The Mayan calendar , Haab , has 365 days divided into 18 months that contain 20 days each.
Likewise, Haab is combined with a sacred calendar, the Tzolkin , with 260 days.
Origin
The Mayan calendar differs from the Western calendar in its conception of time.
For Westerners, time is something that started at some point and goes on and on without stopping. Only one big event will cause time to run out.
However, for the Mayan civilization time is circular:an event that occurred in the past will repeat itself. Just as the cycles of nature repeat themselves, as the sun rises every day, the events of our individual lives also repeat themselves.
In this way, the Mayans adjusted the cycles of personal life, such as birth, puberty, maturity, and death, to the larger cycles of nature.
In the same way as the western calendar, the Mayan solar calendar, called the Haab, has 365 days. However, these are divided into 18 months with 20 days each, which gives a total of 360 days.
The remaining five days complete the calendar, do not belong to any month and are considered unfavorable for performing certain tasks.
In addition, there is the Tzolkin , the ceremonial calendar. It has 260 days divided into three groups of months with 20 days, in which each day is counted from 1 to 13. It was used to manage agricultural activities, as they encompass the hottest seasons of the year, when it is possible to plant.
This model is based on human gestation that lasts approximately 260 days. Therefore, this calendar was the key to knowing which day was favorable to mark the beginning of war, offer sacrifices, perform weddings, etc. Each day had a special meaning according to astrology.
Together, the Haab calendars and Tzolkin form the Circular Calendar. This one lasted 52 years, which would be for us, like the century. Once this 52-year cycle was over, another cycle began and so on.
There was a third calendar called the "Long Account Calendar". As the name implies, it was wider than the previous ones. This calendar counted time from the origin of the Mayans to the supposed end of the world and was not used in everyday life.
The Mayan civilization is famous for achievements in the fields of arts, mathematics and medicine. Your calendar is proof of that, as these ancient people demonstrated incredible knowledge of exact sciences.
Among the Mayan, Aztec and Inca civilizations - ancient pre-Columbian civilizations - the Mayan calendar is considered the best, the most elaborate, as well as being probably the oldest. Its use dates back to 550 BC. The Aztecs also copied it for their timekeeping.
It was developed through observation of the stars and mathematical calculations. Then the calendar was recorded in the engravings that were made on the walls of their temples to display the important events.
Read about the History and Origin of the Calendar.
2012:The End of the World?
The end of the world is a topic that fascinates many people. Thus, throughout history, several dates were announced that indicated the end of time.
In 2012, more precisely on December 21, some believed that a catastrophe was supposed to happen, as interpreted by the Mayan calendar.
The news raised alarm for a number of people. In one Chinese province, people rushed to buy candles. In Russia, the prime minister was forced to ask the population to calm down when there was a considerable rise in the purchase of canned goods.
The finding of this prediction date, however, resulted from a misinterpretation of the Mayan calendar.
Experts did the reading until finally discovering that the date only indicated the beginning of a new era in the calendar, dispelling the misconception.
The date did not suggest the end of time, but the end of a period. This, in fact, was a repeating cycle, just like the change of centuries in the modern era.
That's because, the Mayan calendar starts in the year 3114 BC. and cycle changes - the so-called Baktuns - every 394 years. The 2012 Summer Solstice on December 21st marks the end of the Baktun .
Also read about Leap Year and the Division of Centuries.
Curiosities
- The Mayan solar calendar, Haab , is 4 seconds more accurate than the currently used calendar.
- The Mayans developed 17 different ways of telling time.
Read more :
- Mayan Art
- First Peoples of America
- Andean America