Ap World Essay

Rulers and Religious authorities in Africa and the Mesoamericans used art and architecture for similar and different purposes. Unlike in Mesoamerica where the architecture like the Chichen Itza was used to count days in the Mayan Empire, unlike the Axum Obelisks which were used as royal burial chambers. The Mesoamericans and the Africans had very advanced architecture in their towns, like a grid-like system of arrangement, urban centers, and monumental architecture. All of these things were used to accommodate all the people stopping or living in the town. This was most likely because the Axum controlled most of the Red Sea trade routes, so a lot of merchants and sailors stopped in the town, similarly in Teotihuacán where the city had one of the largest populations at the time, occupying more then 125,000 people.
      Africa and South Asia both had had similar artistic and architectural styles; however, the architecture and art was used in different ways. The purpose of the building was the biggest difference. In ancient Africa they used the pyramids and the obelisks as burial tombs for the royal families. Unlike in Mesoamerica, where they used the step pyramids as a platform for rituals like human sacrifices. Where a person would be cut in half and his heart ripped out and offered usually to the sun god. Although a lot of the structures in Mesoamerica where used as record keeping by the Mayan civilization using hieroglyphs, structures in Africa were not used for writing purposes. Even though they did have a language called Geez, it was instead used in courts, towns, and commerce. Unlike the Mayan architecture which left closely untouched by other civilizations, the African architecture was damaged or destroyed when the Europeans started conquering Africa. This made it harder for historians to learn about the African societies, and their culture and civilization.
      Since both the African and Mesoamerican civilizations were very religious it played a role in...