Mayan calendar
The Mayan calendar is an intricate system of timekeeping developed by the ancient Maya civilization, distinct from the calendars commonly used in the Western world. Unlike the solar-based calendars, it consists of three interrelated calendars: the sacred tzolk'in, a 260-day cycle used for religious ceremonies; the haab, a 365-day secular calendar; and the long count calendar, which tracks much longer periods of time. The long count calendar, significant for chronicling historical and mythical events, culminated in a major cycle that many associated with December 21, 2012.
This date became widely publicized as a potential "doomsday" or apocalyptic moment, though interpretations of its significance vary. Many believe that the ancient Maya did not foresee an end of the world, but rather a transition or continuation of cycles. Each calendar is marked by a unique set of hieroglyphs and reflects the Maya's advanced understanding of astronomy and mathematics. The calendars also play a vital role in cultural rituals, connecting the people to their ancestors and sacred traditions. Overall, the Mayan calendar exemplifies a rich legacy of timekeeping deeply embedded in the civilization's history and spirituality.
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Mayan calendar
The Mayan calendar was created in a very different way from the calendar and time allocations the Western world is accustomed to today. Their calendar, set in hieroglyphic script, is arranged according to a counting of days rather than being related to a solar year. Of particular significance is that the Mayan calendar does not consist of one calendar only; rather it comprises three calendars, each with a different focus. The three calendars are a sacred calendar, secular calendar, and a long count calendar. The twenty-first century was privy to a date set on the Mayan calendar as approximately 21 December 2012, which people took to being an indication of the end of the current world. This was marked accordingly, either as a doomsday happening or as a celebratory party at the ancient Mayan temple ruins in the city of Chichen Itza.
Brief History
Ancient Mayan civilization looked to the sky as a source of information. Their aptitude pertaining to astronomy, coupled with a proficiency in mathematics, resulted in the development of a sophisticated type of calendar. The idea of cycles of time was particularly pertinent to Maya. These cycles found their way into the calendar according to the calendar type. A system of hieroglyphs or variants was used to depict the time frames. The longest measurement constituting 1,872,000 days or 5,125.366 years is found in the long count calendar and corresponds to thirteen b’ak’tun cycles. Ceremonious offerings are presented by Maya farmers from Yucatan at the appropriate sacred ceremony or ritual times. An ancestral connection also enters the realm of their calendars. The long count calendar starts on 11 or 13 August 3114 BCE depicting a mythical creation date. A system of zero as a starting point and mathematical expression of dots and bars looks similar to aspects of the decimal system with which twentieth- and twenty-first-century scholars are familiar.
The Maya civilization of ancient times inhabited an area in Mesoamerica, especially the Yucatan Peninsula. They lived among animals of the wild, surrounded by nature. Art work that has been excavated tells the story of their civilization and place in history. The Mayan calendars are part of this history and culture.
The Mayan calendar appears to have reached its conclusion in 2012, following a 5,125 year cycle. Thousands of people, of different orientations and religions, arrived in Chichen Itza and Uxmal, close to the Yucatan capital. The governor, Rolando Zapata, expressed pleasure in the revenue that was generated by all the visitors. CBS News reported Zapata saying, "We believe that the beginning of a new baktun means the beginning of a new era, and we’re receiving it with great optimism."
Overview
The Mayan sacred calendar, referred to as tzolk’in, comprised 260 days. The cycle repeated at the completion of the 260th day. Religious ceremonies were arranged around the sacred calendar and were scheduled as such. The sacred calendar constitutes the first Mayan calendar.
The Mayan secular calendar, the second calendar, had the name haab; this one ran for 365 days. Although the number of days is equivalent to the modern Western calendar, there is a discrepancy. The Mayan calendar does not include the aspect of the Earth revolving around the sun for an extra quarter of a day, as does the concept of adding an extra day (29 February) to create a leap year.
The long count calendar was the final calendar in the Mayan trilogy. Mythical and historical events were diarized within the long count calendar. The completion of a major cycle in terms of this calendar was scheduled to take place on approximately 21 December 2012. The date may also have been 23 or 24 December.
December 21, 2012, was taken at this time as marking the day that the Mayan calendar ended. This became a date interpreted by many as the apocalypse or end of the world. A great deal of frenzy surrounded the date and the notion of a doomsday event. While others may have construed this type of meaning to the end of an age, this does not correspond to research findings about the Mayan people. The date predicting a significant end or change, it seems, was not intended to be apocalyptic. Instead, artifacts point to a notion of continued legacies and not an abrupt termination of life.
The long count calendar and its workings bear relevance to hype that existed as the "doomsday date" approached and to scientific analyses that disputed these theories. The date 21 December became enveloped with publicity as well as celebrations (some serious, others humorous). T-shirts bearing slogans indicating that individuals had been at the end of the world and had the T-shirt to prove it added to the fun.
Rather than inferring the world’s demise, the long count calendar deals with long time periods. Written in hieroglyphics, as opposed to numerals, five numbers were written separated by four periods. Single days were counted by the k’in, followed by the uinal comprising 20 days. The third position, tun, totals 360 days, made up of eighteen blocks of twenty days. These tuns roll into k’atuns with each equaling 7,200 days (almost 20 years). Finally, the b’ak’tun completes the cycle, with this unit being 144,000 days (almost four hundred years). The thirteenth b’ak’tun, representing the completion of a full cycle of creation (thirteen b’ak’tuns equal a cycle of creation), ties up with the interpretation that this meant the end of creation. To the Mayan people, there were additional even greater units of measurement, foreseeing millions of years.
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