Mayan Social Divisions
The Mayan social classes were separated into six classes. These six classes were the king and ruling family at the top, priests were second, nobles, warriors were fourth, merchants, farmers, and artisans were fifth and slaves were last. The kings and sometimes priests lived in palaces made with stone. The wealthy classes such as the nobles, warriors and very rarely merchants lived in large houses near the palaces. The poor classes which are the farmers, merchants, and artisans lived in small houses on the outskirts of the town. Kings were chosen with the form, Primogeniture, which was how new kings were chosen. When kings were chosen they must have a human sacrifice offered to them, which was often a prisoner from a war. The sacrifice would take place at a ceremony, which a ritual would inherit the power and position as the new king of the city. Priests were chosen by the system of nepotism. This system is where new members were chosen. Priests had almost as much power as the king did and had many specialized jobs. Farmers had their own plots of land next to their houses. Farmers grew produce and usually had to give the higher classed two-thirds of it. Merchants and artisans either worked for higher classes, or got good money from trading. The class that always had the most people in it were the lower class such as farmers, merchants and artisans. Slaves were captives, poor people that sold themselves, sold in trade or criminals. Slaves were killed if their owners died so that they can keep working for their owners in the afterlife. Kings and men in high classes wore embroidered loincloths, jaguar skin, feathers and sometimes headdress. Women in high classes wore embroidered robe. Men in lower classes such as merchants, farmers, and artisans, wore loincloths and the women made their own woven shirts, dresses, and skirts. The slaves wore tattered clothing.