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Maya Calendars
The Mayan and Zapotec Calendar
The Mayan and Zapotec Calendar
The Mayan and Zapotec Calendar is a system of three interlocking calendars that was used by the Mayan and Zapotec to date cultural events, conquered kingdoms, succession of rulers, and religious rituals. The dates on the calendar were based off the movements of the sun, the moon, and eclipses. The Mayan and Zapotec inscribed dates using the three cycles and some people still use the system today. Each of the three cycles has a specific role, the Tzolkin was the scared or divine calender and lasted for 260 days, the Haab was the solar calender and consisted of 365 days, and the Long Count, which counted all days from the beginning to the end.
The Tzolkin
The Tzolkin
The Tzolkin was used by the priests to determine religious ceremonies or rituals. It included 20 periods each with a number of 13 days, adding up to 260 days total. Each day had a name and a number, there were twenty day names and 1 to 13 numbers. The cycle of 20 names and 13 numbers repeated until it circled back to the first name and first number of the cycle.
The Haab
The Haab
The Haab calendar is the closest out of the three to our calendar today. It consists of 18 months, or uinals, each containing 20 days with a five-day month at the very end of the cycle, adding up to 365 days, or a tun. The five-day month is called the Uayeb or the Wayeb depending on the translation. It was considered bad luck for the Mayan and Zapotec, and each time the Uayeb rolled around they prepared themselves for war, famine, or death. Each day was represented by the number of the month and the name of the month.
These are the names and symbols of the 18 months plus the Uayeb in the Haab cycle.
The 18
Months
and the
Uayeb
Fig: 1
The Long Count
The Long
Count
The Long Count cycle is 2,880,000 days long. The Long Count days are demonstrated by five numerals. The five numeral represent a kin, which is a day, a uinal, which is a month, a tun, which is a year and a katun, which is 20 years, and a baktun, which is 400 years. The Mayans believed that at the end of the Long Count, the universe would be destroyed and rebuilt again. This is why some people believed the world was going to end in on December 21, 2012. They thought it was the end of the Long Count cycle.
The Maya Calendar Cycle
The Calendar Cycle
The American kings would use the calendar to create a continuous cycle. The rulers of Central America would connect themselves to the legends of the past this way. Every day of the cycle was the construction of both past and present events, and because of this, the past was always present. The Maya calendar cycle was 18,930 days long. Quetzalcoatl was one of the most powerful Mayan Gods that kings would honor, as well as copy his actions.
Who was Quetzalcoatl?
Quetzalcoatl
Quetzalcoatl was one of the most important gods in Mesoamerica. He stood for the morning star, and solar light. He was known as the "feathered serpent," and symbolized knowledge, arts, and religion. Central American kings looked up to him, and would repeat the rituals that he did on the same days on the calendar, at the same place, which connected them to him.
Pictures
Picture
Of the Mayan calendar's three dating systems, the Tzolkin was the divine system. The Tzolkin determined when religious sacrifices were demanded, along with less extreme ceremonies and divination purposes.
All ceremonies seemed to involve bloodletting but human and other animal sacrifies were for special ocaussions, many of which were determined by the calendar. However, some were for winning or losing a war, a city's immorality, or to disweade a pluege cuasing misery.
The calendar's 20 symbols are energies called Solar Seals. The 13 numbers are called Lunar Tones. Both have correlations to the human body. Every day has a combination of Solar Seals and Lunar Tones that influence those born on that day. The 260-day cycle also has a kin and will have one correlating to your birth.
Religion
The pyramid of Kulukan was used as a calendar.
MAP
Calendar
picture
Divination was also practiced. This was centered around the calendar system and their knowledge of astronomy. Mayan priests would be the main people to practice it, as their job was to inform the people which days were lucky or unlucky to plant, harvest, wage war, and more.
Holidays
The Ancient Maya did not celebrate many holidays but did celebrate major life transitions. After the invasion of the Spanish and their conversion to Christianity, they merged Christian holidays with their beliefs.
A modern day holiday is Hanal Pixan, a day to remember loved ones. The Maya merged their worship of Gods of Death with the Spanish day of the dead. It takes place from October 31st to November 1st. On the first day souls of deceased children are remembered and prayed for, and on the second day souls of deceased adults are.
Agriculture
The Mayan calendar was also used for farming crops and for agriculture.
The Mayan calendar would indicate the best time to plant their crops.
The calendar would show the movement of the sun, and show what seasons are best for planting. The Tzolkin, in the Mayan calendar, was a 260 day calendar which was very important to farmers. Each day would mark night and day, and each day was named after a god. This would help farmers know when they need to take care of their crops, and when to harvest crops.
Tzolkin
Corn was the most popular grown crop for the Mayans. They were used in porridge, Tortillas, Tamales and many other foods.
Corn, also known as "Maize" was a very important plant to the Mayans
Predictions and Luck
Predictions and Luck
The calendar was used to name individuals and predict the future in a similar way that our astrological zodiac does. Newborn children were connected to a certain god, and remained under that god’s influence. If a child was born under a well-wishing god, the child was considered to be lucky, but if a child was born under a less kind god, the child would have to please the god so that he wouldn't get angry, especially in an unlucky time of the solar year, known as uayeb.
The Uayeb
Uayeb
Uayeb was a set of five "nameless" days that were considered unlucky among the Maya. The period of Uayeb occurs in our own calendar from July 21 to 26. Despite the fact that these days share the calendar with 18 other periods lasting 20 days each, the Uayeb had a bad reputation among the Maya people. According to writings found during the colonial period, these days were considered black periods in which the universe had released dark forces and therefore they didn't share in the blessings of time. If a child was born in the time of Uayeb, that child was considered unlucky.
Bibliography
The History of the Medieval World by Susan Wise Bauer.
https://www.pbs.org/conquistadors/cortes/cortes_d03.html
Bibliography
https://www.historyonthenet.com/the-mayan-calendar
https://www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/civil/maya/mmc06eng.html
https://lavacaindependiente.com/en/uayeb-timeless-days-of-the-maya/
https://mayankin.com/tzolkin/
https://mayanreligionclare.weebly.com/practices.html
https://nativenomadlife.com/day-of-the-dead/
https://gods-and-demons.fandom.com/wiki/Quetzalcoatl
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_religion#Goblins_and_dwarfs
https://mayan-calendar.com/ancient_yearBearers.html
(Fig. 1) https://www.chichenitza.com/public/assets/img/haab-calendar.jpg
Picture
Bibliography
https://edu.glogster.com/glog/mayan-calendar/2c9027ncfvu?=glogpedia-source
https://maya.nmai.si.edu/corn-and-maya-time
https://www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/civil/maya/mmc06eng.html
https://www.dkfindout.com/us/history/mayans/what-did-maya-aztecs-and-incas-eat/