Calendars Galore!

I have spoken of the Mayan calendars in several posts here,but thought a good recap was in order.

First, remember there is more than one Mayan Calendar. There are several, and sometimes they were used side by side. Imagine having 3,4,5 calendars all clicking off time independently of the each other!

For our purposes we often compare the Mayan calendar with the Gregorian calendar that is in use in much of the world. Both the Mayan and Gregorian calendars are tied to the idea of cycles, or simply a sequence that happens over and over.The Mayans used many celestial events in their calendars, as they saw movements in the sky as recurring.The Gregorian calendar uses the cycle of a week, Monday through Sunday, over and over, We also use 12 months, with days within a month. But the days of the week, and the Months/date run interdependently of each other. Say we have a Monday, January1. Tuesday January2, Wednesday January 3 and so on. When we get to Sunday, the next day the week starts over, but the date keeps counting, independently. With me so far? Good!

Mayan calendars also have independent components.running at the same time, just more of them. 3 are considered the most common. Our next few blogs will take on each of them:

Haab- 365 day calendar (18 months long each month 20 days, with 5 days added to the last month to make a solar year).
Tzolkin- 265 day calendar (actually 2 calenders, running side by side).

 These above two calendars can be combined, and are referred to as the Calendar Round, which has a cycle of 52 years.
Long Count-Just a way of writing the number of days that have gone by since a particular event, thousands of years ago.

Next up, a look at each of the three calendars listed above.


J.T. Turner, Mayanist

Primary sources

Hello! And sorry for the gap in posts!

In historical research, Primary Sources are of critical importance. They are the documents or items that originate a piece of history. Think of the Declaration of Independence. How do you know that the copy you find on the internet is right? Well, go have a look at the original, the primary source.

Last time in this blog, I mentioned just a few primary sources that actually mention the Doomsday date of the Mayan calendar. We spoke about the Jaguar Prophet, and how that passage is murky at best. Another primary source for the Doomsday date is located in southern Tabasco Mexico, at the Tortuguero site. The site dates to the 7th century CE, and has a series of inscriptions for a ruler there at that time. For us, we are interested in Monument 6, which does indeed refer to the b'ak'tun 13 (doomsday). Sadly, part of the inscription has been defaced, so we have just a partial rendering. Mark Van Stone has given the most complete translation:

Tzuhtz-(a)j-oom u(y)-uxlajuun pik

The Thirteenth [b'ak'tun] will end

(ta) Chan Ajaw ux(-te') Uniiw.

(on) 4 Ajaw, the 3rd of Uniiw [3 K'ank'in].

Uht-oom Ek'-...

Black ...[illegible]...will occur.

Y-em(al)...Bolon Yookte' K'uh ta-chak-ma...

(It will be) the descent(?) of Bolon Yokte' K'uh to the great (or "red"?)...[illegible]...^[22]

We really know little about the god,  Bolon Yokte' K'uh.He is elsewhere mentioned as a god of war, conflict, and the underworld. In some stela, he is portrayed with a rope around his neck, or an incense bag, which some take to mean his being a sacrifice, specifically a sacrifice to end a time period. (OK that would support the 2012/World Ending camp). But I have to point out that the translation is far from complete, and that Bolon Yokte' K"uh was already and ancient god when the Tortuguero site was active, and he appears to have been an unfamilar god even then. Just look at line 3. Black...something....will occur. Black death? Black Night? Black Sabbath? Black is the color of my true loves hair? Could be anything!

So to recap, most of the furor around 2012 is created simply by modern interpretation of the Long Count Calendar, with many authorities  disagreeing on the nature of the end date. And as discussed in the last 2 posts, there is little or no primary source material that points to 12/21/12 as a doomsday. Surely if that is the end of the world, the Mayans, who were great predictors of events, would have left more indicators of that ultimate event!

J.T. TURNER
MAYANIST