Mayan Calendar

The Mayan calendars were also very significant and even have a lasting impact today. The haab, “... had eighteen months of twenty days each, adding up to 360 days in all. To this were added [five days] to make a total of 365 days…” (Document D). Our current calendar might not be divided the same day the Mayans was but the total number of days is the same which shows the impact their calendar has on the present

| 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

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.

The Mayans most remarkable feats was the creation of their Calendar. The Mayan calendar was considered to be one of the most accurate records of time created by an early civilization. This

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

It is believed to be an astronomical clock used for agricultural. This theory is accurate when considering the other archaeological finds when surveying the area in which it was found. Some notable examples are the Stonehenge and Newgrange. Both use the solstices to predict correct planting and harvesting times. As the Bronze Age was an agricultural moment, the people livelihoods were based and surrounded by the agriculture system. The Nebra Sky Disk was later discovered to be an astronomical device in which it acted as a lunar calendar which is based on the phases of the moon. However, the lunar calendars had an issue of not being in sync. The synchronisation of the seasons was vital for the survival for agriculture. The Nebra sky disk was use to decide when an intercalary month should be added the lunar calendar. This finding had baffled researchers and archaeologist because the concept of intercalary months was not to be discussed until the time of the Mesopotamians, one thousand years later. The esteemed knowledge that Bronze Age people had shown through with the knowledge of harmonization of solar and lunar calendars. Babylonian documents contain a calculation that depicts the crescent moon on the Nebra Sky disk. Per Babylonian rule, an intercalary month should be added when the moon is in conjunction with the Pleiades constellation. So, the disk was put up the sky and if the sky match the desk, they would then add an intercalary

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

People used the new calendar to make peace, equality, simplicity and detachment from previous ideas. “The Instruction concerning the era of the Republic and the Division Of the Year” claimed that The new calendar would make trading easier, simple and exact.(Doc 2) The new calendar is “freed from all errors that credulity and superstitious routines that had been handed down from centuries of

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

It seems they dated things in a cycle of 52 years or 18,980 days, the “Calendar Round.” Of course, they counted vigesimally, which I now know is in groups of 20. The Calendar Round results from the permutation of three other cycles: the Sacred Round (made up of two cycles) and the Vague Year. The Sacred Round has a cycle of 13 numbered days and 20 named days, which produces 260 combinations of numbers and days. The Vague Year has 365 days (!) resulting from 18 20-day months plus 5 “days of the dead” which are added for no good reason. Now here is the fun thing: 260 and 365 have 5 as a common divisor, so 5X52X73=18,980. Would you believe it—a Calendar Round! Every single day in that 52-year cycle had a different name. In Mayanese a day is a kin. 20 kins make a utnal, while 18 utnals make a tun. There are 20 tuns in a katun, and if you pile up 20 of those katuns you get a baktun, which is exactly half of

The most striking feature that can be noted among successes of Mayans in Mathematics and Astronomy is the development of solar calendar which stated that there are 365 days per year. This common

In 10 Innovations That Built Ancient Rome” In states “ This practice continued until 46 B.C., when Julius Caesar and the astronomer Sosigenes instituted the Julian system to align the calendar with the solar year. Caesar lengthened the number of days in a year

Omar Khayyam made an accurate calendar. For this he built an observatory for it. After he was finished the calendar had a leap year 8 out of every 33 years. It was more accurate than the present Gregorian calendar. Also it was adopted by Malik-Shah in 1075. Those are the fact on the accurate calendar that Omar Khayyam made.

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.