Three Characteristics: The Three Types Of Calendars

They put a lot of effort into their calendars and, “... developed the calendar further than any other New World people, and their calendar was more accurate than any other of their time” (Document D). But the Mayans didn’t stop at a calendar, “[their knowledge was so great] that they could predict eclipses of the moon” (Document D). The Mayans put a lot of effort into this project and the fact the they could predict eclipses is a very remarkable achievement for their time.

| 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.

Luckily, our neighbors to the East, the Arabs, found the documents to be of great interest and kept old Greek astrological records. In the Renisannce period of Christianity the church officials decided to re-examine the ancient records, and actually found some validity in some of the scientific data. Amazingly enough the Christian church decided to implement data from ancient pagan cultures to help create the most widely used calendar to date, the Gregorian calendar.

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

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

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.

act of despotism forced on the people and the festivals based on it were detestable. This

During the French Revolution, dechristianization took place in order to diminish the power of the church. One way of doing this was to change the calendar from a seven day week to a ten day week with the last day for rest. Each month was in 3 weeks (30 days) so the last 5 days of every year was for celebration. In order to praise the French Republic, the beginning of the French Republic was the New Years’.

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

Also, the calendar helpful because you can write your events for the day on it. The Gregorian Calendar consists of twelve months each with 28-31 days. If you add up all the month’s days, it equals 365-366 days which is a year. A fun fact is the original goal of the invention of the Gregorian Calendar was to change the date of Easter (OI). Isn’t that fascinating?

In 1793, the National Convention issued a new calendar to replace the Gregorian calendar the church established in 1582. During this time, the Reign of Terror was taking place and many people were living in fear. The National Convention was formed when France stripped the power away from the monarchy and transformed into a republic. The new calendar consisted of three ten day weeks. Because of the longer work week, the working middle class and the peasants were not happy. Now, they had a nine day work week with only one day of rest. Also, people were unhappy with how many religious holidays there were. Another reason for the new calendar was the new government simply wanted something different. While some people were happy with this change, others were not. There were many causes and effects to this new calendar. The main cause and effect, however, was the change in a ten day week which the people were unhappy about.

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.

The Mayan calendar has a starting date of 3113BC that is given the year 0. It used their base 20 numbering system to represent periods of time. There