Most masses around theglobelook at some form of a calendar every individual day . business concern executives check to see when their meetings are scheduled . The meddling momma confirmssoccerpractices and piano lessons . College student insure that their paper are turned in on time and they have plenty of sentence to consider for examination . For the people of ancient Maya , calendars were just as important to casual life-time as they are to people today .
The Mayans originate in a region calledMesoamerica , or Middle America . This area lies in between Mexico and South America and was domicile to many other cultures , including the Aztec , Olmec , Teotihuacan and Toltec . The Mayans last in what are today Guatemala , Belize , Honduras , El Salvador and Southern Mexico ( Yucatan , Campeche , Quintana Roo Tabasco and Chiapas ) .
Mayan history is broken into three periods :
Mesoamericans began writing during the mid - Pre - classic geological period . The Mayans were the first to keep any sort of diachronic phonograph recording , and the beginnings of the calendar were born . The Mayans usedstelae , or pit monuments , to chip at their civic outcome , calendars and astronomy knowledge . They also cipher their religious beliefs and mythology on pottery .
The Mayans placed great economic value in record their multitude ’s history . While they were n’t the first refinement to ever use a calendar , they did contrive four separate calendar that lasted for discrete time periods . Depending on their need , the Mayans used dissimilar calendars or some combination of two calendars to record each consequence . TheirLong Countcalendar , which we ’ll get wind about in more contingent later , expires in 2012 , leading some to think that it coincide with an apocalyptic event .
But for decrypt these different calendar , you ’ll first require a brief deterrent example in Mayan maths .
Mayan Numbers and Math
Along with their calendar – the Tzolk’in , the Haab and the Long Count – the Mayans also created their own math system . They used a series of dots and bar to stand for numbers . One dot equaled one unit , while one stripe equaled five units . A shell symbol intend zero .
In a organisation similar to the one we apply now , the Mayans used place values to designate orotund numbers . However , the similarity between math systems finish there .
Mayans ' place values are vertical , whereas ours are horizontal . For instance , we compose the phone number 27 horizontally – the number two , then the number seven to the right of it . The Mayans , however , would pen 27 vertically – their symbol for seven ( a billet representing five units with two loony toons over it ) would be on the bottom , and the symbolic representation for 20 ( a back breaker on the pipeline above ) would be right away over it . The same applies for other Book of Numbers , like 29 .
Numbers carry nifty significance in the Mayan acculturation . For object lesson , the number 20 signifies the number of digits a someone has – 10 fingers and 10 toes . The bit 13 refers to the major joints in the human body where it ’s believed disease and illness enter and attack : one neck opening , two shoulders , two elbows , two articulatio radiocarpea , two hips , two genu and two ankles [ seed : Garcia ] . The number 13 also represented the levels of heaven where sacred lords ruled theEarth[source : Tzolk’in Calendar ] .
It ’s these two numbers , 20 and 13 , that are used to make up the Tzolk’in calendar , the first calendar used by the Mayans .
The Tzolk’in Calendar
Like many Mesoamerican calendars , theTzolk’in , orSacred Round , calendar operate on a 260 - day rhythm . One theory for the implication of its bicycle duration is that the 260 days correlate to maternity [ author : Maya Mystery School ] . Another proposes that the calendar represent the distance of prison term to work Zea mays . However , it ’s more potential that it was based on the Mayans ' awe for the numbers 13 and 20 .
In the Gregorian calendar , we have seven days of the week and , count on the month , anywhere from 28 to 31 days . The Tzolk’in calendar is made up of a solidifying of 20 day name , symbolize by images calledglyphs , and 13 numeral calledtones . The Clarence Day are numbered one through 13 , and the gens are also given in sequence .
The beginning of the Tzolk’in calendar begin with the first day name , Imix ' , and the number one . The days continue in succession , with the second day being a compounding of Ik ' and the number two ; the day name and number combine in chronological sequence until all 13 tones are used .
Once the calendar get in touch with the Clarence Shepard Day Jr. 13 , denote by B’en and the number 13 , the telephone number start again with one , but the daylight names move forward with the fourteenth glyph , Ix . By revolve like this , the two sets form 260 unparalleled combinations of a day name and a number . For instance , once you pass the end of the cycle of day name with 7 Ajaw , the day names start anew at Imix , and the numerals continue : 8 Imix ' , 9 Ik ' , 10 Ak’b’al and so on .
Think of two interlace gears , with the 13 numeral spaced around a smaller circular gear that fits at heart of the larger geared wheel of day gens refer in hieroglyphics . If you lock those gears together at the routine one and the day name Imix ' , then revolve the gears until you reach one and Imix ' again , you ’ll get 260 unique day . Those paraphernalia spin until the final combination clicks into situation at 13 Ajaw , marking the destruction of the class .
It ’s soft to see the import the Mayans put in the Tzolk’in calendar . For instance , they trust that the date of your birth determines the machine characteristic you ’ll show in your personality – much like some people think your astrological sign does today .
Holy humankind also schedule certain events throughout the year base on the Tzolk’in calendar . At the beginning of eachuinal(period of 20 day ) , a shaman would count forward to set when religious and ceremonial events would occur . He would then select the dates that would be the most prosperous or luckiest for the biotic community .
Despite its multitudinous role , the Tzolk’in calendar still could n’t value asolar twelvemonth , the clip it take for thesunto make a consummate bike . Because of this , the Mayans demand a more exact calendar to cover the distance of time that we regard as a full twelvemonth .
The Haab Calendar and the Calendar Round
TheHaab calendaris very similar to the Gregorian calendar that we use today . It ’s base on the cycle of thesunand was used for agricultural , economical and accountancy activities . Much like the Tzolk’in calendar , it ’s also comprised of uinals ( periods of 20 day ) , and each twenty-four hour period has its own hieroglyph and number . However , instead of using 13 uinals for 260 days , the Haab calendar has 18 uinals , giving it 360 day .
Mayan astronomers noticed that 360 years was n’t enough sentence for the sun to make it through a full solar cycle . They argued that the calendar should follow the cycle as closely as possible for accuracy . But Mayan mathematicians disagreed . They wanted to keep things simple , in increments of 20 , just like their maths organisation . The stargazer and mathematicians at long last agreed on the 18 uinals , with five " nameless days " foretell thewayeb[source : The Maya Calendar ] .
The wayeb , or uayeb , is considered one " calendar month " of five days thought to be a very dangerous time . The Mayans think the gods perch during that prison term , leaving theEarthunprotected . The Mayans performed ceremonies and rituals during the wayeb , hoping that the idol would return once again [ source : The Mayan Calendar Portal ] .
While this calendar was foresighted than the Tzolk’in , the Mayans wanted to create a calendar that would put down even more time . For this grounds , the Tzolk’in and Haab calendars were combined to form theCalendar Round .
In the Calendar Round , the 260 days of the Tzolk’in calendar are paired with the 360 days and five nameless days of the Haab calendar . The two calendars are fit the same way the Tzolk’in day name and numbers are ( see the representative of the Tzolk’in calendar on the previous page ) . This gives the Calendar Round 18,890 unique days , a sentence stop of around 52 years .
At the time , the Calendar Round was the long calendar in Mesoamerica . Contemporary historian , however , care to immortalize Mayan chronicle for contemporaries to come . To accomplish that , they needed a calendar that would take them through hundreds , even thousands , of eld .
go into the Long Count calendar .
The Long Count Calendar
The Mayans designed theLong Count calendarto last approximately 5,125.36 years , a time period they cite to as theGreat Cycle[source : Jenkins ] . The Long Count calendar is dissever into five distinct units :
To find the Long Count day of the month that corresponds with any Gregorian particular date , you ’ll need to enumerate the day from the beginning of the last Great Cycle . But determining when the last oscillation began and matching that up to a Gregorian date is quite a exploit .
English anthropologist Sir Eric Thompson look to the Spanish Inquisition to compute the Mayan - to - Gregorian date transition , know as theThompson Correlation . Events that occurred during the Inquisition were recorded on both the Mayan Long Count calendar and the Gregorian calendar . bookman then gathered date that matched on both calendar and equate them to theDresden Codex , one of four Mayan documents that pull round the Inquisition . This leaf-book corroborate the date long thought by Thompson to be the beginning of the current Great Cycle – Aug. 13 , 3114 B.C. [ source : Mayan Long Count ] .
Now that we have the beginning date of the Great Cycle , permit ’s put the Long Count into practice . We ’ll take a day of the month that ’s familiar to many Americans : July 20 , 1969 , the day Apollo 11 landed on the moon . In the Long Count calendar , this day of the month is write as 12.17.15.17.0 . You ’ll notice there are five number places in the date . Reading from left to right wing , the first office signifies the routine of baktuns since the beginning of the Great Cycle . In this grammatical case , there have been 12 baktuns , or 1,728,000 days ( 144,000 x 12 ) since Aug. 13 , 3114 B.C. The 2d place relates to the number of katuns that have learn lieu . Then , it continues on to the rightfulness with the number of tun , uinals and kins .
In recent year , as the determination of the Long Count calendar approach on Dec. 21 , 2012 , doomsday theorists have predicted the worst . That Gregorian escort is denote as 13.0.0.0.0 on the Long Count , betoken the end of the current Great Cycle .
However , Mayan scholars and native dismiss the apocalyptic theories , noting that ending of the calendar would be see as a time of jubilation , much like forward-looking - Clarence Day New Year festivities [ source : Stevenson ] . There are also no Mayan lettering or writing that prognosticate the end of the world when the Great Cycle resolve [ source : MacDonald ] .
The most notable event slat for that 2012 wintertime solstice will happen in the sky . For the first time in around 25,800 year , the sun will aline with the center of the Milky Way wandflower [ source : Stevenson ] . Although the event fathom impressive , astronomers take that it wo n’t have any core on the Earth . And with that , the next Great Cycle will quiet commence anew .
