Cultures Through Time
- jayanthjinnala
- Jul 30, 2025
- 2 min read
If you’re reading this, you probably live in the 21st century, with a culture similar to everyone else’s. School, then job, then family. However, there are many more ways of living than just that. There are many other cultures, and you’ve probably heard of Greek, Norse, and Roman ways of living, but what about the Khmer, or the Mesopotamian, and the Mayans? All of these are important cultures. Let’s look at some of them. The Mayan culture centers around Mexico. It can be dated back to 2000 BCE. The Mayans had a pantheon of gods. Each of them had an ability of nature, and their own responsibilities. The god Ix Cacau is the Mayan god of chocolate. She is also the godess of agriculture and nourishment. Kukulkan is the Mayan god of wisdom and is often credited with giving the Mayans medicine. The Mayans were an advanced culture. They created the calendar and are very intelligent. However, they are not the only civilization known for something.
The Khmer are a civilization that dates back to 802 CE. It was seen in many parts of Asia, but is known to be centralized in India. The Khmer were known for their diversity of religion. They had many different religions spanning from Buddhism to Hinduism. One noticeable thing about their culture is that they had many peaceful religions, even though they are from a culture of war. For example, Hindus celebrate other religions as well, saying, “May good thoughts come to us from many sides.”This means that truth comes from many places. However, the Khmer was an empire of conquering(took a lot of work to get that word right), they would use their armies to take new land. This contrast is what makes them unique. They kept a pacifist religion while having a war-based culture. They are centralized in modern-day Cambodia and Thailand. They were primarily focused on war and had multiple civil wars during their time-span. The Khmer created many prominent and well-known landmarks. One of the more noticeable ones is Angkor Wat. It was a temple based on Hinduism and is still one of the most beautiful. Many people visit it to this day. Mesopotamia is another lesser-known culture. Mesopotamia is not just one culture and civilization, but many of them that span across centuries of time like the Sumerians, and the Babylonians.
Mesopotamia had a similar world view to what we have now, Get a good education and become successful. Back then,that meant having a great farm or market, or becoming a scholar or a priest. They had a polytheistic religion with many gods, with many of those gods having flaws. They believed that most people were flawed and created a religion based on this belief. Most of Mesopotamia was centralized in modern-day Iraq between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The name Mesopotamia comes from the Greek language, meaning between rivers. The Mesopotamian influence reached as far as the Middle East and Egypt. There are many other cultures that litter the world, and every one of them is important and makes up who we are, as humans.
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