Mayan

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Mayan CivilizationMayan civilization is one of the greatest in the world. The earliest phase of Maya civilization
began around 3000 BCE, a time when ancient societies were emerging in Egypt, China, India,
Mesopotamia, and Assyria. Large, complex Maya sites have been dated to 500-200 BCE. The
ancient Maya were living in magnificent cities of stone with soaring pyramids and wide plazas
decorated with intricate carvings as the Roman Empire was fading. The Mayas developed the
most accurate calendars known, mastered astrology and mathematics, and produced exquisite
art on ceramics and murals. Their great Classic society reached its apex as Europe was
plunged into the Dark Ages. Engineering accomplishments spanning over 100 centuries were
not rivaled by modern civilizations until the 19th century. Certain constructions using monolithic
stone blocks, and buildings whose structure accurately mirrors solar, lunar and stellar
phenomena, still remain a mystery.

The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period (c. 2000 BC to 250 AD), according to theMesoamerican chronology, many Maya cities reached their highest state of development during the Classic period (c. 250 AD to 900 AD), and continued throughout the Post-Classic period until thearrival of the Spanish.

The Maya civilization shares many features with other Mesoamerican civilizations due to the high degree of interaction and cultural diffusion that characterized the region. Advances such as writing,epigraphy, and the calendar did not originate with the Maya; however, their civilization fully developed them. Maya influence can be detected from Honduras, Guatemala, Northern El Salvador and to as far as central Mexico, more than 1000 km (625 miles) from the Maya area. Many outside influences are found in Maya art and architecture, which are thought to result from trade and cultural exchange rather than direct external conquest.

The Maya peoples never disappeared, neither at the time of the Classic period decline nor with the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores and the subsequent Spanish colonization of the Americas. Today, the Maya and their descendants form sizable populations throughout the Maya area and maintain a distinctive set of traditions and beliefs that are the result of the merger of pre-Columbian and post-Conquest ideas and cultures. Many Mayan languages continue to be spoken as primary languages today; the Rabinal Achí, a play written in the Achi language, was declared a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2005.

Mayan CalendarThe Maya were specialists in time. They developed over 17 calendars, each with a different
purpose that guided the rhythms of Mayan society. Now we marvel at the precision and
complexity of these calendars, without understanding how they were actually used. The solar
calendar (Haab) calculated the year more accurately than our present one, but was based on
a 360-day tun (year). The sacred calendar (Tzolk’in) used a 20-day count matched with 13
numbers, but was purely numeric. The Long Count gave each day unique numeric and glyph
codes, covering unbelievable time spans, but the Maya stopped using it in the Terminal
Classic period. Only one stela contains glyphs for December 21, 2012, a date that may not be
significant for the Maya. Why?
2012 prophecy is more a product of Western thinking than Mayan tradition. Why?
Find answers here: Mayan Calendar

Maya Fifth SunThe Maya called an era a “sun” but the exact time span is not clear. In the Popul Vuh, the book
of Mayan creation mythology, there were 3 unsuccessful attempts at creating humans, and the
gods were successful on the 4th attempt. Therefore, current humans are the “fourth creation”
and we are now living in the “fourth sun.” As this era draws to a close, we enter the “fifth sun”
and a new age or creation begins. But, does a sun refer to a cycle of 13 baktuns (5200 tun or
5125.26 solar years)? Or does a sun refer to a much larger cycle of 5 of these 13-baktun
cycles (26,000 tun or 25,626.28 solar years)? Another key question is when did the sun cycle
begin and end? Over 60 correlations to the Gregorian Calendar are proposed with a span of
600 years for the present 13-baktun cycle.   For more information: Maya Fifth Sun
Mayan Culture | HistoryMayan-speaking people filled an area including all of the Yucatan peninsula, Guatemala,
Belize, and parts of the Mexican states Chiapas and Tabasco, and of Honduras and El
Salvador. Throughout this large part of Mesoamerica are thousands of ancient Mayan ruins
with temples and palaces, carved monuments and hieroglyphic texts. About six million present-
day descendants of the ancient Maya still live in this area, speaking over 30 Maya dialects.
Most of their written history was lost, when priceless codices written on bark paper or deer hide
were burned by Catholic friars in the 16th century.

Archeologists began serious exploration of these lost cities in the jungles in the 19th century.
Now multidisciplinary teams use advanced technology to study stones, bones, terrain, and
artifacts. New reports give different views of ancient Maya life: ideas have morphed from the
peaceful astronomer-priest society of JES Thompson and Morley, through the warring city-
states of Coe and Grube, to the cooperative polities of Rice and Stuart. The scientists divide
Maya culture into chronological periods:
Archaic - 3000 - 1800 BCE                            Postclassic - 950 – 1524 CE
Preclassic - 1800 BCE – 250 CE                   Postconquest - 1524 – 1697 CE
Classic - 250 – 950 CE                                  Colonial - 1697 CE – present
Mayan EldersIndigenous Mayan elders give another view of Mayan history. In their tradition, the original
Mayas came from the Pleiades, and their lineage developed through times in Lemuria and
Atlantis. When Atlantis was destroyed, highly advanced teachers left with small groups to
reconstruct civilization in Egypt, India, Mesopotamia, China and Tamoachan (the central area
of the Americas). The teacher Itzamna came to the Yucatan area with the Itza people. They
built early cities and taught the native peoples, who eventually became known as the Mayas.
Much of Maya knowledge and technological ability was passed down from higher stellar-
seeded civilizations. Common threads are found throughout early civilizations emerging around
3000 BCE. Mayan elders now teach these views of Mayan culture and history, and many
Maya Mystery Schools have been established. For more information: Mayan Programs

Maya YogaThere is much evidence that the ancient Maya knew and used yogic techniques. Art in Maya
codices, on pottery and carved in stone depicts postures, hand signs and meditation. In the
shamanic tradition, information about the energy body and subtle structures (chakras) has
been passed through generations. These keepers of wisdom have techniques for altering
states of consciousness and accessing multiple dimensions. This long hidden knowledge is
now taught in programs that include Maya philosophy, cosmology and mystical insights. Called Yok'hah Maya, it guides us to live harmoniously with rhythms of nature and celestial cycles.

Geographical extent

Major Maya sites of the Classic and Post-Classic periods. Inner border (red) the limit of Maya civilization; outer border (black) limit of other Meso-American cultures.

The Maya civilization extended throughout the present-day southern Mexican states of Chiapas, Tabasco, and the Yucatán Peninsula states ofQuintana Roo, Campeche and Yucatán. The Maya area also extended throughout the northern Central American region, including the present-day nations of Guatemala, Belize, Northern El Salvador and western Honduras.

The Maya area is generally divided into three loosely defined zones: the southern Maya highlands, the central lowlands, and the northern lowlands. The southern Maya highlands include all of elevated terrain in Guatemala and the Chiapas highlands. The southern lowlands lie just north of the highlands, and incorporate the Mexican states of Campeche and Quintana Roo and northern Guatemala, Belize and El Salvador. The northern lowlands cover the remainder of the Yucatán Peninsula, including the Puuc hills.

History

Preclassic

Main article: Preclassic Maya

The Maya area was initially inhabited around the 10th century BC. Recent discoveries of Maya occupation at Cuello in Belize have been carbon dated to around 2600 BC.^[2]^[3] This level of occupation included monumental structures. The Maya calendar, which is based around the so-called Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, commences on a date equivalent to 11 August, 3114 BC. However — according to "accepted history" — the first clearly “Maya” settlements were established in approximately 1800 BC in the Soconusco region of the Pacific Coast. This period, known as the Early Preclassic,^[4] was characterized by sedentary communities and the introduction of pottery and firedclay figurines.^[5]

Important sites in the southern Maya lowlands include Nakbe, El Mirador, Cival, and San Bartolo. In the Guatemalan Highlands Kaminal Juyúemerged around 800 BC. For many centuries it controlled the Jade and Obsidian sources for the Petén and Pacific Lowlands. The important early sites of Izapa, Takalik Abaj and Chocolá at around 600 BC were the main producers of Cacao. Mid-sized Maya communities also began to develop in the northern Maya lowlands during the Middle and Late Preclassic, though these lacked the size, scale, and influence of the large centers of the southern lowlands. Two important Preclassic northern sites include Komchen and Dzibilchaltun. The first written inscription in Maya hieroglyphics also dates to this period (c. 250 BC).^[6]

There is disagreement about the boundaries which differentiate the physical and cultural extent of the early Maya and neighboring Preclassic Mesoamerican civilizations, such as the Olmec culture of the Tabasco lowlands and the Mixe-Zoque– and Zapotec–speaking peoples of Chiapas and southern Oaxaca, respectively. Many of the earliest significant inscriptions and buildings appeared in this overlapping zone, and evidence suggests that these cultures and the formative Maya influenced one another.^[7] Takalik Abaj, in the Pacific slopes of Guatemala, is the only site where Olmec and then Maya features have been found.

Classic

The ruins of Palenque

The Classic period (c. 250–900 AD) witnessed the peak of large-scale construction and urbanism, the recording of monumental inscriptions, and a period of significant intellectual and artistic development, particularly in the southern lowland regions.^[8] They developed an agriculturally intensive, city-centered empire consisting of numerous independent city-states. This includes the well-known cities of Tikal, Palenque, Copán and Calakmul, but also the lesser known Dos Pilas,Uaxactun, Altun Ha, and Bonampak, among others. The Early Classic settlement distribution in the northern Maya lowlands is not as clearly known as the southern zone, but does include a number of population centers, such as Oxkintok, Chunchucmil, and the early occupation ofUxmal.

The most notable monuments are the stepped pyramids they built in their religious centers and the accompanying palaces of their rulers. The palace at Cancuén is the largest in the Maya area, though the site, interestingly, lacks pyramids. Other important archaeological remains include the carved stone slabs usually called stelae (the Maya called them tetun, or "tree-stones"), which depict rulers along with hieroglyphic texts describing their genealogy, military victories, and other accomplishments.^[9]

The Maya civilization participated in long distance trade with many of the other Mesoamerican cultures, including Teotihuacan, the Zapotecand other groups in central and gulf-coast Mexico, as well as with more distant, non-Mesoamerican groups, for example the Tainos in the Caribbean. Archeologists have also found gold from Panama in the Sacred Cenote of Chichen Itza.^[10] Important trade goods included cacao,salt, seashells, jade and obsidian.

The Maya collapse

Main article: Classic Maya collapse

The Maya centers of the southern lowlands went into decline during the 8th and 9th centuries and were abandoned shortly thereafter. This decline was coupled with a cessation of monumental inscriptions and large-scale architectural construction.^[11] There is no universally accepted theory to explain this collapse.

Non-ecological theories of Maya decline are divided into several subcategories, such as overpopulation, foreign invasion, peasant revolt, and the collapse of key trade routes. Ecological hypotheses include environmental disaster, epidemic disease, and climate change. There is evidence that the Maya population exceeded carrying capacity of the environment including exhaustion of agricultural potential and overhunting of megafauna.^[12] Some scholars have recently theorized that an intense 200 year drought led to the collapse of Maya civilization.^[13] The drought theory originated from research performed by physical scientists studying lake beds,^[14] ancient pollen, and other data, not from the archaeological community.

Postclassic period

During the succeeding Postclassic period (from the 10th to the early 16th century), development in the northern centers persisted, characterized by an increasing diversity of external influences. The Maya cities of the northern lowlands in Yucatán continued to flourish for centuries more; some of the important sites in this era were Chichen Itza, Uxmal, Edzná, and Coba. After the decline of the ruling dynasties of Chichen and Uxmal, Mayapan ruled all of Yucatán until a revolt in 1450. (This city's name may be the source of the word "Maya", which had a more geographically restricted meaning in Yucatec and colonial Spanish and only grew to its current meaning in the 19th and 20th centuries). The area then degenerated into competing city-states until Yucatán was conquered by the Spanish.

The Itza Maya, Ko'woj, and Yalain groups of Central Peten survived the "Classic Period Collapse" in small numbers and by 1250 reconstituted themselves to form competing city-states. The Itza maintained their capital at Tayasal (also known as Noh Petén), an archaeological site thought to underlay the modern city of Flores, Guatemala on Lake Petén Itzá. It ruled over an area extending across the Peten Lakes region, encompassing the community of Eckixil on Lake Quexil. The Ko'woj had their capital at Zacpeten. Postclassic Maya states also continued to survive in the southern highlands. One of the Maya nations in this area, the K'iche' Kingdom of Q'umarkaj, is responsible for the best-known Maya work of historiography and mythology, the Popol Vuh. Other highland kingdoms included the Mambased at Huehuetenango, the Kaqchikels based at Iximché, the Chajoma based at Mixco Viejo^[15] and the Chuj, based at San Mateo Ixtatán.

Colonial period

Main article: Spanish conquest of Yucatán

Shortly after their first expeditions to the region, the Spanish initiated a number of attempts to subjugate the Maya who were hostile towards the Spanish crown and establish a colonial presence in the Maya territories of the Yucatán Peninsula and the Guatemalan highlands. This campaign, sometimes termed "The Spanish Conquest of Yucatán," would prove to be a lengthy and dangerous exercise for theconquistadores from the outset, and it would take some 170 years and tens of thousands of Indian auxiliaries before the Spanish established substantive control over all Maya lands.

Unlike the Aztec and Inca Empires, there was no single Maya political center that, once overthrown, would hasten the end of collective resistance from the indigenous peoples. Instead, the conquistador forces needed to subdue the numerous independent Maya polities almost one by one, many of which kept up a fierce resistance. Most of the conquistadores were motivated by the prospects of the great wealth to be had from the seizure of precious metal resources such as gold or silver; however, the Maya lands themselves were poor in these resources. This would become another factor in forestalling Spanish designs of conquest, as they instead were initially attracted to the reports of great riches in central Mexico or Peru.

The Spanish Church and government officials destroyed Maya texts and with them the knowledge of Maya writing, but by chance three of thepre-Columbian books dated to the post classic period have been preserved.^[which?]^[16] The last Maya states, the Itza polity of Tayasal and theKo'woj city of Zacpeten, were continuously occupied and remained independent of the Spanish until late in the 17th century. They were finally subdued by the Spanish in 1697.

Political structures

A typical Classic Maya polity was a small hierarchical state (ajawil, ajawlel, or ajawlil) headed by a hereditary ruler known as an ajaw (laterk’uhul ajaw).^[17] Such kingdoms were usually no more than a capital city with its neighborhood and several lesser towns, although there were greater kingdoms, which controlled larger territories and extended patronage over smaller polities.^{[citation needed]} Each kingdom had a name that did not necessarily correspond to any locality within its territory. Its identity was that of a political unit associated with a particular ruling dynasty. For instance, the archaeological site of Naranjo was the capital of the kingdom of Saal. The land (chan ch’e’n) of the kingdom and its capital were called Wakab’nal or Maxam and were part of a larger geographical entity known as Huk Tsuk. Interestingly, despite constant warfare and eventual shifts in regional power, most kingdoms never disappeared from the political landscape until the collapse of the whole system in the 9th century AD. In this respect, Classic Maya kingdoms are highly similar to late Post Classic polities encountered by the Spaniards in Yucatán and Central Mexico: some polities could be subordinated to hegemonic rulers through conquests or dynastic unions and yet even then they persisted as distinct entities.^{[citation needed]}

Mayanists have been increasingly accepting a "court paradigm" of Classic Maya societies which puts the emphasis on the centrality of the royal household and especially the person of the king. This approach focuses on Maya monumental spaces as the embodiment of the diverse activities of the royal household. It considers the role of places and spaces (including dwellings of royalty and nobles, throne rooms, temples, halls and plazas for public ceremonies) in establishing power and social hierarchy, and also in projecting aesthetic and moral values to define the wider social realm.

Spanish sources invariably describe even the largest Maya settlements as dispersed collections of dwellings grouped around the temples and palaces of the ruling dynasty and lesser nobles. None of the Classic Maya cities shows evidence of economic specialization and commerce of the scale of Mexican Tenochtitlan. Instead, Maya cities could be seen as enormous royal households, the locales of the administrative and ritual activities of the royal court. They were the places where privileged nobles could approach the holy ruler, where aesthetic values of the high culture were formulated and disseminated, where aesthetic items were consumed. They were the self-proclaimed centers and the sources of social, moral, and cosmic order. The fall of a royal court as in the well-documented cases of Piedras Negras or Copan would cause the inevitable "death" of the associated settlement.

Art

Main article: Maya art

A stucco relief from Palenquedepicting Upakal K'inich

Many^[who?] consider Maya art of their Classic Era (c. 250 to 900 AD) to be the most sophisticated and beautiful of the ancient New World. The carvings and the reliefs made of stucco at Palenque and thestatuary of Copán are especially fine^{[citation needed]}, showing a grace and accurate observation of the human form that reminded early archaeologists of Classical civilizations of the Old World^{[citation needed]}, hence the name bestowed on this era. We have only hints of the advanced painting of the classic Maya; mostly what has survived are funerary pottery and other Maya ceramics, and a building at Bonampak holds ancient murals that survived by chance. A beautiful turquoise blue color that has survived through the centuries due to its unique chemical characteristics is known as Maya Blue or Azul maya, and it is present in Bonampak, Tajín Cacaxtla, Jaina, and even in some Colonial Convents. The use of Maya Blue survived until the 16th century when the technique was lost. Late Preclassic murals of great artistic and iconographic perfection have been recently discovered at San Bartolo. With the decipherment of the Maya script it was discovered that the Maya were one of the few civilizations where artists attached their name to their work.

Architecture

Main article: Maya architecture

Maya architecture spans many thousands of years; yet, often the most dramatic and easily recognizable as Maya are the stepped pyramids from the Terminal Pre-classic period and beyond. There are also cave sites that are important to the Maya. These cave sites include Jolja Cave, the cave site at Naj Tunich, theCandelaria Caves, and the Cave of the Witch. There are also cave-origin myths among the Maya. Some cave sites are still used by the modern Maya in the Chiapas highlands.

It has been suggested^[who?] that temples and pyramids were remodeled and rebuilt every fifty-two years in synchrony with the Maya Long Count Calendar. It appears now that the rebuilding process was often instigated by a new ruler or for political matters, as opposed to matching the calendar cycle. However, the process of rebuilding on top of old structures is indeed a common one. Most notably, the North Acropolis at Tikal seems to be the sum total of 1,500 years of architectural modifications. In Tikal and Yaxha, there are the Twin Pyramidcomplexes (seven in Tikal and one in Yaxha, that commemorate the end of a Baktún). Through observation of the numerous consistent elements and stylistic distinctions, remnants of Maya architecture have become an important key to understanding the evolution of their ancient civilization.

Urban design

North Acropolis, Tikal, Guatemala

As Maya cities spread throughout the varied geography of Mesoamerica, site planning appears to have been minimal. Maya architecture tended to integrate a great degree of natural features^{[citation needed]}, and their cities were built somewhat haphazardly as dictated by the topography of each independent location. For instance, some cities on the flat limestone plains of the northern Yucatán grew into great sprawling municipalities, while others built in the hills ofUsumacinta utilized the natural loft of the topography to raise their towers and temples to impressive heights. However, some semblance of order, as required in any large city, still prevailed.

Classic Era Maya urban design could easily be described as the division of space by great monuments and causeways. Open public plazas were the gathering places for people and the focus of urban design, while interior space was entirely secondary. Only in the Late Post-Classic era did the great Maya cities develop into more fortress-like defensive structures that lacked, for the most part, the large and numerous plazas of the Classic.

At the onset of large-scale construction during the Classic Era, a predetermined axis was typically established in a cardinal direction. Depending on the location of natural resources such as fresh-water wells, or cenotes, the city grew by using sacbeob (causeways) to connect great plazas with the numerous platforms that created the sub-structure for nearly all Maya buildings. As more structures were added and existing structures re-built or remodeled, the great Maya cities seemed to take on an almost random identity that contrasted sharply with other great Mesoamerican cities such as Teotihuacan and its rigid grid-like construction.

Ballcourt at Tikal, Guatemala

At the heart of the Maya city were large plazas surrounded by the most important governmental and religious buildings, such as the royal acropolis, great pyramid temples and occasionally ball-courts. Though city layouts evolved as nature dictated, careful attention was placed on the directional orientation of temples and observatories so that they were constructed in accordance with Maya interpretation of the orbits of the heavenly bodies. Immediately outside of this ritual center were the structures of lesser nobles, smaller temples, and individual shrines; the less sacred and less important structures had a greater degree of privacy. Outside of the constantly evolving urban core were the less permanent and more modest homes of the common people.

Building materials

A surprising aspect of the great Maya structures is their lack of many advanced technologies seemingly necessary for such constructions. Lacking draft animals necessary for wheel-based modes of transportation, metal tools and even pulleys, Maya architecture required abundant manpower. Yet, beyond this enormous requirement, the remaining materials seem to have been readily available. All stone for Maya structures appears to have been taken from local quarries. They most often used limestone which remained pliable enough to be worked with stone tools while being quarried and only hardened once removed from its bed. In addition to the structural use of limestone, much of their mortar consisted of crushed, burnt and mixed limestone that mimicked the properties of cement and was used as widely for stucco finishing as it was for mortar.

Later improvements in quarrying techniques reduced the necessity for this limestone-stucco as the stones began to fit quite perfectly, yet it remained a crucial element in some post and lintel roofs. In the case of the common Maya houses, wooden poles, adobe and thatch were the primary materials; however, instances of what appear to be common houses of limestone have been discovered as well. Also notable throughout Maya architecture is the corbel arch (also known as a "false arch"), which allowed for more open-aired entrances. The corbelled arch improved upon pier/post and lintel doorways by directing the weight off of the lintel and onto the supporting posts.

Notable constructions

Ceremonial platforms were commonly limestone platforms of typically less than four meters in height where public ceremonies and religious rites were performed. Constructed in the fashion of a typical foundation platform, these were often accented by carved figures, altars and perhaps tzompantli, a stake used to display the heads of victims or defeated Mesoamerican ballgame opponents.
Palaces were large and often highly decorated, and usually sat close to the center of a city and housed the population's elite. Any exceedingly large royal palace, or one consisting of many chambers on different levels might be referred to as an acropolis. However, often these were one-story and consisted of many small chambers and typically at least one interior courtyard; these structures appear to take into account the needed functionality required of a residence, as well as the decoration required for their inhabitants stature.
E-Groups are specific structural configurations present at a number of centers in the Maya area. These complexes are oriented and aligned according to specific astronomical events (primarily the sun’s solstices and equinoxes) and are thought to have beenobservatories. These structures are usually accompanied by iconographic reliefs that tie astronomical observation into general Maya mythology. The structural complex is named for Group E at Uaxactun, the first documented in Mesoamerica.

Temple of the Cross atPalenque; there is an intricate roof comb and corbeled arch

Pyramids and temples. Often the most important religious temples sat atop the towering Maya pyramids, presumably as the closest place to the heavens. While recent discoveries point toward the extensive use of pyramids as tombs, the temples themselves seem to rarely, if ever, contain burials. Residing atop the pyramids, some of over two-hundred feet, such as that at El Mirador, the temples were impressive and decorated structures themselves. Commonly topped with a roof comb, or superficial grandiose wall, these temples might have served as a type of propaganda. As they were often the only structure in a Maya city to exceed the height of the surrounding jungle, the roof combs atop the temples were often carved with representations of rulers that could be seen from vast distances.
Observatories. The Maya were keen astronomers and had mapped out the phases of celestial objects, especially the Moon and Venus. Many temples have doorways and other features aligning to celestial events. Round temples, often dedicated to Kukulcan, are perhaps those most often described as "observatories" by modern ruin tour-guides, but there is no evidence that they were so used exclusively, and temple pyramids of other shapes may well have been used for observation as well.
Ball courts. As an integral aspect of the Mesoamerican lifestyle, the courts for their ritual ball-game were constructed throughout the Maya realm and often on a grand scale. Enclosed on two sides by stepped ramps that led to ceremonial platforms or small temples, the ball court itself was of a capital "I" shape and could be found in all but the smallest of Maya cities.

Writing and literacy

Writing system

Main article: Maya script

The Maya writing system (often called hieroglyphs from a superficial resemblance to the Ancient Egyptian writing) was a combination ofphonetic symbols and logograms. It is most often classified as a logographic or (more properly) a logosyllabic writing system, in whichsyllabic signs play a significant role. It is the only writing system of the Pre-Columbian New World which is known to represent the spoken language of its community. In total, the script has more than a thousand different glyphs, although a few are variations of the same sign or meaning, and many appear only rarely or are confined to particular localities. At any one time, no more than around 500 glyphs were in use, some 200 of which (including variations) had a phonetic or syllabic interpretation.

The earliest inscriptions in an identifiably Maya script date back to 200–300 BC.^[18] However, this is preceded by several other writing systems which had developed in Mesoamerica, most notably that of the Zapotecs, and (following the 2006 publication of research on the recently discovered Cascajal Block), the Olmecs.^[19] There is a pre-Maya writing known as "Epi-Olmec script" (post Olmec) which some researchers believe may represent a transitional script between Olmec and Maya writing, but the relationships between these remain unclear and the matter is unsettled. On January 5, 2006, National Geographic published the findings of Maya writings that could be as old as 400 BC, suggesting that the Maya writing system is nearly as old as the oldest Mesoamerican writing known at that time, Zapotec.^[20] In the succeeding centuries the Maya developed their script into a form which was far more complete and complex than any other that has yet been found in the Americas.

Since its inception, the Maya script was in use up to the arrival of the Europeans, peaking during the Maya Classical Period (c. 200 to 900). Although many Maya centers went into decline (or were completely abandoned) during or after this period, the skill and knowledge of Maya writing persisted amongst segments of the population, and the early Spanish conquistadors knew of individuals who could still read and write the script. Unfortunately, the Spanish displayed little interest in it, and as a result of the dire impacts the conquest had on Maya societies, the knowledge was subsequently lost, probably within only a few generations.

At a rough estimate, in excess of 10,000 individual texts have so far been recovered, mostly inscribed on stone monuments, lintels, stelaeand ceramic pottery. The Maya also produced texts painted on a form of paper manufactured from processed tree-bark, in particular from several species of strangler fig trees such as Ficus cotinifolia and Ficus padifolia.^[21] This paper, common throughout Mesoamerica and generally now known by its Nahuatl-language name amatl, was typically bound as a single continuous sheet that was folded into pages of equal width, concertina-style, to produce a codex that could be written on both sides. Shortly after the conquest, all of the codices which could be found were ordered to be burnt and destroyed by zealous Spanish priests, notably Bishop Diego de Landa. Only three reasonably intact examples of Maya codices are known to have survived through to the present day. These are now known as the Madrid, Dresden, and Paris codices. A few pages survive from a fourth, the Grolier codex, whose authenticity is sometimes disputed, but mostly is held to be genuine. Further archaeology conducted at Maya sites often reveals other fragments, rectangular lumps of plaster and paint chips which formerly were codices; these tantalizing remains are, however, too severely damaged for any inscriptions to have survived, most of the organic material having decayed.

The decipherment and recovery of the now-lost knowledge of Maya writing has been a long and laborious process. Some elements were first deciphered in the late 19th and early 20th century, mostly the parts having to do with numbers, the Maya calendar, and astronomy. Major breakthroughs came starting in the 1950s to 1970s, and accelerated rapidly thereafter. By the end of the 20th century, scholars were able to read the majority of Maya texts to a large extent, and recent field work continues to further illuminate the content.

In reference to the few extant Maya writings, Michael D. Coe, a prominent linguist and epigrapher at Yale University, stated:

"[O]ur knowledge of ancient Maya thought must represent only a tiny fraction of the whole picture, for of the thousands of books in which the full extent of their learning and ritual was recorded, only four have survived to modern times (as though all that posterity knew of ourselves were to be based upon three prayer books and 'Pilgrim's Progress')." (Michael D. Coe, The Maya, London: Thames and Hudson, 4th ed., 1987, p. 161.)

Most surviving pre-Columbian Maya writing is from stelae and other stone inscriptions from Maya sites, many of which were already abandoned before the Spanish arrived. The inscriptions on the stelae mainly record the dynasties and wars of the sites' rulers. Also of note are the inscriptions that reveal information about the lives of ancient Maya women. Much of the remainder of Maya hieroglyphics has been found on funeral pottery, most of which describes the afterlife.

Writing tools

Although the archaeological record does not provide examples, Maya art shows that writing was done with brushes made with animal hair and quills. Codex-style writing was usually done in black ink with red highlights, giving rise to the Aztec name for the Maya territory as the "land of red and black".

Scribes and literacy

Scribes held a prominent position in Maya courts. Maya art often depicts rulers with trappings indicating they were scribes or at least able to write, such as having pen bundles in their headdresses. Additionally, many rulers have been found in conjunction with writing tools such as shell or clay inkpots. Although the number of logograms and syllabic symbols required to fully write the language numbered in the hundreds, literacy was not necessarily widespread beyond the elite classes. Graffiti uncovered in various contexts, including on fired bricks, shows nonsensical attempts to imitate the writing system.

Mathematics

Maya numerals

In common with the other Mesoamerican civilizations, the Maya used a base 20 (vigesimal) and base 5 numbering system (see Maya numerals). Also, the preclassic Maya and their neighbors independently developed the concept of zero by 36 BC. Inscriptions show them on occasion working with sums up to the hundreds of millions and dates so large it would take several lines just to represent it. They produced extremely accurate astronomical observations; their charts of the movements of the moon and planets are equal or superior to those of any other civilization working from naked eye observation.^{[citation needed]}

In common with the other Mesoamerican civilizations, the Maya had measured the length of the solar year to a high degree of accuracy, far more accurately than that used in Europe as the basis of the Gregorian calendar. They did not use this figure for the length of year in their calendars, however; the calendars they used were crude, being based on a year length of exactly 365 days, which means that the calendar falls out of step with the seasons by one day every four years. By comparison, the Julian calendar, used in Europe from Roman times until about the 16th Century, accumulated an error of only one day every 128 years. The modern Gregorian calendar is even more accurate, accumulating only a day's error in approximately 3257 years.

Astronomy

Uniquely, there is some evidence to suggest the Maya appear to be the only pre-telescopic civilization to demonstrate knowledge of the Orion Nebula as being fuzzy, i.e. not a stellar pin-point. The information which supports this theory comes from a folk tale that deals with the Orion constellation's area of the sky. Their traditional hearths include in their middle a smudge of glowing fire that corresponds with the Orion Nebula. This is a significant clue to support the idea that the Maya detected a diffuse area of the sky contrary to the pin points of stars before the telescope was invented.^[22] Many preclassic sites are oriented with the Pleiades and Eta Draconis, as seen in La Blanca, Ujuxte, Monte Alto, and Takalik Abaj.

The Maya were very interested in zenial passages, the time when the sun passes directly overhead. The latitude of most of their cities being below the Tropic of Cancer, these zenial passages would occur twice a year equidistant from the solstice. To represent this position of the sun overhead, the Maya had a god named Diving God.^{[citation needed]}

The Dresden Codex contains the highest concentration of astronomical phenomena observations and calculations of any of the surviving texts (it appears that the data in this codex is primarily or exclusively of an astronomical nature). Examination and analysis of this codex reveals that Venus was the most important astronomical object to the Maya, even more important to them than the sun.

Religion

Main article: Maya religion

God K, the god of lightning

Like the Aztec and Inca who came to power later, the Maya believed in a cyclical nature of time. The rituals and ceremonies were very closely associated with celestial and terrestrial cycles which they observed and inscribed as separate calendars. The Maya priest had the job of interpreting these cycles and giving a prophetic outlook on the future or past based on the number relations of all their calendars. They also had to determine if the heavens were propitious for performing certain religious ceremonies.

The Maya practiced human sacrifice. In some Maya rituals people were killed by having their arms and legs held while a priest cut the person's chest open and tore out his heart as an offering. This is depicted on ancient objects such as pictorial texts, known as codices.

Much of the Maya religious tradition is still not understood by scholars, but it is known that the Maya believed that the cosmos had three major planes, the Earth, the underworld beneath and the heavens above.

The Maya underworld is reached through caves and deep tunnels. It was thought to be dominated by the aged Maya gods of death and putrefaction. The Sun (Kinich Ahau) and Itzamna, an aged god, dominated the Maya idea of the sky. Another aged man, god L, was one of the major deities of the underworld.

The night sky was considered a window showing all supernatural doings. The Maya configured constellations of gods and places, saw the unfolding of narratives in their seasonal movements, and believed that the intersection of all possible worlds was in the night sky^{[citation needed]}.

Maya gods had affinities and aspects that caused them to merge with one another in ways that seem unbounded. There is a massive array of supernatural characters in the Maya religious tradition, only some of which recur with regularity. Good and evil traits are not permanent characteristics of Maya gods, nor is only "good" admirable. What is inappropriate during one season might come to pass in another since much of the Maya religious tradition is based on cycles and not permanence.

The life-cycle of maize lies at the heart of Maya belief. This philosophy is demonstrated on the belief in the Maya maize god as a central religious figure. The Maya bodily ideal is also based on the form of this young deity, which is demonstrated in their artwork. The Maize God was also a model of courtly life for the Classical Maya.

It is sometimes believed^{[attribution needed]} that the multiple gods represented nothing more than a mathematical explanation of what they observed. Each god was literally just a number or an explanation of the effects observed by a combination of numbers from multiple calendars. Among the many types of Maya calendars which were maintained, the most important included a 260-day cycle, a 365-day cycle which approximated the solar year, a cycle which recorded lunation periods of the Moon, and a cycle which tracked the synodic period of Venus.

Philosophically, the Maya believed that knowing the past meant knowing the cyclical influences that create the present, and by knowing the influences of the present one can see the cyclical influences of the future.

Even in the 19th century, there Maya culture influenced the local forms of Christianity followed in Chan Santa Cruz.

Among the K'iche' in the western highlands of Guatemala these same nine months^{[clarification needed]} are replicated, until this very day, in the training of the ajk'ij, the keeper of the 260-day-calendar called ch'olk'ij.

Agriculture

Main article: Maya diet and subsistence

Rediscovery of the Pre-Columbian Maya

A Middle Preclassic palace structure atNakbé, the Mirador Basin.

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Spanish clergy and administrators dating to the 16th century were largely familiar with ancient Maya sites, writing and calendar systems. Published writings of 16th century Bishop Diego de Landa and writings of 18th century Spanish officials spurred serious investigations of Maya sites by the late 18th century.^[23] In 1839 United States traveler and writer John Lloyd Stephens, familiar with earlier Spanish investigations, visited Copán, Palenque, and other sites with English architect and draftsman Frederick Catherwood. Their illustrated accounts of the ruins sparked strong popular interest in the region and the people, and they have once again regained their position as a vital link in Mesoamerican heritage.

However, in many locations, Maya ruins have been overgrown by the jungle, becoming dense enough to hide structures just a few meters away. To help find ruins, researchers have turned to satellite imagery. The best way to find them is to look at the visible and near-infrared spectra. Due to their limestone construction, the monuments affected the chemical makeup of the soil as they deteriorated. Some moisture-loving plants stayed away, while others were killed off or discolored. The effects of the limestone ruins are still apparent today to some satellite sensors.

Much of the contemporary rural population of the Yucatán Peninsula, Chiapas (both in Mexico), Guatemalaand Belize is Maya by descent and primary language.

Maya sites

Maya calendar

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Maya civilization

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The Maya calendar is a system of calendars and almanacs used in the Maya civilization of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, and in some modern Maya communities in highland Guatemala andOaxaca, Mexico.

The essentials of the Maya calendric system are based upon a system which had been in common use throughout the region, dating back to at least the 5th century BCE. It shares many aspects with calendars employed by other earlier Mesoamerican civilizations, such as the Zapotec and Olmec, and contemporary or later ones such as the Mixtec and Aztec calendars. Although the Mesoamerican calendar did not originate with the Maya, their subsequent extensions and refinements of it were the most sophisticated. Along with those of the Aztecs, the Maya calendars are the best-documented and most completely understood.

By the Maya mythological tradition, as documented in Colonial Yucatec accounts and reconstructed from Late Classic and Postclassic inscriptions, the deity Itzamna is frequently credited with bringing the knowledge of the calendar system to the ancestral Maya, along with writing in general and other foundational aspects of Maya culture.^[1]

[edit]Overview

The 260 day count of days is commonly known to scholars as the Tzolkin, or Tzolk'in in the revised orthography of the Academia de las Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala.^[2] It is still used today by the Ixil, Q'eqchi' and K'iche' in the Guatemalan highlands. The Tzolk'in was combined with a 365-day vague solar year known as the Haab, or Haab year' , to form a synchronized cycle lasting for 52 Haab's, called theCalendar Round. Smaller cycles of 13 days (the trecena) and 20 days (the veintena) were important components of the Tzolk'in and Haab' cycles, respectively.

A different calendar was used to track longer periods of time, and for the inscription of calendar dates (i.e., identifying when one event occurred in relation to others). This is the Long Count. It is a count of days since a mythological starting-point.^[3] According to the correlation between the Long Count and Western calendars accepted by the great majority of Maya researchers (known as the GMT correlation), this starting-point is equivalent to August 11, 3114 BCE in the proleptic Gregorian calendar or 6 September in the Julian calendar (−3113 astronomical). The Goodman-Martinez-Thompson correlation was chosen by John Eric Sydney Thompson in 1935 on the basis of earlier correlations by Joseph Goodman in 1905 (August 11), Juan Martínez Hernández in 1926 (August 12), and Thompson himself in 1927 (August 13).^[4]^[5] By its linear nature, the Long Count was capable of being extended to refer to any date far into the past or future. This calendar involved the use of a positional notation system, in which each position signified an increasing multiple of the number of days. The Maya numeral system was essentially vigesimal (i.e., base-20), and each unit of a given position represented 20 times the unit of the position which preceded it. An important exception was made for the second-order place value, which instead represented 18 × 20, or 360 days, more closely approximating the solar year than would 20 × 20 = 400 days. It should be noted however that the cycles of the Long Count are independent of the solar year.

Many Maya Long Count inscriptions are supplemented by a Lunar Series, which provides information on the lunar phase and position of theMoon in a half-yearly cycle of lunations.

A 584-day Venus cycle was also maintained, which tracked the heliacal risings of Venus as the morning and evening stars. Many events in this cycle were seen as being astrologically inauspicious and baleful, and occasionally warfare was astrologically timed to coincide with stages in this cycle.

Less-prevalent or poorly understood cycles, combinations and calendar progressions were also tracked. An 819-day Count is attested in a few inscriptions. Repeating sets of 9-day (see below "Nine lords of the night")^[6] and 13-day intervals associated with different groups ofdeities, animals, and other significant concepts are also known.

[edit]Maya concepts of time

With the development of the place-notational Long Count calendar (believed to have been inherited from other Mesoamerican cultures), the Maya had an elegant system with which events could be recorded in a linear relationship to one another, and also with respect to the calendar ("linear time") itself. In theory, this system could readily be extended to delineate any length of time desired, by simply adding to the number of higher-order place markers used (and thereby generating an ever-increasing sequence of day-multiples, each day in the sequence uniquely identified by its Long Count number). In practice, most Maya Long Count inscriptions confine themselves to noting only the first five coefficients in this system (a b'ak'tun-count), since this was more than adequate to express any historical or current date (20 b'ak'tuns cover 7,885 solar years). Even so, example inscriptions exist which noted or implied lengthier sequences, indicating that the Maya well understood a linear (past-present-future) conception of time.

However, and in common with other Mesoamerican societies, the repetition of the various calendric cycles, the natural cycles of observable phenomena, and the recurrence and renewal of death-rebirth imagery in their mythological traditions were important influences upon Maya societies. This conceptual view, in which the "cyclical nature" of time is highlighted, was a pre-eminent one, and many rituals were concerned with the completion and re-occurrences of various cycles. As the particular calendric configurations were once again repeated, so too were the "supernatural" influences with which they were associated. Thus it was held that particular calendar configurations had a specific "character" to them, which would influence events on days exhibiting that configuration. Divinations could then be made from the auguriesassociated with a certain configuration, since events taking place on some future date would be subject to the same influences as its corresponding previous cycle dates. Events and ceremonies would be timed to coincide with auspicious dates, and avoid inauspicious ones.^[7]

The completion of significant calendar cycles ("period endings"), such as a k'atun-cycle, were often marked by the erection and dedication of specific monuments (mostly stela inscriptions, but sometimes twin-pyramid complexes such as those in Tikal and Yaxha), commemorating the completion, accompanied by dedicatory ceremonies.

A cyclical interpretation is also noted in Maya creation accounts, in which the present world and the humans in it were preceded by other worlds (one to five others, depending on the tradition) which were fashioned in various forms by the gods, but subsequently destroyed. The present world also had a tenuous existence, requiring the supplication and offerings of periodic sacrifice to maintain the balance of continuing existence. Similar themes are found in the creation accounts of other Mesoamerican societies.^[8]

[edit]Tzolk'in

Main article: Tzolk'in

The tzolk'in (in modern Maya orthography; also commonly written tzolkin) is the name commonly employed by Mayanist researchers for the Maya Sacred Round or 260-day calendar. The word tzolk'in is a neologism coined in Yucatec Maya, to mean "count of days" (Coe 1992). The various names of this calendar as used by precolumbian Maya peoples are still debated by scholars. The Aztec calendar equivalent was called Tonalpohualli, in the Nahuatl language.

The tzolk'in calendar combines twenty day names with the thirteen numbers of the trecena cycle to produce 260 unique days. It is used to determine the time of religious and ceremonial events and for divination. Each successive day is numbered from 1 up to 13 and then starting again at 1. Separately from this, every day is given a name in sequence from a list of 20 day names:

Tzolk'in calendar: named days and associated glyphs
Seq. Num. ¹	Day Name ²	16th C. Yucatec ⁴	reconstructed Classic Maya ⁵	Seq. Num. ¹	Day Name ²	16th C. Yucatec ⁴	reconstructed Classic Maya ⁵
01	Imix'	Imix	Imix (?) / Ha' (?)	11	Chuwen	Chuen	(unknown)
02	Ik'	Ik	Ik'	12	Eb'	Eb	(unknown)
03	Ak'b'al	Akbal	Ak'b'al (?)	13	B'en	Ben	C'klab
04	K'an	Kan	K'an (?)	14	Ix	Ix	Hix (?)
05	Chikchan	Chicchan	(unknown)	15	Men	Men	(unknown)
06	Kimi	Cimi	Cham (?)	16	K'ib'	Cib	(unknown)
07	Manik'	Manik	Manich' (?)	17	Kab'an	Caban	Chab' (?)
08	Lamat	Lamat	Ek' (?)	18	Etz'nab'	Etznab	(unknown)
09	Muluk	Muluc	(unknown)	19	Kawak	Cauac	(unknown)
10	Ok	Oc	(unknown)	20	Ajaw	Ahau	Ajaw
NOTES: The sequence number of the named day in the Tzolk'in calendar Day name, in the standardized and revised orthography of the Guatemalan Academia de Lenguas Mayas^[2] An example glyph (logogram) for the named day. Note that for most of these several different forms are recorded; the ones shown here are typical of carved monumental inscriptions (these are "cartouche" versions) Day name, as recorded from 16th century Yukatek Maya accounts, principally Diego de Landa; this orthography has (until recently) been widely used In most cases, the actual day name as spoken in the time of the Classic Period (ca. 200–900) when most inscriptions were made is not known. The versions given here (in Classic Maya, the main language of the inscriptions) are reconstructed on the basis of phonological evidence, if available; a '?' symbol indicates the reconstruction is tentative.^[9]

Some systems started the count with 1 Imix', followed by 2 Ik', 3 Ak'b'al, etc. up to 13 B'en. The trecena day numbers then start again at 1 while the named-day sequence continues onwards, so the next days in the sequence are 1 Ix, 2 Men, 3 K'ib', 4 Kab'an, 5 Etz'nab', 6 Kawak, and 7 Ajaw. With all twenty named days used, these now began to repeat the cycle while the number sequence continues, so the next day after 7 Ajaw is 8 Imix'. The repetition of these interlocking 13- and 20-day cycles therefore takes 260 days to complete (that is, for every possible combination of number/named day to occur once).

[edit]Origin of the Tzolk'in

The exact origin of the Tzolk'in is not known, but there are several theories. One theory is that the calendar came from mathematical operations based on the numbers thirteen and twenty, which were important numbers to the Maya. The numbers multiplied together equal 260. Another theory is that the 260-day period came from the length of human pregnancy. This is close to the average number of days between the first missed menstrual period and birth, unlike Naegele's rule which is 40 weeks (280 days) between the last menstrual period and birth. It is postulated that midwives originally developed the calendar to predict babies' expected birth dates. The deity Ix Chel is thus of particular interest due to her mythic relation to the calendar.

A third theory comes from understanding of astronomy, geography and archaeology. The mesoamerican calendar probably originated with the Olmecs, and a settlement existed at Izapa, in southeast Chiapas Mexico, before 1200 BC. There, at a latitude of about 15° N, the Sun passes through zenith twice a year, and there are 260 days between zenithal passages, and gnomons (used generally for observing the path of the Sun and in particular zenithal passages), were found at this and other sites. The sacred almanac may well have been set in motion on August 13, 1359 BC, in Izapa. Vincent H. Malmström, a geographer who suggested this location and date, outlines his reasons:

(1) Astronomically, it lay at the only latitude in North America where a 260-day interval (the length of the "strange" sacred almanac used throughout the region in pre-Columbian times) can be measured between vertical sun positions–an interval which happens to begin on the 13th of August–the day the peoples of the Mesoamerica believed that the present world was created; (2) Historically, it was the only site at this latitude which was old enough to have been the cradle of the sacred almanac, which at that time (1973) was thought to date to the 4th or 5th centuries BCE; and (3) Geographically, it was the only site along the required parallel of latitude that lay in a tropical lowland ecological niche where such creatures as alligators, monkeys, and iguanas were native–all of which were used as day-names in the sacred almanac.^[10]

Malmström also offers strong arguments against both of the former explanations.

A fourth theory is that the calendar is based on the crops. From planting to harvest is approximately 260 days.^{[citation needed]}

[edit]Haab'

**Haab'months**: names in glyphs^[11] in sequence
Seq. Num.	Name of month	meaning	Seq. Num.	Name of month	meaning
1	Pop	mat	10	Yax	green storm
2	Wo'	black conjunction	11	Sak'	white storm
3	Sip	red conjunction	12	Keh	red storm
4	Sotz'	bat	13	Mak	enclosed
5	Sek	watering time	14	K'ank'in	yellow sun
6	Xul	dog	15	Muwan'	owl
7	Yaxk'in'	new sun	16	Pax	planting time
8	Mol	water	17	K'ayab	turtle
9	Ch'en	black storm	18	Kumk'u	granary
			19	Wayeb'	five unlucky days

Main article: Haab'

The Haab' was the Maya solar calendar made up of eighteen months of twenty days each plus a period of five days ("nameless days") at the end of the year known as Wayeb' (or Uayeb in 16th C. orthography). The five days of Wayeb', were thought to be a dangerous time. Foster (2002) writes, "During Wayeb, portals between the mortal realm and the Underworld dissolved. No boundaries prevented the ill-intending deities from causing disasters." To ward off these evil spirits, the Maya had customs and rituals they practiced during Wayeb'. For example, people avoided leaving their houses and washing or combing their hair. Bricker (1982) estimates that the Haab' was first used around 550 BC with a starting point of the winter solstice.^[12]

The Haab' month names are known today by their corresponding names in colonial-eraYukatek Maya, as transcribed by 16th century sources (in particular, Diego de Landa and books such as the Chilam Balam of Chumayel). Phonemic analyses of Haab' glyph names in pre-Columbian Maya inscriptions have demonstrated that the names for these twenty-day periods varied considerably from region to region and from period to period, reflecting differences in the base language(s) and usage in the Classic and Postclassic eras predating their recording by Spanish sources.^[13]

Each day in the Haab' calendar was identified by a day number in the month followed by the name of the month. Day numbers began with a glyph translated as the "seating of" a named month, which is usually regarded as day 0 of that month, although a minority treat it as day 20 of the month preceding the named month. In the latter case, the seating of Pop is day 5 of Wayeb'. For the majority, the first day of the year was 0 Pop (the seating of Pop). This was followed by 1 Pop, 2 Pop as far as 19 Pop then 0 Wo, 1 Wo and so on.

As a calendar for keeping track of the seasons, the Haab' was a bit inaccurate, since it treated the year as having exactly 365 days, and ignored the extra quarter day (approximately) in the actual tropical year. This meant that the seasons moved with respect to the calendar year by a quarter day each year, so that the calendar months named after particular seasons no longer corresponded to these seasons after a few centuries. The Haab' is equivalent to the wandering 365-day year of the ancient Egyptians.

[edit]Calendar Round

Main article: Calendar Round

Neither the Tzolk'in nor the Haab' system numbered the years. The combination of a Tzolk'in date and a Haab' date was enough to identify a date to most people's satisfaction, as such a combination did not occur again for another 52 years, above general life expectancy.

Because the two calendars were based on 260 days and 365 days respectively, the whole cycle would repeat itself every 52 Haab' years exactly. This period was known as a Calendar Round. The end of the Calendar Round was a period of unrest and bad luck among the Maya, as they waited in expectation to see if the gods would grant them another cycle of 52 years.

Not every possible combination of Tzolk'in and Haab can occur. For Tzolk'in days Imix, Kimi, Chwen and Kib' the Haab' coefficient can only be 4, 9, 14 or 19. For Tzolk'in days Ik', Manik', Eb' and Kab'an the Haab' coefficient can only be 0, 5, 10 or 15. For Tzolk'in days Akb'al', Lamat, B'en and Etz'nab' the Haab' coefficient can only be 1, 6, 11 or 16. For Tzolk'in days K'an, Muluk, Ix and Kawak the Haab' coefficient can only be 2, 7, 12 or 17. And for Tzolk'in days Chikchan, Ok, Men and Ajaw the Haab' coefficient can only be 3, 8, 13 or 18.

[edit]Long Count

Detail showing three columns of glyphs from 2nd century CE La Mojarra Stela 1. The left column gives a Long Count date of 8.5.16.9.7, or 156 CE. The two right columns are glyphs from the Epi-Olmec script.

Main article: Mesoamerican Long Count calendar

Since Calendar Round dates repeat every 18,980 days, approximately 52 solar years, the cycle repeats roughly once each lifetime, so a more refined method of dating was needed if history was to be recorded accurately. To specify dates over periods longer than 52 years, Mesoamericans used the Long Count calendar.

The Maya name for a day was k'in. Twenty of these k'ins are known as a winal or uinal. Eighteen winals make one tun. Twenty tuns are known as a k'atun. Twenty k'atuns make a b'ak'tun.

The Long Count calendar identifies a date by counting the number of days from the Mayan creation date 4 Ahaw, 8 Kumk'u (August 11, 3114 BC in the proleptic Gregorian calendar or September 6 in the Julian calendar). But instead of using a base-10 (decimal) scheme like Western numbering, the Long Count days were tallied in a modified base-20 scheme. Thus 0.0.0.1.5 is equal to 25, and 0.0.0.2.0 is equal to 40. As the winal unit resets after only counting to 18, the Long Count consistently uses base-20 only if the tun is considered the primary unit of measurement, not the k'in; with the k'in and winal units being the number of days in the tun. The Long Count 0.0.1.0.0 represents 360 days, rather than the 400 in a purely base-20 (vigesimal) count.

**Table of Long Count units**
Days	Long Count period	Long Count period	Approx solar years
1	= 1 K'in
20	= 20 K'in	= 1 Winal	0.0548
360	= 18 Winal	= 1 Tun	0.985
7,200	= 20 Tun	= 1 K'atun	19.7
144,000	= 20 K'atun	= 1 B'ak'tun	394.3

There are also four rarely used higher-order cycles: piktun, kalabtun, k'inchiltun, andalautun.

Since the Long Count dates are unambiguous, the Long Count was particularly well suited to use on monuments. The monumental inscriptions would not only include the 5 digits of the Long Count, but would also include the two tzolk'in characters followed by the two haab' characters.

Misinterpretation of the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar is the basis for a New Age belief that a cataclysm will take place on December 21, 2012. December 21, 2012 is simply the day that the calendar will go to the next b'ak'tun.

Sandra Noble, executive director of the Mesoamerican research organization FAMSI, notes that "for the ancient Maya, it was a huge celebration to make it to the end of a whole cycle". She considers the portrayal of December 2012 as a doomsday or cosmic-shift event to be "a complete fabrication and a chance for a lot of people to cash in."^[14] The 2009 science fiction apocalyptic disaster film 2012 is based on this belief.

[edit]Supplementary Series

Many Classic period inscriptions include a series of glyphs known as the Supplementary Series. The operation of this series was largely worked out by John E. Teeple (1874–1931). The Supplementary Series most commonly consists of the following elements:

[edit]Lords of the Night

Main article: Lords of the Night

Each night was ruled by one of the nine lords of the underworld. This nine day-cycle was usually written as two glyphs: a glyph that referred to the Nine Lords as a group, followed by a glyph for the lord that would rule the next night.

[edit]Lunar Series

A lunar Series generally is written as five glyphs that provide information about the current lunation, the number of the lunation in a series of six, the current ruling lunar deity and the length of the current lunation.

[edit]Moon age

The Maya counted the number of days in the current lunation. They started with zero on the first night they saw the thin crescent moon. The age of the moon was depicted by a set of glyphs that mayanists coined glyphs D and E:

D glyphs were used for lunar ages up to 19 days, with the number of days that passed from the new moon accompanied by a glyph that resembled a hand.

For lunar ages from 20 to 30, only the additional days from 20 were depicted accompanied by a glyph different from the first 20 days.

[edit]Lunation number and lunar deity

The Maya counted the lunation in a cycle of six, numbered zero through 5. Each one was ruled by one of the six Lunar Deities. This was written as two glyphs: a glyph for the completed lunation in the lunar count with a coefficient of 0 through 5 and a glyph for the lunar deity that ruled the current lunation. Teeple found that Quirigua Stela E (9.17.0.0.0) is lunar deity 2 and that most other inscriptions use this same moon number. It's an interesting date because it was a Ka'tun completion and a solar eclipse was visible in the Maya area two days later on the first unlucky day of Wayeb'.

[edit]Lunation length

The length of the lunar month is 29.53059 days so if you count the number of days in a lunation it will be either 29 or 30 days. The maya wrote whether the lunar month was 29 or 30 days as two glyphs: a glyph for lunation length followed by either a glyph made up of a moon glyph over a bundle with a suffix of 19 for a 29 day lunation or a moon glyph with a suffix of 10 for a 30 day lunation.

[edit]Short Count

In the kingdoms of Postclassic Yucatán, the linear Long Count notation fell into disuse and gave way to a cyclical Short Count of 13 katuns (or 260 tuns), in which each katun was named after its concluding day, Ahau ('Lord'). 1 Imix was selected as the recurrent 'first day' of the cycle, corresponding to 1 Cipactli in the Aztec day count. The cycle was counted from katun 11 Ahau to katun 13 Ahau, with the coefficients of the katuns' concluding days running in the order 11 – 9 – 7 – 5 – 3 – 1 – 12 – 10 – 8 – 6 – 4 – 2 – 13 Ahau (since a division of 20 X 360 days by 13 falls 2 days short). The concluding day 13 Ahau was followed by the re-entering first day 1 Imix. This is the system as found in the colonial Books of Chilam Balam. In characteristic Mesoamerican fashion, these books project the cycle onto the landscape, with 13Ahauob 'Lordships' dividing the land of Yucatán into 13 'kingdoms'.^[15]

[edit]Venus cycle

Another important calendar for the Maya was the Venus cycle. The Maya kings had skilled astronomers who could calculate the Venus cycle with great accuracy. There are six pages in the Postclassic Dresden Codex devoted to the accurate calculation of the heliacal rising of Venus. The Maya were able to achieve such accuracy by careful observation over many years. Venus was often referred to as both "The Morning Star" and "The Evening Star" because of its visibility during both times. This makes Venus unique. There are various theories as to why the Venus cycle was especially important for the Maya. Across Mesoamerica, Venus was often depicted as "defeating" the Sun and the Moon, perhaps because of its persistent visibility after transitions from day-into-night (and vice-versa). Most scholars agree that Venus was associated with war and that the Maya used it to divine good times (called electional astrology) for their coronations and wars. Maya rulers planned for wars to begin when Venus rose.

The Maya are probably the best-known of the classical civilizations of Mesoamerica. Mayan history starts in the Yucatan around 2600 B.C., Mayan history rose to prominence around A.D. 250 in present-day southern Mexico, Guatemala, western Honduras, El Salvador, and northern Belize.
Building on the inherited inventions and ideas of earlier civilizations such as the Olmec, the Maya developed astronomy, calendrical systems and hieroglyphic writing. The Maya were noted as well for elaborate and highly decorated ceremonial architecture, including temple-pyramids, palaces and observatories, all built without metal tools. Mayan history shows that they were also skilled farmers, clearing large sections of tropical rain forest and, where groundwater was scarce, building sizeable underground reservoirs for the storage of rainwater. The Maya were equally skilled as weavers and potters, and cleared routes through jungles and swamps to foster extensive trade networks with distant peoples.
Many people believe that the ancestors of the Maya crossed the Bering Strait at least 20,000 years ago. They were nomadic hunter-gatherers. Evidence of settled habitation in Mexico is found in the Archaic period 5000-1500 BC - corn cultivation, basic pottery and stone tools.
The first true civilization was established with the rise of the Olmecs in the Pre-Classic period 1500 BC -300 AD. The Olmecs settled on the Gulf Coast, and little is known about them.
They are regarded as the inventors of many aspects of Meso-American cultures including the first calendar and hieroglyphic writing in the Western hemisphere. Archeologists have not settled the relationship between the Olmecs and the Maya, and it is a mystery whether the Maya were their descendants, trading partners, or had another relationship, that is white place in Mayan history.
It is agreed that the Maya developed a complex calendar and the most elaborate form of hieroglyphics in America, both based on the Olmec's versions.

Maya had a complex society(Classic period 300 - 900 AD)Most artistic and cultural achievement came about during the Classic period 300 - 900 AD. The Maya developed a complex, hierarchical society divided into classes and professions. Centralized governments, headed by a king, ruled territories with clearly defined boundaries. These borders changed as the various states lost and gained control over territory. Mayan centers flourished in Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador. The major cities of the Classic period were Tikal (Guatemala), Palenque and Yaxchil n (Chiapas, Mexico), Cop n and Quirigua (Honduras). For most of this period, the majority of the Maya population lived in the central lowlands of Mexico and Belize.
The Northern Yucatan (where present day Cancun is located) was sparsely populated for most of the Classic period with only a few cities such as Dzibilchalt n (near M rida) and Xpuhil, Bec n and Chicann (near Chetumal). During the 9th century the population centers of the central lowlands declined significantly. This decline was very rapid and is attributed to famine, drought, breakdowns in trade, and political fragmentation. Fragmentation from large states into smaller city-states focused resources on rivalries between cities including not just wars, but competitions of architecture and art between rival cities. As the cities in the lowlands declined, urban centers sprung up in the Northern Yucat n, including Uxmal (near M rida).
Anthropologists used to contrast the "peaceful" Maya with the bloodthirsty Aztecs of central Mexico. Although human sacrifice was not as important to the Maya as to the Aztec, blood sacrifice played a major role in their religion. Individuals offered up their blood, but not necessarily their lives, to the gods through painful methods using sharp instruments such as sting-ray spines or performed ritualistic self mutilation. It is probable that people of all classes shed their blood during religious rites. The king's blood sacrifice was the most valuable and took place more frequently. The Maya were warlike and raided their neighbors for land, citizens, and captives. Some captives were subjected to the double sacrifice where the victims heart was torn out for the sun and head cut off to pour blood out for the earth.
The Mayan civilization was the height of pre-Columbian culture. They made significant discoveries in science, including the use of the zero in mathematics. Their writing was the only in America capable of expressing all types of thought. Glyphs either represent syllables or whole concepts and were written on long strips of paper or carved and painted on stone. They are arranged to be red from left to right and top to bottom in pairs of columns. The Mayan calendar begins around 3114 BC, before Maya culture existed, and could measure time well into the future. They wrote detailed histories and used their calendar to predict the future and astrological events. Fray Diego de Landa, second bishop of the Yucat n ordered a mass destruction of Mayan books in 1562 and only three survived.

Post Classic Period - 1000 - 1500 ADGrowth and RuinAfter the Classic period, the Maya migrated to the Yucat n peninsula. There they developed their own character, although their accomplishments and artwork are not considered as impressive as the Classic Maya. Most of the ruins you can see South of Cancun are from this time period and are definitely worth a visit.
Chichen Itza (near Valladolid), Uxmal (near Merida) and Mayap n (west of Chichen Itza) were the three most important cities during the Post Classic period. They lived in relative peace from around 1000 - 1100 AD when Mayap n overthrew the confederation and ruled for over 200 years. In 1441 the Maya who had previously ruled Uxmal destroyed the city of Mayap n and founded a new city at Mani. Wars were fought between rival Mayan groups over the territory until the region was conquered by the Spanish.

Chichen Itza was first populated between 500 and 900 AD by Mayans and for some reason abandoned around 900, the city was then resettled 100 years later and subsequently invaded by Toltecs from the North. There are numerous reliefs of both Mayan gods including Chac and the Toltec gods including Quetzacoatl. For some reason the city was abandoned around 1300. If the Spanish did not make it a policy to kill all of the Mayan priests and burn books when they arrived in Mexico, we would all have a few more answers.

Post Columbian PeriodConquest and rebellion (1500 AD)The Spanish colonization of the islands of Hispaniola and Cuba allowed them to launch exploratory forays around the Caribbean.

WELCOME TO THE MAYAN CIVILIZATION

Geographically, the Mayan civilization covered what is now Belize,Guatemala, Honduras,El Salvador, and part of Mexico.
MAYA
By far the greatest civilization in Central America before the Spanish Conquest was the Maya. They were outstanding in many different ways. For example, they built magnificent cities with huge stone temples and pyramids. Yet they had no knowledge of the wheel or metal tools. The great Mayans developed an advanced system of writing,mathematics and astronomy, which they used to calculate an accurate calendar. The ancient Maya lived in a society where religion was part of their daily life. The cosmological beliefs of the Maya are not fully known, for the only direct source of knowledge comes from the sculptured, and painted representations from their ceremonie sites. However, it is known that they worshipped hundreds of different gods. According to Benson, the Maya people can be described as short and sturdily built, with broad heads and receding jaws. The ancient Mayans can be long remembered for their remarkable advances of the arts, science, and religion (The Mayan World ).

LINK TO "THE MAYAN PROPHECIES" BY ADRIAN GILBERT

MAYA ART AND ARTIFACTS
Maya Temple Building Picture from The National Geographic
The art of the Maya has been called the richest of the New World because of the great complexity of patterns and variety of media expressions. Maya buildings were adorned with carved friezes and roof combs in stone and stucco. With large quantities of limestone and flint available, plaster and cement were easily produced. This allowed the Mayans to build impressive temples, with stepped pyramids. On the summits were thatched- roof temples. Evidence show that the early Maya architects were using the corbel vault principle, which is arch like structures with sides that extend inward until they meet at the top. Another matchless feature of the Mayans was the use of colorful murals. It is also noted that most of the Maya cities were built by being divided into quaters by two avenues which cross-cut each other at right angles. Roofs were flat and made with cedar beams overlaid with mortar. The walls were plastered and painted with great gods and other mythological features.
The Mayans also expressed themselves artistically. Their ceramics were made in a large variety of forms and decorated with complex scenes. The Mayans also designed works of art from flint, bone and shell, along with making decorated cotton textiles. Even metal was used for ceremonial purposes. Items made with metal include necklaces, bracelets and headresses. It is evident that all of the structures built by the ancient Mayans were built in honor of the gods. Compounds were built with large open areas, from which all the citizens could view the religious ceremonies taking place on the platforms elevated above the city. On the other hand, the construction of the Castillo, seems to relate to the ancient Maya's obsession with the calendar. For example, each stairway in the temple has 91 steps, making a total of 364 steps in the four staircases, which, counting the platform at the top of the pyramid, equals the total number of days in the solar year. Even more so, each side of the pyramid has nine stepped terraces divided by a stairway, for a total of eighteen sections on each side, consequently, the number of months in the Maya calendar. Although the Mayans excelled at architecture, other accomplishments of the Mayas must not be overlooked (READERS DIGEST).
RELIGION
SACRIFICE TO THE GODSPicture from The National Geographic
The Mayans concept of the cosmos is more complex than the western religion. Benson reminds us that the only evidence of the Maya religion is the ruins left to tell the stories. The Maya religion seems to have been made up of thirteen heavens and nine underworlds ruled by the nine lords of the nights, whose names are not known. Apparently, there was warfare between the sky gods and those of the underworld. As their society grew more complex, their religious pantheon also grew more complicated with new gods being added and old gods taking on new functions. Their ceremonies grew more complicated too. Not only could the Maya gods change their appearance, but they could also change their goodness or evil. Benson explains that the sky god was the most important at all periods because he is frequently noticed in the art. The Maya worshipped hundreds of different gods. It is apparent that religion was an important part of all Mayan life, and confirmation proves that religion and the Mayan calendar were so inter-woven because of the ceremonies that were held regularly in connection with the Mayans advanced calendar. (The Mayan World)
MAYAN ADVANCES IN SCIENCE
The Mayans were an advanced group of people who made many advancements in math and astronomy, which they used to calculate an accurate calendar. The Maya came up with an advanced calendric system. First, they came up with a calendar that consisted of 260 days each with a specific name and symbol. The days were numbered 1 to 13 and since there are 20 day names, after the 13 day count the next day is numbered 1 again. Secondly, the Maya also had a calendar that tracked a solar year of 365 days. This calendar contained months that are given names, and these names also had symbols. There were 18 months that were given names, and these months were composed of 20 days as their previous calendar. In each year was a special five day month called Wayet. These five days had no names and were considered unlucky. The Maya used special glyphs to indicate time periods.
KIN = 1 day

WINALS = 20 days or 1 month

TUN = 360 days or 1 year

K'ATUN = 20 years of 360 days each

BAKTUNS = 400 year periods

LINK TO Maya Calendar Home Page

THE MAYAN LITERATURE

POPOL VUH

The Mayans were the only people in the Americas who had a developed form of writing, thus some of their inscriptions cannot be entirely deciphered. Part of the problem is the limited number of texts; only three pre-Spanish Maya books, or codices, are known to exist. One of the few native text that survived from the Spanish colonial period is the Popol Vuh. Many of their text like the Popul Vuh consist of legends or rituals that come down by word of mouth. So the Popol Vuh is a book of chronological happenings that explain the Mayans belief of creation. In the essence, it was a book of guidelines and moral lessons. The Mayans believed that the Popol Vuh was created before man and that it was to be used to answer questions of creation and the earth. According to the Mayans, the concept of time was a neverending process. Their civilization had the most correct understandings of the concept of time. The first known contact with this book for the Mayans was in Quiche. Quiche is an area in the Guatamalan highlands. The Popol Vuh has had many names before it was the Popol Vuh. These names ranged from "The Light That Came from Across the Sea," "Our Place in the Shadows," and "The Dawn of Life." The last and final name that stuck with the book is Popol Vuh or translated means Council Book. The authors of the alphabetic Popol Vuh were members of the three lordly lineages that had once ruled the Quiche kingdom: the Cauecs, the Greathouses, and the Lord Quiches. These founding groups were thought to have existed in the middle sixteenth century. In 1701, a friar named Francisco Ximenez made the only surviving copy of the Popol Vuh and added a Spanish translation.
The Mayans were polytheistic and their gods had many different names. The most commanding of the gods were the Maker, Begetter, Sovereign Plumed Serpent, and Maker of the Blue-Green Plate. All these gods played different roles in the creation of the earth. The Maker was the mother-father of life. The Begetter and Soveriegn Plumed Serpent were in the water and were believed to be a glittering light or reflection. The Maker of the Blue-Green Plate stood for the maker of the sky and earth. The Popol Vuh and the Judeo Christian bible have a large similarity, and that is the story of creation. The Popol Vuh describes the creations of each section of the sky, land, and water. With the moments in creation there is no element of time, it just happens the way the gods want them to occur. After the gods have created all the animals and areas of the earth they decide to create guardians. These guardians are to protect this lavish land and to respect all creatures that share the earth with them. At first, the gods tried to produce a human out of earth and mud. The problem with this idea was that the humans were disintergrating and dissolving, and the body had many imperfections. Later, the gods tried again to construct a human, this time out of wood. These manikins multiplied, having sons and daughters. The problem with the manikins was that they had no feelings, heart, blood, and no recognition of events. The gods were angered by their mistake, so they created a flood and killed all the manikins. Then the gods ground their bodies up and crushed their mouths and faces. Afterward, the gods ate them. " It has been said that the monkeys were left as a sign because wood alone was used for their flesh by the gods. So this is why monkeys look like people: they are a sign of a previous human work, human design-mere manikins, mere woodcarvings." In conclusion the Popop Vuh is an example of how a book of a civilization can be lost,and reopened in a new age(POPOL VUH).
LINK TO MAYAN FOLKTALES

Mayan Calendar

Mayan Calendar
Maya Fifth Sun
The ancient Maya used over 17 calendars to track cycles of the sun,
moon, planets, stars, seasons, and passage of time. They
cross-references calendars using the numerology of the Tzolk'in. This
sacred mystical count was numeric and held the key to cycles. It is said
that your level of spiritual mastery increases with the number of
calendars you know. Tzolk'in: Sacred divinatory calendar that determines ceremonies and prophecies,
and synchronizes the other calendars. In its pure form it is strictly numeric, using a 13
(spirit) by 20 (form) combination. The multiples of 13 x 20 = 260 keep repeating
endlessly. When a count of 260 is reached, the calendar returns to its original
combination and starts over. In common usage the Tzolk'in count of 20 is attached to
the 20 Mayan day glyphs. However, indigenous experts report that this practice is an
error that began with Friar Diego de Landa and was perpetuated by archeologists such
as J. Eric Thompson and Sylvanus Morley. Haab: Solar calendar tracking movements of the sun and its relationship with the
earth, such as solstices and equinoxes when energy projected over the earth is more or
less favorable. It consists of 18 "months" (uinal) of 20 days (kin) that were counted
from 0 to 19, the first day being the "seating of the uinal." This 18 x 20 count = 360
days. The Maya knew the exact length of the solar year (365.24 days) but retained
360 as the tun, a time period embedded into the Long Count Calendar. Evidence
supports a 360-day year among many ancient civilizations, reflecting a shorter earth
year prior to the solar system cataclysm of 11,500 years ago. The Maya added a short
5-day month to adjust the solar calendar, calling it uayab. The 5 uayab days are
unnamed and common lore says Mesoamerican peoples viewed them as unlucky. Uc - Lunar calendar consisting of 13 moon cycles per year. The Mayas noted
whether these cycles were 28 or 29 days (actual lunar month is 29.53 days), and at
what point in the moon cycle a given event occurred. The moon cycle count is adjusted
at the full moon occurring closest to spring equinox. The Dresden Codex has an
eclipse table of 405 lunations, exactly equal to 46 Tzolk'ins. Nine Lords of the Night,
called Bolontiku, ruled each day in turn and were depicted before the lunar glyph. Long Count: Continuous count of days from the assigned starting date of the last
Great Cycle, recorded by the Maya as 13.0.0.0.0 4 Ahau 8 Kumku, around 3000
BCE. It was used during the Preclassic through the Late Classic periods, the last
carved Long Count date yet discovered is at Tonina (10.4.0.0.0). By the GMT
correlation this is 909 CE. Correlating the Long Count to the Gregorian calendar
presents many challenges, with a range of over 600 years between proposed dating.
Issues around the accuracy of 2012 predictions arise from correlation questions. See
The Mayan Calendar and 2012. Tunben K'ak: Calendar of the Earth for 52-year cycles, called the Calendar
Round, relates the Tzolk'in and Haab. Every 52 Haabs and 73 Tzolk'ins (18,980 days)
the original combination of day positions recurs. The 2 counts return to their original
starting position. At this time a "New Fire" ceremony was performed. All village fires
were extinguished during a ritual of fasting and prayers during the night. When the sun
rose the next morning, gifts were made to the gods and a new fire lit by priests, who
carried it to re-light hearths in the village. Katun Count: A count of 20 tuns (19.71 solar years) at which monuments were
dedicated to commemorate katun endings. When the Maya stopped using the Long
Count, they kept a "short count" using only katuns, called u kahlay katunob. Each
20-tun period was named by its ending katun, such as Katun 8 ahau. Katun names
repeated every 260 tuns (256 years) leading to confusion about exact dating. K'altun Count: Calendar for 260 tuns (256 years) related to Earth and
ceremonial cycles. Also called the may cycle, it marked important ceremonial periods.
The main ceremonial seat rotated among cities, changing every 256 years, with ritual
disempowering of monuments in the terminating city. Venus Calendar: The Maya followed Venus (Noh Ek, Xux Ek) carefully,
tracking its appearances as morning and evening star and synods (conjunction with the
sun). Using a 584-day cycle (Venus synodic cycle = 583.92 days), after 5 cycles there
are exactly 8 Haabs and 99 lunations. Two Calendar Rounds equal 65 Venus cycles. Mars, Jupiter and Saturn: A mysterious 819-day cycle originated at Palenque,
related to the 13 Gods of the Upper World, 9 Lords of the Underworld, and 7 Earth
Gods (7x9x13=819). It uses 21 (21x13x3) for synodic cycles of Jupiter (21x19 days)
and Saturn (21x18 days), and includes Mars synodic cycle (780 days = 3 Tzolk'ins.)
The 819-day cycle links with the 4 directions-colors to form a 3276-day cycle that
coordinates with the moon every 16 years.
Select from the Navigation
Bar for the following: Press Release: The Maya
Legacy and "Apocalypto" Newspaper articles and
reviews Book Cover: Dreaming the
Maya Fifth SunShort Synopsis Dreaming
the Maya Fifth SunProduct Information Endorsements Author Biography

Mayan Calendar
Maya Fifth Sun
The ancient Maya used over 17 calendars to track cycles of the sun,
moon, planets, stars, seasons, and passage of time. They
cross-references calendars using the numerology of the Tzolk'in. This
sacred mystical count was numeric and held the key to cycles. It is said
that your level of spiritual mastery increases with the number of
calendars you know. Tzolk'in: Sacred divinatory calendar that determines ceremonies and prophecies,
and synchronizes the other calendars. In its pure form it is strictly numeric, using a 13
(spirit) by 20 (form) combination. The multiples of 13 x 20 = 260 keep repeating
endlessly. When a count of 260 is reached, the calendar returns to its original
combination and starts over. In common usage the Tzolk'in count of 20 is attached to
the 20 Mayan day glyphs. However, indigenous experts report that this practice is an
error that began with Friar Diego de Landa and was perpetuated by archeologists such
as J. Eric Thompson and Sylvanus Morley. Haab: Solar calendar tracking movements of the sun and its relationship with the
earth, such as solstices and equinoxes when energy projected over the earth is more or
less favorable. It consists of 18 "months" (uinal) of 20 days (kin) that were counted
from 0 to 19, the first day being the "seating of the uinal." This 18 x 20 count = 360
days. The Maya knew the exact length of the solar year (365.24 days) but retained
360 as the tun, a time period embedded into the Long Count Calendar. Evidence
supports a 360-day year among many ancient civilizations, reflecting a shorter earth
year prior to the solar system cataclysm of 11,500 years ago. The Maya added a short
5-day month to adjust the solar calendar, calling it uayab. The 5 uayab days are
unnamed and common lore says Mesoamerican peoples viewed them as unlucky. Uc - Lunar calendar consisting of 13 moon cycles per year. The Mayas noted
whether these cycles were 28 or 29 days (actual lunar month is 29.53 days), and at
what point in the moon cycle a given event occurred. The moon cycle count is adjusted
at the full moon occurring closest to spring equinox. The Dresden Codex has an
eclipse table of 405 lunations, exactly equal to 46 Tzolk'ins. Nine Lords of the Night,
called Bolontiku, ruled each day in turn and were depicted before the lunar glyph. Long Count: Continuous count of days from the assigned starting date of the last
Great Cycle, recorded by the Maya as 13.0.0.0.0 4 Ahau 8 Kumku, around 3000
BCE. It was used during the Preclassic through the Late Classic periods, the last
carved Long Count date yet discovered is at Tonina (10.4.0.0.0). By the GMT
correlation this is 909 CE. Correlating the Long Count to the Gregorian calendar
presents many challenges, with a range of over 600 years between proposed dating.
Issues around the accuracy of 2012 predictions arise from correlation questions. See
The Mayan Calendar and 2012. Tunben K'ak: Calendar of the Earth for 52-year cycles, called the Calendar
Round, relates the Tzolk'in and Haab. Every 52 Haabs and 73 Tzolk'ins (18,980 days)
the original combination of day positions recurs. The 2 counts return to their original
starting position. At this time a "New Fire" ceremony was performed. All village fires
were extinguished during a ritual of fasting and prayers during the night. When the sun
rose the next morning, gifts were made to the gods and a new fire lit by priests, who
carried it to re-light hearths in the village. Katun Count: A count of 20 tuns (19.71 solar years) at which monuments were
dedicated to commemorate katun endings. When the Maya stopped using the Long
Count, they kept a "short count" using only katuns, called u kahlay katunob. Each
20-tun period was named by its ending katun, such as Katun 8 ahau. Katun names
repeated every 260 tuns (256 years) leading to confusion about exact dating. K'altun Count: Calendar for 260 tuns (256 years) related to Earth and
ceremonial cycles. Also called the may cycle, it marked important ceremonial periods.
The main ceremonial seat rotated among cities, changing every 256 years, with ritual
disempowering of monuments in the terminating city. Venus Calendar: The Maya followed Venus (Noh Ek, Xux Ek) carefully,
tracking its appearances as morning and evening star and synods (conjunction with the
sun). Using a 584-day cycle (Venus synodic cycle = 583.92 days), after 5 cycles there
are exactly 8 Haabs and 99 lunations. Two Calendar Rounds equal 65 Venus cycles. Mars, Jupiter and Saturn: A mysterious 819-day cycle originated at Palenque,
related to the 13 Gods of the Upper World, 9 Lords of the Underworld, and 7 Earth
Gods (7x9x13=819). It uses 21 (21x13x3) for synodic cycles of Jupiter (21x19 days)
and Saturn (21x18 days), and includes Mars synodic cycle (780 days = 3 Tzolk'ins.)
The 819-day cycle links with the 4 directions-colors to form a 3276-day cycle that
coordinates with the moon every 16 years.
Select from the Navigation
Bar for the following: Press Release: The Maya
Legacy and "Apocalypto" Newspaper articles and
reviews Book Cover: Dreaming the
Maya Fifth SunShort Synopsis Dreaming
the Maya Fifth SunProduct Information Endorsements Author Biography
Mayan Calendar
Maya Fifth Sun

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Sunday, May 22, 2011