Mayan
Encyclopedia
The adjective Mayan is sometimes used to refer to the indigenous peoples of southeastern Mexico
and parts of Central America
, such as Guatemala
; their culture, language, and history. More formally, the use of "Mayan" is restricted to referring to an aspect of their languages; "Maya" is the adjectival form preferred when referring to non-linguistic aspects.
Mayan may also refer to:
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
and parts of Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
, such as Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
; their culture, language, and history. More formally, the use of "Mayan" is restricted to referring to an aspect of their languages; "Maya" is the adjectival form preferred when referring to non-linguistic aspects.
Mayan may also refer to:
- Maya civilizationMaya civilizationThe Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period The Maya is a Mesoamerican...
- dealing with the historical pre-Columbian Maya civilization, culture, history and archaeology - Maya architectureMaya architectureA unique and spectacular style, Maya architecture spans several thousands of years. Often the most dramatic and easily recognizable as Maya are the stepped pyramids from the Terminal Pre-classic period and beyond. Being based on the general Mesoamerican architectural traditions these pyramids...
- Maya religionMaya religionThe traditional Maya religion of western Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, and Mexico is a southeastern variant of Mesoamerican religion. As is the case with many other contemporary Mesoamerican religions, it results from centuries of symbiosis with Roman Catholicism...
- the religious practices of the Maya civilization - Maya mythologyMaya mythologyMayan mythology is part of Mesoamerican mythology and comprises all of the Mayan tales in which personified forces of nature, deities, and the heroes interacting with these play the main roles...
- the myths and legends of the Maya civilization - Maya peoplesMaya peoplesThe Maya people constitute a diverse range of the Native American people of southern Mexico and northern Central America. The overarching term "Maya" is a collective designation to include the peoples of the region who share some degree of cultural and linguistic heritage; however, the term...
- collective designation for the various indigenous peoples of the region, sharing cultural and linguistic heritage - Maya societyMaya societyMaya society shared many features with other Mesoamerican civilizations, for there was a high degree of interaction and cultural diffusion throughout the region. Although aspects such as writing and the calendar did not originate with the Maya, the Maya script and their calendar were among the...
- social constructs and practices of the Maya civilization - Mayan languagesMayan languagesThe Mayan languages form a language family spoken in Mesoamerica and northern Central America. Mayan languages are spoken by at least 6 million indigenous Maya, primarily in Guatemala, Mexico, Belize and Honduras...
- a language family of related languages traditionally spoken by the Maya peoples - Yucatec Maya language - a specific Mayan language, often referred to simply as 'Mayan' (or Maya)
- Maya scriptMaya scriptThe Maya script, also known as Maya glyphs or Maya hieroglyphs, is the writing system of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization of Mesoamerica, presently the only Mesoamerican writing system that has been substantially deciphered...
- the writing system in use by the pre-Columbian Maya civilization
Other meanings
- MaayanMaayanMaayan is an Israeli magazine for poetry, literature, art, and ideas. Its first issue appeared in the fall of 2004.-History:...
- an Israeli poems and art magazine. - Maians – a fictional alien race in the video game, Perfect DarkPerfect DarkPerfect Dark is a first-person shooter video game developed by Rare for the Nintendo 64 video game console. It is considered the spiritual successor to Rare's earlier first-person shooter GoldenEye 007, with which it shares many gameplay features...
- Mayan Records maybe the name of a record company, which is an imprint of Sanctuary RecordsSanctuary RecordsSanctuary Records Group Limited was a record label based in the United Kingdom and a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. Until June 2007, it was the largest independent record label in the UK and the largest independent music management company in the world...
- Mayan (Iran) - a village near TabrizTabrizTabriz is the fourth largest city and one of the historical capitals of Iran and the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. Situated at an altitude of 1,350 meters at the junction of the Quri River and Aji River, it was the second largest city in Iran until the late 1960s, one of its former...
, Iran - Mamuni MayanMamuni MayanMaamuni Mayan is a culture hero character from Tamil Sangam literature , identified with the asura Maya Dānava of the Mahabharata, the mythical founder of Vastu Shastra....
- Dravidian culture hero - Mayan stage - a Cambrian Faunal stage that occurred during the end of the Middle Cambrian.
- Mayans, a fictional biker gang in the TV series Sons of Anarchy
- MaYaNMaYaN (band)MaYaN is a Dutch symphonic death metal band founded by vocalist Mark Jansen, keyboardist Jack Driessen and guitarist Frank Schiphorst. The name of the band was chosen by Jansen out of his fascination for the ancient Maya civilization.-Line-up:...
, a Dutch symphonic metal band