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Mayan Calendar

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Maya calendar. The Maya calendar is a system of calendars used in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, and in many modern communities in the Guatemalan highlands,[1] Veracruz, Oaxaca and Chiapas, Mexico.[2] The essentials of the Maya calendar are based upon a system which had been in common use throughout the region, dating back to at least the 5th century BCE.

Maya calendar

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.[3] 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.[4] Overview[edit]

The Mayan Calendar. The Mayan Calendar Portal. The Classic Maya Calendar and Day Numbering System. Introduction The calendar systems used in the ancient world reflect the agricultural, political and ritual needs characteristic of the societies in which they flourished.

The Classic Maya Calendar and Day Numbering System

Astronomical observations to establish the winter and summer solstices were in use three to four millennia ago [1]. By the 14th century BCE the Shang Chinese had established the solar year as 365.25 days and the lunar month as 29.5 days. The lunisolar calendar, in which the ritual month is based on the Moon and the agricultural year on the Sun, was used throughout the ancient Near East (except Egypt) and Greece from the third millennium BCE.

Early calendars used either thirteen lunar months of 28 days or twelve alternating lunar months of 29 and 30 days and haphazard means to reconcile the 354/364-day lunar year with the 365-day solar year. The study of historic and modern calendar systems is a fascinating adventure involving interlocking political, religious and economic agendas.

Mayan Calendar Video's

Buy Mayan Calendar. Why 2012? By John Major Jenkins ¾ May 23rd, 1994 Originally published in the Dec-Jan '95 issue of Mountain Astrologer.

Why 2012?

Why did the ancient Mayan or pre-Maya choose December 21st, 2012 A.D., as the end of their Long Count calendar? This article will cover some recent research. Scholars have known for decades that the 13-baktun cycle of the Mayan "Long Count" system of timekeeping was set to end precisely on a winter solstice, and that this system was put in place some 2300 years ago. The Mayan Long Count Just some basics to get us started. Number of Days / Term 1 / Kin (day) 20 / Uinal 360 / Tun 7200 / Katun 144000 / Baktun Notice that the only exception to multiplying by twenty is at the tun level, where the uinal period is instead multiplied by 18 to make the 360-day tun. But how are we to relate this to a time frame we can understand? The point of interest for these early astronomers seems to have been the projected end date in 2012 A.D., rather than the beginning date in 3114 B.C.

Mayan Calendar Tools. Mayan Calendar. Baktun 13 katun 0 tun 2 uinal 1 kin 8Haab: 1 MuanTzolkin: 11 Lamat Mayan epoch: 11 Aug, 3114 B.C.E. ...date based on local time 11:24:12pm, Thu Jan 8, 2015 The Mayans had an elaborate calendrical system, no longer in use, which obviously evolved in complete isolation from those of the old world.

Mayan Calendar

This system ended with the fall of the Mayan civilization. Most of the remaining knowledge of it was destroyed by the Spanish during the conquest. The Mayans were skilled mathematicians, and this shows in their calendar; besides having a concept of zero, they also had a firm grasp of modular arithmetic; they also worked extensively in base 20. The Mayans used three separate calendars. It's the end of the world as we know it...

There is a great deal of nonsense that has been written about the Mayan long count. For one thing, this is a theoretical reconstruction of the Mayan calendar, since it hasn't been in use for hundreds of years. Long Count. How the Mayan Calendar Works"