The Mayan Calendar

When you start to deal with, though purely recreational, culture and civilization of the Maya, at times it certainly will be in any doubt that almost all of Maya made the sole thought most difficult to researchers in would later take them. This full strength refers to kalenadara them. Almost throughout their huge territory has carved inscriptions with dates mayanistite later had to equate the dates on our calendar. And that's not a pleasant job.

Maya had in fact two calendars: Tzolkin - Sacred and ritual calendar, and Haab - solar calendar corresponding to the Gregorian. Basic unit for both calendar is kin (day). Twenty cinemas form a uinal (month) and eighteen uinala make a tun (year). Five missing form an unlucky day month called Uayeb (Beziman). Mayan Year begins on December 23, the day of the winter solstice, which astronomers obviously they are also well known. Some scholars suggest that the Mayans had and smaller units of time - hours, minutes and seconds - but details are not found. Others said they did not.

Ritual Tzolkin calendar consists of 260 days (13 months 20 days). Has its own name every day of the month, but the sequence numbers are only thirteen, as are the days of the week. The number on the fourteenth day is still 1, and 27 January So in the first month the days were arranged as follows:

                                                  Day Name Day Name Day Name Day Name

1 Imish 6 Simi 3 11 Chuen Sybe

Manic Ik 2 7 12 4 Eb Cabanne

Lama 3 Akbal 8 5 13 Ben Esnab

Cannes 4 1 9 Muluk ish 6 Kauak

Octob Me

er 10 Chikchan 5 2 7 Ahau

Days in a month of this calendar

New month is just an extension of the old 8. Imish, 9. Ik etc.

Haab solar calendar of 365 days formed by 18 months of 20 days and a 5. They were also awarded the title (and related characters): Pop, Wo, EPA Socialism, Tsek, Shul, Yashkin, Mol, Chen, Yash, Sack, HEC, Mac Kinkin, Muan, cocoons, Kayab, Kumhu, Uayeb. The first month of the year is Pop, start date "0 Pop" and ends with "19 Pop". (With Mayans first digit is 1 and 0.) Last day of the year is "4 Uayeb."

Months in the solar Haab calendar

The Mayans believed that magic number 13 in combination with 20 control human life and from birth to death. For proper development of life and time was necessary and sacred solar calendar unite to leave both the first day and meet at the starting point. This forms the famous "calendar wheel" of the Maya. Imagine it as a set of two gears: one with 260 teeth and the other with 365. The two wheels rotate at the same time - a few first day "1 Imish" and a big "0 King." To meet again must pass exactly 18,980 days or 52 years. This 52-year cycle of Mayan century vposledstive adopted by the Aztecs. 52 yields the number itself magical significance and it accounted for a number of ceremonies and traditions.

All attempts to explain the origin of the ritual in the Mayan calendar remain futile. There is a strong hypothesis that these 260 days are the time necessary to prepare the ground for planting corn to harvest, just the period for land preparation and cultivation of maize is too stretchy. But where science is powerless to intervene quickly other hypotheses. Especially energetic are authors who contend that the Mayans aliens from another planet (at least their priests or at least Kukulkan). For them, this calendar is a calendar on another planet. Whoever does not believe - prove otherwise.

Calendar wheel depicting the occurrence of the end of the 52 year cycle

As for the timing - Maya have several ways to do this. The two most famous ones are called. "Long Count" and "short count". The first causes a real surprise with how comprehensive it is: its boundaries covering periods from one day to millions of years. Here's the system:

Uinal be 20 cinemas (days) = 20 '

Dong is equal to 18 = 360 'uinala

Katun equals 20 tun = 7,200 '

Baktun equals 20 camp = 144000 '

Piktun equals 20 Baktun = 2880000 `

Kalobtun equals 20 piktuna = 57600000 '

Kinchiltun equals 20 kalobtuna = 1152000000 `

Alautun equals 20 kinchiltuna = 23040000000 `

It is easy to consider that one alautun has almost 63 million years. Probably not hard to calculate how alautuna, etc. kinchiltuna take 90 million or 400 million years. These are numbers and dates found in inscriptions Kirigua. More complex is the question of why any. (Of course, not the authors of fantastic hypotheses.)

To date some events in its history, the Maya had to rely on a starting point from which to begin their chronology. If you believe Kirigua for this first "mythical date," Maya have chosen 13.0.0.0 4 Ahau 8 Kumhu or according to our calendar - according to the belief system of correlation - it is August 12 3113g.pr.n.e. (In other 3114g.pr.n.e is August 11.) For serious scholars date is mythical - in view of the present level of our knowledge of Maya culture, and will remain so until I find irrefutable archaeological evidence to the contrary. On the other hand, Erich von Daniken, Alexander Kazantsev, Yuri Morozov, and other writers of fantastic hypotheses, the date in which the planet X, spinning between Mars and Jupiter, has become a huge disaster, the planet was destroyed and its population is saved the earth today we know it as "Maya". On the planet itself that numerous rocks that now form the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

(Whether you believe this hypothesis or not - it is interesting to know for example, that astronomy has long been identified and adopted as scientifically proven hypothesis that the asteroid belt is not composed of remnants of a destroyed planet, but is rather a concentration of "planetezimalii "ie rocks that would form another planet, but it prevented the powerful gravitational field of Jupiter.)

At the end of 9c. AD began the decline of the Maya culture in the central areas and the invasion of foreign conquerors. During this period, losing much of the knowledge of the Mayan calendar-related. So stop priests take time for the system of "long count" and its served with a simple system called "short count". One cycle comprises only 13 camp - a little more than 256 years. Katunat be displayed with the day on which it ends - the day Ahau. This system puts an end to the amazing precision of calendars, since mistakes in ten years.

Haab and Tzolkin addition to other systems without time recording of scientists creating enough headaches Mayans had more ways to do so. Eric Thompson, studying hieroglyphics of some monuments, concluded that there are some "esoteric" calendar of 819 days. It was based on religious beliefs in different gods - earthly seven, nine and 13 underground heaven. 7h9h13 combination gives this cycle of 819 days.

There's also a shortened version of the long count, but it is not seen as a separate calendar. If it only count dates called "finals" and are final dates specified periods, primarily camps. If the recording date mention the serial number of the camp - it is the end date of a period of 949 Baktun, or a mere 375,000 years. If you do not mention the serial number of the camp - then it is over 949 camp that is "only" 19,000 years.

Understandably, some authors say that the Mayans were right fixated on time. As if they lived with only one obsession for the future, the past and seemed not make light of the present.