Egyptian Calendar: The Rise And Fall Of The Mayan Calendar

“In the Western Hemisphere, no early culture was more remarkable than the Mayans” (Background Essay). The Mayans were an adept civilization and accomplished many exceptional things during their time. Their deeds include things such as a number system, immense cities, and a vast trade network but there is no Mayan achievement more remarkable than their calendars. The Mayans created three calendars: a sacred calendar called tzolkin, a solar calendar called haab, and a long cycle calendar.

| The development of the calendar was based on their observations and studies of the stars, moon, and sky. They also established a number system; a year was cut into 12 months, a month into 30 days, a day into 12 hours, an hour into 60 minutes, and a minute into 60 seconds. They also divided a circle into 360 degrees of the 60 arc minutes. Settlement patterns were based on the environment of the area and the need for a stable water supply.

Celestial bodies - the sun, moon, planets, and stars - have provided us a reference for measuring the passage of time throughout human existence. Ancient civilizations like: China, India, Babylon, and Greece relied upon the apparent motion of these bodies through the sky to record and determine seasons, months, and years. We know little about the details of timekeeping in prehistoric eras. However, records and artifacts usually uncover that in every culture, people were preoccupied with measuring and recording the passage of time. Stonehenge, built over 4000 years ago in England has no written records, but its alignments show its purposes apparently included the determination of seasonal or celestial events, such as lunar

Egyptians and Mayans live in different countries but have many similarities and differences. Egyptians started around 3150 B.C and had its highest peak at 30 B.C. Egypt is located around the Nile River. Egypt is known for the pyramids. Mayans started around 200 A.D and reach its peak on 900 A.D. The Mayans were located around Central America and were known for the calendars they make. But what were the things they have and don’t have in common even though they are in two separate continents?

Astrological calendars have been in existence since ancient times where time was measured according to the number of Moons that had passed in a certain period, or in consonance with the shadows that were cast by either the Sun or Moon. Solar years are calculated based on the sun’s motions, whereas lunar years are mutually based on the moons motions. A lunar year consists of approximately 354 days, whereas there are 365 days in solar year. By virtue of the eleven day disparity between a solar and lunar year, an additional month is added to the lunar calendar every three years, and as for the solar calendar, every fourth year, a leap day is added to the month of February. A lunar year is comprised of twelve lunar months, which corresponds to the time that elapses as the moon carries out each of its phases and proceeds to its position of origin. In contrast, a solar month is one twelfth of a solar year, given that a solar year is span of time that elapses as the Earth completes a single revolution around the sun.

That need for structure is probably the reason that the Mayans developed such an amazingly accurate calendar. They also developed a complex style of hieroglyphic writing that we have not fully deciphered. Through their knowledge of astronomy and mathematics they calculated the lunar cycle, predicted eclipses, and formulated a unique calendar system was very accurate. Their calendar was only one day off every 6000 years. That makes it more accurate than our calendar today (Hooker 6). Two fundamental

The Mayan priests studied their measurement of time. The Maya had a calendar with 18 months each containing 20 days, plus 5 unlucky days that made up the Mayan year. They also had a religious calendar that had 260 days in it. Each day was given a name and a number. They believed that each day was a god that carried the weight of the day on its back.

Maya calendars, mythology and astrology were integrated into a single system of belief. The Maya observed the sky and calendars to predict solar and lunar eclipses, the cycles of the planet Venus, and the movements of the constellations(a group of stars forming a recognizable pattern

Think about this; think about how right now, in this very moment there are teams of scientists and engineers working to develop better and smarter technology. But in another country far away they could be doing the same exact thing. About 2000 years ago, the Mayans and the Egyptians were exactly like this. They lived on different sides of the world, with the Mayans in Mexico/Central America and the Egyptians in Egypt. Yet both civilizations developed similar inventions and ideas but, used them for very different things. Inventions like pyramids and ideas on religion and culture.

The Mayans were also were technologically advanced. They used their own math system. One dot stood for one, a bar symbolized five, and a shell figure was zero. The numbers were expressed vertically with the highest on top. The also created a very precise calendars. Two different calendars were calculated 260-day and a 365-day. They were able to calculate the dates because at noon time there was no shadow. This was important for them to use in predicting eclipses, scheduling religious ceremonies, and when to plant and harvest.

The calendar was based on the sun it tracked the 365 day year and would tell when seasonal events would likely occur. The mayans also created a ritual calendar which was a calendar that was a cycle of 260 days, and it marked the ceremonial life of the people.This two

The Aztecs believe they felt justified in believing in this calendar because of numerous events that changed the course of history for them. Because Aztec Indians were fervent astronomers, they tracked the stars and correlated that between the days to create this sun calendar. Examples of events happening within the timeline of the calendar stone being built are these: Between 1452 and 1454, their capital city Tenochtitlan suffered from flood and famine, the following year on 4/16/1445 (Julian calendar) there was an eclipse of the sun. From 1473-1479, there were 4 more solar eclipses within a five year time frame (Aveni, Calnek). During this time the Aztec nation conquered and

In areas where rainfall was scarce, they created reservoirs using stone and clay to seal up rock quarries. While planning the growing seasons, the Maya developed the Haab Calendar. This calendar consisted of eighteen “months”, each containing twenty days and an additional five “unlucky” days, making a three hundred and sixty five day calendar… sound

The Mayans built their temples and important building such as religious structure according to the sun's location. The reason

When most people think of the Mayans, they think end of the world prediction in 2012. Everyone knows the movie 2012 which portrayed the end of the world predicted by the Mayan calendar. What many do not know is that the Mayans developed three separate calendars; the Long Count, the Tzolk’in, and the Haab, which were represented by glyphs or pictures that were used in their daily lives in many different ways. The Mayans kept time in a very different way than we do today. The Mayans may not have invented the calendar, but they certainly developed it further, and still use their version today.