Forum 2.0

Being both powerhouses in trade and industry, the Egyptians and the Mayans are always in the eye of both other ancient nations and modern men and women alike. Despite this however, there are some differences between the two that stand out.

For a start, Mayans were ahead of the Egyptians in terms of rural water treatment, e.g.: dykes, irrigation, etc. They were at the pinnacle of excellence in terms of technology and methodologies with regards to this field and thus they were able to provide clean water for their citizenry to drink and for agriculture. The Egyptians however were more capable in aspects of trade as it is known that they have managed to establish a healthy trade relationship with their Nubian neighbors. Aside from trade with the Nubians, they also had trading agreements with the remnants of the Mesopotamian and Assyrian empire. 

But one distinct similarity that comes into mind between these once great civilizations were their pyramids, architectural feats that they managed to perfect with comparatively primitive tools and techniques. One notable similarity was not with the pyramids themselves but with their supposed alignment with Orion's belt. What could this mean? Cultural Exchange? Many theories exist, but none of them can be confirmed as of now. One theory was that these were used to map the relative position of the earth with regards to the moon and the sun, which was of course an effective tool to predict the seasons. 

Despite these similarities however, a big difference between the two exists. Unlike the Egyptians that used the pyramids to honor their dead royal persons, Mayan pyramids were instead built to honor the gods and were actively used for ceremonies and ritual gatherings. In addition, the Mayan pyramids were not exactly pyramidic but were rather polygonal. Earlier Egyptian step pyramids of the old kingdom however were more similar to their mayan counterparts but were also built for the dead.