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{{Short description|Calendar used in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica}}
The '''Maya calendar''' is actually a system of distinct ]s and ]s used by the ] of ] ]. These different calendars tracked observable phenomena such as the ], the ], and the ] of the planet ]; others had a ] or ] purpose without any known association to natural cycles.
{{Use American English|date=June 2018}}<!-- Use ] -->
{{Maya civilization}}
The '''Maya calendar''' is a system of ]s used in ] ] and in many modern communities in the ]n highlands,<ref>Tedlock, Barbara, Time and the Highland Maya Revised edition (1992 Page 1) "Scores of indigenous Guatemalan communities, principally those speaking the Mayan languages known as Ixil, Mam, Pokomchí and Quiché, keep the 260-day cycle and (in many cases) the ancient solar cycle as well (chapter 4)."</ref> ], ] and ], Mexico.<ref>Miles, Susanna W, "An Analysis of the Modern Middle American Calendars: A Study in Conservation." In Acculturation in the Americas. Edited by Sol Tax, p. 273. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1952.</ref>


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 BC. It shares many aspects with calendars employed by other earlier Mesoamerican civilizations, such as the ] and ] and contemporary or later ones such as the ] and ]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.questia.com/read/119342989|title=Maya Calendar Origins: Monuments, Mythistory, and the Materialization of Time}}</ref>
These calendars could be synchronised and interlocked in complex ways, their combinations giving rise to further, more extensive cycles.


By the ] tradition, as documented in Colonial Yucatec accounts and reconstructed from Late Classic and Postclassic inscriptions, the deity ] is frequently credited with bringing the knowledge of the calendrical system to the ancestral Maya, along with ] in general and other foundational aspects of Mayan culture.<ref>See entry on ''Itzamna'', in Miller and Taube (1993), pp.99–100.</ref>
The essentials of the Maya calendric system are based upon a system which had been in common use throughout the region, dating back to at least the ] ]. It shares many aspects with calendars employed by other earlier Mesoamerican civilizations, such as the ], ], and ], and later ones such as the ]. Although the ] did not originate with the Maya, their subsequent extensions and refinements to it were the most sophisticated. Along with those of the Aztecs, the Maya calendars are the best-documented and most completely understood.


==Overview==
==General overview==
{{Further|Maya astronomy}}
The most important of these calendars is one with a period of 260 days. This 260-day calendar was prevalent across all Mesoamerican societies, and is of great antiquity (almost certainly the oldest of the calendars). It is still used in some regions of ], and amongst the ] communities of the ]n highlands. The Maya version is commonly known to scholars as the '']'', or ''Tzolk'in'' in the revised ] of the Academia de Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala. The Tzolkin combined with another 365-day calendar (known as the '']'', or ''Haab'''&nbsp;), to form a synchronised cycle lasting for 52 Haabs, called the '']''. Smaller cycles of 13 days (the '']'') and 20 days (the '']'') were important components of the Tzolkin and Haab cycles, respectively.
The Maya calendar consists of several cycles or ''counts'' of different lengths. The 260-day count is known to scholars as the '']'', or ''Tzolkʼin''.<ref name="Academia">{{cite book |author=Academia de las Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala |date=1988 |title=Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala: Documento de referencia para la pronunciación de los nuevos alfabetos oficiales |publisher=Instituto Indigenista Nacional |location=Guatemala City}} For details and notes on adoption among the ] community, see Kettunen & Helmke (2020), p. 7.</ref> The Tzolkin was combined with a 365-day vague solar year known as the ] to form a synchronized cycle lasting for 52 Haabʼ called the ]. The Calendar Round is still in use by many groups in the Guatemalan highlands.<ref>Tedlock (1992), p. 1</ref>


A different form of calendar was used to track longer periods of time, and for the inscription of ]s (i.e., identifying when one event occurred in relation to others). This form, known as the ''Long Count'', is based upon the number of elapsed days since a mythical starting point, and was capable of being extended to refer to any date far into the future. This calendar involved the use of a ] system, in which each position signified an increasing ] of the number of days. The ] was essentially a ] one (i.e., ]-]), and each unit of a given position represented 20 times the unit of the position which preceded it. An important exception was made for the second place value, which instead represented 18 × 20, or 360 days, more closely approximating the ] than would 20 × 20 = 400 days. It should be noted however that the cycles of the Long Count are independent of the solar year. A different calendar was used to track longer periods of time and for the inscription of ]s (i.e., identifying when one event occurred in relation to others). This is the ]. It is a count of days since a mythological starting-point.<ref>"Mythological" in the sense that when the Long Count was first devised sometime in the Mid- to Late Preclassic, long after this date; see e.g. Miller and Taube (1993, p.&nbsp;50).</ref> According to the correlation between the Long Count and Western calendars accepted by the great majority of Maya researchers (known as the Goodman-Martinez-Thompson, or GMT, correlation), this starting-point is equivalent to August 11, 3114&nbsp;BC in the ] or September 6, in the ] (−3113 astronomical). The GMT correlation was chosen by ] in 1935 on the basis of earlier correlations by ] in 1905 (August 11), Juan Martínez Hernández in 1926 (August 12) and Thompson himself in 1927 (August 13).<ref>Voss (2006, p.&nbsp;138)</ref> By its linear nature, the Long Count was capable of being extended to refer to any date far into the past or future. This calendar involved the use of a ] system, in which each position signified an increasing ] of the number of days. The ] was essentially ] (i.e., ]-20) and each unit of a given position represented 20 times the unit of the position which preceded it. An important exception was made for the second-order place value, which instead represented 18 × 20, or 360 days, more closely approximating the solar year than would 20 × 20 = 400 days. The cycles of the Long Count are independent of the solar year.


Many Maya Long Count inscriptions are supplemented by what is known as the ''Lunar Series'', another calendric form which provides information on the ] and position of the ] in a half-yearly cycle of ]s. Many Maya Long Count inscriptions contain a ], which provides information on the ], number of the current ] in a series of six and which of the nine ] rules.


Less-prevalent or poorly understood cycles, combinations and calendar progressions were also tracked. An ''819-day Count'' is attested in a few inscriptions. Repeating sets of 9 days (see below "Nine lords of the night")<ref>See separate brief Misplaced Pages article ]</ref> associated with different groups of ], animals and other significant concepts are also known. <!--Because of the unknown elements of "819-day Count" and its assumed intervals, this needs citations.-->
A 584-day ''Venus cycle'' was also maintained, which tracked the appearance and ] of ] as the morning and evening stars. Many events in this cycle were seen as being inauspicious and baleful, and occasionally warfare was timed to coincide with stages in this cycle.


==Tzolkʼin==
Other, less-prevalent or poorly-understood cycles, combinations and calendar progressions were also tracked. An ''819-day count'' is attested in a few inscriptions; repeating series of 9- and 13-day intervals associated with different groups of ], animals and other significant concepts are also known.
{{Main|Tzolkʼin}}


The '']'' (in modern Maya ]; also commonly written ''tzolkin'') is the name commonly employed by Mayanist researchers for the Maya Sacred Round or 260-day calendar. The word ''tzolkʼin'' is a ] coined in ], to mean "count of days" (Coe 1992). The various names of this calendar as used by precolumbian Maya people are still debated by scholars. The ] calendar equivalent was called '']'', in the ] language.
==Maya concepts of time==
With the development of the place-notational Long Count calendar, the Maya had an elegant system within which events could be recorded in a linear relationship to one another, and also with respect to the calendar ("linear ]") itself. In theory, this system could readily be extended to delineate any length of time desired, by simply adding to the number of higher-order place markers used (and thereby generating an ever-increasing sequence of ]-multiples, each day in the sequence uniquely identified by its Long Count number). In practice, most Maya Long Count inscriptions confine themselves to noting only the first 5 coefficients in this system (a ''baktun''-count), since this was more than adequate to express any historical or current date (with an equivalent span of approximately 5125 solar years). Even so, example inscriptions exist which noted or implied lengthier sequences, indicating that the Maya well understood a linear (past-present-future) conception of time.


The tzolkʼin calendar combines twenty day names with the thirteen day numbers to produce 260 unique days. It is used to determine the time of religious and ceremonial events and for divination. Each successive day is numbered from 1 up to 13 and then starting again at 1. Separately from this, every day is given a name in sequence from a list of 20 day names:
However, and in common with other Mesoamerican societies, the repetition of the various calendric cycles, the natural cycles of observable phenomena, and the recurrence and renewal of death-rebirth imagery in their mythological traditions were important and pervasive influences upon Maya societies. This conceptual view, in which the "cyclical nature" of time is highlighted, was a pre-eminent one, and many rituals were concerned with the completion and reoccurrences of various cycles.


{|class="wikitable" style="margin:0 auto; border:none;"
As the particular calenderic configurations were once again repeated, so too were the "supernatural" influences with which they were associated. Thus it was held that particular calendar configurations had a specific "character" to them, which would influence events on days exhibiting that configuration. ]s could then be made from the ] associated with a certain configuration, since events taking place on some future date would be subject to the same influences as its corresponding previous cycle dates. Events and ceremonies would be timed to coincide with auspicious dates, and avoid inauspicious ones.
|+ Tzolkʼin calendar: named days and associated ]s

! Seq.<br/>Num. <sup>1</sup>
The completion of significant calendar cycles ("period endings"), such as a ''katun''-cycle, were often marked by the erection and dedication of specific monuments (mostly ] inscriptions) commemorating the completion, accompanied by dedicatory ceremonies.
! Day<br/>Name <sup>2</sup>

! Glyph<br/> example <sup>3</sup>
A cyclical interpretation is also noted in Maya creation accounts, in which the present world and the humans in it were preceded by other worlds (one to five others, depending on the tradition) which were fashioned in various forms by the gods, but subsequently destroyed. The present world also had a tenuous existence, requiring the supplication and offerings of periodic sacrifice to maintain the balance of continuing existence. Similar themes are found in the creation accounts of other Mesoamerican societies.{{ref|creation}}
! 16th-c.<br/>Yucatec <sup>4</sup>
! K'iche'
! Reconstructed<br/>Classic Maya <sup>5</sup>
|rowspan="11" style="width:1px;; border:none;"|
! Seq.<br/>Num. <sup>1</sup>
! Day<br/>Name <sup>2</sup>
! Glyph<br/> example <sup>3</sup>
! 16th-c.<br/>Yucatec <sup>4</sup>
! Quiché
! Reconstructed<br/>Classic Maya <sup>5</sup>
|-
! 01
|'''Imix''' ||] ||Imix ||Imox ||Imix (?) / Haʼ (?)
! 11
|'''Chuwen''' ||] ||Chuen ||Bʼatzʼ ||(unknown)
|-
! 02
|'''Ikʼ''' ||] ||Ik ||Iqʼ ||Ikʼ
! 12
|'''Ebʼ''' ||] ||Eb ||Eʼ ||(unknown)
|-
! 03
|'''Akʼbʼal''' ||] ||Akbal ||Aqʼabʼal ||Akʼbʼal (?)
! 13
|'''Bʼen''' ||] ||Ben ||Aj ||C'klab{{Clarify|date=March 2019}}
|-
! 04
|'''Kʼan''' ||] ||Kan ||Kʼat ||Kʼan (?)
! 14
|'''Ix''' ||] ||Ix ||Iʼx, Balam ||Hix (?)
|-
! 05
|'''Chikchan''' ||] ||Chicchan ||Kan ||(unknown)
! 15
|'''Men''' ||] ||Men ||Tzikin ||Men (?)<ref name="Stuart 2024">{{cite web |last=Stuart |first=David |title=Day Sign Notes: Men / Tz'ikin |website=Maya Decipherment |date=2024-04-19 |url=https://mayadecipherment.com/2024/04/19/day-sign-notes-men/ |access-date=2024-05-01}}</ref>
|-
! 06
|'''Kimi''' ||] ||Cimi ||Kame ||Cham (?)
! 16
|'''Kʼibʼ''' ||] ||Cib ||Ajmaq ||(unknown)
|-
! 07
|'''Manikʼ''' ||] ||Manik ||Kej ||Manichʼ (?)
! 17
|'''Kabʼan''' ||] ||Caban ||Noʼj ||Chabʼ (?)
|-
! 08
|'''Lamat''' ||] ||Lamat ||Qʼanil ||Ekʼ (?)
! 18
|'''Etzʼnabʼ''' ||] ||Etznab ||Tijax ||(unknown)
|-
! 09
|'''Muluk''' ||] ||Muluc ||Toj ||(unknown)
! 19
|'''Kawak''' ||] ||Cauac ||Kawoq ||(unknown)
|-
! 10
|'''Ok''' ||] ||Oc ||Tzʼiʼ ||(unknown)
! 20
|'''Ajaw''' ||] ||Ahau ||Ajpu ||Ajaw
|-
|colspan="11" |'''''NOTES:'''''
# The sequence number of the named day in the Tzolkʼin calendar
# Day name, in the standardized and revised orthography of the Guatemalan Academia de Lenguas Mayas<ref name="Academia"/>
# An example glyph (]) for the named day. Note that for most of these several different forms are recorded; the ones shown here are typical of carved monumental inscriptions (these are "]" versions)
# Day name, as recorded from 16th-century ] accounts, principally ]; this orthography has (until recently) been widely used
# In most cases, the actual day name as spoken in the time of the Classic Period (c. 200–900) when most inscriptions were made is not known. The versions given here (in ], the main language of the inscriptions) are reconstructed on the basis of phonological evidence, if available; a '?' symbol indicates the reconstruction is tentative.<ref>Classic-era reconstructions are as per Kettunen and Helmke (2020), pp.&nbsp;56–57.</ref>
|}


Some systems started the count with 1&nbsp;Imix, followed by 2&nbsp;Ikʼ, 3&nbsp;Akʼbʼal, etc. up to 13&nbsp;Bʼen. The day numbers then start again at 1 while the named-day sequence continues onwards, so the next days in the sequence are 1&nbsp;Ix, 2&nbsp;Men, 3&nbsp;Kʼibʼ, 4&nbsp;Kabʼan, 5&nbsp;Etzʼnabʼ, 6&nbsp;Kawak and 7&nbsp;Ajaw. With all twenty named days used, these now began to repeat the cycle while the number sequence continues, so the next day after 7 Ajaw is 8 Imix. The repetition of these interlocking 13- and 20-day cycles therefore takes 260 days to complete (that is, for every possible combination of number/named day to occur once).
==Tzolkin==
]s have bestowed the name ''tzolkin'' (or ''tzolk'in'', in the revised ] which is now preferred) on the Maya version of the Mesoamerican 260-day calendar. The word was ] based on the ], with an intended meaning of "count of days". The actual names of this calendar as used by the pre-Columbian Maya are not known. The ] calendar equivalent was called by them '']'', in the ].


The earliest known inscription with a Tzolkʼin is an Olmec earspool with 2&nbsp;Ahau 3&nbsp;Ceh - 6.3.10.9.0, September 2, -678 (Julian astronomical).<ref>{{cite book |last=Edmonson |first=Munro S. |date=1988 |title=The Book of the Year MIDDLE AMERICAN CALENDRICAL SYSTEMS |location=Salt Lake City |publisher=University of Utah Press |page=20 |isbn=0-87480-288-1 }}</ref>
The Tzolkin calendar combines twenty day names with the thirteen numbers of the '']'' cycle to produce 260 unique days. It was used to determine the time of religious and ceremonial events and for divination. Each successive day was numbered from 1 up to 13 and then starting again at 1. Separately from this, each day was given a name in sequence from a list of 20 day names:


==Haabʼ==
{|border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" align="center"
{|class="wikitable"
|+'''] calendar: named days and associated ] (in sequence)'''
|+ '''Haabʼ months''': names and ]<ref>Kettunen and Helmke (2020), pp.&nbsp;58–59</ref> in sequence
!style="background:#ffdead;" |Seq. <BR>N<sup>o.</sup>
! Seq.<br/>Num.
!style="background:#ffdead;" |Day <BR>Name
! Yucatec <br/>name
!style="background:#ffdead;" |Glyph <BR> example
! Hieroglyph<br/>
!style="background:#ffdead;" |16th C. <BR>]
! Classic Period
!style="background:#ffdead;" |reconstructed <BR>]
glyph sign
!style="background:#ffdead;" |Seq. <BR>N<sup>o.</sup>
! Meaning of glyph<br/><ref>These names come from de Landa's description of the calendar and they are commonly used by Mayanists, but the Classic Maya did not use these actual names for the day signs. The original names are unknown. See {{cite book |author=Coe, Michael D. |author-link=Michael D. Coe |author2=Mark L Van Stone |author2-link=Mark L Van Stone |date=2005 |title=Reading the Maya Glyphs |publisher=Thames & Hudson |location=London |isbn=978-0-500-28553-4 |page= |url=https://archive.org/details/readingmayaglyph0000coem/page/43 }}</ref>
!style="background:#ffdead;" |Day <BR>Name
!Reconstructed Classic Maya
!style="background:#ffdead;" |Glyph <BR> example
!style="background:#ffdead;" |16th C. <BR>]
!style="background:#ffdead;" |reconstructed <BR>]
|- |-
! 1
|style="background:#efefef;"| 01
|'''Pop''' ||{{Haab20|0}}
|'''Imix''''||]|| Imix || Imix (?) / Ha' (?)
|]||
|style="background:#efefef;"| 11
|k'anjalaw
|'''Chuwen'''||]|| Chuen || (unknown)
|- |-
! 2
|style="background:#efefef;"| 02
|'''Woʼ''' ||{{Haab20|1}}
|'''Ik''''||]|| Ik || Ik'
|]||
|style="background:#efefef;"| 12
|ik'at
|'''Eb''''||]|| Eb || (unknown)
|- |-
! 3
|style="background:#efefef;"| 03
|'''Sip''' ||{{Haab20|2}}
|'''Ak'b'al'''||]|| Akbal || Ak'b'al (?)
|]||
|style="background:#efefef;"| 13
|chakat
|'''B'en'''||]|| Ben || (unknown)
|- |-
! 4
|style="background:#efefef;"| 04
|'''Sotzʼ''' ||{{Haab20|3}}
|'''K'an'''||]|| Kan || K'an (?)
|]||bat
|style="background:#efefef;"| 14
|sotz'
|'''Ix'''||]|| Ix || Hix (?)
|- |-
! 5
|style="background:#efefef;"| 05
|'''Sek''' ||{{Haab20|4}}
|'''Chikchan'''||]|| Chicchan || (unknown)
|]||
|style="background:#efefef;"| 15
|kaseew
|'''Men'''||]|| Men || (unknown)
|- |-
! 6
|style="background:#efefef;"| 06
|'''Xul''' ||{{Haab20|5}}
|'''Kimi'''||]|| Cimi || Cham (?)
|]||
|style="background:#efefef;"| 16
|chikin
|'''Kib''''||]|| Cib || (unknown)
|- |-
! 7
|style="background:#efefef;"| 07
|'''Yaxkʼin''' ||{{Haab20|6}}
|'''Manik''''||]|| Manik || Manich' (?)
|]||
|style="background:#efefef;"| 17
|yaxk'in
|'''Kab'an'''||]|| Caban || Chab' (?)
|- |-
! 8
|style="background:#efefef;"| 08
|'''Mol''' ||{{Haab20|7}}
|'''Lamat'''||]|| Lamat || Ek' (?)
|]||
|style="background:#efefef;"| 18
|mol
|'''Etz'nab''''||]|| Etznab || (unknown)
|- |-
! 9
|style="background:#efefef;"| 09
|'''Chʼen''' ||{{Haab20|8}}
|'''Muluk'''||]|| Muluc || (unknown)
|]||black<ref name=CoeVanstone43/>
|style="background:#efefef;"| 19
|ik'siho'm
|'''Kawak'''||]|| Cauac || (unknown)
|- |-
! 10
|style="background:#efefef;"| 10
|'''Yax''' ||{{Haab20|9}}
|'''Ok'''||]|| Oc || (unknown)
|]||green<ref name=CoeVanstone43>{{cite book |author=Coe, Michael D. |author-link=Michael D. Coe |author2=Mark L Van Stone |author2-link=Mark L Van Stone |date=2005 |title=Reading the Maya Glyphs |publisher=Thames & Hudson |location=London |isbn=978-0-500-28553-4 |page= |url=https://archive.org/details/readingmayaglyph0000coem/page/43 }}</ref>
|style="background:#efefef;"| 20
|yaxsiho'm
|'''Ajaw'''||]|| Ahau || Ajaw
|- |-
! 11
|'''Sak''' ||{{Haab20|10}}
|]||white<ref name=CoeVanstone43/>
|saksiho'm
|-
! 12
|'''Keh''' ||{{Haab20|11}}
|]||red<ref name=CoeVanstone43/>
|chaksiho'm
|-
! 13
|'''Mak''' ||{{Haab20|12}}
|]||
|mak
|-
! 14
|'''Kʼankʼin''' ||{{Haab20|13}}
|]||
|uniiw
|-
! 15
|'''Muwan''' ||{{Haab20|14}}
|]||
|muwaan
|-
! 16
|'''Pax''' ||{{Haab20|15}}
|]||
|paxiil
|-
! 17
|'''Kʼayab'''||{{Haab20|16}}
|]||
|k'anasiiy
|-
! 18
|'''Kumkʼu''' ||{{Haab20|17}}
|]||
|ohl
|-
! 19
|'''Wayebʼ''' ||{{Haab20|18}}
|]||five unlucky days
|wayhaab
|} |}


{{Main|Haabʼ}}
The system started with 1 Imix, which was followed by 2 Ik, 3 Akbal and so on up to 13 Ben. The day numbers then started again at 1, so there were 1 Ix, 2 Men, 3 Cib, 4 Caban, 5 Etznap, 6 Caunac, and 7 Ahau. The day names then started again, so the next day was 8 Imix. The full cycle of every possible day number with every possible day name took 260 days.


The Haabʼ was made up of eighteen months of twenty days each plus a period of five days ("nameless days") at the end of the year known as ''Wayeb''' (or ''Uayeb'' in 16th-century orthography). The five days of Wayebʼ were thought to be a dangerous time. Foster (2002) writes, "During Wayeb, portals between the mortal realm and the Underworld dissolved. No boundaries prevented the ill-intending deities from causing disasters." To ward off these evil spirits, the Maya had customs and rituals they practiced during Wayebʼ. For example, people avoided leaving their houses and washing or combing their hair. Bricker (1982) estimates that the Haabʼ was first used around 550&nbsp;BC with a starting point of the ].<ref>Zero Pop actually fell on the same day as the solstice on 12/27/−575, 12/27/−574, 12/27/−573 and 12/26/−572 (], ]), if you don't account for the fact that the Maya region is in roughly time zone UT−6. See . {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120823124027/http://www.imcce.fr/en/grandpublic/temps/saisons.php |date=August 23, 2012 }}</ref>
===Divination===
The Maya believed that each day of the Tzolkin had a character that influenced events. The Maya had a ]-priest, whose name meant day keeper, and who read the Tzolkin to predict the future. When a child was born, the day keeper would interpret the Tzolkin cycle to predict the baby’s destiny. For example, a child born on the day of Akabal was thought to be feminine, wealthy, verbally skillful, and possibly a liar, cheat or complainer. The birthday of Ak’abal was also thought to give the child the ability to communicate with the supernatural world, so he or she might become a shaman-priest or a marriage spokesman. In the Maya highlands, babies were even named after the day on which they were born.


The Haabʼ month names are known today by their corresponding names in colonial-era ], as transcribed by 16th-century sources (in particular, ] and books such as the '']'' of Chumayel). Phonemic analyses of Haabʼ glyph names in pre-Columbian ] have demonstrated that the names for these twenty-day periods varied considerably from region to region and from period to period, reflecting differences in the base language(s) and usage in the Classic and Postclassic eras predating their recording by Spanish sources.<ref>Boot (2002), pp.&nbsp;111–114.</ref>
===Origin of the Tzolkin===
The exact origin of the Tzolkin is not known, but there are several theories. One theory is that the calendar came from mathematical operations based on the numbers thirteen and twenty, which were important numbers to the Maya. The number twenty was the basis of the Maya counting system, taken from the number of human fingers and toes. (See ]). Thirteen symbolized the number of levels in the Upperworld where the gods lived. The numbers multiplied together equal 260. Another theory is that the 260-day period came from the length of human ]. It is postulated that midwives originally developed the calendar to predict babies’ expected birth dates.


Each day in the Haabʼ calendar was identified by a day number in the month followed by the name of the month. Day numbers began with a glyph translated as the "seating of" a named month, which is usually regarded as day 0 of that month, although a minority treat it as day 20 of the month preceding the named month. In the latter case, the seating of Pop is day 5 of Wayebʼ. For the majority, the first day of the year was 0&nbsp;Pop (the seating of Pop). This was followed by 1&nbsp;Pop, 2&nbsp;Pop as far as 19&nbsp;Pop then 0&nbsp;Wo, 1 Wo and so on.
==Haab==
The Haab was the Maya solar calendar made up of eighteen months of twenty days each and a five day month at the end of the year known as Wayeb or Uayeb that was called "the nameless days." Victoria Bricker estimates that the Haab was first used around 550 BC with the starting point of the ]. The Haab was the foundation of the agrarian calendar and the month names are based on the seasons and agricultural events. For example the thirteenth month, Mac, may refer to the end of the rainy season and the fourteenth month, Kankin, may refer to ripe crops in the fall.


Because the Haabʼ had 365 days and the ] is 365.2422 days, the days of the Haabʼ did not coincide with the tropical year.
In Yucatec Maya, the eighteen months had the following names:


==Calendar Round==
* Pop
A Calendar Round date is a date that gives both the Tzolkʼin and Haabʼ. This date will repeat after 52&nbsp;Haabʼ years or 18,980 days, a Calendar Round. For example, the current creation started on 4&nbsp;Ahau 8&nbsp;Kumkʼu. When this date recurs it is known as a Calendar Round completion.
* Uo
* Zip
* Zotz
* Tzec
* Xul
* Yaxkin
* Mol
* Chen
* Yax
* Zac
* Ceh
* Mac
* Kankin
* Muan
* Pax
* Kayab
* Cumku


Arithmetically, the duration of the Calendar Round is the ] of 260 and 365; 18,980 is 73 × 260 Tzolkʼin days and 52 × 365 Haabʼ days.<ref>For further details, see Thompson 1966: 123–124</ref>
Each day was identified by a day number within the month followed by the name of the month. Day numbers began with a glyph translated as the "seating of" a named month, which is usually regarded as day 0 of that month, although a minority treat it as day 20 of the month preceding the named month. In the latter case, the seating of Pop is day 5 of Wayeb. For the majority, the first day of the year was 0 Pop (the seating of Pop). This was followed by 1 Pop, 2 Pop ... 19 Pop, 0 Uo, 1 Uo and so on.


Not every possible combination of Tzolkʼin and Haabʼ can occur. For Tzolkʼin days Imix, Kimi, Chuwen and Kibʼ, the Haabʼ day can only be 4, 9, 14 or 19; for Ikʼ, Manikʼ, Ebʼ and Kabʼan, the Haabʼ day can only be 0, 5, 10 or 15; for Akbʼalʼ, Lamat, Bʼen and Etzʼnabʼ, the Haabʼ day can only be 1, 6, 11 or 16; for Kʼan, Muluk, Ix and Kawak, the Haabʼ day can only be 2, 7, 12 or 17; and for Chikchan, Ok, Men and Ajaw, the Haabʼ day can only be 3, 8, 13 or 18.<ref>Kettunen and Helmke (2020), p.&nbsp;51</ref>
As a calendar for keeping track of the seasons, the Haab was crude and inaccurate, since it treated the year as having 365 days, and ignored the extra quarter day (approximately) in the actual tropical year. This meant that the seasons moved with respect to the calendar year by a quarter day each year, so that the calendar months named after particular seasons no longer corresponded to these seasons after a few centuries. The Haab is equivalent to the wandering 365-day year of the ]. Some argue that the Maya knew about and compensated for the quarter day error, even though their calendar did not include anything comparable to a ], a method first implemented by the Romans.


===Wayeb=== ===Year Bearer===
A "Year Bearer" is a ] day name that occurs on 0{{nbsp}}Pop, the first day of the ]. Since there are 20 Tzolkʼin day names, 365 days in the Haabʼ, and the remainder of 365 divided by 20 is 5 ({{math|365 {{=}} 18×20 + 5}}), the Tzolkʼin day name for each successive 0{{nbsp}}Pop will be 5 later in the cycle of Tzolk'in day names. Similarly, since there are 13 Tzolk'in day numbers, and the remainder of 365 divided by 13 is 1 ({{math|365 {{=}} 28×13 + 1}}), the Tzolk'in day number for each successive 0{{nbsp}}Pop will be 1 greater than before. As such, the sequence of Tzolk'in dates corresponding to the Haab' date 0{{nbsp}}Pop are as follows:
The five nameless days at the end of the calendar called Wayeb were thought to be a dangerous time. Lynn Foster writes that, "During Wayeb, portals between the mortal realm and the Underworld dissolved. No boundaries prevented the ill-intending deities from causing disasters." To ward off these evil spirits, the Maya had customs and rituals they practiced during Wayeb. For example, people avoided leaving their houses or washing or combing their hair.


{{bulleted list
==Calendar Round==
|1 Ikʼ
Neither the Tzolkin nor the Haab system numbered the years. The combination of a Tzolkin date and a Haab date was enough to identify a date to most people's satisfaction, as such a combination didn't occur again for another 52 years.
|2 Manikʼ
|3 Ebʼ
|4 Kabʼan
|5 Ikʼ
|...
|12 Kab'an
|13 Ik'
|1 Manik'
|...
}}


Thus, the Year Bearers are the four Tzolkʼin day names that appear in this sequence: Ik', Manik', Eb', and Kab'an.
Because the two calendars were based on 260 days and 365 days respectively, the whole cycle would repeat itself every 52 Haab years exactly. This period was known as a Calendar Round. The end of the Calendar Round was a period of unrest and bad luck among the Maya, as they waited in expectation to see if the gods would grant them another cycle of 52 years.


"Year Bearer" literally translates a Mayan concept.<ref>Thompson 1966: 124</ref> Its importance resides in two facts. For one, the four years headed by the Year Bearers are named after them and share their characteristics; therefore, they also have their own prognostications and patron deities.<ref>For a thorough treatment of the Year Bearers, see Tedlock 1992: 89–90; 99–104 and Thompson 1966</ref> Moreover, since the Year Bearers are geographically identified with boundary markers or mountains, they help define the local community.<ref>See Coe 1965</ref>
==Long Count==


The classic system of Year Bearers described above is found at Tikal and in the ]. During the Late Classic period a different set of Year Bearers was in use in Campeche. In this system, the Year Bearers were the ] that coincided with 1 Pop. These were Akʼbʼal, Lamat, Bʼen and Edznab. During the Post-Classic period in Yucatán a third system was in use. In this system the Year Bearers were the days that coincided with 2 Pop: Kʼan, Muluc, Ix and Kawak. This system is found in the Chronicle of Oxkutzcab. In addition, just before the Spanish conquest in Mayapan the Maya began to number the days of the Haabʼ from 1 to 20. In this system the Year Bearers are the same as in the 1 Pop – Campeche system. The Classic Year Bearer system is still in use in the Guatemalan highlands<ref>Tedlock 1992: 92</ref> and in Veracruz, Oaxaca and Chiapas, Mexico.<ref name="Miles, Susanna W pp. 273-84">Miles, Susanna W, "An Analysis of the Modern Middle American Calendars: A Study in Conservation." In Acculturation in the Americas. Edited by Sol Tax, pp. 273–84. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1952.</ref>
Since Calendar Round dates can only distinguish within 18980 days, equivalent to around 52 solar years, the cycle repeats roughly once each lifetime, and thus, a much more refined method of dating was needed if their history was to be recorded accurately.


==Long Count==<!-- This section is linked from ] -->
The Long Count employs the use of number series, roughly base 20 and is constructed by counting whole number of days alone. The Mayan name for a day was ''kin''; twenty of these kins are known as a ''uinal''; ''eighteen'' uinals make one ''tun''; twenty tuns are known as a ''katun'', twenty katuns make a ''baktun''. (Four higher order cycles but rarely used are known as ''Pictun'', ''Calabtun'', ''Kinchiltun'', and ''Alautun''.)
] ]]


{{Main|Mesoamerican Long Count calendar}}
{| border=1 cellpadding=3 cellspacing=0 align="center" style="margin-top: 2ex"
Since Calendar Round dates repeat every 18,980 days, approximately 52 solar years, the cycle repeats roughly once each lifetime, so a more refined method of dating was needed if history was to be recorded accurately. To specify dates over periods longer than 52 years, Mesoamericans used the Long Count calendar.
|+'''Table of Long Count units'''
!Days !! Long Count periods !! Long Count !! Solar years !! Tuns
|-
| 1 ||= 1 Kin ||&nbsp; ||&nbsp; ||&nbsp;
|-
| 20 ||= 20 Kin ||= 1 Uinal ||&nbsp; ||&nbsp;
|-
| 360 ||= 18 Uinal ||= 1 Tun ||~ 1 ||1
|-
| 7 200 ||= 20 Tun ||= 1 Katun ||~ 20 ||20
|-
| 144 000 ||= 20 Katun ||= 1 Bactun ||~ 395 ||400
|}


The Maya name for a day was ''kʼin''. Twenty of these kʼins are known as a ''winal'' or ''uinal''. Eighteen winals make one ''tun''. Twenty tuns are known as a ''kʼatun''. Twenty kʼatuns make a ''bʼakʼtun''.
The Long Count started at 13.0.0.0.0 on ] 584283 (] ] in the ], or ] ] in the ]) according to the "Goodman, Martinez-Hernandez, ]" correlation (nicknamed "GMT"), the most widely accepted correlation between the Maya and ]. The baktuns progress 13, 1, 2, ..., 12. Because of this progression, many start the Long Count at 0.0.0.0.0 rather than 13.0.0.0.0, even though the Maya glyph for their epoch literally means "the completion of 13 baktuns". This cycle is 1,872,000 ]s in length, terminating on the ] of ] (], Gregorian) and is designated 13.0.0.0.0, since the Maya believed that ] is periodic. Another correlation sometimes used, that of Lounsbury, correlates the start-day to JD 584285 (] ] (Gregorian) = ] ] (Julian) ) and the terminal date to ] ] (Gregorian).


The Long Count calendar identifies a date by counting the number of days from the Mayan creation date 4 Ahaw, 8 Kumkʼu (August 11, 3114 BC in the ] or September 6 in the ] -3113 astronomical dating). But instead of using a base-10 (]) scheme, the Long Count days were tallied in a modified base-20 scheme. Thus 0.0.0.1.5 is equal to 25 and 0.0.0.2.0 is equal to 40. As the winal unit resets after only counting to 18, the Long Count consistently uses base-20 only if the tun is considered the primary unit of measurement, not the kʼin; with the kʼin and winal units being the number of days in the tun. The Long Count 0.0.1.0.0 represents 360 days, rather than the 400 in a purely base-20 (]) count.
===Calculating Long Count dates===


There are also four rarely used higher-order cycles: ], ], ], and ].
Long count dates list number of the highest order period first (Baktun) and then the number of each successively smaller order periods until the number of days (kin) are listed. Then the Calendar Round date is given.


Since the Long Count dates are unambiguous, the Long Count was particularly well suited to use on monuments. The monumental inscriptions would not only include the 5 digits of the Long Count, but would also include the two tzolkʼin characters followed by the two haabʼ characters.
A typical Calendar Round date is 9.12.2.0.16 5 Cib 14 Yaxkin. One can check whether this date is correct by the following calculation.


Misinterpretation of the ] was the basis for a popular belief that a ]. December 21, 2012 was simply the day that the calendar went to the next ], at Long Count 13.0.0.0.0. The date of the start of the next b'ak'tun (Long Count 14.0.0.0.0) is March 26, 2407. The date of the start of the next ] (a complete series of 20 bʼakʼtuns), at Long Count 1.0.0.0.0.0, is October 13, 4772.
It is perhaps easier to find out how many days there are since 4 Ahau 8 Cumhu, and show how the date 5 Cib 14 Yaxkin is derived.


{| border=1 cellpadding=3 cellspacing=0 align="center" style="margin-top: 2ex" {|class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto;"
|+ '''Table of Long Count units'''
| 9 ||× 144000 ||= 1296000
! Long Count <br/> unit !! Long Count <br/> period !! Days !! Approximate <br/> ]
|- |-
|1 Kʼin ||&nbsp; ||style="text-align:right;"| 1 ||style="text-align:right;"|&nbsp;
| 12 ||× 7200 ||= 86400
|- |-
|1 Winal ||20 Kʼin ||style="text-align:right;"| 20 ||style="text-align:right;"|&nbsp;
| 2 ||× 360 ||= 720
|- |-
|1 Tun ||18 Winal ||style="text-align:right;"| 360 ||style="text-align:right;"|{{val|fmt=commas|{{Rnd|360/365.2422|0}}}}
| 0 ||× 20 ||= 0
|- |-
|1 Kʼatun ||20 Tun ||style="text-align:right;"| 7,200 ||style="text-align:right;"|{{val|fmt=commas|{{Rnd|7200/365.2422|0}}}}
| 16 ||× 1 ||= 16
|- |-
|1 Bʼakʼtun ||20 Kʼatun ||style="text-align:right;"| 144,000 ||style="text-align:right;"|{{val|fmt=commas|{{Rnd|144000/365.2422|0}}}}
| &nbsp; ||Total days||= 1383136 kin
|-
|1 Piktun ||20 Bʼakʼtun ||style="text-align:right;"| 2,880,000 ||style="text-align:right;"|{{val|fmt=commas|{{Rnd|2880000/365.2422|0}}}}
|-
|1 Kalabtun ||20 Piktun ||style="text-align:right;"|57,600,000 ||style="text-align:right;"|{{val|fmt=commas|{{Rnd|57600000/365.2422|0}}}}
|-
|1 Kʼinchiltun ||20 Kalabtun ||style="text-align:right;"|1,152,000,000 ||style="text-align:right;"|{{val|fmt=commas|{{Rnd|1152000000/365.2422|0}}}}
|-
|1 Alautun ||20 Kʼinchiltun ||style="text-align:right;"|23,040,000,000 ||style="text-align:right;"|{{val|fmt=commas|{{Rnd|23040000000/365.2422|0}}}}
|} |}


==Supplementary Series==
===Calculating the Tzolkin date portion===
Many Classic period inscriptions include a series of glyphs known as the Supplementary Series. The operation of this series was largely worked out by ]. The Supplementary Series most commonly consists of the following elements:


===Lords of the Night===
The Tzolkin date is counted forward from 4 Ahau. To calculate the numerical portion of the Tzolkin date, we must add 4 to the total number of days given by the date, and then divide total number of days by 13.
{{Main|Lords of the Night}}
Each night was ruled by one of the nine lords of the underworld. This nine-day cycle was usually written as two glyphs: a glyph that referred to the Nine Lords as a group, followed by a glyph for the lord that would rule the next night.


===Lunar Series===
:(4 + 1383136) / 13 = 106395 and 5/13
A lunar series generally is written as five glyphs that provide information about the current ], the number of the lunation in a series of six, the current ruling lunar deity and the length of the current lunation.


===Moon age===
This means that 106395 complete 13 day cycles have been completed, and the numerical portion of the Tzolkin date is 5.
The Maya counted the number of days in the current lunation. They used two systems for the zero date of the lunar cycle: either the first night they could see the thin crescent moon or the first morning when they could not see the waning moon.<ref>Thompson, J. Eric S. Maya Hieroglyphic Writing, 1950 Page 236</ref> The age of the moon was depicted by a set of glyphs that mayanists coined glyphs D and E:


* A new moon glyph was used for day zero in the lunar cycle.
To calculate the day, we divide the total number of days in the long count by 20 since there are twenty day names.
* D glyphs were used for lunar ages for days 1 through 19, with the number of days that had passed from the new moon.
* For lunar ages 20 to 30, an E glyph was used, with the number of days from 20.


===Count of Lunations===
:1383136 / 20 = 69156 and (16/20)
The Maya counted the lunations. This cycle appears in the lunar series as two glyphs that modern scholars call the 'C' and 'X' glyphs. The C glyph could be prefixed with a number indicating the lunation. No prefixing number meant one, whereas the numbers two through six indicated the other lunations.<ref>Teeple 1931:53</ref><ref>Thompson Maya Hieroglyphic Writing 1950:240</ref> There was also a part of the C glyph that indicated where this fell in a larger cycle of 18 lunations. Accompanying the C glyph was the 'X' glyph that showed a similar pattern of 18 lunations.<ref>Linden 1996:343–356.</ref><ref>Schele, Grube, Fahsen 1992</ref>


===Lunation length===
This means 16 day names must be counted from Ahau. This gives Cib. Therefore, the Tzolkin date is 5 Cib.
The present era lunar synodic period is about 29.5305877 ] or about 29 days 12 hours 44 minutes and 2+<sup>7</sup>/<sub>9</sub> seconds. As a whole number, the number of days per lunation will be either 29 or 30 days, with the 30-day intervals necessarily occurring slightly more frequently than the 29-day intervals. The Maya wrote whether the lunar month was 29 or 30 days as two glyphs: a glyph for lunation length followed by either a glyph made up of a moon glyph over a bundle with a suffix of 9 for a 29-day lunation or a moon glyph with a suffix of 10 for a 30-day lunation. Since the Maya didn't use fractions, lunations were approximated by using the formula that there were 149 lunations completed in 4400 days, which yielded a rather short mean month of exactly <sup>4400</sup>/<sub>149</sub> = 29+<sup>79</sup>/<sub>149</sub> days = 29 days 12 hours 43 minutes and 29+<sup>59</sup>/<sub>149</sub> seconds, or about 29.5302 days.<ref>Teeple 1931:67</ref>


==819-day count==
===Calculating the Haab date portion===
Some Mayan monuments include glyphs that record an 819-day count<ref>{{cite news |title= The Mayan mystic 819-day calendar |trans-title=The Mayan mystic 819-day calendar |url= https://mexicanroutes.com/the-mayan-mystic-819-day-calendar/ |publisher= Mexican Routes |date=2024-12-26 |accessdate=27 Dec 2024 |language=English }}</ref> in their Initial Series. These can also be found in the ].<ref>Grofe, Michael John 2007 The Serpent Series: Precession in the Maya Dresden Codex page 55 p.&nbsp;206</ref> This is described in Thompson.<ref>Maya Hieroglyphic Writing 1971 pp.&nbsp;212–217</ref> More examples of this can be found in Kelley.<ref>Decipherment of Maya Script, David Kelley 1973 pp.&nbsp;56–57</ref> Each group of 819 days was associated with one of four colors and the cardinal direction with which it was associated{{snd}} black corresponded to west, red to east, white to north and yellow to south.


The 819-day count can be described several ways: Most of these are referred to using a "Y" glyph and a number. Many also have a glyph for Kʼawill{{snd}} the god with a smoking mirror in his head. Kʼawill has been suggested as having a link to Jupiter.<ref>Star Gods of the Maya Susan Milbrath 1999, University of Texas Press</ref> In the ] almanac 59 there are ]s of the four colors. The accompanying texts begin with a directional glyph and a verb for 819-day-count phrases. Anderson<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.traditionalhighcultures.org/819-Day-Count_&_Y_Glyph.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150506025253/http://www.traditionalhighcultures.org/819-Day-Count_%26_Y_Glyph.html |archive-date=May 6, 2015 |title=Lloyd B. Anderson The Mayan 819-day Count and the "Y" Glyph: A Probable association with Jupiter |publisher=Traditional High Cultures Home Page |access-date=March 30, 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> provides a detailed description of the 819-day count.
The Haab date 8 Cumhu is the ninth day of the eighteenth month. Since there are twenty days per month, there are eleven days remaining in Cumhu. The nineteeth and last month of the Haab year contains only five days, there are sixteen days until the end of the Haab year.


=== Synodic periods of the classical planets ===
If we subtract 16 days from the total, we can then find how many complete Haab years are contained.


Moon: 1 x 819 + 8 days = 28 (synodic 29.53 d) "28 months"
:1383136 - 16 = 1383120
Moon: 4 x 819 + 2 days = 111 (synodic 29.53 d) "111 months"
Moon: 15 x 819 + 0.3 days = 416 (synodic 29.53 d) "416 months"


Draconic: 31 x 819 days = 933 (draconic 27.21 d) "nodal months"
Dividing by 365, we have


Mercury: 1 x 819 + 8 days = 7 (synodic 115.88 d)
:1383120 / 365 = 3789 and (135/365)
Mercury: 15 x 819 + 2 days = 106 (synodic 115.88 d)


Venus: 5 x 819 + 8 days = 7 (synodic 583.9 d)
Therefore, 3789 complete Haab have passed, with 135 days into the new Haab.


Sun: 4 x 819 + 11 days = 9 (synodic 365.24 d) "9 years"
We then find which month the day is in. Dividing the remainder 135 days by 20, we have six complete months, plus 15 remainder days. So, the date in the Haab lies in the seventh month, which is Yaxkin. The fifteenth day of Yaxkin is 14, thus the Haab date is 14 Yaxkin.
Sun: 33 x 819 + 1 days = 74 (synodic 365.24 d) "74 years"


Mars: 20 x 819 + 2 days = 21 (synodic 779.9 d)
So the date of the long count date 9.12.2.0.16 5 Cib 14 Yaxkin is confirmed.


Jupiter: 1 x 819 + 21 days = 2 (synodic 398.88 d)
===End of the world?===
Jupiter: 19 x 819 + 5 days = 39 (synodic 398.88 d)
The turn of the great cycle is conjectured to have been of great significance to the Maya, but does not necessarily mark the end of the world. According to the ], a sacred book of the Maya, they were living in the fourth world. The Popol Vuh describes the first three worlds that the gods failed in making and the creation of the successful fourth world where men were placed. The Maya believed that the fourth world would end in catastrophe and the fifth and final world would be created that would signal the end of mankind.


Saturn: 6 x 819 - 1 days = 13 (synod 378.09 d)
The last creation ended on a long count of 13.0.0.0.0. Another 13.0.0.0.0 will occur on ] ], and it has been discussed in many ] articles and books that this will be the end of this creation or something ] entirely. However, the Maya abbreviated their long counts to just the last five vigesimal places. There were an infinitely larger number of units that were usually not shown. When the larger units were shown (notably on a monument from ]), it is expressed as 13.13.13.13.13.13.13.0.0.0.0, where the larger units are obviously supposed to be 13s in all larger places. In this age we are only approaching 0.0.0.0.0.0.13.0.0.0.0, and the larger places are nowhere near the 13s that would match the end of the last creation.


<ref>2023, John H. Linden, Victoria R. Bricker, The Maya 819-Day Count and Planetary Astronomy https://doi.org/10.1017/S0956536122000323</ref>
This is confirmed by a date from ], which projects forward in time to 1.0.0.0.0.0, which will occur on ], 4772. The Classic Period Maya obviously did not believe that the end of this age would occur in 2012. There will be a ] ending in 2012, a significant event being the end of a 400 year period, but not the end of the age.


==Venus cycle== ==Short count==
During the late Classic period the Maya began to use an abbreviated short count instead of the Long Count. An example of this can be found on altar 14 at Tikal.<ref>Coe, William R. 'TIKAL a handbook of the ancient Maya Ruins' The University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa. 1967 p. 114</ref> In the kingdoms of Postclassic Yucatán, the Short Count was used instead of the Long Count. The cyclical Short Count is a count of 13&nbsp;kʼatuns (or 260&nbsp;tuns), in which each kʼatun was named after its concluding day, Ahau ('Lord'). 1&nbsp;Imix was selected as the recurrent 'first day' of the cycle, corresponding to 1 ] in the Aztec day count. The cycle was counted from katun 11&nbsp;Ahau to katun 13&nbsp;Ahau. Since a katun is {{math|20 × 360 {{=}} 7200}} days long, and the remainder of 7200 divided by 13 is 11 ({{math|7200 {{=}} 553×13 + 11}}), the day number of the concluding day of each successive katun is 9 greater than before (wrapping around at 13, since only 13 day numbers are used). That is, starting with the katun that begins with 1{{nbsp}}Imix, the sequence of concluding day numbers is 11, 9, 7, 5, 3, 1, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 13, 11, ..., all named Ahau. The concluding day 13&nbsp;Ahau was followed by the re-entering first day 1&nbsp;Imix. This is the system as found in the colonial Books of ]. In characteristic Mesoamerican fashion, these books project the cycle onto the landscape, with 13 ''Ahauob'' 'Lordships' dividing the land of Yucatán into 13 'kingdoms'.<ref>Roys 1967: 132, 184–185</ref>
Another important calendar for the Maya was the ] cycle. The Maya were excellent ]s, and could calculate the Venus cycle extremely accurately. There are six pages in the Dresden Codex (one of the ]) devoted to the accurate calculation of the location of Venus. The Maya were able to achieve such accuracy by careful observation over many years. The Venus cycle was especially important because the Maya believed it was associated with war and used it to divine good times for coronations and war. Maya rulers planned for wars to begin when Venus rose. The Maya also possibly tracked other planets’ movements, including those of Mars, Mercury, and Jupiter.

] has interpreted the boundaries of the longcount to be defined by a periodic astronomical event: the triple conjunction just before sunrise of the moon, Venus, and Jupiter (see his webpage below in "external links"). However, this interpretation relies on modern astronomical calculations not used by the Maya.


==See also== ==See also==
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|30em}}


==References== ==References==
{{Refbegin|indent=yes}}<!--BEGIN biblio format. -->
# {{note|creation}} {{Chapter reference | Author=Miller, M. and Taube, K. | Year=1993 | Title=creation accounts | Editor= | Book=The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya | Pages=pp.68-71 | Publisher=Thames & Hudson | ID=ISBN 050-005-068-6 }}
* {{cite book |author= Aveni, Anthony F. |author-link= Anthony Aveni |date= 2001 |title= Skywatchers |edition= originally published as: ''Skywatchers of Ancient Mexico'' , revised and updated |location= Austin |publisher= ] |isbn= 0-292-70504-2 |oclc= 45195586}}
* Bricker, Victoria. (1982). The Origin of the Maya Solar Calendar. ''Current Anthropology.'' '''23''' (1), 101-103.
* {{cite book |author= Boot, Erik |date= 2002 |title= A Preliminary Classic Maya-English/English-Classic Maya Vocabulary of Hieroglyphic Readings |publisher= Mesoweb |url= http://www.mesoweb.com/resources/vocabulary/Vocabulary.pdf |access-date= 2006-11-10}}
*Foster, Lynn V. (2002). ''Handbook to Life in the Ancient Mayan World.'' New York: Facts on File.
* {{cite journal |author= Bricker, Victoria R. |date=February 1982 |title= The Origin of the Maya Solar Calendar |journal= ] |volume= 23 |issue= 1 |pages= 101–103 |location= Chicago, IL |publisher= ], sponsored by ] |doi= 10.1086/202782 |s2cid=143962107 |issn= 0011-3204 |oclc= 62217742}}
*Ivanoff, Pierre. (1968). ''Mayan Enigma: The Search for a Lost Civilization.'' Elaine P. Halperin, trans. New York: Delacorte Press.
* {{cite journal |author= Chambers, David Wade |date= 1965 |title= Did the Maya Know the Metonic Cycle |journal= Isis |volume= 56 |issue= 3 |pages= 348–351 |doi= 10.1086/350004 |s2cid= 145711182 }}
*Robinson, Andrew. (2000). ''The Story of Writing.'' New York: Thames and Hudson.
* {{cite journal |author= Coe, Michael D. |author-link= Michael D. Coe |date= 1965 |title= A Model of Ancient Maya Community Structure in the Maya Lowlands |journal= Southwestern Journal of Anthropology |volume= 21|doi= 10.1086/soutjanth.21.2.3629386 |s2cid= 130245359 }}
*Tedlock, Barbara. (1982). ''Time and the Highland Maya.'' Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.
* {{cite book |author= Coe, Michael D. |author-link= Michael D. Coe |date= 1987 |title= The Maya |publisher= ] |location= London and New York |edition= 4th revised |isbn= 0-500-27455-X |oclc= 15895415}}
*Tedlock,Dennis, trans. (1985). ''Popol Vuh: the Definitive Edition of the Mayan Book of the Dawn of Life and the Glories of Gods and Kings.'' New York: Simon and Schuster.
* {{cite book |author= Coe, Michael D. |author-link= Michael D. Coe |date= 1992 |title= Breaking the Maya Code |publisher= ] |location= London |isbn= 0-500-05061-9 |oclc= 26605966 |url= https://archive.org/details/breakingmayacode00coem_0 }}
* {{cite book |author= Foster, Lynn V. |date= 2002 |title= Handbook to Life in the Ancient Maya World |others= with Foreword by Peter Mathews |location= New York |publisher= ] |isbn= 0-8160-4148-2 |oclc= 50676955}}
* {{cite book |author= Ivanoff, Pierre |others= Elaine P. Halperin (trans.)|date= 1971 |title= Mayan Enigma: The Search for a Lost Civilization |edition= translation of ''Découvertes chez les Mayas'', English |location= New York |publisher= Delacorte Press |isbn= 0-440-05528-8 |oclc= 150172}}
* {{cite book |author= Jones, Christopher |date= 1984 |title= Deciphering Maya Hieroglyphs |others= Carl P. Beetz (illus.) |edition= prepared for Weekend Workshop April 7 and 8, 1984, 2nd |publisher= ] |location= Philadelphia |oclc= 11641566}}
* {{cite book |author= Kettunen, Harri |author2=Christophe Helmke |date= 2020 |title= Introduction to Maya Hieroglyphs: 17th edition |url= https://wayeb.org//download/Kettunen_Helmke_2020_Introduction_to_Maya_Hieroglyphs_17th_ed.pdf |access-date= 2020-10-06 |location= Couvin, Belgium |publisher= Wayeb}}
* {{cite book |author= Linden, John H. |date=1996 |title= The Deity Head Variants of the C Glyph|series=The Eight Palenque Round Table, 1993|pages=343–356}}
* {{cite news |author= MacDonald, G. Jeffrey |date= 27 March 2007 |title= Does Maya calendar predict 2012 apocalypse? |url= https://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2007-03-27-maya-2012_N.htm |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080316220726/http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2007-03-27-maya-2012_N.htm |archive-date= 2008-03-16 |newspaper= ] |publisher= ] |location= McLean, VA |issn= 0734-7456 |access-date= 2009-05-28}}
* {{cite book |author=Milbrath, Susan |date=1999 |title=Star Gods of the Maya: Astronomy in Art, Folklore, and Calendars |series=The Linda Schele series in Maya and pre-Columbian studies |location=Austin |publisher=] |isbn=0-292-75225-3 |oclc=40848420}}
* {{cite book |author= Miller, Mary |author-link= Mary Miller (art historian) |author2= Karl Taube |author2-link= Karl Taube |date= 1993 |title= The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya: An Illustrated Dictionary of Mesoamerican Religion |publisher= Thames and Hudson |location= London |isbn= 0-500-05068-6 |oclc= 27667317 |url= https://archive.org/details/godssymbolsofa00mill }}
* Rice, Prudence M., ''Maya Calendar Origins: Monuments, Mythistory, and the Materialization of Time'' (Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2007) .
* {{cite book |author= Robinson, Andrew |author-link= W. Andrew Robinson |date= 2000 |title= The Story of Writing: Alphabets, Hieroglyphs and Pictograms |location= London and New York |publisher= ] |isbn= 0-500-28156-4 |oclc= 59432784 |url-access= registration |url= https://archive.org/details/storyofwriting0000robi }}
* {{cite book |author= Roys, Ralph L. |date= 1967 |title= The Book of Chilam Balam of Chumayel |location= Norman |publisher= ]}}
* {{cite book |author= Schele, Linda |author-link= Linda Schele |author2= David Freidel |author2-link= David Freidel |date= 1992 |title= A Forest of Kings: The Untold Story of the Ancient Maya |edition= originally published New York: Morrow, 1990, pbk reprint |publisher= ] |location= New York |isbn= 0-688-11204-8 |oclc= 145324300 |url-access= registration |url= https://archive.org/details/forestofkingsunt0034sche }}
* {{Cite journal|issue = 29|last = Schele|first = Linda|author2=Nickolai Grube |author3=Federico Fahsen |title = The Lunar Series in Classic Maya Inscriptions: New Observation and Interpretations|journal = Texas Notes on Precolumbian Art, Writing, and Culture|date = October 1992}}
*{{cite web |last=Taub |first=Ben |title=We Finally Know How The Maya Calendar Matches Up With The Planets |website=IFLScience |date=2023-04-19 |url=https://iflscience.com/we-finally-know-how-the-maya-calendar-matches-up-with-the-planets-68528}}
* {{cite book |author= Tedlock, Barbara |date= 1992 |edition=rev. |title= Time and the Highland Maya |location= Albuquerque |publisher= ] |isbn= 0-8263-0577-6 |oclc= 7653289}}
* {{Cite book|edition = Pub. 403|publisher = Carnegie Institution of Washington|volume = I|pages = 29–116|last = Teeple|first = John E.|title = Contributions to American Archaeology|chapter = Maya Astronomy|location = Washington D.C.|date = November 1931|chapter-url = http://www.mesoweb.com/publications/CAA/CAA02.pdf}}
* {{cite book |editor1= Tedlock, Dennis |editor-link= Dennis Tedlock |translator=Tedlock, Dennis |date= 1985 |title= Popol Vuh: The Definitive Edition of the Mayan Book of the Dawn of Life and the Glories of Gods and Kings |others= with commentary based on the ancient knowledge of the modern Quiché Maya |location= New York |publisher= ] |isbn= 0-671-45241-X |oclc= 11467786}}
* {{cite book |author= Thomas, Cyrus |author-link= Cyrus Thomas |date= 1897 |chapter= Day Symbols of the Maya Year |chapter-url= http://www.gutenberg.org:80/etext/18973 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070122051930/http://www.gutenberg.org:80/etext/18973 |archive-date=January 22, 2007 |via= ] |type=EBook online reproduction |editor= J. W. Powell |title= Sixteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1894–1895 |location= Washington DC |publisher= ], ]; ] |pages= 199–266 |oclc= 14963920}}
* {{cite book |author= Thompson, J. Eric S. |author-link= J. Eric S. Thompson |date= 1971 |title= Maya Hieroglyphic Writing: An Introduction, 3rd Edition|series= Civilization of the American Indian Series, No. 56 |edition= 3rd |location= Norman |publisher= ] |isbn= 0-8061-0447-3 |oclc= 275252}}
* {{cite book |editor1= Tozzer, Alfred M. |editor-link= Alfred Tozzer |translator=Tozzer, Alfred M. |date= 1941 |title= Landa's Relación de las cosas de Yucatán: a translation |others= Charles P. Bowditch and Ralph L. Roys (additional trans.) |edition= translation of ]'s ''Relación de las cosas de Yucatán'' , with notes, commentary, and appendices incorporating translated excerpts of works by ], Tomás López Medel, ], and ]. English |series= Papers of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University vol. 18 |publisher= ] |location= Cambridge, MA |oclc= 625693}}
* {{cite book |author= Voss, Alexander |date= 2006 |chapter= Astronomy and Mathematics |editor= Nikolai Grube |editor-link= Nikolai Grube |others= Eva Eggebrecht and Matthias Seidel (assistant eds.) |title= Maya: Divine Kings of the Rain Forest |location= Cologne, Germany |publisher= Könemann |pages= 130–143 |isbn= 978-3-8331-1957-6 |oclc= 71165439}}

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==External links== ==External links==
{{Commons|Maya calendar|Maya calendar}}
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{{Gutenberg|no=18973|name=Day Symbols of the Maya Year}} 1897 text by Cyrus Thomas
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Latest revision as of 02:04, 28 December 2024

Calendar used in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica

This article is part of a series on the
Maya civilization
Drawing of a Mayan stone carving with elaborate decoration.
History
Spanish conquest of the Maya

The Maya calendar is a system of calendars used in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica and in many modern communities in the Guatemalan highlands, Veracruz, Oaxaca and Chiapas, Mexico.

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 BC. 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.

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 calendrical system to the ancestral Maya, along with writing in general and other foundational aspects of Mayan culture.

Overview

Further information: Maya astronomy

The Maya calendar consists of several cycles or counts of different lengths. The 260-day count is known to scholars as the Tzolkin, or Tzolkʼin. The Tzolkin was combined with a 365-day vague solar year known as the Haabʼ to form a synchronized cycle lasting for 52 Haabʼ called the Calendar Round. The Calendar Round is still in use by many groups in the Guatemalan highlands.

A different calendar was used to track longer periods of time and for the inscription of calendar dates (i.e., identifying when one event occurred in relation to others). This is the Long Count. It is a count of days since a mythological starting-point. According to the correlation between the Long Count and Western calendars accepted by the great majority of Maya researchers (known as the Goodman-Martinez-Thompson, or GMT, correlation), this starting-point is equivalent to August 11, 3114 BC in the proleptic Gregorian calendar or September 6, in the Julian calendar (−3113 astronomical). The GMT correlation was chosen by John Eric Sydney Thompson in 1935 on the basis of earlier correlations by Joseph Goodman in 1905 (August 11), Juan Martínez Hernández in 1926 (August 12) and Thompson himself in 1927 (August 13). By its linear nature, the Long Count was capable of being extended to refer to any date far into the past or future. This calendar involved the use of a positional notation system, in which each position signified an increasing multiple of the number of days. The Maya numeral system was essentially vigesimal (i.e., base-20) and each unit of a given position represented 20 times the unit of the position which preceded it. An important exception was made for the second-order place value, which instead represented 18 × 20, or 360 days, more closely approximating the solar year than would 20 × 20 = 400 days. The cycles of the Long Count are independent of the solar year.

Many Maya Long Count inscriptions contain a supplementary series, which provides information on the lunar phase, number of the current lunation in a series of six and which of the nine Lords of the Night rules.

Less-prevalent or poorly understood cycles, combinations and calendar progressions were also tracked. An 819-day Count is attested in a few inscriptions. Repeating sets of 9 days (see below "Nine lords of the night") associated with different groups of deities, animals and other significant concepts are also known.

Tzolkʼin

Main article: Tzolkʼin

The tzolkʼin (in modern Maya orthography; also commonly written tzolkin) is the name commonly employed by Mayanist researchers for the Maya Sacred Round or 260-day calendar. The word tzolkʼin is a neologism coined in Yucatec Maya, to mean "count of days" (Coe 1992). The various names of this calendar as used by precolumbian Maya people are still debated by scholars. The Aztec calendar equivalent was called Tōnalpōhualli, in the Nahuatl language.

The tzolkʼin calendar combines twenty day names with the thirteen day numbers to produce 260 unique days. It is used to determine the time of religious and ceremonial events and for divination. Each successive day is numbered from 1 up to 13 and then starting again at 1. Separately from this, every day is given a name in sequence from a list of 20 day names:

Tzolkʼin calendar: named days and associated glyphs
Seq.
Num.
Day
Name
Glyph
example
16th-c.
Yucatec
K'iche' Reconstructed
Classic Maya
Seq.
Num.
Day
Name
Glyph
example
16th-c.
Yucatec
Quiché Reconstructed
Classic Maya
01 Imix Imix Imox Imix (?) / Haʼ (?) 11 Chuwen Chuen Bʼatzʼ (unknown)
02 Ikʼ Ik Iqʼ Ikʼ 12 Ebʼ Eb (unknown)
03 Akʼbʼal Akbal Aqʼabʼal Akʼbʼal (?) 13 Bʼen Ben Aj C'klab
04 Kʼan Kan Kʼat Kʼan (?) 14 Ix Ix Iʼx, Balam Hix (?)
05 Chikchan Chicchan Kan (unknown) 15 Men Men Tzikin Men (?)
06 Kimi Cimi Kame Cham (?) 16 Kʼibʼ Cib Ajmaq (unknown)
07 Manikʼ Manik Kej Manichʼ (?) 17 Kabʼan Caban Noʼj Chabʼ (?)
08 Lamat Lamat Qʼanil Ekʼ (?) 18 Etzʼnabʼ Etznab Tijax (unknown)
09 Muluk Muluc Toj (unknown) 19 Kawak Cauac Kawoq (unknown)
10 Ok Oc Tzʼiʼ (unknown) 20 Ajaw Ahau Ajpu Ajaw
NOTES:
  1. The sequence number of the named day in the Tzolkʼin calendar
  2. Day name, in the standardized and revised orthography of the Guatemalan Academia de Lenguas Mayas
  3. An example glyph (logogram) for the named day. Note that for most of these several different forms are recorded; the ones shown here are typical of carved monumental inscriptions (these are "cartouche" versions)
  4. Day name, as recorded from 16th-century Yucatec Maya accounts, principally Diego de Landa; this orthography has (until recently) been widely used
  5. In most cases, the actual day name as spoken in the time of the Classic Period (c. 200–900) when most inscriptions were made is not known. The versions given here (in Classic Maya, the main language of the inscriptions) are reconstructed on the basis of phonological evidence, if available; a '?' symbol indicates the reconstruction is tentative.

Some systems started the count with 1 Imix, followed by 2 Ikʼ, 3 Akʼbʼal, etc. up to 13 Bʼen. The day numbers then start again at 1 while the named-day sequence continues onwards, so the next days in the sequence are 1 Ix, 2 Men, 3 Kʼibʼ, 4 Kabʼan, 5 Etzʼnabʼ, 6 Kawak and 7 Ajaw. With all twenty named days used, these now began to repeat the cycle while the number sequence continues, so the next day after 7 Ajaw is 8 Imix. The repetition of these interlocking 13- and 20-day cycles therefore takes 260 days to complete (that is, for every possible combination of number/named day to occur once).

The earliest known inscription with a Tzolkʼin is an Olmec earspool with 2 Ahau 3 Ceh - 6.3.10.9.0, September 2, -678 (Julian astronomical).

Haabʼ

Haabʼ months: names and glyphs in sequence
Seq.
Num.
Yucatec
name
Hieroglyph
Classic Period

glyph sign

Meaning of glyph
Reconstructed Classic Maya
1 Pop 𝋠 k'anjalaw
2 Woʼ 𝋠 ik'at
3 Sip 𝋠 chakat
4 Sotzʼ 𝋠 bat sotz'
5 Sek 𝋠 kaseew
6 Xul 𝋠 chikin
7 Yaxkʼin 𝋠 yaxk'in
8 Mol 𝋠 mol
9 Chʼen 𝋠 black ik'siho'm
10 Yax 𝋠 green yaxsiho'm
11 Sak 𝋠 white saksiho'm
12 Keh 𝋠 red chaksiho'm
13 Mak 𝋠 mak
14 Kʼankʼin 𝋠 uniiw
15 Muwan 𝋠 muwaan
16 Pax 𝋠 paxiil
17 Kʼayab 𝋠 k'anasiiy
18 Kumkʼu 𝋠 ohl
19 Wayebʼ 𝋠 five unlucky days wayhaab
Main article: Haabʼ

The Haabʼ was made up of eighteen months of twenty days each plus a period of five days ("nameless days") at the end of the year known as Wayeb' (or Uayeb in 16th-century orthography). The five days of Wayebʼ were thought to be a dangerous time. Foster (2002) writes, "During Wayeb, portals between the mortal realm and the Underworld dissolved. No boundaries prevented the ill-intending deities from causing disasters." To ward off these evil spirits, the Maya had customs and rituals they practiced during Wayebʼ. For example, people avoided leaving their houses and washing or combing their hair. Bricker (1982) estimates that the Haabʼ was first used around 550 BC with a starting point of the winter solstice.

The Haabʼ month names are known today by their corresponding names in colonial-era Yukatek Maya, as transcribed by 16th-century sources (in particular, Diego de Landa and books such as the Chilam Balam of Chumayel). Phonemic analyses of Haabʼ glyph names in pre-Columbian Maya inscriptions have demonstrated that the names for these twenty-day periods varied considerably from region to region and from period to period, reflecting differences in the base language(s) and usage in the Classic and Postclassic eras predating their recording by Spanish sources.

Each day in the Haabʼ calendar was identified by a day number in the month followed by the name of the month. Day numbers began with a glyph translated as the "seating of" a named month, which is usually regarded as day 0 of that month, although a minority treat it as day 20 of the month preceding the named month. In the latter case, the seating of Pop is day 5 of Wayebʼ. For the majority, the first day of the year was 0 Pop (the seating of Pop). This was followed by 1 Pop, 2 Pop as far as 19 Pop then 0 Wo, 1 Wo and so on.

Because the Haabʼ had 365 days and the tropical year is 365.2422 days, the days of the Haabʼ did not coincide with the tropical year.

Calendar Round

A Calendar Round date is a date that gives both the Tzolkʼin and Haabʼ. This date will repeat after 52 Haabʼ years or 18,980 days, a Calendar Round. For example, the current creation started on 4 Ahau 8 Kumkʼu. When this date recurs it is known as a Calendar Round completion.

Arithmetically, the duration of the Calendar Round is the least common multiple of 260 and 365; 18,980 is 73 × 260 Tzolkʼin days and 52 × 365 Haabʼ days.

Not every possible combination of Tzolkʼin and Haabʼ can occur. For Tzolkʼin days Imix, Kimi, Chuwen and Kibʼ, the Haabʼ day can only be 4, 9, 14 or 19; for Ikʼ, Manikʼ, Ebʼ and Kabʼan, the Haabʼ day can only be 0, 5, 10 or 15; for Akbʼalʼ, Lamat, Bʼen and Etzʼnabʼ, the Haabʼ day can only be 1, 6, 11 or 16; for Kʼan, Muluk, Ix and Kawak, the Haabʼ day can only be 2, 7, 12 or 17; and for Chikchan, Ok, Men and Ajaw, the Haabʼ day can only be 3, 8, 13 or 18.

Year Bearer

A "Year Bearer" is a Tzolkʼin day name that occurs on 0 Pop, the first day of the Haabʼ. Since there are 20 Tzolkʼin day names, 365 days in the Haabʼ, and the remainder of 365 divided by 20 is 5 (365 = 18×20 + 5), the Tzolkʼin day name for each successive 0 Pop will be 5 later in the cycle of Tzolk'in day names. Similarly, since there are 13 Tzolk'in day numbers, and the remainder of 365 divided by 13 is 1 (365 = 28×13 + 1), the Tzolk'in day number for each successive 0 Pop will be 1 greater than before. As such, the sequence of Tzolk'in dates corresponding to the Haab' date 0 Pop are as follows:

  • 1 Ikʼ
  • 2 Manikʼ
  • 3 Ebʼ
  • 4 Kabʼan
  • 5 Ikʼ
  • ...
  • 12 Kab'an
  • 13 Ik'
  • 1 Manik'
  • ...

Thus, the Year Bearers are the four Tzolkʼin day names that appear in this sequence: Ik', Manik', Eb', and Kab'an.

"Year Bearer" literally translates a Mayan concept. Its importance resides in two facts. For one, the four years headed by the Year Bearers are named after them and share their characteristics; therefore, they also have their own prognostications and patron deities. Moreover, since the Year Bearers are geographically identified with boundary markers or mountains, they help define the local community.

The classic system of Year Bearers described above is found at Tikal and in the Dresden Codex. During the Late Classic period a different set of Year Bearers was in use in Campeche. In this system, the Year Bearers were the Tzolkʼin that coincided with 1 Pop. These were Akʼbʼal, Lamat, Bʼen and Edznab. During the Post-Classic period in Yucatán a third system was in use. In this system the Year Bearers were the days that coincided with 2 Pop: Kʼan, Muluc, Ix and Kawak. This system is found in the Chronicle of Oxkutzcab. In addition, just before the Spanish conquest in Mayapan the Maya began to number the days of the Haabʼ from 1 to 20. In this system the Year Bearers are the same as in the 1 Pop – Campeche system. The Classic Year Bearer system is still in use in the Guatemalan highlands and in Veracruz, Oaxaca and Chiapas, Mexico.

Long Count

East side of Stela C, Quirigua with the mythical creation date of 13 baktuns, 0 katuns, 0 tuns, 0 uinals, 0 kins, 4 Ahau, 8 Cumku – August 11, 3114 BC in the proleptic Gregorian calendar
Main article: Mesoamerican Long Count calendar

Since Calendar Round dates repeat every 18,980 days, approximately 52 solar years, the cycle repeats roughly once each lifetime, so a more refined method of dating was needed if history was to be recorded accurately. To specify dates over periods longer than 52 years, Mesoamericans used the Long Count calendar.

The Maya name for a day was kʼin. Twenty of these kʼins are known as a winal or uinal. Eighteen winals make one tun. Twenty tuns are known as a kʼatun. Twenty kʼatuns make a bʼakʼtun.

The Long Count calendar identifies a date by counting the number of days from the Mayan creation date 4 Ahaw, 8 Kumkʼu (August 11, 3114 BC in the proleptic Gregorian calendar or September 6 in the Julian calendar -3113 astronomical dating). But instead of using a base-10 (decimal) scheme, the Long Count days were tallied in a modified base-20 scheme. Thus 0.0.0.1.5 is equal to 25 and 0.0.0.2.0 is equal to 40. As the winal unit resets after only counting to 18, the Long Count consistently uses base-20 only if the tun is considered the primary unit of measurement, not the kʼin; with the kʼin and winal units being the number of days in the tun. The Long Count 0.0.1.0.0 represents 360 days, rather than the 400 in a purely base-20 (vigesimal) count.

There are also four rarely used higher-order cycles: piktun, kalabtun, kʼinchiltun, and alautun.

Since the Long Count dates are unambiguous, the Long Count was particularly well suited to use on monuments. The monumental inscriptions would not only include the 5 digits of the Long Count, but would also include the two tzolkʼin characters followed by the two haabʼ characters.

Misinterpretation of the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar was the basis for a popular belief that a cataclysm would take place on December 21, 2012. December 21, 2012 was simply the day that the calendar went to the next bʼakʼtun, at Long Count 13.0.0.0.0. The date of the start of the next b'ak'tun (Long Count 14.0.0.0.0) is March 26, 2407. The date of the start of the next piktun (a complete series of 20 bʼakʼtuns), at Long Count 1.0.0.0.0.0, is October 13, 4772.

Table of Long Count units
Long Count
unit
Long Count
period
Days Approximate
Solar Years
1 Kʼin   1  
1 Winal 20 Kʼin 20  
1 Tun 18 Winal 360 1
1 Kʼatun 20 Tun 7,200 20
1 Bʼakʼtun 20 Kʼatun 144,000 394
1 Piktun 20 Bʼakʼtun 2,880,000 7,885
1 Kalabtun 20 Piktun 57,600,000 157,704
1 Kʼinchiltun 20 Kalabtun 1,152,000,000 3,154,071
1 Alautun 20 Kʼinchiltun 23,040,000,000 63,081,429

Supplementary Series

Many Classic period inscriptions include a series of glyphs known as the Supplementary Series. The operation of this series was largely worked out by John E. Teeple. The Supplementary Series most commonly consists of the following elements:

Lords of the Night

Main article: Lords of the Night

Each night was ruled by one of the nine lords of the underworld. This nine-day cycle was usually written as two glyphs: a glyph that referred to the Nine Lords as a group, followed by a glyph for the lord that would rule the next night.

Lunar Series

A lunar series generally is written as five glyphs that provide information about the current lunation, the number of the lunation in a series of six, the current ruling lunar deity and the length of the current lunation.

Moon age

The Maya counted the number of days in the current lunation. They used two systems for the zero date of the lunar cycle: either the first night they could see the thin crescent moon or the first morning when they could not see the waning moon. The age of the moon was depicted by a set of glyphs that mayanists coined glyphs D and E:

  • A new moon glyph was used for day zero in the lunar cycle.
  • D glyphs were used for lunar ages for days 1 through 19, with the number of days that had passed from the new moon.
  • For lunar ages 20 to 30, an E glyph was used, with the number of days from 20.

Count of Lunations

The Maya counted the lunations. This cycle appears in the lunar series as two glyphs that modern scholars call the 'C' and 'X' glyphs. The C glyph could be prefixed with a number indicating the lunation. No prefixing number meant one, whereas the numbers two through six indicated the other lunations. There was also a part of the C glyph that indicated where this fell in a larger cycle of 18 lunations. Accompanying the C glyph was the 'X' glyph that showed a similar pattern of 18 lunations.

Lunation length

The present era lunar synodic period is about 29.5305877 mean solar days or about 29 days 12 hours 44 minutes and 2+/9 seconds. As a whole number, the number of days per lunation will be either 29 or 30 days, with the 30-day intervals necessarily occurring slightly more frequently than the 29-day intervals. The Maya wrote whether the lunar month was 29 or 30 days as two glyphs: a glyph for lunation length followed by either a glyph made up of a moon glyph over a bundle with a suffix of 9 for a 29-day lunation or a moon glyph with a suffix of 10 for a 30-day lunation. Since the Maya didn't use fractions, lunations were approximated by using the formula that there were 149 lunations completed in 4400 days, which yielded a rather short mean month of exactly /149 = 29+/149 days = 29 days 12 hours 43 minutes and 29+/149 seconds, or about 29.5302 days.

819-day count

Some Mayan monuments include glyphs that record an 819-day count in their Initial Series. These can also be found in the Dresden codex. This is described in Thompson. More examples of this can be found in Kelley. Each group of 819 days was associated with one of four colors and the cardinal direction with which it was associated – black corresponded to west, red to east, white to north and yellow to south.

The 819-day count can be described several ways: Most of these are referred to using a "Y" glyph and a number. Many also have a glyph for Kʼawill – the god with a smoking mirror in his head. Kʼawill has been suggested as having a link to Jupiter. In the Dresden codex almanac 59 there are Chaacs of the four colors. The accompanying texts begin with a directional glyph and a verb for 819-day-count phrases. Anderson provides a detailed description of the 819-day count.

Synodic periods of the classical planets

   Moon: 1 x 819 + 8 days = 28 (synodic 29.53 d) "28 months"
   Moon: 4 x 819 + 2 days = 111 (synodic 29.53 d) "111 months"
   Moon: 15 x 819 + 0.3 days = 416 (synodic 29.53 d) "416 months"
   Draconic: 31 x 819 days = 933 (draconic 27.21 d) "nodal months"
   Mercury: 1 x 819 + 8 days = 7 (synodic 115.88 d)
   Mercury: 15 x 819 + 2 days = 106 (synodic 115.88 d)
   Venus: 5 x 819 + 8 days = 7 (synodic 583.9 d)
   Sun: 4 x 819 + 11 days = 9 (synodic 365.24 d) "9 years"
   Sun: 33 x 819 + 1 days = 74 (synodic 365.24 d) "74 years"
   Mars: 20 x 819 + 2 days = 21 (synodic 779.9 d)
   Jupiter: 1 x 819 + 21 days = 2 (synodic 398.88 d)
   Jupiter: 19 x 819 + 5 days = 39 (synodic 398.88 d)
   Saturn: 6 x 819 - 1 days = 13 (synod 378.09 d)

Short count

During the late Classic period the Maya began to use an abbreviated short count instead of the Long Count. An example of this can be found on altar 14 at Tikal. In the kingdoms of Postclassic Yucatán, the Short Count was used instead of the Long Count. The cyclical Short Count is a count of 13 kʼatuns (or 260 tuns), in which each kʼatun was named after its concluding day, Ahau ('Lord'). 1 Imix was selected as the recurrent 'first day' of the cycle, corresponding to 1 Cipactli in the Aztec day count. The cycle was counted from katun 11 Ahau to katun 13 Ahau. Since a katun is 20 × 360 = 7200 days long, and the remainder of 7200 divided by 13 is 11 (7200 = 553×13 + 11), the day number of the concluding day of each successive katun is 9 greater than before (wrapping around at 13, since only 13 day numbers are used). That is, starting with the katun that begins with 1 Imix, the sequence of concluding day numbers is 11, 9, 7, 5, 3, 1, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 13, 11, ..., all named Ahau. The concluding day 13 Ahau was followed by the re-entering first day 1 Imix. This is the system as found in the colonial Books of Chilam Balam. In characteristic Mesoamerican fashion, these books project the cycle onto the landscape, with 13 Ahauob 'Lordships' dividing the land of Yucatán into 13 'kingdoms'.

See also

Notes

  1. Tedlock, Barbara, Time and the Highland Maya Revised edition (1992 Page 1) "Scores of indigenous Guatemalan communities, principally those speaking the Mayan languages known as Ixil, Mam, Pokomchí and Quiché, keep the 260-day cycle and (in many cases) the ancient solar cycle as well (chapter 4)."
  2. Miles, Susanna W, "An Analysis of the Modern Middle American Calendars: A Study in Conservation." In Acculturation in the Americas. Edited by Sol Tax, p. 273. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1952.
  3. "Maya Calendar Origins: Monuments, Mythistory, and the Materialization of Time".
  4. See entry on Itzamna, in Miller and Taube (1993), pp.99–100.
  5. ^ Academia de las Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala (1988). Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala: Documento de referencia para la pronunciación de los nuevos alfabetos oficiales. Guatemala City: Instituto Indigenista Nacional. For details and notes on adoption among the Mayanist community, see Kettunen & Helmke (2020), p. 7.
  6. Tedlock (1992), p. 1
  7. "Mythological" in the sense that when the Long Count was first devised sometime in the Mid- to Late Preclassic, long after this date; see e.g. Miller and Taube (1993, p. 50).
  8. Voss (2006, p. 138)
  9. See separate brief Misplaced Pages article Lords of the Night
  10. Stuart, David (2024-04-19). "Day Sign Notes: Men / Tz'ikin". Maya Decipherment. Retrieved 2024-05-01.
  11. Classic-era reconstructions are as per Kettunen and Helmke (2020), pp. 56–57.
  12. Edmonson, Munro S. (1988). The Book of the Year MIDDLE AMERICAN CALENDRICAL SYSTEMS. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press. p. 20. ISBN 0-87480-288-1.
  13. Kettunen and Helmke (2020), pp. 58–59
  14. These names come from de Landa's description of the calendar and they are commonly used by Mayanists, but the Classic Maya did not use these actual names for the day signs. The original names are unknown. See Coe, Michael D.; Mark L Van Stone (2005). Reading the Maya Glyphs. London: Thames & Hudson. p. 43. ISBN 978-0-500-28553-4.
  15. ^ Coe, Michael D.; Mark L Van Stone (2005). Reading the Maya Glyphs. London: Thames & Hudson. p. 43. ISBN 978-0-500-28553-4.
  16. Zero Pop actually fell on the same day as the solstice on 12/27/−575, 12/27/−574, 12/27/−573 and 12/26/−572 (astronomical year numbering, Universal Time), if you don't account for the fact that the Maya region is in roughly time zone UT−6. See IMCCE seasons. Archived August 23, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  17. Boot (2002), pp. 111–114.
  18. For further details, see Thompson 1966: 123–124
  19. Kettunen and Helmke (2020), p. 51
  20. Thompson 1966: 124
  21. For a thorough treatment of the Year Bearers, see Tedlock 1992: 89–90; 99–104 and Thompson 1966
  22. See Coe 1965
  23. Tedlock 1992: 92
  24. Miles, Susanna W, "An Analysis of the Modern Middle American Calendars: A Study in Conservation." In Acculturation in the Americas. Edited by Sol Tax, pp. 273–84. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1952.
  25. Thompson, J. Eric S. Maya Hieroglyphic Writing, 1950 Page 236
  26. Teeple 1931:53
  27. Thompson Maya Hieroglyphic Writing 1950:240
  28. Linden 1996:343–356.
  29. Schele, Grube, Fahsen 1992
  30. Teeple 1931:67
  31. "The Mayan mystic 819-day calendar" [The Mayan mystic 819-day calendar]. Mexican Routes. 2024-12-26. Retrieved 27 Dec 2024.
  32. Grofe, Michael John 2007 The Serpent Series: Precession in the Maya Dresden Codex page 55 p. 206
  33. Maya Hieroglyphic Writing 1971 pp. 212–217
  34. Decipherment of Maya Script, David Kelley 1973 pp. 56–57
  35. Star Gods of the Maya Susan Milbrath 1999, University of Texas Press
  36. "Lloyd B. Anderson The Mayan 819-day Count and the "Y" Glyph: A Probable association with Jupiter". Traditional High Cultures Home Page. Archived from the original on May 6, 2015. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
  37. 2023, John H. Linden, Victoria R. Bricker, The Maya 819-Day Count and Planetary Astronomy https://doi.org/10.1017/S0956536122000323
  38. Coe, William R. 'TIKAL a handbook of the ancient Maya Ruins' The University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa. 1967 p. 114
  39. Roys 1967: 132, 184–185

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