Human beings concocted their
concept of "time" by daily observing the natural
phenomenon of the movement of celestial bodies, most obviously
of the Sun, and have adapted their activities to this solar
motion ever since.
Not escaping this impulse,
the Maya immersed themselves in numerology, and come up with
the Mayan calendar, one of the greatest contributions to universal
culture.
Watching the movement of
the sun every day, and perceiving the existence of an order
in the firmament of which he was a part, the Maya intuited
that he came from the Gods, whom he identified with the celestial
bodies and the natural phenomena around him. Sensing a practical
aspect to these observations, systems of calendars were devised
that allowed a suitable adaptation of the heavenly order to
their social system.
To have a calendar is a world-wide
necessity and in this aspect the Maya has excelled: one small
example is that our calendar, which is known as the Gregorian
calendar, accumulates an error of one day every 4000 years,
however the Mayan calendar accumulates one day every 5000
years.
When this all began cannot
be known exactly, nevertheless, what can be verified is that
several regions of Mesoamérica were especially involved
in using the Mayan calendar..
The Mayan calendar, considered
one of the most exact in the world, is noted for the accomplishment
of using the vigesimal system of base twenty.
The Mayans made STONE
monoliths, called Stela, and also handmade paper and
leatherwork.
UAYEB
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This is a Mayan Stela
as used by the ancient Maya. Represented wihin it, from
top to bottom, are the LONG COUNT, the CIVIL CALENDAR
and the SACRED CALENDAR, also the LUNAR CYCLE for each
date.
The Mayans represented numbers
with a hieroglyphic system of points and bars: a point equals
one, a bar equals five and a snail is zero.
Number
19Number
Zero
This use of zero represents
a great discovery, because it demonstrates a deep knowledge
of mathematics. Zero was used by the Maya 900 years before
the Arabs brought it to Europe. The necessity of measuring
astronomic cycles for practical purposes, such as questions
relating to agriculture - the base of their economy - is a
startling refinement to the concept of "time."
According to the Quiche Maya
book "the Popol-Vuh", the world was created by the
twins Hunabku and Ixbalanke by defeating the Lords of Heaven
and Hell. and then the Firstborn arises, Hun-nal-ye, the God
of Corn, born from the depths of the infraworld. From then
on, the creators dedicate themselves to the task of completing
creation, making the humans and the sun that will give them
their light, life and movement.
This expression may demonstrate
that Mayan cosmology is essentially an agricultural myth based
on corn germination and its conversion into the body of the
human being. It may also be seen as a metaphor for the domestication
of corn, which allowed a sedentary lifestyle and thereby a
development of culture.
In order to measure time, the Maya use three different forms
of counting:
The birth of Hun-nal-ye is the first day of the long count
of the Mayan calendar, and correspond to Zero Baktun, Zero
Katun, Zero Tun, Zero Uinal, Zero Kin of what is known as
the Long Count, the first of three different counts. This
day corresponds to 11 August 3113 B.C in our calendar.
First. - THE LONG COUNT counts the days passed from the date
of the beginning of their calendar, 11 of August of 3113,
B.C. This is known as the long count and begins on the day
Zero Baktun, Zero Katun, Zero Tun, Zero Uinal, Zero Kin. This
count is made according to the following values:
Baktun = 144,000 days
Katun = 7,200 days
Tun = 360 days
Uinal = 20 days
Kin = 1 day
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Second. - The sacred calendar, the Tzolkin, uses a combination
of thirteen cabalistic numbers with 20 figures of the days
which gives us a value of 13x20=260 days. This it is the sacred
calendar, known as the Tzolkin, which was used by the priests
to make predictions, horoscopes, and religious celebrations.
Some investigators suggest this calendar has its origin in
preclassic center of Izapan in the state of Chiapas. In this
site, the sun passes through the zenith the 11 of August and
following with the course of the calendar east phenomenon
of the 29 of April is repeated; if we counted the days passed
between these two dates, it gives 260 days us that is the
duration of the Tzolkin. This system to tell to era normal
for the common population and the names of the 20 days is:
Imix, Ik, Akbal, Kan, Chicchan, Cimi, Manik, Lamat, Muluc,
Oc, Chuen, Eb, Horseradish tree, Ix, Men, Cib, Caban, Edznab,
Cauac and Ahau.
AHAU
CAUAC
The day of beginning corresponding to the 11 de agosto of
3113 the 4 A.C. Ahua Is
Third. - They handled a well-known civil calendar like Haab,
to which only the ruling class had access, and that was used
for astronomy and the agricultural cycles. This calendar has
eighteen months of 20 days and then an extra short month of
five days. The names of these months are: Pop, Uo, Zip, Zotz,
Tzec, Xul, Yaxkin, Mol, Ch`chen, Yax, Zac, Chen, Mac, Kankin,
Muan, Pax, Kayab, Cumku, and Uayeb.
The first day, 11 of August of 3113 A.C. corresponds to 8
Cumku.
In order to determine the name of a day, the Maya use a combination
of both calendars, so our Gregorian date of 11 de agosto of
3113 A.C., corresponds to 4 Ahau, 8 Cumku and is repeated
until 18980 days have passed, that is to say, 73 cycles of
the 260 day "Tzolkin" or 52 cycles of the 365 day
"Haab".
The end of this cycle was celebrated by the New Fire Ceremony
of the and towards the renovation of diverse utensils.
Quarter. - They take the registry of I compute spot
in summary: the form to identify the date of beginning 11
of August of 3113 A.C. is zero Baktun, zero Katun, zero Uinal,
zero kin, 4 Ahau 8 Cumku which are expressed thus: 0.0.0.0.0.
4 Ahau 8 Cumku
CUMKU
Important dates were engraved
in tall slabs of stone, in handmade paper or in deer skin.
The first glyph at the top is the introductory sign known
as the Alautun, within this is the figure of the protective
"saint" of the month corresponding to the civil
calendar. Later, the sequence of the number of Baktunes, Katunes,
Tunes, Uinales and Kines, then come below the combinations
of the sacred calendar and civil calendar, and last of all
the glyph of the lunar cycle.
Baktunes or "Era", equivalent to 51'253,661 years
tropical took to a linear account within a period of 13. The
period of 13 Baktunes that we have ourselves at the moment
began the 11 de agosto of 3113 A.C. and will finish the 23
of December of the 2012.
We completed the information supporting to us in a contained
chronological data in the Pág. 66 of the Oxkutzcab
chronicle document yucateco of century XVII. According to
this, day 3 of November 1539 (corresponding to the 13 of November
according to the gregoriana correction) 11 was fulfilled 16
Baktunes and Katunes from the beginning of the Mayan era (1´699,200
days) and the corresponding date the sacred calendar and 13
the civil calendar is 8 Ahau Xul.
The idea of a new era, is that on the 21st of December of
2012, when "the 13th Era" begins, the Mayan date
is 13 Baktun, zero Katun, zero Uinal, zero Kin. Or it could
be said that after the 12th Baktun comes the equivalent of
"Baktun Zero of the New Era". This means that a
new era is opened: everything goes back to zero - zero Baktun,
zero Katun, zero Tun, zero Uinal, zero Kin.
It appears the Maya raised their Stela every five, ten and
twenty years, and also for special celebrations. Now, with
the aid of computers, research continues into the meaning
of Mayan hieroglyphics, making significant advances upon the
works of Linda Schele and Michael Coe.
Converts any date to the
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UAYEB
Number
19
Number
Zero 
AHAU
CAUAC
CUMKU
