a "lamp."

To meet the food needs of the empire, the Incas had to take a new approach to the use of land, and they successfully coped with this, creating terraces on the slopes of the mountains, straightening the channel of some rivers, filling or draining swamps, directing water to desert areas. The agricultural terraces of the Incas (andenes) have survived in great numbers. They made it possible to make agriculture possible where they could not even dream of it before. Today in Peru, thanks to the Inca andenes, about 6 million acres of land are regularly cultivated.

In addition to working in the fields, the community members performed hundreds of other duties: they made pottery, weaved baskets, drove chicha (strong maize beer), were engaged in spinning and weaving to meet the needs of both their own family and the state in fabrics and clothing.

Great attention was paid to the cleanliness and neatness of clothing in Inca society. Men wore short knee-length trousers (a sign of maturity) and sleeveless shirts, while women wore simple long woolen dresses that were worn over their heads and tied at the waist with a wide, elaborately decorated belt. On his feet were sandals made of llama wool. In cold weather, all Incas wore long and warm cloaks.

In Inca society, no one had the right to spend time in idleness. Even pregnant women were seldom freed from their daily menial work. Expectant mothers were allowed not to go to the fields only in the later stages of pregnancy, but in other cases they were obliged to do all the work as long as they had enough strength. Nevertheless, from the point of view of the Incas, children were a valuable addition to the family, as a future additional labor force. Therefore, abortion was legally punishable by the death penalty, to which both the mother herself and everyone involved in her crime were subjected.

Although the Incas required everyone to work, they took into account the person's ability and state of health. The sick and infirm did not have to earn their living. Everything they needed - food and clothing - they received from state warehouses. They were entrusted with such tasks that they could perform in accordance with their physical condition. At the same time, the pragmatic Inca regime did not allow the weak to distract the strong and healthy inhabitants of the country from work in order to provide themselves with special care. Therefore, according to the law, a person deprived of working capacity due to a physical defect could create a family only with a similar disabled person.

The old people also enjoyed special attention from the state. It was believed that a person reaches old age at the age of about fifty years. Such people were no longer considered full-fledged workers, and they were exempted both from labor service (mita) and from taxation in general. However, as long as they did not completely lose their physical strength, the elderly were instructed to perform tasks that did not require much effort: they collected brushwood in the forests, looked after infants, cooked food, drove chicha, weaved ropes and ropes, and provided all possible help with harvesting.

In the Inca empire, there were permanent four army formations of 40,000 people each, the command of which was subordinate to the ruler of the entire people.

The Inca army was the largest in pre-Columbian America. It was mainly a "civilian" army. All eligible men between the ages of 25 and 50 were required to serve military service for five years. Each province supplied both privates and "officers". Each underwent rigorous military training from 10 to 18 years of age. The training was supervised by professional military personnel, usually from the lower officers, who taught their pupils how to use defense and attack weapons, introduced them to the basics of hand-to-hand combat, taught to overcome water obstacles, lay siege to enemy fortifications, give smoke signals and other things useful in war.

After completing a lengthy military training, young men in their alyu, in the presence of a state inspector, took a kind of final military examinations. The sick and crippled were not subject to military training. When the war broke out, the youth of the community, who had undergone long military training, were sent to the battlefield with the unit to which they were assigned based on the administrative structure of the empire.

The structure of the Inca army exactly corresponded to the administrative and organizational structure of the state and society.

The Inca army was distinguished by high discipline: the death penalty was threatened even for absence without the knowledge of the commander. In the battle, in addition to conventional weapons, psychological ones were also used - various frightening sounds, a wild scream, the sounds of flutes made from the bones of defeated enemies and the rumble of wooden drums with human skin stretched over them. It should also be noted that the Incas often won victories by the power of words, that is, through diplomatic negotiations, during which the "sons of the Sun" offered the enemy to submit voluntarily.

Unlike the Aztecs, the Incas fought wars not in order to receive human sacrifices to implement the messianic idea of ​​maintaining the life of the Sun (and therefore the whole world), but to expand the empire and obtain new subjects (additional labor).

In Tahuantinsuyu, the laws were unwritten, but they were all subdivided into civil and criminal. Blasphemy, godlessness, idleness, laziness, lies, theft, adultery and murder were unacceptable. The question of guilt was decided by judges - community leaders and representatives of the nobility. The laws were based on clear principles: officials in charge of the decimal division were an accomplice in each case; the instigator of the crime was punished, not the perpetrator; an offense committed by an aristocrat was considered a more serious offense than the same offense of a commoner (such a case was considered by the Supreme Inca himself).

Exile, flogging, torture, and public reprimand were used as punishments, but the most common measure was the death penalty (hanging, quartering, stoning). Persons who threatened the security of the state were placed in cells infested with poisonous snakes or predatory animals. The villages in which they lived were leveled to the ground, and the inhabitants were executed. With such harsh laws, crime in the country was extremely low.

All the settlements of Tahuantinsuyu were connected by an elaborate system of magnificent roads, paved with stones and framed by a barrier. They were intended for walking. The main roads were considered two, crossing the Inca empire from end to end. One of them began at the northern border of the empire, near the equator (modern Ecuador), and ended at the Maule River. The total length of this road is about 5250 km. The second road connected the north coast (Tumbes) with the south. Both roads crossed mountain peaks, marshes, impenetrable jungle, rapid rivers, over which rope bridges made of agave fibers were hung, and were connected by a series of transverse roads. Along each of them, about 25 km from each other, there were inns, and every 2 km there were post posts (chukly). This is another achievement. The Inca Postal Service was unmatched in any other ancient civilization. Special couriers-runners (chaski) with a white headband passed messages on the relay, running 2 km of their site. At each post, two couriers were supposed to be at the same time. One was resting; the other was awake and closely watched the section of the road that passed through his post. As soon as the watchman on duty noticed the approaching courier, he immediately ran out to meet him and received an oral or nodular message on the relay. Since the distances were small, a high delivery speed was achieved: 2000 km were covered in three to five days. The work of the chaska was very hard, so the state postal service employed (at the expense of mita) healthy, fast-footed and especially hardy young people from 18 to 20 years old.

The magnificent postal service of the Inca Empire was modeled after the earlier Peruvian cultures, the Mochica and Chimu courier service. However, the Incas improved and expanded the postal service of their predecessors. They covered the entire territory of the empire with a network of postal posts, from the south of present-day Colombia to the central part of Chile. It is also important to consider that the organization of both the postal service and other state events, including monumental construction, cost nothing to the empire. Work of this kind was charged with the responsibility of the residents of the community in the territory of which these works were carried out. Fulfilling the role of chaska, 18-20-year-old boys performed their labor service on the basis of a mita. The following fact eloquently testifies to how difficult the courier service of the Inca postal service was: while others, according to Mita, had to work for the state for three months (for example, in the mines), the chaks worked only for a month.

The Tahuantinsuyu roads were traveled on foot. The only means of transport were palanquins, but the privilege to use them belonged to the Inca himself, members of the royal family and a few noble persons and officials of the state. As for the means for transporting goods, in this case, llamas were actively used. It is noteworthy that the empire could simultaneously use up to 25 thousand llamas! And nevertheless, a person had to deliver the bulk of the goods himself, on his own back.

Regarding the presence of writing among the Incas, there is an opinion, especially among non-specialists, that they used a nodular letter - kipu in this capacity. This is not entirely accurate. The fact is that what is traditionally called nodular writing performed completely different functions than those performed by writing. It was only an excellent means of recording, first of all, statistical data. With the help of the kipu, special people (kipukamayok), who had undergone special training and belonged to highly respected officials of the empire, recorded all the information that should have been registered or about which should be reported to Cuzco: the number of people or troops, the number of weapons or crops, livestock llamas, etc. The kipu consisted of several laces. One, thicker, was the base; many thinner multi-colored cords of various lengths and with a certain number of knots were attached to it. This record was based on the Inca decimal counting system. The position of the knot on the lace corresponded to the value of the digital indicators. It could be one, ten, one hundred thousand, or even ten thousand. At the same time, a simple knot denoted the number "1", a double - "2", a triple - "3". In order to read a knotted record, it was necessary to know not only the place occupied by the knot on the lace, but also the color of the corresponding lace. The colors of the laces were symbolic. White meant silver and peace, yellow meant gold, black meant illness or time, red meant the army. Kipukamajoki, who mastered the art of nodular writing, could decipher more abstract concepts by the color of these records. So, for example, white meant not only silver, but also peace, black meant disease (as well as time). It is quite possible that the originally nodular writing of the "sons of the Sun" also served as a kind of calendar of the Incas. This, in particular, is evidenced by another name for the Kipukamayoks - "Kilyakipok". The Incas used the term "keela" to designate the "month year" of their calendar, and also called their goddess of the moon.

The significance of the kipu was so great in Tahuantinsuyu that one of the Spanish chroniclers even wrote on this occasion: "... The entire Inca empire was ruled by means of the kipu." A large number of kipu copies have survived to our time. They differ primarily in size. The largest kipu that has come down to us has a length of 165 cm and a width of 6 cm. Often the knots were lowered into the grave so that they would accompany the deceased on his last journey.

It is believed that the Incas had a writing system different from what Europeans used to consider writing. Therefore, they simply did not recognize her. Chroniclers mention special canvases kept in temples, on which “everything there was to know about the past” was painted, and the messages of the rulers, painted on fabrics. Most likely it was a pictographic letter available only to the nobility; moreover, some scholars are inclined to consider images on ceramic vessels - kero - as inscriptions. It is noteworthy that in the Quechua language, which supposedly did not have a written form, nevertheless, already in the pre-Hispanic period, there were words that testified to the opposite. For example, "sprat" ("kelka") - "writing" ("letter"), "kilkangi" - "write", "quilaskuni" - "read".

In recent years, the point of view expressed in a similar interpretation simultaneously in the works of two prominent researchers began to win its adherents. According to this point of view, writing was known to the Incas, but it looked like a set of peculiar square or rectangular images that adorn ancient Peruvian fabrics, as well as Kero vessels. Such pictographic writing, if, of course, it can be considered a written language, was known to the pre-Incan cultures of this country. The idea that these images are signs of writing was first expressed by the Peruvian archaeologist Victoria de la Jara. She came to this conclusion on the basis of a fundamental, many months study of the tissues preserved in the burial grounds of Paracas. Victoria de la Jara found that 16 basic characters are most often repeated on South American fabrics. From the same point of view, these signs are studied by the German scientist, professor at the University of Tübingen, Thomas Bartel. He managed to find on the tissues and vessels of ancient Peru up to 400 different signs (tokapu), which in all cases have exactly the same spelling. Apparently, these signs were not only decorative ornaments. However, there is no unequivocal evidence that tokapu signs really are writing.

Despite the fact that there are no ancient written texts of Inca literature, it is still known that it was of a fairly high level. There were religious and secular hymns, legends, myths, ballads, prayers, short epics, poems and fables, songs and elegies. Their authors lived at the palaces of the rulers. Among them, there are poets-philosophers and lyricists, but their work remained unnamed.

Inca drama in verse is called the pearl of world drama "Apu-Ollantai".She talked about a courageous and noble commander, a native of the provincial aristocracy, who dared to love the daughter of the greatest Pachacuti - Kusi Koylyur ("Laughing Star") - and achieve her love in return. To this day, this drama is still on the stage of the Indian theater of Latin America.

The Incas were good musicians. In their sound row there were only five sounds (do, re, fa, sol, la), but this did not prevent them from playing bone and metal flutes, drums, tambourines and vessels with water, the neck of which was covered with leather, as well as reed or clay Andean pipes. The inhabitants of Tahuantinsuyu often danced to the sound of music. The dances were mainly of a magical and ritual nature, but sometimes they were performed simply for pleasure. There were several types of dance: male military, shepherd, secular, folk.

The inhabitants of the great empire of the sun could not only dance. Among them were good mathematicians, astronomers, engineers and doctors. The foundation of Inca science was mathematics. It was based on the decimal system and laid the foundation for the development of statistics. Mathematics is widely used in astronomy. Observatories were located throughout Peru, where the days of the solstices and equinoxes were determined, they observed the Sun, Moon, Venus, Saturn, Mars, Mercury, the constellations of the Pleiades, and the Southern Cross. The solar year of the Incas was divided into twelve months of thirty days each, plus one additional month of five days.

Tahuantinsuyu had its own geographers and cartographers who made excellent relief maps, as well as historians. There was even a post of the official historian of the empire, who was elected from the relatives of the great ruler.

But medicine is recognized as the most developed science in the state. Diseases were considered a consequence of sin, therefore, priests and healers were engaged in medical practice. They treated with magical techniques, fasting, bloodletting, gastric and intestinal lavage, and herbs. In severe cases, they resorted to operations (craniotomy, amputation of limbs). A special method of treating wounds was used - with the help of ants, as well as pain relievers, for example, coca, which was highly valued. The longevity of the inhabitants of the empire - 90-100 years - served as evidence of the effectiveness of Inca medicine.

A shining example of the urban planning art of the Incas is their capital - the city of Cuzco. Cuzco was the capital and symbol of the empire - a tale of stone and gold. It was the seat of the Inca, the main government, a ritual center and city services. It was an important economic and cultural point, where funds were distributed, taxes were paid and the most important educational institutions were located, where for four years they taught everything that the Incas achieved.

The city is considered one of the largest capitals in the world during the conquest. In the XVI century. it had about 200 thousand inhabitants and more than 25 thousand houses, painted in bright colors, decorated with marble and jasper, gold door and window frames. There was even a water supply and sewerage system in Cuzco. The city was built according to a pre-developed plan and was notable for its thoughtfulness. Such a high location of the capital of the Incas (more than 3000 m above sea level) is surprising. The valley in which Cusco is located is surrounded on all sides by mountains and only from the southeast is open for penetration. The outlines of the city resembled the body of a cougar, which is why she was the symbol of the city. The imperial capital was divided into upper Cuzco - Hanan Cuzco and lower - Urin Cuzco.

In the center of Cuzco was the "Piazza of Joy", bordered by the largest golden chain in the history of mankind (length - 350 steps). The square and nearby streets are surrounded by a complex of shrines and temples. The main one is considered temple of the sunIts walls were lined with gold plates. Inside the structure there was an altar with the image of a huge disk of the sun, from which the rays emanated. Along the walls of the temple on golden thrones covered with carpets, the mummies of the deceased rulers of the empire sat. In addition to the ministry of the priests, some kind of monasteries were created, the building of one of them was reconstructed, this monastery belonged to the temple of the sun in Pachacamac, near Lima. The most beautiful girls. From the age of eight, they underwent special training to serve virgins destined for the sun ... Archaeological excavations show that the Incas also performed human sacrifices. They sacrificed children to apu - the gods of the mountains. Frozen children's bodies were found on the peaks of the Andes.

The great temple is adjoined by the palace-residence of the high priest and five beautiful buildings in which his assistants lived. These buildings were covered with straw, into which golden threads were woven. Nearby was temple of the moonplated with silver. His altar in the form of a night deity was guarded by the mummies of the deceased consorts of the Incas.

On the other side of the complex were the shrines of Thunder, Lightning, and Rainbow. And not far from it was the fantastic golden garden of Cuzco - half natural, half artificial. According to legends, water came here through golden troughs, and in the center of the garden there was also an octagonal fountain covered with gold. The whole world of the Incas was reproduced here from gold in full size: ears of corn, shepherds and llamas with their young, trees and shrubs, flowers and fruits, birds and butterflies. The unique creations of skilled craftsmen were given away by the Inca people to pay the ransom for the life of the last supreme Inca - Atahualpa (1532-1572).

There were many amazing things in Cusco, but nevertheless the citadel Machu Picchu(about 1500) is considered the main wonder of South America. The last Inca fortress of Machu Picchu is located high in the Andes, 120 km east of the capital, on a very rugged terrain, but the builders of the fortress were able to turn the disadvantages of the landscape into advantages, achieving the unity of architectural structures with the environment. The pointed battlements of the main fortress tower seem to be part of the mountain, and the stone terraces are in strict accordance with the curves of the rocks. All buildings in Machu Picchu are located at different heights, so there are more than 100 staircases in the citadel. The center of the fortified city is considered to be "the place where the Sun is tied" - an observatory carved into the rock. Next to it are the Temple of the Sun, the Temple of the Three Windows (with the three largest trapezoidal windows in Peru) and the palace of the high priest. This is the first part of the city. Its second part - the Royal Quarter - is made up of a semicircular fortress tower emerging from the rocks. The Princess Palace is the residence of the ruler's wife and the Inca Royal Palace. The third part of the fortress was a quarter of residential houses of ordinary residents. The entire city was surrounded by powerful ramparts.

Most of the monuments of pre-Columbian art have been found in burials on the coast. In the mountains, objects with plot images have been found less, and they date back mainly to the Wari-tiaunako era or even earlier. In the pre-Dynian period, the geometric style prevailed everywhere.

The art of the Incas is poorly known. Figures that archaeologists find in burials are poorly individualized and, most likely, are associated with the world of lower mythology, with the veneration of spirits and ancestors. Inca vessels and fabrics are covered with geometric patterns or are decorated with artistically perfect, but inexpressive plot images of people and animals. It was only under the influence of the Spaniards that a peculiar figurative style of lacquer painting on cups developed in Cuzco, but the plots presented on the vessels of the 16th-17th centuries are not of a purely Indian character.

As for the Inca statues, they were made mainly not of stone, but of precious metals. Naturally, all this was immediately melted down by the conquistadors. Stone statues were mostly smashed with hammers. The images of the Inca deities were destroyed so diligently and consistently that we now practically do not know what they exactly looked like.

Around 1530, the Spanish conqueror Francisco Pizarro, having learned from stories about the gold treasures of Peru, moved there from Panama along with his army - Peru at that time was weakened by internecine war. Athavalpa, heading for the capital, defeated Prince Vaskar, his half-brother and rightful heir to the throne, and took him prisoner.

Pizarro and his soldiers, having hardly reached the city of Cajamarca in the interior of the country, were warmly greeted by the usurper Atavalpa. However, the Spaniards, cunningly taking him prisoner, deprived him of the throne and killed thousands of his soldiers, who were completely unprepared to fight back.

However, even captivity did not prevent Atavalpa from continuing the internecine war. He sent messengers to Cuzco to assassinate his half-brother Inca Vascar and hundreds of the rest of the royal family. This he, without knowing it, played into the hands of Pizarro.

Noticing that the Spaniards are not indifferent to gold and silver, Atavalpa promised in exchange for his release to give Pizarro so many gold and silver statues that they could fill a huge room. But Atavalpa's plan failed. He was again circled around the finger! After the promised ransom was paid, Athavalpa, Inca XIII, who was considered an idolater by the priests, was baptized as a Catholic and then strangled.

The capture and assassination of Atavalpa was a fatal blow to the Inca state. However, the Indians continued to fight, so death throes stretched out for forty years.

When reinforcements arrived, Pizarro and his soldiers rushed to Cuzco, the city of the Inca's untold treasures. Driven by a thirst for gold, the Spaniards brutally tortured the Indians in order to find out from them the secrets of hidden treasures, and everyone who tried to resist them was intimidated and forced to remain silent.

Accompanied by Prince Manco II, who was Vascar's brother and was to become the next Inca (Manco Inca Yupanca), Pizarro and his soldiers broke into Cuzco and plundered all the gold treasures. They melted most of the gold statues into ingots and sent them to Spain. No wonder Spanish ships, overflowing with Peru's treasures, were coveted prey for British pirates! Pizarro himself, having robbed a lot of goods. He went to the coast of the mainland and in 1535 founded a new capital there, the city of Lima.

Seeing clearly how greedy and treacherous the conquerors were, Manco Inca Yupanqui revolted. Other revolts against the Spaniards broke out, but in the end the Indians still had to retreat and fortify in more remote areas. One of the places where the Indians may have been hiding was the sacred city of Machu Picchu located in the mountains.

The last Inca was Tupac Amaru (1572), the son of Manco Inca Yupanqui. At this time, the Spanish viceroys ruled in Peru. The Viceroy of Toledo decided to destroy the Incas by all means. Gathering a large army, he marched into the Vilcapampa area. In the jungle, Tupac Amaru was captured. Together with his pregnant wife, he was taken to Cusco - they were facing the death penalty. An Indian from Canyar was the executor of the sentence. One blow - and the Inca was beheaded, at that moment there was a mournful sigh from the thousands of Indians gathered in the marketplace. His entourage were tortured to death or hanged. So quickly and brutally was the end of the Inca rule.

Gradually, the life of the Indians, who for a long time were treated as slaves, began to reflect the influence of the rulers appointed by Spain, as well as Catholic monks and priests, which had both positive and negative sides. Many Indians had to work in gold and silver deposits, one of which, silver, in Potos, Bolivia. To get away from the terrible reality, the Indians began to use coca leaves, which had narcotic properties. And only at the beginning of the 19th century, Peru and Bolivia gained independence from Spain.

How do the descendants of the Incas live today? Like other modern cities, the capital of Peru, Lima is a bustling city of millions. But in provincial areas, time seems to have stood still a hundred years ago. In many remote villages, Catholic priests still wield tremendous influence. A simple Indian peasant would not go anywhere with such eagerness as to a Catholic church in the village square. Statues of saints in long robes, multi-colored lamps, a gilded altar, candles, mysterious services and especially dances and festivities - all this brings at least some variety to his life. However, despite the fact that this diversity may be pleasing to the eye, the peasant continues to adhere to his old beliefs. In addition, many Indians, as before, use coca leaves, which are attributed to mystical properties.

Thanks to the perseverance inherent in the descendants of the Incas (many of them are of mixed origins), they managed to preserve their vibrant traditional dances and Huino folk music. Although Indians are usually wary of strangers at first, their inherent hospitality is bound to manifest. Those who are personally acquainted with the modern descendants of the Incas - who watched their daily struggle for life, tried to show interest in them and get to know their life better - they will not remain indifferent to their history!

MAYAN

Maya Indians are not indigenous to the land of Guatemala and Honduras, they came from the north; it is difficult to say when they settled on the Yucatan Peninsula. Most likely in the first millennium BC, and since then religion, culture, all Mayan life are associated with this land.

More than a hundred remains of cities and towns and settlements, the ruins of the majestic capitals built by the ancient Mayans have been discovered here.

Many of the names of Mayan cities and individual structures were assigned to them after the Spanish conquest and, therefore, are not the true names in the Mayan language, nor their translations into European languages: for example, the name "Tikal" was invented by archaeologists, and "Palenque" is the Spanish word " fortress".

Much remains unsolved in the history of this amazing and unique civilization. Take, for example, the word Maya itself. After all, we do not even know what it means and how it got into our vocabulary. For the first time in literature, it is found in Bartholomew Columbus, when he describes the meeting of his legendary brother Christopher - the discoverer of America - with an Indian boat - a canoe, which sailed "from the province called the Maya."

According to some sources of the Spanish conquest period, the name "Maya" was applied to the entire Yucatan Peninsula, which contradicts the name of the country given in the message from Landa - "u lumil kutz yetel keh" ("country of turkeys and deer"). According to others, it referred only to a relatively small territory, the center of which was the ancient capital Mayapan. It was also suggested that the term "Maya" was a household name and arose from the contemptuous nickname "ahmaya", that is, "powerless people." However, there are also such translations of this word as "land without water", which, undoubtedly, should be recognized as a simple mistake.

However, in the history of the ancient Mayans, much more important questions remain unresolved. And the first of them is the question of the time and nature of the settlement by the Maya peoples of the territory on which the main centers of their civilization were concentrated during the period of its highest prosperity, usually called the Classical era (II-X centuries). Numerous facts indicate that their emergence and rapid development took place everywhere and almost simultaneously. This inevitably leads to the idea that by the time they came to the lands of Guatemala, Honduras, Chiapas and Yucatan, the Mayans, apparently, already possessed a fairly high culture. It was uniform in character, and this confirms that its formation should have taken place in a relatively limited area. From there, the Maya set off on a long journey not as wild nomadic tribes, but as bearers of a high culture (or its rudiments), which was to blossom into an outstanding civilization in the future, already in a new place.

Where could the Maya come from? There is no doubt that they had to leave the center of a very high and necessarily more ancient culture than the Maya civilization itself. Indeed, such a center was discovered in what is now Mexico. It contains the remains of the so-called Olmec culture, found in Tres Zapotes, La Venta, Veracruz and other areas of the Gulf Coast. But the point is not only that the Olmec culture is the most ancient in America and, therefore, it is "older" than the Mayan civilization. Numerous monuments of the Olmec culture - the buildings of cult centers and the peculiarities of their planning, the types of structures themselves, the nature of the written and digital signs left by the Olmecs and other remnants of material culture - convincingly testify to the kinship of these civilizations. The possibility of such a relationship is also confirmed by the fact that the settlements of the ancient Maya with a well-established appearance of culture appear everywhere in the area of ​​interest to us precisely when the active activity of the Olmec religious centers suddenly stops, that is, somewhere between the 3rd - 1st centuries BC.

Why this great migration was undertaken can only be guessed at. Relying on historical analogies, it should be assumed that it was not voluntary, because, as a rule, the migrations of peoples were the result of a fierce struggle against the invasions of nomadic barbarians.

It would seem that everything is extremely clear, but even today we cannot with absolute certainty call the ancient Maya the direct heirs of the Olmec culture. Modern Maya science does not have the necessary data for such a statement, although everything that is known about the Olmecs and the ancient Maya also does not give sufficient reason to doubt the relationship (at least indirectly) of these most interesting cultures of America.

The fact that our knowledge of the initial period of the ancient Maya history does not differ with the desired accuracy does not seem to be something exceptional.

Huge pyramids, temples, palaces of Tikal, Vashaktun, Copan, Palenque and other cities of the classical era still keep traces of destruction inflicted by a human hand. We do not know the reasons for them. A variety of theories have been put forward on this score, but none of them can be called reliable. For example, the uprisings of peasants, driven to extremes by endless extortions, thanks to which the rulers and priests satisfied their vanity, erecting giant pyramids and temples to their gods.

The Maya religion is no less interesting than their history.

The universe - yok kab (literally: above the earth) - was represented by the ancient Maya in the form of worlds located one above the other. Directly above the earth there were thirteen heavens, or thirteen "heavenly layers", and under the earth were hidden nine "underground worlds" that made up the underworld.

In the center of the earth towered the "Primordial Tree". Four "world trees" grew in four corners, strictly corresponding to the cardinal points. In the East - red, symbolizing the color of the morning dawn. In the North, it is white. Ebony - the color of the night - stood in the West, and yellow grew in the South - it symbolized the color of the sun.

In the cool shade of the Original Tree — it was green — was heaven. The souls of the righteous came here to take a break from overwork on earth, from the suffocating tropical heat and enjoy abundant food, peace and joy.

The ancient Maya had no doubt that the earth was square, or at least rectangular. The sky, like a roof, rested on five supports - "heavenly pillars", that is, on the central "Primordial tree" and on four "colored trees" that grew at the ends of the earth. The Maya, as it were, transferred the layout of the ancient communal houses to the surrounding universe.

Most surprising of all, the idea of ​​the thirteen heavens arose among the ancient Maya also on a materialistic basis. It was the direct result of long and very careful observations of the sky and study in the smallest, accessible to the naked human eye, the details of the movement of heavenly bodies. This allowed the earliest astronomers of the Maya, and most likely still the Olmecs, to perfectly assimilate the nature of the movements of the Sun, Moon and Venus in the visible sky. The Maya, carefully observing the movement of the luminaries, could not help but notice that they do not move with the rest of the stars, but each in its own way. Once this was established, it was most natural to assume that each luminary had its own "sky" or "layer of the sky." Moreover, continuous observations made it possible to clarify and even concretize the routes of these movements during one year's path, since they really pass through quite definite groups of stars.

The Maya Sun's stellar routes were divided into segments equal in time to their passage. It turned out that there are thirteen such time intervals, and in each of them the Sun was about twenty days. (In the Ancient East, astronomers identified 12 constellations - the signs of the zodiac.) Thirteen twenty-day months made up a solar year. In the Maya, it began with the vernal equinox, when the Sun was in the constellation Aries.

With a certain amount of fantasy, the groups of stars through which the routes passed were easily associated with real or mythical animals. This is how the gods were born - the patrons of the months in the astronomical calendar: "rattlesnake", "scorpion", "bird with the head of an animal", "long-nosed monster" and others. It is curious that, for example, the constellation Gemini familiar to us corresponded to the constellation Turtle in the ancient Maya.

If the Maya ideas about the structure of the universe as a whole are clear to us today and do not cause any special doubts, and the calendar, which is striking in its almost absolute accuracy, has been thoroughly studied by scientists, the situation is completely different with their "underground worlds". We cannot even say why there were exactly nine (and not eight or ten). We only know the name of the "lord of the underworld" - Hun Ahab, but it still has only a tentative interpretation.

The calendar was inextricably linked with religion. The priests, who studied the movements of the planets and the change of seasons, knew exactly the dates of sowing and harvesting.

The calendar of the ancient Maya attracted and now continues to attract the closest and most serious attention of researchers studying this outstanding civilization. Many of them hoped it was in the calendar to find answers to countless obscure questions from the mysterious past of the Maya. And although the calendar itself could not, quite naturally, satisfy most of the interests of scientists, it still told a lot about those who created it two millennia ago. Suffice it to say that it is thanks to the study of the calendar that we know the Mayan decimal counting system, the form of writing numbers, their incredible achievements in mathematics and astronomy.

The ancient Maya calendar was based on a thirteen-day week. The days of the week were written in digital signs, the date necessarily included the name of the month, there were eighteen of them, each of which had its own name.

Thus, the date consisted of four components - terms:

• the number of the thirteen-day week,
• name and serial number of the day of the twenty-day month,
• name (name) of the month.

The main feature of the dating of the ancient Mayans is that any date of the May calendar will repeat itself only after 52 years, moreover, it was this feature that became the basis of the calendar and chronology, taking the form at the beginning of a mathematical, and later a mystical fifty-two-year cycle, which is also called calendar circle. The calendar is based on a four-year cycle.

Unfortunately, sufficiently reliable data on the origin of both the components - the calendar date terms and the cycles listed above - have not survived. Some of them originally originated from purely abstract mathematical concepts, for example, "vinal" - a twenty-day month - according to the number of units of the first order of the Mayan system of decimal counting It is possible that the number thirteen - the number of days in a week - also appeared in purely mathematical calculations, most likely, associated with astronomical observations, and only then acquired a mystical character - the thirteen heavens of the universe. The priests, interested in monopoly possession of the secrets of the calendar, gradually dressed him in more and more complex mystical robes, inaccessible to the minds of ordinary mortals, and ultimately it was these "robes" that began to play a dominant role. And if, from under the religious garments - the names of twenty-day months, one can clearly see the rational beginning of dividing the year into periods of equal time - months, the names of the days rather indicate their purely cult origin.

Thus, the Mayan calendar, already in the process of inception, was not devoid of elements of a socio-political nature. Meanwhile, the institution of the change of power by birth, characteristic of the earliest stage of the formation of a class society among the Mayans, was gradually withering away. However, the four-year cycle as the basis of the calendar remained intact, for it continued to play an important role in their economic life. The priests managed to emasculate the democratic principles from it and completely put it at the service of their religion, which now protected the "divine" power of the omnipotent rulers, which eventually became hereditary.

The Mayan year began on December 23, that is, on the day of the winter solstice, well known to their astronomers. The names of the months, especially in the ancient calendar, clearly show their semantic and rational charge.

The Mayan year consisted of 18 months of 20 days each. In the Mayan language, periods of time were called: 20 days - vinal; 18 vinale - tun; tun was equal to 360 kin (days). To align the solar year, 5 days were added, called mayeb, literally: "unfavorable". It was believed that on this five-day period "a year dies", and therefore in these last days the ancient Mayans did nothing so as not to incur disaster. Tun was not the last unit of time in the Mayan calendar. With an increase of 20 times, cycles began to form: 20 tuns made up a katun; 20 katuns - baktun; 20 baktuns - pictun; 20 pictuns - kalabtun; 20 kalabtuts - kinchiltun. Alautun included 23,040,000,000 days, or kin (suns). All dates preserved on the steles, monoliths, codices and in the early colonial records made by the Spaniards have a single starting point. We would call it “Year One”, from which the Mayan time begins. According to our chronology, it falls to 3113 BC, or, according to another system of correlation, to 3373 BC. It is curious to note that these dates are close to the first year of the Hebrew calendar, which is 3761 BC. - the year of the alleged creation of the Bible. The Maya skillfully combined two calendars: Haab - solar, consisting of 365 days, and Tzolkin - religious, of 206 days. With this combination, a cycle of 18890 days was formed, only after which the name and number of the day again coincided with the same name of the month. It was like November 15, for example, every time on Thursday. The significance of astronomical science would not have been possible without an ideally designed counting system. The Maya created such a system. It is similar to the one that the Arabs adopted from the Indians and later passed on to the Europeans, who only then were able to abandon the primitive Roman system.

The Maya surpassed this system before the Romans conquered Gaul and the Iberian Peninsula, and much before the Arabs brought the decimal system to Europe. It is believed to have been invented in India in the 7th century. AD and that the Arabs did not give it to the Europeans until several centuries later. The Maya, on the other hand, used their system, similar to the decimal system, at least from the 4th century. AD - in other words, 1600 years ago.

The Maya created the most accurate calendars of antiquity.

Few information about the ancient Maya is available to us, but what is known comes from the descriptions of the Spanish conquerors and the deciphered Maya writings. A huge role in this was played by the work of domestic linguists under the leadership of Yu.V. Knorozov, who was awarded a doctorate for his research. Yu.V. Knorozov proved the hieroglyphic nature of the writing of the ancient Maya and the consistency of the so-called "Landa alphabet", a man who "stole" the history of an entire people, finding in its manuscripts content that contradicts the postulates of the Christian religion. Using three surviving manuscripts, Yu.V. Knozorov counted about three hundred different characters of the letter and determined their reading.

Diego de Landa, the first provincial, burned the Mayan books as heretical. Three manuscripts have come down to us, keeping records of the priests with a description of the calendar, a list of gods, sacrifices. In the course of archaeological excavations, other manuscripts have been found, but their condition is so deplorable that they cannot be read. There is very little opportunity for obtaining more information by deciphering the inscriptions carved on stones, walls of temples, since they were not spared by the nature of the tropics and some hieroglyphs cannot be read.

Many private collections are replenished due to the illegal export of parts or a full complex of structures from the country. The withdrawal takes place so carelessly, with non-observance of the rules of archaeological excavations, so much is lost irretrievably.

The territory on which the Mayan civilization developed was once occupied by the modern southern Mexican states of Chiapas, Campeche and Yucatan, the Petén department in Northern Guatemala, Belize and part of Western El Salvador and Honduras. The southern borders of the Maya possessions were closed by the mountain ranges of Guatemala and Honduras. Three-quarters of the Yucatan Peninsula is surrounded by the sea, and the land approaches to it from Mexico were blocked by the endless swamps of Chiapas and Tabasco. The Mayan territory is distinguished by an extraordinary variety of natural conditions, but nature has never been here too generous to humans. Each step on the path to civilization was taken by the ancient inhabitants of these places with great difficulty and required the mobilization of all human and material resources of society.

The Mayan history can be divided into three major eras in accordance with the most important changes in the economy, social institutions and culture of local tribes: Paleo-Indian (10,000-2000 BC); archaic (2000-100 BC or 0) and the era of civilization (100 BC or 0 - XVI century AD). These epochs, in turn, are divided into smaller periods and stages. The initial stage of the classical Mayan civilization falls approximately at the turn of our era (1st century BC - 1st century AD). The upper border dates back to the 9th century. AD

The earliest traces of human presence in the area of ​​distribution of the Maya culture were found in central Chiapas, mountainous Guatemala and part of Honduras (X millennium BC).

At the turn of the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC. In these mountainous regions, early agricultural crops of the Neolithic type appeared, the basis of which was maize farming.

At the very end of the 2nd - beginning of the 1st millennium BC. the development of the tropical jungle by the Mayan tribes begins. Separate attempts to settle on the fertile, game-rich lands of the plains were made earlier, but the massive colonization of these areas began precisely from that time.

At the end of the 2nd millennium BC. the milp (slash-and-burn) farming system is finally taking shape, progressive changes are observed in the production of ceramics, house-building and other areas of culture. Based on these achievements, the tribes of the mountain Mayans gradually mastered the forest low-lying areas of Peten, eastern Chiapas, Yucatan and Belize. The general direction of their movement was from west to east. In the course of their advance into the interior of the jungle, the Maya used the most advantageous directions and routes, and above all the river valleys.

By the middle of the 1st millennium BC. the colonization of most of the jungle plains was completed, after which the development of culture here proceeded quite independently.

At the end of the 1st millennium BC. in the culture of the lowland Maya, qualitative changes are taking place: palace complexes appear in cities, former sanctuaries and light small temples turn into monumental stone structures, all the most important palace and religious architectural complexes stand out from the general mass of buildings and are located in the central part of the city on special elevated and fortified places, writing and a calendar are developing, painting and monumental sculpture are developing, magnificent burials of rulers with human sacrifices appear inside the temple pyramids.

The formation of statehood and civilization in the lowland forest zone was accelerated by a significant influx of population from the south from the mountainous regions, where, as a result of the eruption of the Ilopango volcano, most of the land was covered with a thick layer of volcanic ash and was unsuitable for life. The southern (mountainous) region, apparently, gave a powerful impetus to the development of Mayan culture in the Central region (Northern Guatemala, Belize, Tabasco and Chiapas in Mexico). Here the May civilization reached the peak of its development in the 1st millennium AD.

The economic base of the Mayan culture was slash-and-burn maize farming. Milp farming consists of cutting, burning and planting a section of tropical forest. Due to the rapid depletion of the soil, after two or three years, the site must be abandoned and a new one must be looked for. The main agricultural tools of the Maya were: digging stick, ax and torch. Through lengthy experiments and selection, local farmers managed to develop hybrid high-yielding varieties of the main agricultural plants - maize, legumes and pumpkin. The manual technique of cultivating a small forest area and the combination of several crops on the same field made it possible to maintain fertility for a long time and did not require frequent changes of areas. Natural conditions (soil fertility and an abundance of heat and moisture) allowed Mayan farmers to collect here on average at least two harvests per year.

In addition to fields in the jungle, near each Indian dwelling there was a personal plot with vegetable gardens, groves of fruit trees. The latter (especially the ramon breadfruit) did not require any maintenance, but provided a significant amount of food.

The successes of ancient Mayan agriculture were largely associated with the creation by the beginning of the 1st millennium AD. a clear and harmonious agricultural calendar that strictly regulates the timing and sequence of all agricultural work.

In addition to slash and burn, the Maya were familiar with other forms of agriculture. In the south of Yucatan and Belize, on the slopes of high hills, agricultural terraces with a special system of soil moistening were found. In the basin of the Candelaria River (Mexico), there was an agricultural system reminiscent of the "floating gardens" of the Aztecs. These are the so-called "raised fields" with almost inexhaustible fertility. The Maya also had a fairly extensive network of irrigation and drainage canals. The latter removed excess water from swampy areas, turning them into fertile fields suitable for cultivation.

The canals built by the Mayans simultaneously collected and supplied rainwater to artificial reservoirs, served as an important source of animal protein (fish, waterfowl, freshwater edible molluscs), were convenient routes of communication and delivery of heavy goods by boats and rafts.

The Maya craft is represented by ceramic production, weaving, the production of stone tools and weapons, jade jewelry, and construction. Ceramic vessels with polychrome painting, graceful figured vessels, jade beads, bracelets, tiaras and figurines are evidence of the high professionalism of May craftsmen.

In the classical period, the Maya developed trade. Imported May ceramics of the 1st millennium A.D. discovered by archaeologists in Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Strong trade ties were established with Teotihuacan. In this huge city, a large number of shards of May ceramics and carved jade objects were found. Here was a whole quarter of Mayan merchants, with their dwellings, warehouses and sanctuaries. There was a similar quarter of the Teotihuacan merchants in one of the largest Mayan cities in the 1st millennium AD. Tikale. In addition to land trade, sea routes were also used (images of dugout rowboats are quite common in the works of art of the ancient Maya, starting at least from the 7th century AD).

Numerous cities were the centers of the May civilization. The largest of them were Tikal, Palenque, Yaxchilan, Naranjo, Piedras Negras, Copan, Quirigua. All these names are late. The original names of the cities are still unknown (with the exception of Naranjo, which is identified with the fortress "Brod Jaguar", known from the inscription on a clay vase).

Architecture in the central part of any major Mayan city in the 1st millennium AD represented by pyramidal hills and platforms of various sizes and heights. On their flat tops are stone buildings: temples, residences of the nobility, palaces. The buildings were surrounded by rectangular, powerful squares that were the main planning unit in Mayan cities. Ordinary dwellings were built of wood and clay under roofs of dry palm leaves. All residential buildings stood on low (1-1.5 m) platforms, faced with stone. Typically, residential and outbuildings form groups around an open, rectangular courtyard. Such groups were the habitat of a large patriarchal family. In the cities there were markets and craft workshops (for example, for the processing of flint and obsidian). The location of this or that building within the city was determined by the social status of its inhabitants.

A significant group of the population of the Mayan cities (the ruling elite, officials, warriors, artisans and merchants) was not directly connected with agriculture and subsisted on a vast agricultural area, which supplied him with all the necessary agricultural products, mainly maize.

The nature of the socio-political structure of Maya society in the classical era cannot yet be unambiguously determined. It is clear that, at least in the period of its highest prosperity (VII-VIII centuries AD), the social structure of the Maya was quite complex. Along with the bulk of the community members-farmers, there was a nobility (its stratum was made up of priests), artisans and professional merchants stood out. The presence of a number of rich burials in rural settlements testifies to the heterogeneity of the rural community. However, it is too early to judge how far this process has gone.

At the head of the hierarchical social system was a deified ruler. The Mayan rulers always emphasized their connection with the gods and performed, in addition to their basic (secular) functions, a number of religious ones. They not only possessed power during their lifetime, but were revered by the people even after their death. In their activities, the rulers relied on the secular and spiritual nobility. From the first, the administrative apparatus was formed. Despite the fact that little is known about the organization of Maya government in the classical period, the presence of a government apparatus is undoubted. This is indicated by the regular planning of the cities of May, an extensive irrigation system and the need for strict regulation of agricultural labor. The latter was the task of the priests. Any violation of the sacred order was regarded as blasphemy, and the violator could fall on the sacrificial altar.

Like other ancient societies, the Maya had slaves. They were used for various household chores, worked in the gardens and plantations of the nobility, served as porters on the roads and rowers on merchant boats. However, it is unlikely that the share of slave labor was significant.

After the VI century. AD in the cities of May, the consolidation of the system of power based on the rules of inheritance takes place, that is, a dynastic regime is established. But in many ways, the classical Mayan city states remained "chiefdoms" or "chiefdoms." The power of their hereditary rulers, although sanctioned by the gods, was limited - limited by the size of the controlled territories, the number of people and resources in these territories, and the comparative underdevelopment of the bureaucratic mechanism that the ruling elite had.

Wars were fought between the Maya states. In most cases, the territory of the destroyed city was not included in the state borders of the winner. The end of the battle was the capture of one ruler by another, usually with the subsequent sacrifice of the captured leader. The foreign policy objectives of the May rulers were to rule and control their neighbors, especially control over the land suitable for cultivation and over the population to cultivate these lands and build cities. However, not a single state has been able to achieve political centralization over a large territory and has failed to retain this territory for any length of time.

Between about 600 and 700 AD the Mayan territory was invaded by the troops of Teotihuacan. Most of the mountainous regions were attacked, but in the lowland cities at this time the Teotihuacan influence increased significantly. The Mayan city-states managed to resist and rather quickly overcame the consequences of the enemy invasion.

In the 7th century A.D. Teotihuacan perishes under the onslaught of the northern barbarian tribes. This had the most serious consequences for the peoples of Central America. The system of political unions, associations and states that had developed over the course of many centuries was violated. A continuous streak of campaigns, wars, migrations, invasions of barbarian tribes began. All this motley tangle of ethnic groups, different in language and culture, inexorably approached the western borders of the Maya.

At first, the Maya successfully fought off the onslaught of foreigners. It was to this time (the end of the 7th-8th centuries AD) that most of the victorious reliefs and steles erected by the rulers of the May city-states in the Usumacinta river basin belong: Palenque, Piedras Negras, Yaxchilan. But soon the forces of resistance to the enemy dried up. Added to this was the constant enmity between the Mayan city-states themselves, whose rulers, for any reason, sought to increase their territory at the expense of their neighbors.

A new wave of conquerors moved from the west. These were the Pipil tribes whose ethnic and cultural identity has not yet been fully established. The first to be destroyed were the cities of May in the basin of the Usumasinta River (late 8th - first half of the 9th century AD). Then, almost simultaneously, the most powerful city-states of Petén and Yucatan perish (the second half of the 9th - early 10th centuries AD). Over the course of a century or so, Central America's most populous and culturally developed region has fallen into decline from which it has never recovered.

After these events, the low-lying areas of the Maya did not turn out to be completely deserted (according to some authoritative scientists, up to 1 million people died on this territory in just one century). In the 16th-17th centuries, a fairly large number of inhabitants lived in the forests of Petén and Belize, and in the very center of the former "Old Kingdom", on an island in the middle of Lake Peten Itza, there was the populous city of Taisal - the capital of the independent Mayan state, which existed until the end of the 17th century ...

In the northern region of Maya culture, in the Yucatan, events developed differently. In the X century. AD the cities of the Yucatan Maya were attacked by the warlike Central Mexican tribes - the Toltecs. However, unlike the central Maya region, this did not lead to disastrous consequences. The population of the peninsula not only survived, but also managed to quickly adapt to the new conditions. As a result, after a short time, a kind of culture appeared in Yucatan, combining May and Toltec features.

The reason for the death of the classical Mayan civilization still remains a mystery. Some facts indicate that the invasion of the warlike Pipil groups was not the cause, but the result of the decline of the May cities at the very end of the 1st millennium AD. It is possible that internal social upheavals or some serious economic and economic crisis played a certain role here.

The construction and maintenance of an extensive system of irrigation canals and "raised fields" required colossal efforts of society. The population, sharply reduced as a result of the wars, was no longer able to maintain it in the difficult conditions of the tropical jungle. And she perished, and the May classical civilization perished with it.

The end of the classical Mayan civilization has much in common with the death of the Harappan culture in Ancient India. And although they are separated by a rather impressive period of time, they are typologically very close. Perhaps G.M. is right. Bograd-Levin, linking the decline of civilization in the Indus Valley not only with natural phenomena, but above all with the evolution of the structure of settled agricultural cultures. True, the nature of this process is not yet clear and requires further study.

After the 10th century, the development of Maya culture continued on the Yucatan Peninsula. This peninsula was a flat limestone plain with no rivers, streams or lakes. Only a few natural wells (deep sinkholes in limestone beds) served as sources of water. The Maya called these wells "cenotes." Where the cenotes were, the centers of the classical Mayan civilization arose and developed.

In the X century. AD the warlike Toltec tribes invaded the Yucatan Peninsula. The city of Chichen Itza, which arose in the 6th century, became the capital of the conquerors. AD Having settled in Chichen Itza, the Toltecs and tribes allied with them soon spread their influence over most of the Yucatan Peninsula. The conquerors brought with them new customs and rituals, new features in architecture, art and religion.

As the power of other political centers in Yucatan grew, the hegemony of Chichen Itza began to increasingly cause their displeasure. The rulers of Chichen Itza demanded more and more tributes and extortions from their neighbors. The ritual of human sacrifice in the “Sacred Well” of Chichen Itza aroused particular indignation among the inhabitants of other May cities and villages.

The "Sacred Cenote" was a giant round crater 60 meters in diameter. From the edge of the well to the surface of the water, it was almost 21 meters high. The depth is over 10 meters, I did not consider the multi-meter thickness of silt at the bottom. Dozens of people were required for the sacrifices and they were regularly supplied by the subordinate cities.

The situation changed after the ruler Hunak Keel came to power in the city of Mayapan. At the beginning of the XIII century, he was able to unite the forces of three cities: Itzmal, Mayapan and Uxmal. In the decisive battle, the troops of Chichen Itza were defeated, and the hated city itself was destroyed.

In the subsequent period, the role of Mayapan and his ruling Kokom dynasty sharply increased. But the dominion of the Kokoms turned out to be fragile. In the 15th century, as a result of a fierce internecine struggle, the Yucatan was divided into a dozen small city-states, waging constant wars among themselves in order to seize booty and slaves.

The basis of the economy of the Yucatan Mayans, as well as in the classical era, remained milpea farming. His character remained virtually unchanged, and the technology was as primitive as ever.

The craft also remained the same. The Yucatan Mayans did not have their own metallurgy and the metal came here from other regions through trade. Trade, on the other hand, acquired an unusually large scale among the Yucatan Mayans. They took out salt, textiles and slaves, exchanging them for cocoa and jade.

On the eve of the arrival of Europeans, there were several large shopping centers in the Maya territory. On the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, there was the city of Shiquiango, a large trading point, where Aztec merchants, Yucatan merchants, and residents of the south came. Another shopping center - Simatan - stood on the Grihalva River. It was the terminus of a long overland route from the Mexico City Valley and a staging post for numerous goods. At the mouth of the same river, the city of Potonchan was located, which controlled not only trade in the lower reaches of the Grihalva River, but also sea routes along the western coast of Yucatan. A major trade center was the Mayan state of Akalan with its capital, Itzalcanak. The advantageous geographical position allows the locals to conduct a lively intermediary trade with the most remote regions of Honduras and Guatemala.

The Yucatan Mayans carried on a lively maritime trade with their near and distant neighbors. Their most important cities were located either right on the coast of the sea, in convenient bays and bays, or near the mouths of navigable rivers. Around the entire Yucatan Peninsula, from Shikalango in the west to the southern part of the Gulf of Honduras in the east, there was a long sea route. This route was actively used by traders from Akalan.

For sea voyages, dugout boats were still used, some of which were designed for 40 or even 50 people. These boats went both with oars and under sails. In a number of cases, a sewn-on board was also used on ships, made either from flat boards or from reeds, abundantly smeared with resin.

Yucatan Maya society was divided into two main classes: nobility (spiritual and secular) and community members. In addition, there were all sorts of dependent people, including slaves.

The nobility (aristocracy) constituted the ruling class and occupied all the most important political positions. It included not only dignitaries, but also military leaders, the richest merchants and community members. A special stratum among the nobility was the priesthood. The priesthood played an enormous role in public life, since in their hands were concentrated not only questions of religious cult, but also scientific knowledge, as well as all art. Free community members constituted the majority of the population. These included farmers, hunters, fishermen, artisans and small traders. The community members were not homogeneous. The lowest stratum consisted of a special group of poor people who were economically dependent on the nobility. Along with it, there was also a layer of wealthy community members.

There were quite a few slaves in the Yucatan, most of whom belonged to the nobility or wealthy community members. The bulk of the slaves were men, women and children captured during frequent wars. Another source of the appearance of slaves was debt slavery, as well as slavery for theft. In addition, persons who were in connection with or married to slaves fell into slavery. There was a slave trade both domestically and for export. All power in the Mayan states belonged to the ruler - Halach-Vinik. This power was hereditary and passed from one member of the dynasty to another. Khalach-vinik exercised general administration of the state, directed foreign policy, was the supreme military leader, and performed some religious and judicial functions. The Halach-Viniks received various kinds of tributes and taxes from the population they controlled.

Under Halach-Vinik, there was a council of especially noble and influential dignitaries, without whom he did not make important decisions.

Administrative and judicial power in small towns and villages was exercised by the batabs appointed by Halach-Vinik. At the batab there was a city council, consisting of the richest and most respected persons. The executing officials were called Holpons. Thanks to them, direct control was carried out on the part of Khalach-vinik and the batabs. The lowest rung in the administrative ladder was occupied by minor officials - tupil, who performed police functions.

By the time the Spaniards arrived, Yucatan was divided between 16 independent small states, each of which had its own territory and ruler. The most powerful among the ruling dynasties were the Shiu dynasties. Kokomov and Kanul. None of these states were able to unite the territory into a single whole. But each ruler tried to carry out such a union under his own auspices. As a result, from 1441 on the peninsula openings of civil war raged, on which numerous civil strife were superimposed. All this significantly weakened the Maya forces in the face of external danger. And yet the Spaniards were unable to conquer Yucatan the first time. For twenty years, the Maya resisted, however, they could not maintain their independence. By the middle of the 16th century, most of their territory had been conquered.

The Maya, as if defying fate, settled for a long time in the inhospitable Central American jungle, building their white-stone cities there. Fifteen centuries before Columbus, they invented an accurate solar calendar and created the only hieroglyphic writing in America, used the concept of zero in mathematics, and confidently predicted solar and lunar eclipses. Already in the first centuries of our era, they achieved amazing perfection in architecture, sculpture and painting.

But the Maya did not know metals, plows, wheeled carts, domestic animals, potter's wheel. In fact, based on their tool kit, they were still Stone Age people. The origin of the May culture is shrouded in mystery. The emergence of the first Mayan civilization dates back to the turn of our era and is associated with the forested plains in southern Mexico and northern Guatemala. For many centuries, populous states and cities have existed here. But in the IX-X centuries. the heyday ended with a sudden and violent disaster.

The cities in the south of the country were abandoned, the population fell sharply, and soon tropical vegetation covered the monuments of former greatness with its green carpet. After the X century. the development of the Mayan culture, although already somewhat changed by the influence of foreign conquerors - the Toltecs, who came from central Mexico and from the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, continued in the north - on the Yucatan Peninsula - and in the south - in the mountains of Guatemala. In the XVI century. The Maya Indians occupied a vast and varied natural area, including the modern Mexican states of Tabasco, Chiapas, Campeche, Yucatan and Quintana Rio, as well as all of Guatemala, Belize, western regions of El Salvador and Honduras.

Currently, most scientists identify three large cultural and geographical areas or zones within this territory: North (Yucatan Peninsula), Central (North Guatemala, Belize, Tabasco and Chiapas in Mexico) and South (mountainous Guatemala).

The beginning of the classical period in low-lying forest areas was marked by the emergence of such new cultural features as hieroglyphic writing (inscriptions on reliefs, steles), calendar dates according to the Mayan era (the so-called Long Count - the number of years that have passed from the mythical date 3113 BC) .), monumental stone architecture with a stepped "false" vault, the cult of early steles and altars, a specific style of ceramics and terracotta figurines, original wall paintings.

Architecture in the central part of any major Mayan city in the 1st millennium BC represented by pyramidal hills and platforms of various sizes and heights. Inside, they are usually constructed from a mixture of earth and rubble, and faced on the outside with slabs of hewn stone, fastened with lime mortar. On their flat tops there are stone buildings: small buildings of one or three rooms on high tower-like pyramids - the bases (the height of some of these pyramids - towers, such as in Tikal, has reached 60 m). These are probably temples. And the long multi-room ensembles on low platforms framing the inner open courtyards are most likely residences of the nobility or palaces, since the floors of these buildings are usually made in the form of a stepped vault, their walls are very massive, and the interiors are relatively narrow and small in size. Narrow doorways served as the only source of light in the rooms, so coolness and twilight reign inside the surviving temples and palaces. At the end of the classical period, the Maya developed ritual ball playgrounds - the third type of main monumental buildings in local cities. The main planning unit in Mayan cities was rectangular cobbled squares surrounded by monumental buildings. Very often, the most important ritual and administrative buildings were located on natural or artificially created elevations - "acropolis" (Piedras Negras, Copan, Tikal).

Ordinary dwellings were built of wood and clay under roofs of dry palm leaves and were probably similar to the Mayan huts of the 16th-20th centuries described by historians and ethnographers. In the classical period, as well as later, all residential buildings stood on low (1-1.5 m.) Platforms, faced with stone. A detached house is a rare phenomenon among the Maya. Typically, residential and utility rooms form groups of 2-5 buildings located around an open courtyard (patio) of a rectangular shape. This is the seat of a large patriarchal family. Residential “patio groups” tend to cluster into larger units — like a city “block” or part of it.

In the VI-IX centuries. Maya achieved the greatest success in the development of various types of non-applied art, and above all in monumental sculpture and painting. The sculptural schools of Palenque, Copaca, Yaxchilana, Piedras-Negras achieve at this time a special subtlety of modeling, harmony of composition and naturalness in the transfer of the depicted characters (rulers, priests, dignitaries, warriors, servants and prisoners). The famous Bonampak frescoes (Chiapas, Mexico) dating back to the 8th century. AD, represent a historical narrative: complex rituals and ceremonies, scenes of raids on foreign villages, sacrifices of prisoners, festivities, dances and processions of dignitaries and nobles.

Thanks to the works of American (T. Proskuryakov, D. Kelly, G. Bernin, J. Kubler and others) and Soviet (Yu.V. Knorozov, R.V. Kintalov) researchers it was possible to convincingly prove that the monumental Mayan sculpture of the 1st millennium BC AD - stele, lintels, reliefs and panels (as well as hieroglyphic inscriptions on them) are memorial monuments in honor of the deeds of the May rulers. They tell about the birth, accession to the throne, wars and conquests, dynastic marriages, ritual ceremonies and other important events in the life of the secular rulers of nearly two dozen city-states that existed, according to archaeologists, in the Central Maya region in the 1st millennium AD. eh ..

The purpose of some pyramidal temples in Mayan cities is now defined in a completely different way. If before they were considered sanctuaries of the most important gods of the pantheon, and the pyramid itself was only a high and monolithic stone pedestal for the temple, then recently, under the foundations and in the thickness of a number of such pyramids, it was possible to find magnificent tombs of kings and members of ruling dynasties (the discovery of A. Rus in the Temple Inscriptions, Palenque). Noticeable changes have undergone in recent years about the nature, structure and functions of the large May "centers" of the 1st millennium AD. Extensive research by US archaeologists in Tikal, Tsibilchaltun, Ents, Seibal, Bekan. revealed the presence there of a significant and permanent population, handicraft production, imported products and many other features and signs characteristic of the ancient city in both the Old and New World. Exploring the magnificent burials of the May aristocrats and rulers of the 1st millennium AD, scientists suggested that the images and inscriptions on each earthen vessel describe the death of the May ruler, the long journey of his soul through the terrible labyrinths of the kingdom of the dead, overcoming various obstacles and the subsequent resurrection of the ruler. who eventually turned into one of the heavenly gods. In addition, the American scientist Michael Co established that the inscriptions or their individual parts, presented in almost all painted polychrome vases of the 6th-9th centuries. AD, are often repeated, that is, they have a standard character. Deciphering these inscriptions opened up a completely new, previously unknown world - the mythological ideas of the ancient Maya, their concept of life and death, religious beliefs and much more.

Each Mayan city-state was led by Halach-vinikwhich means "real person". It was a hereditary title passed from father to eldest son. In addition, it was called ahav -"Lord", "lord". Khavach-Vinik belonged to the highest administrative power, combined with the highest priestly rank. High chiefs, priests, and advisers formed something like the Council of State. Khavach-vinik appointed, perhaps from his blood relatives, the batabs - the leaders of the villages, who were in relation to him in feudal dependence. The main functions of the batabs were to maintain order in the subordinate villages, and to regularly pay taxes. They could be officials or heads of clans, like the calpulleks of the astecs or the kurak of the Incas. Like those, they were military leaders. But in the event of war, the right of command was exercised by Nakhon. There were also less important positions, among which holpop - "head of the mat". There was also a whole priestly clergy, but the most common name for a priest is ah kin.

The Akh kin kept the highly developed science of the Maya - the great-great-grandfather's astronomical knowledge about the movement of the stars, the Sun, the Moon, Venus and Mars. They could predict solar and lunar eclipses. Therefore, the power of the priests over collective beliefs was considered absolute and supreme, sometimes pushing aside even the power of the hereditary nobility.

At the base of the social pyramid were the masses of the community members. They lived far from urban centers, in small settlements, sowing maize to support their families and nobility. It was they who created ceremonial centers, pyramids with temples, palaces, ball stadiums, cobbled roads and other structures. They mined huge blocks of stone for the construction of those monuments that amaze archaeologists and delight tourists. They were woodcarvers, sculptors, porters who performed the functions of beasts of burden that did not exist in Mesoamerica. In addition to performing such work, the people paid tribute to havach-vinik, presented gifts to local ahavs, sacrificed to the god maize, beans, cocoa, tobacco, cotton, fabrics, poultry, salt, dried fish, wild boars, honey, wax, jade, corals and shells. When the Spaniards conquered Yucatan, the population was called macehualoob, a term undoubtedly of Nahua Mayan education.

The Maya land was considered public property and was cultivated jointly, although there were private allotments belonging to the nobility. The Bishop of Yucatan Diego de Landa wrote: "In addition to their own plots, the entire people cultivated the fields of their master and collected a sufficient amount both for themselves and for his house."

This remark about the Maya produced relationship sheds light on two important points. First, it becomes clear that the macehualob were obliged to cultivate the land intended for the maintenance of the priestly aristocracy. In this "general slavery" the whole community was enslaved by the agents of the state, in contrast to what happened during slavery, when slaves belonged to a specific owner. The despotism of such a system is obvious. Secondly, as A. Rus noted, it is impossible not to notice that, whatever slavery and despotism were, they carried a certain positive principle: the cultivator of the land - at least for the Achav or the ruler - Masekhual took a part that provided him and his family ... This means that neither he nor his family members experienced hunger, from which the Indians have been constantly suffering for almost five centuries.

Morley suggested that the Maya had another social category - slaves - pentacob. Their exploitation was different than under "general slavery." A community member could become a slave in the following cases: by being born from a slave; being captured in the war; being sold on the market. But no matter how the social groups of slaves and declassed members of society were called, their position was very close to the position of similar categories in other Mexican societies or the Yanacunas in Tahuantinsuyu.

The economy of the society was based on agriculture. It is generally accepted that maize made up 65% of the Mayan diet. It was cultivated using a slash-and-burn system with all the ensuing consequences: soil depletion, a decrease in yield, a forced change of plots. However, the diet was replenished with beans, pumpkin, tomatoes, himaka, camote, and for dessert - tobacco and numerous fruits. Nevertheless, individual researchers question the predominance of maize in Mayan agriculture: it is possible that there were areas where maize was not cultivated, and the population was completely satisfied with tuberous plants or the gifts of the sea, rivers and lakes.

Some speculation is also suggested by the fact that almost all archaeological centers have found the presence of "ramon" - a plant superior to maize both in nutritional properties and in yield. In addition, its cultivation did not require much effort. Some researchers believe that this was the substitute for maize during crop failures.

Be that as it may, the Maya knew how to get the highest return from the earth. Terraces in mountainous zones and canals in river valleys, which increased irrigated areas, also helped in this. The length of one of these, which brought water from the Champoton River to Etzna, a city in the west of Yucatan, reached 30 km. The Maya were not vegetarians: they ate turkey meat and meat from specially raised dogs. They liked bee honey. Hunting was also a source of meat products, which were seasoned with pepper and salt during meals. Peppers were grown in vegetable gardens, and salt was mined in special salt mines.

Crafts and trade were an important part of the economy. The craft apparently flourished - balls for ritual play, paper for drawing books or codes, cotton codes and ropes, Heneken fibers, and much more were made. Trade, like that of the Aztec post office, was a very important sector of the economy. On the territory of the present state of Tabasco, exchange trade was traditionally carried out between the more northern Aztecs and the Mayans. They exchanged salt, wax, honey, clothing, cotton, cocoa, and jade jewelry. Cocoa beans and shells were used as "exchange coins". The city-states were connected by dirt roads, trails, and sometimes paved highways, such as the one that stretched 100 km between Yashhun (near Chichen Itza) and Koba on the east coast. Rivers, of course, also served as roadblocks, especially for traders.

If such a developed communication system did not exist, Cortes would probably have gotten lost in the dense Peten jungle when he went to punish the rebellious Olida. Bernal Diaz admired more than once, noting the irreplaceable assistance that the Mayan roadmaps provided to the troops of the conquistadors. And even when we get on our journey to the very south of the rest of Mesoamerica, we will find all the same Maya who embarked on their brave wanderings to the most remote corners of the region. Columbus saw all this.

In all of Mesoamerica, there was no people who would have achieved more significant advances in the sciences than the Maya, a people of extraordinary abilities, did. The high level of civilization was determined primarily by astronomy and mathematics. In this area, they really found themselves in pre-Columbian America beyond any competition. Their achievements are incomparable with any others. The Maya surpassed even their European contemporaries in these sciences. Currently, it is known about the existence of at least 18 observatories from the heyday of Pétain. So, Vashaktun occupied an exceptional position and was considered a particularly important center, since the points of the solstice and equinox were determined precisely there. Researcher Blom conducted a series of experiments in the central square of Washaktun. Based on calculations of the exact latitude and longitude of the city, he was able to unravel the fascinating secret of the ancient ensemble of temples and pyramids that surrounded a square, oriented to the cardinal points. The "magic secret" turned out to be the way by which the priests located on the top of the pyramid-observatory, thanks to the temples-landmarks, set with mathematical precision the point of sunrise at the periods of the solstice and equinox.

From the VI or VII century. in accordance with the decisions of the learned Council in Xochicalco, the Maya established a civil year of 365 days. By means of a complex system of calendar correlation, later called an additional series, they brought this year in line with the actual length of the solar year, which, according to modern estimates, is 365.2422 days. This account turned out to be more accurate than the leap year reckoning introduced according to the calendar reform of Pope Gregory XIII after 900 or even 1000 years, in the last quarter of the 16th century.

There are many mysteries in the history of the Maya. The reason for the Mayan cultural decline is another mystery in Mayan history. It should be noted that something similar happened throughout Mesoamerica. There are many theories interpreting the causes of this phenomenon - earthquakes, climatic cataclysms, epidemics of malaria and yellow fever, foreign conquest, intellectual and aesthetic exhaustion, military weakening, administrative disorganization. Morley argued that "the main reason for the decline and disappearance of the Old Empire was the decline of the agricultural system." Blom agreed with this opinion, stating that "the Maya depleted their land, as they used primitive methods of its cultivation, as a result of which the population was forced to go in search of new places to grow their crops." However, archaeologists A.V. Kidder and E. Thompson rejected this "agricultural" version. Moreover, Thompson was ready to admit the version of "cultural extinction", but completely rejected the idea that the population could leave their territories.

Other researchers have put forward the theory of a powerful uprising, which is associated with the broken and overturned Tikal monuments.

Having deeply studied the theory of the decline of the Mayan culture, Roos came to the conclusion: “It is obvious that there were insoluble contradictions between the limited capabilities of the backward agricultural technology and the growing population. They became more and more aggravated as the share of the unproductive population in relation to the farmers increased. The growth in the construction of ceremonial centers, the complication of the ritual, the increase in the number of priests and warriors made it all the more difficult to produce an agricultural product sufficient in quantitative terms for this population.

Despite the deeply rooted belief in the gods and obedience to their representatives on earth, deeply rooted in the minds of the Indians, generations of farmers could not but resist the ever-increasing oppression. It may well be that exploitation reached its limit and became completely unbearable, thereby provoking peasant uprisings against theocracy like Jacquerie in France in the fourteenth century. It is also possible that these events coincided with an increase in influence from outside, especially since the period of extinction of the Mayan culture coincides with the migration of the tribes of the Mexican Highlands. These peoples, in turn, experienced a period of general confusion in connection with the invasion from the north of the barbarian tribes, pushing them to the south. The migrations literally reshuffled the groups of Indians located on the way of the settlers, and produced a real chain reaction that led to the outbreak of the spark of the peasant uprising. "

Aztecs

By the time the Spaniards arrived at the beginning of the 16th century, the so-called Aztec Empire covered a huge territory - about 200 thousand square meters. km - with a population of 5-6 million people. Its borders stretched from northern Mexico to Guatemala and from the Pacific coast to the Gulf of Mexico. The capital of the empire - Tenochtitlan - eventually turned into a huge city, the area of ​​which was about 1200 hectares, and the number of inhabitants, according to various estimates, reached 120-300 thousand people. This island city was connected with the mainland by three large stone roads - dams, and there was a whole flotilla of canoe boats. Like Venice, Tenochtitlan was cut through by a regular network of canals and streets. The core of the city was formed by the ritual - administrative center: the "sacred site" - a 400 m long walled square, inside of which were the main city temples ("Templo Major" - the temple with the sanctuaries of the gods Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc, the temple of Quetzalcoatl), dwellings of priests, schools, playground for a ritual ball game. Nearby were the ensembles of the magnificent palaces of the Aztec rulers - "tlatoani". According to eyewitnesses, the palace of Montezuma (more precisely, Moctezuma) II had up to 300 rooms, had a large garden, a zoo, and baths. Around the center were crowded residential quarters inhabited by merchants, artisans, farmers, officials, and soldiers. The huge Main Market and the smaller quarter bazaars traded in local and transported products and goods. The general impression of the magnificent Aztec capital is well conveyed by the words of an eyewitness and participant in the dramatic events of the conquest - soldier Bercal Diaz del Castillo from the Cortez detachment. Standing on top of a high stepped pyramid, the conquistador gazed in amazement at the strange and dynamic picture of the life of a huge pagan city: “And we saw a huge number of boats, some came with various loads, others ... with various goods ... All the houses of this great city ... were in the water , and from house to house you could only get through suspension bridges or boats. And we saw ... pagan temples and chapels, reminiscent of towers and fortresses, and they all sparkled with white and aroused admiration. " Tenochtitlan was captured by Cortez after a three-month siege and a fierce struggle in 1521. And right on the ruins of the Aztec capital, from the stones of its palaces and temples, the Spaniards built a new city - Mexico City, the rapidly growing center of their colonial possessions in the New World. Over time, the remains of the Aztec buildings were covered with multi-meter strata of modern life. Under these conditions, it is almost impossible to conduct systematic and extensive archaeological research of Aztec antiquities. Only occasionally in the course of excavation in the center of Mexico City are stone sculptures born - the creations of ancient masters. Therefore, the discoveries of the late 70 -80s became a real sensation. XX century during the excavation of the Main Temple of the Aztecs - "Templo Mayor" - in the very center of Mexico City, on Zocalo Square, between the Cathedral and the Presidential Palace. Now the sanctuaries of the gods Huiziopochtli (the god of the sun and war, the head of the Aztec pantheon) and Tlaloc (the god of water and rain, the patron saint of agriculture) have already been opened, the remains of fresco paintings, stone sculpture have been discovered. Particularly noteworthy are a round stone with a diameter of over three meters with a low-relief image of the goddess Koyolshauhka - the sister of Huitzilopochtli, 53 deep pits - hiding places filled with ritual offerings (stone figurines of gods, shells, corals, incense, ceramic vessels, necklaces, skulls of sacrificed people). The newly discovered materials (their total number exceeds several thousand) expanded the existing ideas about material culture, religion, trade, economic and political ties of the Aztecs during the heyday of their state at the end of the 15th-16th centuries.

The Aztecs were in that initial phase of social development when the alien prisoner-slave was not yet fully included in the economic mechanism of the emerging class society, when the benefits and advantages that the labor of slaves could give were not yet fully realized. However, the institution of debt slavery had already emerged, spreading to the local poor; the Aztec slave found his place in the new, developing relations of production, but he retained the right of redemption, which, as you know, the "classic" slave was deprived of. Of course, foreign slaves were also involved in economic activities, but slave labor has not yet become the basis of the foundations of this society.

Such an underestimation of slave labor in a highly developed state class society, apparently, can be explained by the still significant surplus product arising from the use of a plentiful agricultural plant, such as corn, the extremely favorable conditions of the Mexican high plateau for its cultivation and the highest agricultural culture inherited Aztecs from the former inhabitants of Mexico.

The senseless destruction of thousands of captive slaves on the sacrificial altars of Aztec temples was made the basis of the cult. Human sacrifice has become the central event of any holiday. Sacrifices were made almost daily. One person was sacrificed with solemn honors. So, every year from among the prisoners, the most beautiful young man was chosen, who was destined to enjoy all the benefits and privileges of the god of war Tezcatlipoca for a year, so that after this period he would be on the sacrificial altar stone. But there were also such "holidays" when the priests sent hundreds, and according to some sources, thousands of prisoners to another world. True, it is difficult to believe in the reliability of such statements, belonging to eyewitnesses of the conquest, but the dark and cruel, uncompromising religion of the Aztecs with mass human sacrifices knew no limits in its zealous service to the ruling caste aristocracy.

It is not surprising that the entire non-Aztec population of Mexico was a potential ally of any enemy of the Aztecs. The Spaniards took this situation into account. They saved their cruelties until the final defeat of the Aztecs and the capture of Tenochtitlan.

Finally, the Aztec religion presented another "gift" to the Spanish conquerors. The Aztecs not only worshiped the Feathered Serpent as one of the main inhabitants of the pantheon of their gods, but also well remembered the story of his exile.

The priests, striving to keep the people in fear and submissive obedience, constantly reminded of the return of Quetzalcoatl. They convinced the people that the offended deity, who had gone to the east, from the east, would return to punish everyone and everything. Moreover, the legend said that Quetzalcoatl was white-faced and bearded, while the Indians were beardless, beardless and dark!

The Spaniards who came to America conquered the continent.

Perhaps, in history there is hardly any other similar example, when it was religion that turned out to be the decisive factor in the defeat and complete destruction of those to whom it was supposed to serve faithfully.

White-faced Spaniards with beards came from the East.

Oddly enough, he was the first, and at the same time unconditionally, to believe that the Spaniards are the descendants of the legendary deity Quetzalcoatl, none other than the all-powerful ruler of Tenochtitlan Moctezum, who enjoyed unlimited power. Fear of the divine origin of foreigners paralyzed his ability to resist, and the entire hitherto mighty country, along with a magnificent war machine, was at the feet of the conquerors. The Aztecs should immediately remove their ruler distraught with fear, but the same religion, which inspired the inviolability of the existing order, prevented this. When reason finally conquered religious prejudice, it was too late.

As a result, the giant empire was wiped off the face of the earth, the Aztec civilization ceased to exist.

The Aztecs belonged to the last wave of Indian tribes who migrated from the more northern regions of the American continent to the Valley of Mexico. The culture of these tribes at first did not have any pronounced features, but gradually they crystallized into a single solid whole - the Aztec civilization.

Initially, the tribes lived separately in their village and satisfied their living needs by cultivating the land. As far as possible, these resources were supplemented by tribute to the conquered peoples. The tribe was headed by a hereditary leader, who simultaneously performed priestly functions. Religious beliefs were characterized by a complex polytheistic system based on the worship of nature, with the emphasis on the worship of one or more gods in special cults.

Tenochki were one of these tribes that settled in the Mexican Lakes region. Around 1325, they founded the city of Tenochtitlan (Mexico City), which later became the capital of the most powerful state in Mexico. Initially, the tenochki fell into dependence on the city of Kuluakan. It was a significant city-state that played an important role in the Mexico City Valley. Another major center of this time was the city of Texcoco, located on the eastern shores of the Mexican Lakes. About seventy cities paid tribute to its ruler Kinatsin (1298-1357). His successor Techotlal managed to combine all the dialects of the Valley of Mexico City into one Aztec language.

In the middle of the XIV century, the Tepanec tribes, headed by the ruler of Tesosomok, occupied a dominant position in the valley of Mexico City. The capital of the Tepanecs becomes the city of Azzapotzalco. In 1427 Tesosomoku was succeeded by his son Mashtl. He tried to increase the dependence of the conquered tribes on the Tepanecs and even interfered in the internal affairs of his allies. The Indians collected tribute from the conquered tribes, but they did not know how to force other tribes to pay tribute without declaring a new war and undertaking new campaigns. Machtla's policy led to the unification of a number of cities subordinate to them. Tenochtitlan, Tlacopan and Texcoco formed an alliance, rebelled and overthrew the Tepanec rule. Mashtla was killed, his city was burned, and his people, contrary to the customs of that time, were annexed to the allied tribes. The land was distributed to the warriors who distinguished themselves during the war. This circumstance marked the beginning of the formation of a rich and influential military stratum in Aztec society.

The Aztec state was a fragile territorial entity, similar to the many territorial kingdoms of antiquity. The nature of its economy was polymorphic, but it was based on intensive irrigated agriculture. The set of crops cultivated by the Aztecs was typical of the Mexico Valley. These are corn, zucchini, pumpkin, green and red peppers, many types of legumes and cotton. Tobacco was also grown, which the Aztecs smoked mostly in hollow reed stalks, like cigarettes. They loved the Aztecs and chocolate made from cocoa beans. The latter also served as a medium of exchange.

The Aztecs transformed large areas of barren swamps, which were flooded during the rainy season, into areas covered with a network of canals and fields, using a system of chinamps ("floating gardens").

The Aztecs had few pets. They had several breeds of dogs, one of which was used for food. The most common poultry is turkeys, possibly geese, duck and quail.

Handicrafts played a significant role in the Aztec economy, especially pottery, weaving, as well as the processing of stone and wood. There were few metal items. Some, such as the finely forged sickle-shaped copper knives, served as a medium of exchange along with the cocoa beans. Gold was used by the Aztecs only for making jewelry, and silver was probably of great value. The most important among the Aztecs was jade and stones that resemble it in color and structure.

The only type of exchange among the Aztecs was exchange trade. The medium of exchange was cocoa beans, nibs filled with golden sand, pieces of cotton cloth (kuachtli) and the copper knives mentioned above. Due to the high costs of human labor for transportation in the Aztec state, it was reasonable to bring the places of production of goods and products as close as possible to the places of their consumption. Therefore, the population of the cities turned out to be extremely variegated both professionally and socially, and many artisans worked for a significant part of the time in the fields and vegetable gardens. Over long distances it was profitable to move only the most expensive or the lightest in weight and small in volume products - for example, fabrics or obsidian; on the other hand, the local exchange was unusually lively.

Each village, at regular intervals, arranged a bazaar that attracted people from the most remote places. There was a daily market in the capital. The entire system of tributary obligations that the Aztecs imposed on the defeated provinces was determined by the possibility of organizing the delivery of certain categories of handicraft products to the capital from afar, while it was clearly impracticable to arrange the same long-distance transportation of food. The state authorities sold fabrics and other light products coming from the provinces, therefore, at a low price to the inhabitants of the metropolitan area. The same had to pay with agricultural products, thus proving to be interested in expanding its production and marketing. Trade thus flourished, and anything could be bought in the marketplace of the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan.

In the social structure of Aztec society, the following five groups were distinguished: warriors, priests, merchants, commoners, slaves. The first three estates constituted the privileged classes of society, the fourth and fifth groups - its exploited part. The estates were not homogeneous. There was a certain hierarchy within them, determined by the size of property and social status. All classes were clearly divided, and this could be determined even by their clothes. According to one of the laws introduced by Montezuma I, each class had to wear its own type of clothing. This also applied to slaves.

The military nobility played a decisive role in Aztec society. The title tekutli ("noble") was usually given to people who held important government and military posts. Most of the civilian ranks were actually the same military. The most noble ones who distinguished themselves in the battle of the war formed a kind of "order", a special alliance of "Eagles" or "Jaguars". The nobility received natural allowance and land plots from the Tlatoani. No one except nobles and leaders could build a house with two floors on pain of death. There was a difference in punishment for offenses for a noble person and a commoner. Moreover, the class norms were often more cruel. So, if a person who was in enemy captivity was of "low origin", then he was not threatened with expulsion from the community and family, while the "noble" was killed by the compatriots themselves, relatives. This reflected the desire to preserve the strength of their position at the top of society.

Initially, in Aztec society, a man could achieve a high position through personal activity and his children could use his elevation for their own device. However, they could only take the position of a father thanks to equal services to the tribe. At the same time, the Tlatoani, when choosing applicants for the vacant position, and therefore for all the privileges inherent in it, more often gave preference to the son of the one who held this position earlier. This practice contributed to the transformation of the nobility into a closed class. To this can be added the principle of division of land in the newly conquered territory. Most of the Tlatoani and his commander-in-chief received, followed by the rest of the distinguished wars from among the nobility. Simple wars did not receive land, except for a few units of the "bravest". All this led to the emergence of a special agricultural nobility in Aztec society.

The priesthood was also among the privileged estates of Aztec society. The conquerors-Aztecs were extremely interested in strengthening the religion, because it, preaching war as the highest valor, and the Aztecs as its most worthy bearers, provided an ideological basis for the policy of conquest, which they carried out throughout their independent history. The priests were in the forefront during military campaigns. They were the first to meet the soldiers returning home at the gates of the capital.

The temples increased their wealth through gifts and voluntary donations. It could be a donation of land or part of a tribute to the nobility and Tlatoani. The donation of the population could be for a variety of reasons: fortune-telling, prediction, donations for the sake of the success of their activities. The temples also had their own handicraft production. All income went to the maintenance of the priesthood and the conduct of numerous religious rites.

The life of the priesthood was regulated by certain norms. The priest, guilty of the connection with the woman, was secretly beaten with sticks, property was taken away, and the house was destroyed. They also killed all those who were involved in this crime. If the priest had unnatural inclinations, then he was burned alive.

Since trade played an important role in the Aztec state and the ruling elite was interested in its development, rich merchants also occupied a privileged position. This class also includes wealthy artisans, who often combined craft with trade in their own products.

Nobles, as well as wealthy merchants or artisans, could not and did not engage in agriculture. It was the lot of the community members and, less often, of special categories of slaves.

The lowest social step in the hierarchy of Aztec society was occupied by slaves. The sources of slavery among the Aztecs were varied. Selling into slavery for theft was practiced. Debt slavery was common. Betrayal in relation to the state or one's immediate master was also punished involuntarily. However, the most characteristic of the ancient Aztec society was patriarchal slavery. Parents could sell their "careless" children into slavery. This happened more often in lean years, when there was a wide slave trade.

The slave trade in the Aztec state was widespread. Merchants usually acted as intermediaries here. The largest slave trade markets were located in two cities - Atskapotsalco and Isokan. Slaves were exchanged for a variety of things - fabrics, capes, precious feathers, etc. The cost of a slave fluctuated according to his merits, but his usual price was 20 capes. Slaves were sold not only to nearby areas, but also to foreign lands.

The use of slave labor was common. Slaves performed a wide variety of work in their master's house: dragging heavy loads, cultivating crops, harvesting crops in the fields. Often the slave owner used the slave not only in his own household, but also designated him as a kind of hiring, for a quitrent, for example, as a porter for merchant caravans. Everything earned in this case went to the master-slave owner. Slave labor was widely used in the implementation of large construction projects: the construction of temples, bridges, dams. Thus, the labor of slaves was diverse and was a direct product of the economic activity of the state.

The degree of dependence on the slave owner was different, as a result of which there were various categories of slaves: from those in full power of the slave owner, to those groups that owned the land, had families.

The Aztec state consisted of about 500 cities and other settlements, divided into 38 administrative units headed by local rulers or specially sent administrators. To collect tribute, monitor the tsarist lands and service allotments, there were special officials - kalpish, appointed from the military class. There was also local legal proceedings. Local courts considered only minor crimes, or the evidence of which is easily proven. The bulk of the cases of ordinary citizens were decided by these courts.

There was a special staff of "scribes" to record cases in various institutes. In most cases, the notes were made using pictography, however, sometimes May hieroglyphic writing was also used.

Along with customary law, legal norms appear that stand outside the boundaries of customary law and reflect the era of early class relations. First of all, this is the protection of property rights. In Aztec society, unlawful seizure of other people's property, encroachment on property was considered a crime and entailed punishment. Violation of property rights was punished very severely. So, for robbery on the roads, the culprit was publicly stoned. For theft on the market, the thief was publicly beaten (with sticks or stones) right at the scene of the crime by special servants. The one who seized the spoils of war of another was also severely punished.

The most important object of law was the land. Here there was a significant influence of community relations. Private-land relations were just beginning to take shape. This is reflected in the relevant regulations. For example, if someone illegally sold someone else's land or mortgaged it, then as a punishment he was turned into a slave. But if he moved the boundaries, then he was punished with death.

Diverse interpersonal relationships in Aztec society governed marital and family norms. Their most characteristic feature was the unlimited power of father and husband. The basis of the family was marriage, the procedure for the conclusion of which was equally a religious and legal act. It was built, as a rule, on the principle of monogamy, but polygamy was also allowed for the wealthy. There were two types of inheritance - by law and by will. Only sons inherited. The payment for adultery was death in various ways. Blood relatives were punished with death for intimate relationships: the perpetrators were hanged. However, levirate marriages were allowed. Drunkenness was severely punished. Only people who have reached fifty could consume intoxicating drinks, and a strictly defined amount. Young people convicted of drunkenness were punished at school, sometimes beaten to death.

The culture of the Aztecs absorbed the rich traditions of the peoples living in the territory of Central Mexico, mainly the Toltecs, Mixtecs and others. The Aztecs had developed medicine and astronomy, there were rudiments of writing. Their art flourished in the 14th and early 16th centuries. The main monumental structures were tetrahedral stone pyramids with a temple or palace on a truncated top (the pyramid at Tenayuk, north of Mexico City). The houses of the nobility were built from adobes and were faced with stone or plastered; the premises were located around the courtyard. The walls of religious buildings were decorated with reliefs, paintings, patterned masonry.

The cities had a correct layout, partly related to the division of land between clans into rectangular areas. The central square served as a place of public gatherings. In Tenochtitlan, instead of streets, there were canals with pedestrian paths on the sides - the city was built on an island in the middle of Lake Texcoco and connected to the coast by numerous dams and bridges. Drinking water was supplied through aqueducts. Most of all, the deities of wind, rain and crops associated with agriculture, as well as the god of war, were revered. The ritual of human sacrifices to the god Huitzilopochtli was widespread among the Aztecs.

Monumental cult sculpture - statues of deities, ornamented altars - amazes with its grandeur and weight (statue of the goddess Coatlicue 2.5 m high). The so-called "Stone of the Sun" is famous. Realistic stone sculptural images of heads are world famous: "Warrior-Eagle", "Head of the Dead", "Sad Indian". Small stone or ceramic figurines of slaves, children, animals or insects are especially expressive. On a number of architectural monuments, the remains of wall paintings with images of deities or marching warriors have been preserved. The Aztecs skillfully made feather ornaments, polychrome ceramics, stone and shell mosaics, obsidian vases, and the finest jewelry.

The rich and distinctive culture of the Aztecs was destroyed by the Spanish conquest of 1519-21.

Stone of the Sun (Piedra del Sol). The Aztec Calendar, a 15th century Aztec sculpture, is a basalt disc (diameter 3.66 m, weight 24 tons) with carvings representing years and days. The face of the sun god Tonatiu is depicted in the central part of the disc. In the Stone of the Sun, they found a symbolic sculptural embodiment of the Aztec idea of ​​time. The Stone of the Sun was found in 1790 in Mexico City, and is now kept in the Museum of Anthropology.

The Aztec calendar (calendario azteca) - the Aztec chronology system, had features similar to the Mayan calendar. The basis of the Aztec calendar was a 52-year cycle - a combination of a 260-day ritual sequence (the so-called sacred period or tonalpooalli), which consisted of a combination of weekly (13 days) and monthly (20 days, designated by hieroglyphs and numbers) cycles, with solar or 365- day year (18-20 day months and 5 so-called unlucky days). The Aztec calendar was closely associated with a religious cult. Each week, days of the month, hours of the day and night were dedicated to different deities.

The ritual meaning was the "new fire" rite, which takes place after 52-year cycles.

Pictographic writing with elements of hieroglyphics, which was used by the Aztecs, has been known since the 14th century. The material for writing was leather or paper strips folded in the form of a screen.

There was no definite system for the arrangement of the pictograms: they could follow both horizontally and vertically, and by the bustrofedon method.

CONCLUSION

The peoples of pre-Columbian America went through three stages in their development: the primitive, created by the Indian tribes that were in the early stages of the development of human society; a higher level, which is characterized by a combination of early class and primitive elements, and the stage of highly developed class civilizations.

Primitive society took place throughout America. The life of the tribes was quite typical for primitive man. The worldview was also typical: the world and way of life were illuminated by myths, and nature was inhabited by spirits and supernatural forces.

But a high level of civilization was still characteristic of the peoples living in Mesoamerica and in the Central Andes zone.

Meso-American civilizations appear almost simultaneously, around the turn of our era, emerging on the basis of previous local cultures of the archaic period and reaching their peak in the Aztec state, which, however, did not manage to overcome the border of the territorial kingdom.

The ancient civilizations of America are very close in character to the most ancient centers of high cultures of the Old World (Mesopotamia, Egypt, India), although they are separated by a huge chronological period of three to four millennia. This similarity is also expressed in motifs of fine art that are similar in subject matter and artistic form, performing a similar function: glorifying the power of the king, affirming its divine origin and educating the population in a spirit of unquestioning obedience to it.

At the same time, despite the general patterns of development, characteristic features, ideological basis, value system with a strong emphasis on spirituality, radically differed from the philosophy of the Christian world. America's great civilizations collapsed under the onslaught of the Europeans.

The ancient civilization of America remains a storehouse of knowledge for all areas of the scientific world. Ethnographers find for themselves a lot of little or not studied at all tribes and peoples living in remote areas of the Amazon River basin. Historians and archaeologists, through archaeological finds and other evidence, are discovering for themselves and for the world unknown episodes in the history of the ancient world of America. Evidence of this is the fact of the attention of scientists and the pilgrimage of tourists to the cities of Machu Picchu and Cuzco, the ancient capital of the Inca empire.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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It is very extensive and, as a result, has a different name for the tribes of Indians living in open lands. There are many of them, although European sailors used only one term for the indigenous people of America - the Indians.

The Columbus fallacy and aftermath

Over time, the mistake became clear: the fact that the indigenous people are the aborigines of America. Until the beginning of European colonization in the 15th century, residents arrived at various stages of the communal-clan system. Some tribes were dominated by the paternal clan, while others were dominated by matriarchy.

The level of development primarily depended on location and climatic conditions. In the process that followed, the countries of Europe used only the common name of the tribes of the Indians for a whole group of culturally related tribes. Below we will consider in detail some of them.

Specialization and life of American Indians

It is quite remarkable that the American Indians made various pottery. This tradition originated long before contact with Europeans. Several technologies were used in manual work.

Methods were used such as sculpting on the frame and shape, molding with a spatula, molding from clay cord, and even sculptural modeling. A distinctive feature of the Indians was the manufacture of masks, clay figurines and ritual objects.

The names of the tribes of the Indians are quite different, because they spoke different languages ​​and had practically no writing. There are many peoples in America. Let's take a look at the most famous ones.

Names of Indian tribes and their role in American history

We take a look at some of the most famous Hurons, Iroquois, Apaches, Mohicans, Incas, Mayans, and Aztecs. Some of them were of a rather low level of development, while others impressed with a highly developed society, the level of which cannot be defined simply by the word "tribe" with such a vast knowledge and architecture.

The Aztecs retained old traditions before the Spanish conquest. Their number was about 60 thousand. The main occupations were hunting and fishing. In addition, the tribe was divided into several clans with officials. Tribute was withdrawn from the subordinate cities.

The Aztecs were distinguished by the fact that they had a fairly rigid centralized control and a hierarchical structure. The emperor and priests stood at the highest level, and slaves at the lowest. The Aztecs also used the death penalty and human sacrifice.

Highly developed Inca society

The most mysterious Inca tribe belonged to the largest ancient civilization. The tribe lived at an altitude of 4.5 thousand meters in Colombia. This ancient state has existed since XI to XVI centuries AD.

It included the entire territory of the states of Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador. As well as parts of modern Argentina, Colombia and Chile, despite the fact that in 1533 the empire had already lost most of its territories. Until 1572, the clan was able to withstand the attacks of the conquistadors, who were very interested in new lands.

The Inca society was dominated by agriculture with terraced farming. It was a fairly highly developed society that used sewerage and created an irrigation system.

Today, many historians are interested in the question of why and where such a highly developed tribe disappeared.

"Legacy" from the American Indian tribes

Undoubtedly, it is clear that the American Indians have made a significant contribution to the development of world civilization. The Europeans borrowed the cultivation and cultivation of corn and sunflower, as well as some vegetable crops: potatoes, tomatoes, peppers. In addition, legumes, cocoa and tobacco were imported. We got all this from the Indians.

It was these cultures that helped at the time to reduce hunger in Eurasia. Later, corn became an irreplaceable fodder base for animal husbandry. We owe many of the dishes on our table to the Indians and Columbus, who brought the "curiosities" of that time to Europe.

A little more than ten years ago, on October 12, 1992, one of the most significant dates in the history of mankind was celebrated on planet Earth - the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America. There are many hypotheses about when in the Western Hemisphere, in the Americas, on numerous islands, a man appeared and when people came to the American continent. For the fifth century (since the 16th century), scholars have been debating this issue. In numerous studies on this topic, among the first inhabitants of America, they name the emigrants from the Canary Islands, Phoenicians and Carthaginians, ancient Greeks and Romans, Jews, Spaniards, Egyptians and Babylonians, Chinese and even Tatars and Scythians.

Science developed, and as new discoveries accumulated knowledge, there was a selection of hypotheses. Today there is no longer any doubt that the part of the world, designated on the world map as America, was inhabited by immigrants from other continents. However, with which ones - it has not been finally decided. Nevertheless, scientists were able to identify many common features inherent in all Indians, bringing them closer to the Mongoloid peoples of Asia. The appearance of the original inhabitants of America at the time of their first encounters with Europeans was as follows: a stocky figure, short legs, medium-sized feet, rather long but with small hands, a high and usually wide forehead, poorly developed brow ridges. The face of the Indian had a large, strongly protruding nose (often, especially in the north, the so-called aquiline), a rather large mouth. The eyes are usually dark brown. Hair is black, straight, thick.

In many of the first European documentary and literary sources, it was indicated that the Indians were red. In fact, this is not true. The skin of representatives of all kinds of Indian tribes is rather yellow-brown. According to modern researchers, the first settlers gave them the name "redskins". It did not arise by chance. The North American Indians once had the custom of rubbing their face and body with red ocher on solemn occasions. Therefore, the Europeans called them red.

Currently, anthropologists distinguish three main groups of Indians - North American, South American and Central American, whose representatives differ among themselves in height, skin color and other characteristics.

Most researchers believe that the settlement of the American continent came from Asia through the Bering Strait. Scientists believe that four great glaciers helped ancient people to overcome the water space. According to this hypothesis, during the glaciation, the Bering Strait froze over and turned into a kind of huge bridge. Asian tribes, who led a nomadic way of life, freely moved along it to the neighboring continent. Based on this, the time of the appearance of man on the American continent has been determined - this happened 10-30 thousand years ago.

By the time the Spanish caravels appeared under the command of Christopher Columbus off the eastern coast of the New World (October 1492), North and South America, including the West Indies, was inhabited by many tribes and nationalities. With the light hand of the famous navigator, who assumed that he had discovered new lands in India, they began to be called Indians. These tribes were at different levels of development. According to most researchers, before the European conquest, the most developed civilizations of the Western Hemisphere were formed in Mesoamerica and the Andes. The term "Mesoamerica" ​​was introduced in the 40s of the XX century by the German scientist Paul Kirgoff. Since then, in archeology, this is the designation for a geographic region that includes Mexico and most of Central America (up to the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica). It was this territory that, at the time of its discovery by the Europeans, was inhabited by many Indian tribes and presented a different picture of the cultures they represented. According to the correct definition of the Czech Americanist Miloslav Stingl, "these cultures were at various stages of the development of a tribal society, and the general laws of evolution inherent in the primitive communal formation manifested themselves here in a multitude of local variants and forms." Among the brightest and most developed civilizations of Ancient America (pre-Columbian period), scientists include such cultures as Olmec, Teotihuacan, Mayan, Toltec and Aztec.

The study of the art of Ancient America and its history is comparatively young. It is a little over a hundred years old. Researchers-Americanists at the present time do not have such a rich material and achievements that are available today in the study of ancient art. They also experience great difficulties due to the fact that in order to support their conclusions obtained as a result of archaeological excavations and discoveries, they do not have such a number of written monuments that are, for example, at the disposal of researchers of the Ancient East. Among the ancient Americans, writing appeared much later and never reached a high level of development. The written monuments of the peoples of Mesoamerica that have come down to us have not yet been sufficiently studied. Therefore, most of the information regarding political history, social structure, mythology, conquests, titles and names of rulers is based only on Indian legends. Many of them were recorded after the Spanish conquest and date back to the first half of the 16th century. It is also important to remember that up to this time, ancient American civilizations developed without any influence from European or Asian centers. Until the 16th century, their development proceeded completely independently.

The art of Ancient America, like any other art, has a number of features and characteristics, inherent only in it. In order to comprehend this originality, a dialectical approach is necessary, taking into account the historical conditions under which the art and culture of the most ancient civilizations of Mesoamerica developed.

Scientists attribute the highest flowering of the culture of the Mayan Indian tribe to the 7th-8th centuries. The Aztec empire reached its apogee by the beginning of the 16th century. Very often in the works of archaeologists and researchers of ancient cultural civilizations, the Mayan Indian peoples (as older in age) are called by analogy "Greeks", and the Aztecs (as they existed later) - the "Romans" of the New World.

The cultural traditions of the Maya Indians had a huge impact on the Yucatan Peninsula, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and Salva Dor, as well as in several states of modern Mexico. The geographic boundaries of this civilization were 325,000 km2 and covered the habitat of several tens, and possibly hundreds of tribes. In general, the tribes inherited a single culture. However, in many respects it had, of course, regional features.

The Maya civilization stood out primarily for its achievements in construction and architecture. Representatives of this nation created exquisite and perfect works of painting and sculpture, had unique masters in stone processing and making ceramics. The Maya had a deep knowledge of astronomy and mathematics. Their greatest achievement is the introduction of such a mathematical concept as "zero". They began to use it hundreds of years earlier than other highly developed civilizations.

The Aztecs appeared in Central Mexico in the second half of the 12th century. Until this time, no historical data has been found about them. There are only a few legends and traditions from which it is known that they called the island Aztlan (Astlan) their homeland. One of the traditional descriptions of the supposed life of ancestors in Aztlan is known, allegedly compiled for the last of the pre-Hispanic rulers of the Aztec state, the famous Montezuma II the Younger, on the basis of ancient manuscripts. According to this source, the ancestral home of Aztlan was located on an island (or represented an island), where there was a large mountain with caves that served as dwellings. From this word denoting the location of the island (Aztlan), the name of the tribe originated - the Aztecs (more precisely, the Astecs). However, science has not yet established the exact geographical position of this island.

In the earliest stages of their existence, the Aztecs were dominated by a nomadic lifestyle, they were mainly engaged in hunting. This left an imprint on their character. By their nature, they were very belligerent. For almost two centuries, the Az-Tecs waged wars of conquest and at the beginning of the XIV century, having conquered many other tribes that lived in Central Mexico, created a powerful empire. Around 1325, the city of Tenochtitlan (modern Mexico City), which they founded, became its capital.

At present, interest in the study of the most ancient Indian civilizations has not faded away. Monuments of architecture, sculpture, jewelry, household items found in places where peoples with an original, unique culture lived several millennia ago, conceal a lot of unsolved. Learning the history of pre-Columbian America, the leading archaeologists and scientists of our time are trying to find an explanation for many of the most important aspects of the life of ancient human communities.

The people who inhabited the territory of Central and South America, shortly before the Spanish conquest of the Mexican lands in 1521. The history of the Aztecs is the history of multiple associations of tribal groups with their own city-states and royal dynasties. The Aztecs also refer to the powerful alliance of the majestic city-states of Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan, cities that established their dominance in what is now Mexico between 1400 and 1521.

The civilization of the Aztecs, the cities of the Indians and their way of life.

City-states and settlements Aztec civilization were erected on the vast mountain plateaus of the Mexican Valley, which today is the capital of Mexico. These are fertile lands with a total area of ​​6.5 thousand square meters. km, - land stretching for about 50 km in length and width. "Valley of Mexico" lies at an altitude of 2500 meters above sea level and is surrounded on all sides by volcanic mountains with a height of 5000 meters.

The Aztec civilization came to these lands because of Lake Texcoco, which is capable of supplying thousands of people with fresh water and food. The lake was fed by streams and mountain drains, periodically overflowing the edges, and overflowing for hundreds of meters. However, the lake supplied the local people with drinking water and created a habitat for fish, mammals and birds. The triple alliance of city-states subjugated vast territories from the borders of Guatemala to what is now northern Mexico. The coastal plains of the Gulf of Mexico, the mountain gorges of Oaxaca and Guerrero, the rainforests of Yucatan - all this belonged to the Aztec civilization. Thus, the Indians had at their disposal all kinds of natural resources that were not observed in their original locations.

The languages ​​of the Nahuatl group were dominant in the Aztec civilization. The Nahuatl dialects were adopted as a second language and played the role of an intermediary language in almost all territories of South America during the period of Spanish colonization. The linguistic heritage of the Aztecs is found in multiple place names - Acapulco, Oaxaca. Historians estimate that about 1.5 million people still use the Nahuatl language or variants of it in daily communication. The Aztec civilization spoke Nahuatl languages ​​without exception. The languages ​​of this group have spread from Central America to Canada and include about 30 related dialects. The civilization of the Aztecs, the Indians of this empire, were great experts and lovers of literature. They collected entire libraries of pictographic books with various descriptions of religious rites and ceremonies, historical events, tribute collections, and simple registers. The Aztecs used bark as paper. Unfortunately, most of the books belonging to the ancient Aztecs were destroyed by the Spaniards during the period of the conquest. Nowadays, scientists studying the ancient Aztec people have to work with grains of surviving written information. The first information about the Aztecs was obtained, which is not surprising, during the conquest period.

Five letters, reports, to the king from Cortez contained primary information about the Indians of America... 40 years later, a soldier, a member of one of the expeditions of the Spaniards, Bernal Diaz Castillo, compiled the true history of the Spanish conquest, which described in detail the tenochki and their fraternal peoples. The first information sheets about aspects of the life of the Aztecsand cultures were compiled in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, - all kinds of ethnographic descriptions created by the Aztecnobility, and Spanish monks. The most valuable example of such writing that has survived to this day is the multivolume manuscript "General History of New Spain".

Aztec culture by means of the language was associated with the cultural complex of the Nahua peoples. According to myths and Native American legends, the tribes that later formed the once majestic and powerful empire of the Aztecs came to the Anahuac Valley from the northern lands. The location of the Anahuac Valley is known for certain - this is the territory of the modern capital of Mexico, but it is not known for certain where the Aztecs came to these lands. Researchers constantly put forward their theories about the historical homeland of the Indians, however, they all turn out to be false. According to legends, the ancestors of the Aztecs came from the north, from a place called Aztlan. According to legend, the Indians were led to new lands by the god Huitzilopochtli - “the god of hummingbirds”, “hummingbirds left-handed”.

American Indians settled in the place indicated by the gods themselves - the legend of an eagle sitting on a cactus is well known, about an eagle from the prophecy of the new land of the Aztecs. Today, this legend - an eagle eating a snake - is depicted in the design of the Mexican flag. Thus, according to legends, as early as 1256, the Aztecs found themselves on the lands of the Mexico City Valley, surrounded by rocks and washed by the waters of Lake Texcoco. Before the arrival of the Aztec tribe, the lands of Lake Texcoco were divided among the dominant city-states. The Aztecs, recognizing the power of the ruler of one of the cities, settled on his lands and built their city, their great capital - Tenochtitlan. According to historical records, the city was built in 1325 AD. Today, the former capital of the Aztecs is the historic center of Mexico City. According to legends, the local population took the Aztecs with hostility, they were considered uncivilized and uneducated, and most importantly, unimaginably cruel. However, the Indian tribes who came did not respond to aggression with aggression - they decided to study; and they took all the knowledge they could from their neighbors.

The Aztecs absorbed the Vedas of the surrounding tribes and peoples close to them. The main source of the development of the tribes was the knowledge and experience of the ancient Toltecs, and the Toltec tribes themselves, as teachers. For the entire Aztec people, the Toltecs were the creators of culture. In the language of this people, the word "toltekayotl" was synonymous with the word "culture". Aztec mythology identifies the Toltecs and the Quetzalcoatl cult with the city of Tollan (the modern city of Tula in Mexico). Along with knowledge, the Aztecs also absorbed the traditions of the Toltecs and peoples close to them. Among the traditions were the foundations of religion. These borrowings primarily include the creation myth, which describes four suns, four epochs, each of which ended with the death of life and a universal catastrophe. In the Aztec culture, the current fourth era, the fourth sun, escaped destruction thanks to the self-sacrifice of the supreme god, the god Nanahuatl, which means "covered in wounds."

It is known that the capital of the Aztecs was divided into 4 districts called meikaotl, each of which was headed by an elder. Each district - meykaotl, in turn, was divided into 5 smaller quarters - calpulli. The Kal'pulli of the Aztecs were originally patriarchal families, clans, and the areas that unite them - meykaotl - phratries. Before the arrival of the Spanish conquerors to the lands of the Aztecs, one community lived in the same dwelling, house - a large patriarchal family for several generations - the Sencalli. The land belonging to the tribe was divided into sectors, which were looked after by separate home communities of the Aztecs - the Senkalli. In addition, at each more or less large settlement there were lands allocated for the needs of priests, rulers and military leaders, the harvest from which went to the maintenance of the corresponding castes of society.

Aztec tribes and features of the development of the empire.

The land plots of the American Indians have always been cultivated jointly - a man and a woman. However, upon marriage, a man received the right to personal use of land. The land plots, as well as the land of the community itself, were inalienable. The life of the Aztecs was built according to certain social canons, violations of which were severely punished. At the head of each quarter of the Aztecs - calpulli, there was a public council, which included only the elected elders of the Aztec tribe. The phratry chiefs and elders involved in the community council were also part of the tribal council - the council of the Aztec chieftain, which included the chief chief of the tribe. A similar social structure was observed in all tribes without exception.

Aztec tribe, the social system of the Indians was divided into castes of free people and slaves. Slaves could be not only prisoners of war, but also debtors who fell into slavery, as well as poor people who sold themselves and their families. The slaves of the Aztec tribe always wore collars. It is not known for certain in which branches of agriculture and other farms of the Aztecs, slave labor was involved; most likely, they were used in the construction of large-scale structures - palaces and temples of the Aztecs, as well as servants, porters and artisans of low professions.

On the lands subjugated to the ancient Indians, the military leaders were given tributaries as trophies for service, the position of which was comparable to the serfs. But not only slaves were artisans; large communities have always had their own artisans from the free people. Thus, in the Aztec empire, in addition to residual communal relations, there was a complete absence of rights to land, coupled with private property, i.e. rights to slaves, agricultural products and crafts. It is obvious that along with private property and lordship relations - master and subordinate, in the Aztec tribes there were also remnants of the primitive communal system characteristic of Europe before our era. Slaves, or among the Indians of America - "tlacotin", constituted an important social caste, different from prisoners of war.

The city of Tenochtitlan was the slave capital. The rules of behavior for slaves, and the slave life itself, was very different from what could be observed in Europe of that era. Slavery among the Aztecs was more like the slavery of the period of classical antiquity. First of all, slavery was personal, not inherited, the children of a slave were free from birth. A slave in the Aztec tribe could have personal property and even personal slaves. Slaves had the right to redeem themselves, or to win their freedom through labor, service. Also, in cases where the slaves were mistreated or the slaves had children in common with the owners, they could protest their slavery and become free people.

American Indians honored tradition. So, in most cases, at the death of the owner, the slaves were inherited as private property. However, the slaves, who distinguished themselves in service and work to the previous owner, were freed. Another feature and property of slavery among the Aztecs: if in the market a slave could, through negligence of his master, run out of the market wall and step on excrement, then he was given the right to appeal against his slavery. In case of victory, the slave was washed, given clean clothes and released. Cases of such emancipation of slaves were met quite regularly among the Indians of America, since a person who prevented a slave from escaping, who helped the owner, was declared a slave instead of a fugitive.

In addition, a slave could not be gifted or sold without his consent, unless the authorities declared the slave disobedient. In general, increased control measures were applied to rebellious slaves, wild Indians; they were forced to wear wooden shackles around their necks and hoops around their arms everywhere. The shackles served not only as a distinctive feature, denouncing the guilt of a slave, but also as a device that complicates the process of escape. Before the resale of such slaves, the new owner was informed how many times he tried to escape and how many times before that he was resold.

A slave who made 4 unsuccessful attempts to escape was, in most cases, given up for sacrificial rituals. In some cases, free Aztecs could become slaves as punishment. A murderer sentenced to death could be given up to slavery in half, or to the widower of the slain. Also, slavery was punishable by unpaid debts, debts of sons, fathers and mothers. Parents had the right to sell a child into slavery only in those cases when the authorities declared the offspring to be a disobedient, wild Indian. A similar fate awaited disobedient students. And the last important distinguishing feature - the Aztecs had the right to sell themselves into slavery.

In some cases, voluntary slaves who were captured Aztec civilization, were awarded a vacation in order to enjoy the price of their free, after which they were transferred into the possession of the owner. A similar fate awaited unsuccessful gamblers, old courtesans and prostitutes. It is also known that some captive slaves were treated like debtors and guilty ones - according to all the rules of slave ownership. In South America, during the dawn of the Aztec empire, sacrifice was widespread and pervasive.

However, the Aztecs practiced them on their own scale, sacrificing both slaves and free people on each of their many calendar holidays. There are known cases, described in the Aztec chronicles, when hundreds, thousands of people were sacrificed every day. So during the construction of the main temple - the great pyramid of the Aztecs in 1487, about 80 thousand prisoners of war and slaves were sacrificed in four days. It is not entirely clear how the city with a population of 120 thousand inhabitants and several tribes of Indians accommodated such a number of captives and slaves, how they were able to be caught, and even more so to execute them, taking into account that Acicotl personally sacrificed to the gods. However, the fact remains. It is also worth noting that the Aztec tribe did not always sacrifice people; animals often played the role of alms to the gods. As you know, for such purposes, the Aztecs specially bred animals, for example, llamas.

There were also donations of things: communities destroyed their most valuable property for the glory of the gods. In addition, individual gods and their cults required special donations: The Cult of Quetzalcoatl, along with human sacrifices, required the sacrifice of hummingbirds and butterflies. Practiced in the Aztec tribes and self-sacrifice. During special ceremonies, people deliberately inflicted injuries on themselves, performed ceremonial bloodletting, put on shackles and clothes with thorns on the back. Blood occupied a dominant position in the religion and ceremonies of the Aztecs. Indeed, in local mythology, the gods more than once shed their blood for the sake of helping humanity. So in the myth of the rebirth of the world - the myth of the fifth sun, the gods sacrificed themselves so that people could live.

The rituals, traditions and the religion itself of the ancient Aztecs prepared people for the highest sacrifice, for the sacrifice of human life. The rite of sacrifice took place according to the canons: the victim's skin was painted blue using chalk; the sacrifice was carried out to the upper square of the temple or pyramid; the victim was laid down, and the sacrifice process began. The heart separated from the body first was always stored in a special stone vessel by the Aztecs. The victim's belly was ripped open with a stone knife - obsidian was not able to open the flesh, and the Indians did not open iron for themselves.

At the end of the ritual, the victim was thrown down the stairs of the temple, where the priests picked it up, and later burned it. The sacrifices of the ancient Indians in most cases were voluntary, with the exception of the sacrifice of prisoners of war. Before the sacrifice ceremony, captured soldiers were treated like slaves, however, without the possibility of pardon and release. There were other types of sacrifice among the ancient Aztecs, for example, torture. The victims were burned, they were shot with arrows, drowned, parts of their bodies were fed to sacred animals. The Aztec tribe was famous for its cruelty. The line between sacrificial torture and torture of captured soldiers and the nobility is difficult to keep track of.