Maya Empire (So Many Differences)

The Maya Empire was a Central American kingdom that existed between 800 BCE and 1220 CE. It is known for its extraordinarily advanced technology for the time, most notably their use of mush-rooms for housing, their extensive knowledge regarding astronomy, algebra, and geometry, their artistic abilities, and their ability to construct dense urban areas with plumbing systems. The Maya Empire became the Republic of the Maya in 1220 after a lengthy civil war, but the republic only flourished for 30 years before drought turned the political situation sour.

The Maya Empire, 800-200 BCE
The Maya Empire began to develop in OTL southern Belize around 800 BCE. The early Mayans had a writing system as early as this, and recorded important events. One of the earliest recorded figures in Mayan history is King Mirado. According to the scriptures, he reigned from 640-602 BCE. He killed his father to ascend to the throne, but the people rioted at his actions and Mirado went into hiding from 636 to 625, ruling the empire from caves and hide-outs in the jungle. When he returned to his palace, he was initially attacked but he showed the people mush-rooms (large fungi used for cheap housing) and solved the problem of homelessness in his kingdom.

The early Mayans had a somewhat simple society. The highest class was that of Kings,doctors, scientists, and priests, which were all the same job at the time. The next in line were the farmers, who were respected for yielding food. After this came potters, weavers, and other craftsmen, and the final caste was that of slaves and city-dwellers without a job. There wasn't coins or bills used as money, instead food was the primary currency.

During this era of Mayan history, pottery, basket-making, and irrigation developed. In terms of medicine, priest/pharmacists experimented all types of plants and potions on subjects, but the test subjects were criminals or slaves, and the early Mayans believed they had a different immune system then "good" or "useful" people.

The First Social Revolution 200-60 BCE
By 200 BCE, the Mayans populated much of OTL Belize, and the people there were densely packed. Beginning with King Ipatac (r. 213-188), Mayan rulers encouraged lower priests to lead settlers to new areas and begin new cities. Local tribes in these areas resisted the invasions, but the Mayans quickly developed an army of archers and axemen to defeat these people. The Kings also granted massive plots of unsettled land to the poor and slaves to develop into farms. With a larger amount of land and hugely increased food production, the Mayan population doubled between 200 and 165 BCE, and again from 165 to 145.

The new generations did not follow the old social structure, especially in newly colonized lands. Here, former slaves and priests alike had to work together to settle the area, and this led to social tolerance. Also, with settlements being further from the King and the central society, different cities developed unique traditions and cultures. Also, religion became less central to Mayan life. Doctors/scientists became a seperate caste than that of the priests.

It was during this period that the massive urban planning systems developed. Mayans invented plumbing systems within their towns. They built residential homes towering 20 stories high. To keep the towns clean, the unemployed were paid to take garbage outside the town and bury it.

By 145, the social aspect of this revolution ended, and the artistic and scientific aspect began. With a surplus of food and jobs a plenty, "recorders" (those who wrote down the history of the empire) began to write fictional plays and poems. By 97, a school in Uaxactun opened where students could discuss philosophy and it was here that the Mayan Standard for Poetry developed (8-line poems with 8,6,8,6,8,4,6,4 syllables). In Tikal, the Triad Theater gradually arose as a center for acting. Here, writers determined that in the plot of a story, there was to be exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution, and determined that there should be two to three stories going on within a play that interconnect by the climax.

Sciences also flourished. In Tikal, a 60-foot tall telescope was built. A number system-complete with zero-was developed and the Mayans quickly discovered addition, subtraction, division, and multiplication, and even concepts such as vertexes and finding the area of three-dimensional objects.

Medicine also advanced well. It became illegal in 112 for kings and priests to punish doctors for expressing their views and for researchign certain medicines. Between 104 and 91, a great doctor known as Greye developed Greye's Anatomy. This text is even today regarded as a knowledgeable book, having accurate information. The book has a complex sketch of the human body, what purpose each organ has, basic steps a doctor should take when operating on a man, the documentation of nearly every plant and potion (brew of plants) in the region had on the human body-from side effects to dosage to possible medical uses; a dictionary of basic illnesses and how to treat them, and most famously the hypocratic oath, the concept that a doctor should not refuse care to any patient. The hypocratic oath paved the way for government funded healthcare for all Mayan citizens by 66.