Mayan calendar

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East face of step C in Quiriguá with the mythical fact of beginning the long account in 13 (0) baktun, 0 katun, 0 tun, 18 (0) uinal, 0 kin, 4 ahau and 8 cumku corresponding to 11 August 3114 a. C. of the Gregorian calendar.

In the Maya calendar several accounts of time coexist:

  • the sacred calendar (tzolk'in or bucxok260 days)
  • solar cycle (Ha!365 days)
  • the 52-year-old calendary wheel
  • the long account of 5200 Tunes (5125.36 years)
  • the 18-month lunar count
  • of 584 days or kines
  • the count of the lords of the night or Bolon Tiku of 9 days and others

The Mayan calendar is cyclical, because it repeats itself every 52 Mayan years. In the long count, the computation time began on the day 13.0.0.0.0 4 ajau and 8 cumkú (in Mayan notation) which is equivalent, according to the generally accepted correlation, to August 11, 3114 B.C. C. in the Gregorian calendar. However, many Mayanists still prefer the date of August 13, 3114 BC. C. as the start date of the long count.

El calendario maya completo se compone de cinco cuentas largas. En la quinta entra las era cronológica hebrea, e incluso esta comenzó al final de la cuarta cuenta larga.
The long or fifth account of the Mayan calendar

The end date was December 21, 2012 d. C. The period was 5125.36 terrestrial/solar years, although in Mayan terms it is an integer and round figure since there are 5,200 tuns, which are cycles of 360 days (Tun), and also in days or kin as a total of 1,872,000. Five repetitions or five long counts make up the great cycle of 26,000 tuns, equivalent to 25,626.8 years. In this way, the great Mayan calendar can be visualized as a circle structured in five parts, each of 5200 tunes. The figure of 26,000 is not of years but of tunes, and for this reason it should not be confused with 26,000 years nor with the precession period of the equinoctial and solstitial points of the Earth whose figure is similar: 25,800 or 25,920 The last day of the 5th long count and of the Mayan calendar of 5 long counts coincided with an astronomical event, the solstice (December 21-22, 2012 of the Christian era) and also with the fact that currently the solstices of the Earth occur at the moment when the ecliptic plane intersects the equatorial plane of the Galaxy.

The Mayan priestly caste, called ah kin, possessed mathematical and astronomical knowledge that they interpreted in accordance with their religious worldview, the years that were beginning, those to come, and the destiny of man.

The Mayan calendar, according to some scholars, already appears in older cultures such as the Olmec; for others, however, this calendar is typical of the Mayan civilization. Similarities to the Mexica calendar offer evidence that the same calendrical system was used throughout Mesoamerica.[citation required]. The nationalisms derived from the Spanish colonial and post-colonial demarcations make it difficult to deal with these issues.

Today's date on the Mayan calendar according to the correlation GMT 584 283 (Goodman-Martínez-Thompson)
Gregorian Calendar Glyph stella
long account,
tzolkin, haab and bolontikú
Translation
the long count,
tzolkin, haab and bolontikú
Caldereal wheel of tzolkin and haab
Today is Thursday
16 February 2023
02:46 UTC
Top east side of stela C, Quirigua.PNG
13 maya vertical number.pngBaktun 190x210.png0 maya vertical number.pngKatun 190x210.png
10 maya vertical number.pngTun 190x210.png5 maya vertical number.pngUinal 190x210.png
9 maya vertical number.pngKin 190x210.png8 maya vertical number.pngMAYA-g-log-cal-D09-Muluk.svg
2 maya vertical number.png17 kayab.pngTransparent.pngG1 lord of the night.png
13 Baktun 0 Katun
10 Tun 5 Uinal
9 Kin 8 Muluc
2 K’ayab G1 Bolontikú
B8 tzolkin.pngA9 tzolkin.pngHaab gears.png0 maya vertical number.png17 kayab.png
1 maya vertical number.png17 kayab.png
2 maya vertical number.png17 kayab.png
3 maya vertical number.png17 kayab.png
4 maya vertical number.png17 kayab.png
2K’ayab

Description

The tzolkin calendar system consists of 260 days (kines) and has 20 months combined with thirteen numerals (figures). The tzolk'ín was combined with the haab calendar of 365 days of 18 months (uinals) of 20 days (kines) each and five additional days called uayeb, to form a synchronized cycle that lasts 52 tuns or haabs or 18,980 kin (days).

The long count was used to distinguish when an event occurred from another event in the tzolkin and haab. The system is basically vigesimal (base 20), with each unit representing a multiple of 20, depending on its position from right to left in the number, with the important exception of the second position, which represents 18 × 20, or 360 days.

Some Maya Long Count inscriptions are supplemented by what is called the moon series, another form of the calendar that provides lunar phase information.

Another way of measuring times was to measure solar cycles such as equinoxes and solstices, Venusian cycles that track Venus apparitions and conjunctions at the beginning of the morning and evening. Many events in this cycle were considered adverse and evil, and wars were occasionally coordinated to coincide with phases of this cycle.

The cycles relate to different gods and cosmic events. This is how the fifth sun represents the end of the stellar cycle associated with the moon and the beginning of the period known as the sixth sun associated with the return of Kukulkan.

One of the accounts cited at the beginning is the lunar count of 18 lunar months, which is 531 days. It is the period in which 4 total solar eclipses or 4 total lunar eclipses can occur, a quartet of total eclipses at regular intervals of 6 lunar months. The upcoming eclipse on August 21, 2017 is the fourth and last of the quartet that is occurring during the 18 lunar months since March 9, 2016.

The Tzolk'in System

The tzolk'in (‘the count of days’) contemplates 260 days. Although it has been suggested that it is related to the length of human gestation, others associate it with the planet Venus. It was used to celebrate religious ceremonies, predict the arrival and duration of the rainy season, as well as hunting and fishing periods, and also to predict the fate of people.

260 days is 71.2% of the terrestrial year, which in spatial terms means that during 1 tzolkin/260 days the planet Earth covers 71.2% of its orbit. This means that traveling 7 sections of 260 days (1820 days = 4.98 years) the Earth reaches the same point in its orbit although about 6 days earlier. And traveling 100 sections of 260 days, it makes 71.2 orbits around the Sun, which is 71.2 years or 26,000 days or 100 Tzolkines.

Relative to Venus, this planet takes 224.7 days to orbit the Sun, which is the period of its actual year, but the period of its apparent year measured from Earth (synodic cycle) is 584 days, which are 2,247 tzolkines because in 584 days Venus makes 2.6 orbits (multiple of 260) at 224.7 days per orbit. The synodic cycle of the planet Mars is 780 days, which is precisely 3 periods of 260 days, that is, 3 Tzolkines.

In relation to the Mayan cycles, the long count (of 5,126.36 years or 260 katuns) is made up of 7,200 Tzolkines. And five long beads (25,626.8 or 100 ahau or 1,300 katuns) are 36,000 tzolkin.

Count time in 19-month cycles of 20 days each. They called their days and months with the names of various deities. Ordered successively, the names of the solar days and the months in Yucatec Maya are:

Number Solar days (kin). Months.
1ImixPop
2IkUo
3Ak'balZip
4K'anZotz
5ChikchanTzec
6KimiXul
7ManikYaxkin
8LamatMol
9MulukChen
10Okay.Yax
11ChuenZac
12EbCeh
13BenMac
14IxKankin
15MenMuwan
16KibPax
17KabanKayab
18Etz'nabCumku
19KawakUayeb
20Ajau

Additionally, each of the Maya sacred calendar day names is uniquely associated with a glyph according to this other table:

Names of days and associated glyphs

No. 1
Name
of the day 2
Example
of glyph 3
Name
Yucateco 4
Name
Reconstructed Classic Maya5

No. 1
Name
of the day 2
Example
of glyph 3
Name
Yucateco 4
Name
Reconstructed Classic Maya5
01 Imix'MAYA-g-log-cal-D01-Imix.pngImixImix (?) / Ha' (?). 11 ChuwenMAYA-g-log-cal-D11-Chuwen.pngChuen(unknown).
02 Ik'MAYA-g-log-cal-D02-Ik.pngIkIk' 12 Eb'MAYA-g-log-cal-D12-Eb.pngEb(unknown).
03 Ak'b'alMAYA-g-log-cal-D03-Akbal.pngAkbalAk'b'al (?). 13 B'enMAYA-g-log-cal-D13-Ben.pngBen(unknown).
04 K'anMAYA-g-log-cal-D04-Kan.pngKanK'an (?). 14 IxMAYA-g-log-cal-D14-Ix.pngIxHix (?).
05 ChikchanMAYA-g-log-cal-D05-Chikchan.pngChicchan(unknown). 15 MenMAYA-g-log-cal-D15-Men.pngMen(unknown).
06 KimiMAYA-g-log-cal-D06-Kimi.pngCimiCham (?). 16 K'ib'MAYA-g-log-cal-D16-Kib.pngCib(unknown).
07 Manik'MAYA-g-log-cal-D07-Manik.pngManikManich' (?). 17 Kab'anMAYA-g-log-cal-D17-Kaban.pngCabanChab' (?).
08 LamatMAYA-g-log-cal-D08-Lamat.pngLamatEk' (?). 18 Etz'nab'MAYA-g-log-cal-D18-Etznab.pngEtznab(unknown).
09 MulukMAYA-g-log-cal-D09-Muluk.pngMuluc(unknown). 19 KawakMAYA-g-log-cal-D19-Kawak.pngCauac(unknown).
10 Okay.MAYA-g-log-cal-D10-Ok.pngOc(unknown). 20 AjawMAYA-g-log-cal-D20-Ajaw.pngAhauAjaw

NOTES:

  1. Day sequence number on the tzolk'in calendar.
  2. Name of the day, in the standard and revised spelling of the Academy of Maya Languages of Guatemala.
  3. An example glyph for the day mentioned. For most of these cases different forms have been recorded; those shown are typical of the inscriptions of the monuments found.
  4. Name of the day, as was recorded since the centuryXVI by people like Diego de Landa; this spelling has been widely used (up to now).
  5. In most cases, the name of the day is unknown, as indicated in the time of the Maya Classical Period when such inscriptions were made. The versions that appear in the Mayan language table were reconstructed based on photologic evidence, if available. The '?' symbol indicates that reconstruction is attempting.

The Haab'System

The Haab' measures the solar year by dividing it into 18 months of 20 days each, but the last 5 days of the year, called uayeb, were considered unholy., vacations and excluded from the chronological records, although they were dated. The first day of each month was represented with the zero sign, because it was the initial moment in which that month began to rule. This calendar was the basis of the collective religious calendar, marked the community rhythms and often indicated the ceremonies in which the different specialists participated. There is talk of accuracy in the Mayan calendar but it really has nothing to do with the Gregorian calendar and there is no evidence of corrections or adjustments; In addition, the word "months" should be understood only as divisions of the solar year and not as the concept used in the current Gregorian calendar.

The Mayan cycles are not based on Earth's natural year because it does not have an integer number of days (365.2422), so they are based on whole number or rational periods, which makes it easy to count periods of cycles and their synchronicities. One such cycle is the Haab, a Mayan year of 365 whole days. This does not imply any lag with the count in Earth years, since any figure in Haab years contains the remainder of 0.2422 days of each of the years of its equivalent in Earth years. This means that, for example, the figure of 52 Haab years (18,980 days) accumulates the 0.2422nd part of the 366th day of each year of 51.69 years of 365.2422 days, so that 52 Haab years and 51.69 Earth years express the Same time. Thus, the Haab synchronizes with the tzolkin in 18,980 days as 52 haabs and 73 tzolkines, or synchronizes with the tun cycle (360 days) in 26,280 days as 72 haabs and 73 tuns.

In relation to planets like Venus, 104 haabs square with 65 synodic cycles of Venus and with 146 tzolkin. Or in relation to Mars, 156 haabs square with 76 synodic cycles and 219 tzolkines.

The long count or initial series

Just as in the Gregorian calendar there are names to designate certain periods of time, the Maya had specific names for periods according to their modified vigesimal system of counting days. The basic unit of measurement of the Mayan people was the kin or solar day. The multiples of this unit were used to designate different periods of time as follows:

Long account computing units
Mayan nameDays Equivalence
kin 1
uinal20 20 kin
Tun360 18 uinal
katun7200 20 Tun o 360 uinales
baktún144 000 7200 uinales400 tunes or 20 katunes

A simple and standardized way of representing the notation of the Mayan years in long account is made with numbers separated by points. Therefore, notation 6.19.19.0.0 is equal to 6 baktunes, 19 katunes, 19 tunes, 0 uinales and 0 kines. The total number of days is calculated by multiplying each of these numbers by their equivalent in solar days according to the previous table and adding the obtained products. In this particular case, the total number of days T{displaystyle T} is:

T = 6 × 144,000 + 19 × 7,200 + 19 × 360 + 0 × 20 + 0 ×1 = 1,007,640 days

The next longer-lasting terms that were very rarely used by the Maya were piktún, kalabtún, kinchinltún, and alautun. twenty baktuns would form a piktun of approximately 7890 years and twenty piktuns generate a kalabtun of 57,600,000 kines, approximately 157,810 years old. According to the GMT (Goodman-Martinez-Thompson) correlation established by archaeologist John Eric Sidney Thompson, the Maya number 0.0.0.0.0 is equivalent to the Julian day number 584,283, that is, August 11. from 3114 BC C. This number is considered the correlation constant of the Mayan calendar, with respect to the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and is used in the algorithms for converting dates from the Mayan calendar to the other two and vice versa.

The figures in kin that express the cycles have the particularity of being reduced to 9: 360 (3+6 = 9), 7,200 (7+2 = 9), 144,000 (1+4+4 = 9), 1 872,000 (1+8+7+2) and likewise the figures that define the piktún, the kalabtún, etc. In fact, the number 9 is one of the base numbers of Mayan cosmology and its conception of time, as it represents the so-called Nine Lords of Time from their mythology, or it is the number of the steps of the Temple of the Inscriptions (Palenque, Chiapas state, Mexico) which is the tomb of the Mayan king K'inich Janaab' Pakal.

The long count contains 5 cyclical layers that measure the same time expressed in different ways: a layer of 13 baktuns, another of 260 katuns, another of 5,200 tuns and another of 7,200 tzolkines, and there is also another cycle called ahau of 13 katuns or 93,600 kin (number reducible to 9) or 360 tzolkin. The ahau cycle spans 256.27 Earth years, so the long count is also made up of 20 ahaus.

The 1.2% of the beginning of the third millennium of the Christian era (until 2012) falls at the end of the 5th long count and the end and restart of the Mayan cycle itself. The 5th Long Count began in the year 647 of the Hebrew Era (which began at the end of the 4th Long Count). The intermediate kin of a long count is 936,000.º, that is to say that from the beginning of a long count to its midpoint there are 936,000 days (10 ahaus cycles) and the year 3211 of the Hebrew era corresponds to the midpoint from the 5th Long Count, 550 years before the start of the Christian era (550 BC).

Date Gregorian Calendar Glyph stella
long account,
tzolkin and haab
Translation of the
Long count,
tzolkin and haab
Codice Tzolkin Tzolkin translated
in Spanish
First day of the 1.o baktun 13 August 3114 a. C. Top east side of stela C, Quirigua.PNG
0 maya vertical number.pngBaktun.svg0 maya vertical number.pngKatun-Quirigua-C.png
0 maya vertical number.pngTun-Quirigua-C.png0 maya vertical number.pngUinal-Quirigua-C.png
0 maya vertical number.pngKin-Quirigua-C.png4 maya vertical number.pngMAYA-g-log-cal-D20-Ajaw.svg
𝋨𝋠G9 lord of the night.png
0 Baktun 0 Katun
0 Tun 0 Uinal
0 Kin 4 Ahau
8 Cumku G9 Bolontikú
4 maia.svg MAYA-g-log-cal-D20-Ajaw-cdxW.svg4 Sun
Last day of the 13th Baktun 20 December 2012
Top east side of stela C, Quirigua.PNG
12 maya vertical number.pngBaktun 190x210.png19 maya vertical number.pngKatun 190x210.png
19 maya vertical number.pngTun 190x210.png17 maya vertical number.pngUinal 190x210.png
19 maya vertical number.pngKin 190x210.png3 maya vertical number.pngMAYA-g-log-cal-D19-Kawak.svg
2 maya vertical number.png14 kankin.pngTransparent.pngG8 lord of the night.png
12 Baktun 19 Katun
19 Tun 17 Uinal
19 Kin 3 Cauac
2 K’ank’in G8 Bolontikú
3 maia.svg MAYA-g-log-cal-D19-Kawak-cdxW.svg3 Storm
First day of the new cycle 21 December 2012
Top east side of stela C, Quirigua.PNG
13 maya vertical number.pngBaktun 190x210.png0 maya vertical number.pngKatun 190x210.png
0 maya vertical number.pngTun 190x210.png0 maya vertical number.pngUinal 190x210.png
0 maya vertical number.pngKin 190x210.png4 maya vertical number.pngMAYA-g-log-cal-D20-Ajaw.svg
3 maya vertical number.png14 kankin.pngTransparent.pngG9 lord of the night.png
13 Baktun 0 Katun
0 Tun 0 Uinal
0 Kin 4 Ahau
3 K’ank’in G9 Bolontikú
4 maia.svg MAYA-g-log-cal-D20-Ajaw-cdxW.svg4 Sun
Today16 February 2023
Top east side of stela C, Quirigua.PNG
13 maya vertical number.pngBaktun 190x210.png0 maya vertical number.pngKatun 190x210.png
10 maya vertical number.pngTun 190x210.png5 maya vertical number.pngUinal 190x210.png
9 maya vertical number.pngKin 190x210.png8 maya vertical number.pngMAYA-g-log-cal-D09-Muluk.svg
2 maya vertical number.png17 kayab.pngTransparent.pngG1 lord of the night.png
13 Baktun 0 Katun
10 Tun 5 Uinal
9 Kin 8 Muluc
2 K’ayab G1 Bolontikú
8 maia.svg MAYA-g-log-cal-D09-Muluk-cdxW.svg8 Water
Last day of the 14th Baktun 25 March 2407
Top east side of stela C, Quirigua.PNG
13 maya vertical number.pngBaktun 190x210.png19 maya vertical number.pngKatun 190x210.png
19 maya vertical number.pngTun 190x210.png17 maya vertical number.pngUinal 190x210.png
19 maya vertical number.pngKin 190x210.png2 maya vertical number.pngMAYA-g-log-cal-D19-Kawak.svg
7 maya vertical number.png5 tzec.pngTransparent.pngG8 lord of the night.png
13 Baktun 19 Katun
19 Tun 17 Uinal
19 Kin 2 Cauac
7 Tzek G8 Bolontikú
2 maia.svg MAYA-g-log-cal-D19-Kawak-cdxW.svg2 Storm

The calendar round

Neither the tzolkin nor the haab numbered the years. The combination of dates through the two systems was sufficient in practical life since a coincidence of dates occurs every 52 years, which exceeded the life expectancy of pre-Hispanic times. The Mayans merged these two systems, in a superior cycle called the "calendrical wheel". The conformation of this wheel, which is made up of three circles, results in cycles of 18,980 days (least common multiple of 260 and 365), in each of which one of the 260 days of the tzolkin coincides with another of the 365 Haab days.

The smaller circle is made up of 13 numbers; the medium circle by the 20 signs of the 20 Mayan days of the tzolkin calendar, and the largest circle by the haab calendar with its 365 days (18 months of 20 days and the short month of 5 days). In this count, the Maya considered the day of creation to be 4 ahau 8 cumkú.

Each cycle of 18,980 days is equivalent to 52 turns of the haab (solar calendar of 365 kin) and 73 turns of the tzolkin (sacred calendar of 260 kin), and at the end both return to the same point. Every 52 laps of the haab the ceremony of the new fire was celebrated, analogically it was a Mayan "century".

Mayan religious festivities of each “uinal” or Mayan month

Fray Diego de Landa in his manuscripts known as Relación de las cosas de Yucatán, describes the religious festivities that the Maya celebrated corresponding to each uinal or Mayan month, ceremonies that they performed according to their beliefs to honor and please their gods:

For the Mayans, the uinal pop, was a kind of New Year, it was a very celebrated party, they renewed all the household utensils, such as plates, glasses, stools, clothes, mantillas, They swept their house and threw the garbage out of town, but before the festival they fasted for at least 13 days and abstained from having sex, they did not eat salt or chili, some people extended this period of abstinence up to three uinals. Afterwards, all the men met with the priest in the courtyard of the temple and put a portion of copal in the brazier to burn it.

In the uinal uo month, festivities were held for priests, diviners, the ceremony was called pocam, and they prayed burning copal to Kinich Ahau Itzamná, whom they considered the first priest. With "virgin water brought from the mountain, where no woman came" they smeared the tables of the books and the priest made the forecasts of the year, they performed a dance called okotuil.

In the month uinal zip, the priests got together with their wives, and used little idols of the goddess Ixchel, and the festival was called Ibcil Ixchel, they invoked the gods of medicine that were Itzamná, Citbolontun and Ahau Chamahez, performed a dance called Chantunyab. On the seventh day of the uinal zip day they invoked the gods of hunting Ah Cancum, Zuhuyzib Zipitabai, and others, each hunter took out an arrow and a deer head which were smeared with blue bitumen, and they danced with arrows in their hands, they pierced their ears, others their tongues, and passed through the holes seven leaves of a herb called Ac.. The next day it was the turn of the fishermen, but they smeared their fishing gear with blue bitumen and did not pierce their ears, but put on harpoons, and danced the Chohom, and after the ceremony was done they went to the coast to fish., the gods were Abkaknexoi, Abpua, and Ahcitzamalcun.

In the month zotz the beekeepers began preparations but celebrated their festival in the following uinal tzec, the priests and officials fasted, as well as some volunteers.

In the month zec, they did not shed blood, the gods worshiped were the four bacabs, especially Hobnil. They offered the bacabs dishes with figures of honey, and the Mayans drank a wine called balche, which was processed from the bark of the tree of that name (Lonchucarpus violaceus), beekeepers gave away honey in abundance.

In the month yaxkin, the ceremony was called Olob-Zab-Kamyax, all the instruments of all trades were smeared with blue bitumen, the boys and girls of the town gathered and gave them a few taps on the knuckles, with the idea that the children would be experts in their parents' trades. From this uinal they began to prepare for the ceremony of the uinal Mol

In the month xul, it was dedicated to Kukulcán, the Mayans went for the supreme chief of warriors called Nacom, who they sat in the temple burning copal, performed a warrior dance called Holkanakot, sacrificing a dog and breaking pots full of drink to end his party, and returning Nacom to his home with honors. This ceremony was celebrated everywhere until the destruction of Mayapán, then it was only celebrated in Maní in the jurisdiction of the Tutul xiúes, all the lords got together, presented five feather flags, and went to the temple of Kukulcán, where they prayed for five days, after which Kukulcán came down from heaven and received the offerings, the festival was called Chikabán.

In the month uinal mol, the beekeepers prayed to the gods for good flowers and in this way to have a good production of bees. This month was when they made the effigies or idols of wood, which were somehow blessed by the priests. A ritual was practiced in which the ears were bled.

In any of the uinal chen or yax, they held a festival called ocná, which means "renovation of the temple", they held it in honor of the gods of the cornfields; The Mayans used to have idols of the gods with small braziers where they burned copal, in this festival every year the clay idols and their braziers were renewed.

In the month zac, the priest and the hunters performed a ceremony to appease the gods of anger, and as a form of penance for the blood shed during hunting (the Maya had as "horrendous thing" any bloodshed if said shedding was not in their sacrifices), that is why when they went hunting they invoked the god of hunting, they burned copal and if they could they smeared the face of the idol of hunting, the blood from the heart of the prey.

Around the start of the month uinal ceh, there was a very large festival with a movable date that lasted three days, with copal burning, which Landa called “incense sticks”, offerings and drunkenness. The priests were careful to notify in advance to carry out a prior fast.

In the month mac, the elderly people performed a ceremony called “tupp kak” (to kill the fire), it was addressed to the gods of bread and Itzamná, In a bonfire they burned the hearts of birds and animals, once the hearts were cremated they put out the fire with jugs of water. The people and the priests got together and smeared the first steps of the stairs of their temples with mud and blue bitumen. In this festival they did not fast, except for the priest.

Diego de Landa does not describe ceremonies corresponding to the uinal Kankin, to date the gods that were honored in this period of the Mayan year are unknown.

In the month muán it was the responsibility of the cocoa farmers to perform a ceremony to the gods Chac Ek chuah, and Hobnil, they sacrificed a dog spotted with the color of cocoa, and they burned incense and offered iguanas of the blue ones (probably smeared with blue bitumen) and certain bird feathers, after the ceremony the Mayans ate the offerings.

In the month pax, the ceremony was called pacum chac, and for a period of five nights the lords (batab) and the priests (ah kin) met. of the minor towns (batabil), in the capitals and venerated Cit chac cob. The chief of the warriors (nacom) was honored with copal for five days, they performed a dance of the warriors called HOLKANAKOT. The meaning of this ceremony was to ask their gods to achieve victory over their enemies. A dog was sacrificed, whose heart was extracted, large pots containing drink were broken, and the ceremony was terminated, returning to their villages.

During the months kayab and cumku in each town they held festivals which they called zabacilthan, they met to present offerings, eat and drink preparing for the uayeb, the month short of the five ominous days. When the five nameless days known as uayeb arrived, the Maya did not bathe, did not do servile works or work, because they feared that when carrying out some activity, it would go wrong for them.


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. [35] 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 received the name of the final day from him, Ahau ('Lord'). 1 Imix was selected as the 'first day' recurring 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 = 7,200 days long, and the remainder of 7,200 divided by 13 is 11 (7,200 = 553 × 13 + 11), the number of days to the final day of each successive katun is 9 greater than before. (wrapping around 13, since only 13 day numbers are used). That is, starting with the katun beginning with 1 Imix, the final day number sequence is 11, 9, 7, 5, 3, 1, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 13, 11,..., all called Ahau. The final day 13 Ahau was followed by the re-entry of the first day 1 Imix. This is the system found in the colonial books of Chilam Balam. In characteristic Mesoamerican fashion, these books project the cycle onto the landscape, with 13 'Señoríos' of Ahauob who divide the land of Yucatan into 13 'kingdoms

Historical records

Mayan step in Tikal.
Dresden codex.

The Maya erected stelae to commemorate dates of important events; The sites where the greatest number of stelae have been found are Uaxactún and Tikal. These stelae correspond to the classical period.

For the Mayans, time was cyclical, according to the katun count (periods of 20 years), in this way they prophesied future events. One of the dates that predicted wars, conquest and change, was the katun 8 ahau, and it is the date that is described in the Chilam Balam of Chumayel, as a critical date for the Maya, especially for the Itzáes:

In the first katun 8 ahau of 415-435 AD. C, the Itzáes arrived at Bacalar; in another katun 8 ahau from 672-692 AD. C, the Itzáes abandoned Chichén Itzá and went to Chakán Putum; In another katun 8 ahau (928-948 AD), the Itza return to Chichén Itzá, during the next 8 ahau of 1185-1205 AD. C. the cocomes make war on the itzáes, who have to flee to Petén Itzá. In another katun 8 ahau (1441-1461 AD) the Tutul Xiúes make war on the Cocomes and abandon the big cities in the Yucatán peninsula. Finally, just a few months before the return of the 8 ahau corresponding to 1697-1717, the last redoubt of the Itzaes in Tayasal is conquered by the Spanish.

In the classical period, the stelae where chronological events were recorded are replaced by codices, which were written on paper made from the bark of a fig-like tree called amate. Unfortunately they were burned by missionaries and friars who considered them to be pagans, only a few were rescued.

After the conquest, manuscripts were written, where they narrated the most important remembered events, they are known by the name of Chilam Balam. Its records come from oral tradition. Chilam means 'the one who is a mouth' and balam means 'witch' or 'jaguar'. Chilam balam was a diviner priest from Maní, who had a great reputation.

There are several manuscripts called Chilam balam. The most complete and important is that of Chumayel. The manuscripts also include "Mayan prophecies" according to the cyclical periodicity of Maya time.

Important Maya dates

In the Postclassic period: 10.9.0.0.0 | (2 ahau 13 mac), equivalent to August 15, 1007, Ah Suytok Tutul Xiu founded the village of Uxmal.

10.10.0.0.0 | (13 ahau 13 mol), equivalent to May 2, 1027, the Mayapán League begins.

10.18.10.0.0 | (9 ahau 13 uo), is equivalent to November 22, 1194. The Hunac Ceel plot, the Cocomes throw the Itzá out of the city of Chichén Itzá, and the Mayapán League ends.

10.19.0.0.0 | (8 ahau 8 cumhú), equivalent to September 30, 1204, the hegemony of Mayapán began with the help of the ah canul.

11.12.0.0.0 | (8 ahau 3 mol), equivalent to January 6, 1461, the Tutul Xiúes destroy the city of Mayapán, all the big cities are also abandoned.

11.13.0.0.0 | (6 ahau 3 zip), equivalent to September 23, 1480, a very strong hurricane is described and a plague is recorded in the population.

11.15.0.0.0 | (2 ahau 8 zac), equivalent to February 27, 1520, the expeditions of Hernández de Córdoba, Grijalva and Cortés have already passed, there has been a smallpox epidemic that has decimated the population.

11.17.0.0.0 | (11 ahau 8 pop), equivalent to August 1, 1559, Francisco de Montejo, his son and his nephew have conquered the Yucatan peninsula and have founded Mérida and Valladolid.

12.4.0.0.0 | (10 ahau 18 uo), equivalent to July 27, 1697, the Spanish conquistador Martín de Ursúa destroys Tayas as the last redoubt of the Itzaes.

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