5.+Who+and+what+did+they+believe+in?+why?

=Belief Systems=

Ancient Maya:
Ancient Maya believed the all natural objects like trees and rocks, were inhabited by spirits with invisible powers. They adored a set of gods, who took the form of humans or animals. For example, they believed that the Sun God rose everyday and crossed all the sky, before going down under the earth at night, where he became a jaguar. The earth itself was the back of a giant turtle for them and at its center stood a sacred kapok tree which held up the sky. But Mayan believed that their world, wasn't the first one. Others had existed before but they have been destroyed by floods, as the current world would be at the end of its allotted time.

Here is the Sun God: Ancient Maya were the ones that predicted the end of the world in 2012.

Gods and Goddesses:
The Maya adored many different gods and goddesses. One of the very important ones was Itzamna, which stands for Lizard House. He was supposed to have invented the writing and became the patron of learning, and his wife, Ix Chel (Lady Rainbow), the goddess of weaving and childbirth. The supreme gods and goddesses have several aspects. The Sun God, for example, may have been one aspect of Itzamna.

Rituals:
The rituals of religious ceremonies, including bloodletting and sacrifice, were run by temple priests. Priests also offered food and drinks to idols representing important gods. Festivals were to celebrate the different months,and there was a special celebration on New Year's day. Houses were swept clean and parties were prepared. Dancing was important in Mayans festivities, there were specials kinds of dances for different occasions. Men and woman usually danced separately.

The afterlife:
The Mayans believed that after their dead they went to Xibalba, the underworld. This was divided up into nine levels, ruled by separate gods and contained forms of paradise and hell. Rulers, warriors that were killed in battles, and women who died in childbirth went straight to paradise, where they could rest under a sacred kapok tree. People who had led evil lives, went to the lowest level of the underworld, where they were tormented by evils.

Shamans:
The Maya had great belief in the power of spirits to influence the everyday lives. Their early shamans, or medicine men, had close contact with the spiritual world. it was believed that shamans could carry out evil spirits, cure the sick people, and use their spiritual calendar to predict the best times to plant crops or hunt.

Ancient Egypt:
The Egyptians adored many different gods and goddesses, and sometimes it is difficult to work out who. Many of the gods are represented by animals. For example, a baboon may stand for Thoth, god of knowledge, at one temple, and a moon-god called Khonsu at another temple. In Egyptian religion, the sun-god was the deity, and he could take different forms.

The afterlife:
As the Mayans, the Egyptians though of the existence of an underworld, but they called Duat. Some parts of it were full of dangers like lakes of fire, poisonous snakes, and executioners. Spells were used to prevent this dangers.Many of them were written in coffins, together with a map of the underworld. If you could recite the correct spells, you could pass throught unhurted.

Pharaohs:
Because of the Egyptians beliefs, the pharaohs had a huge amount of power. Although, priests in Ancient Egypt were quite powerful. When te things were going well, the people believed that the pharaoh and the priests were doing good work and when things where going bad, people believed that the pharaoh and the priests were guilty.

Conclusion:
I don't think there's a better religion because, they are only different.

Don't have a Venn Diagram