Maya?Question?

Question:How was the Mayan Ball Game that they played known as?-its name? GIve me the rules of the games and some info about it. THanks:]

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: How was the Mayan Ball Game that they played known as?-its name? GIve me the rules of the games and some info about it. THanks:]

It was called "Pok-A-Tok".
And it wasn't really a game, per se.

It was mainly a theatrical, dramatic ritual re-enactment of the "cosmic drama" of the universe.

The rubber ball symbolized the movement of time through space. The Maya were obsessed with measuring time. They had the most advanced calendar in the world, which they mostly inherited from the Olmec civilization in Mexico.

If you look at the ball courts, they have small viewing areas. That suggests that it was a select crowd attending the "game."

Priests, the King, astronomers, etc probably attended. it wasn't like an NBA game where people watch for entertainment.

It was more like a serious ceremony. There would have been incense buring, musicians playing, priests reading from sacred documents. This was a big deal, not just a couple of guys throwing the ball around in the park.

are you mayan, cause this game is ancient

it was a complex game consisting of a field shaped like a half pipe with two hoops no larger than a basketball rim at the sides of the half pipe, a human head for a ball, and two players who fought for their lives because the loser will recieve the penalty of death. it was a game to celebrate harvest of crops, and a score would signify abundance (IT WAS THAT DIFFICULT TO SCORE). this may be aztec, but w/e

they used severed heads, and it was like basketball sort of.

They called it the Ball Game or just the Game. It had no specific name. The goal of the game was to pass the ball around, without having it touch your hands, and then get the ball to pass through one of the rings. Since the rings were so high and players were not allowed to use their hands, it was extremely difficult to get the ball through a ring. In fact, when a player did manage to get a ball through a ring, that usually ended the game. The game ended otherwise when the ball touched the ground.The winners of the game were treated as heroes and given a great feast. The penalty for losing a game was unusually harsh: death. The leader of the team who lost the game was killed. This fit in with the Mayan belief that human sacrifice was necessary for the continued success of the peoples' agriculture, trade, and overall health. It is like soccer and basket ball mixed together.