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{{Short description|Calendar used in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica}}
{{Use American English|date=June 2018}}<!-- Use ] -->
{{Maya civilization}} {{Maya civilization}}
The '''Maya calendar''' is a system of ]s used in ] ] and in many modern communities in the ]n highlands,<ref>Tedlock, Barbara, Time and the Highland Maya Revised edition (1992 Page 1) "Scores of indigenous Guatemalan communities, principally those speaking the Mayan languages known as Ixil, Mam, Pokomchí and Quiché, keep the 260-day cycle and (in many cases) the ancient solar cycle as well (chapter 4)."</ref> ], ] and ], Mexico.<ref>Miles, Susanna W, "An Analysis of the Modern Middle American Calendars: A Study in Conservation." In Acculturation in the Americas. Edited by Sol Tax, p. 273. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1952.</ref>
The '''Maya calendar''' is a system of distinct ]s and ]s used by the ] of ] ], and by some modern Maya communities in highland ].


These calendars can be synchronized and interlocked in many ways, their combinations giving rise to further, more extensive cycles. The essentials of the Maya calendric system are based upon a system which had been in common use throughout the region, dating back to at least the 6th century BCE. It shares many aspects with calendars employed by other earlier Mesoamerican civilizations, such as the ] and ], and contemporary or later ones such as the ] and ]s. Although the ] did not originate with the Maya, their subsequent extensions and refinements of it were the most sophisticated. Along with those of the Aztecs, the Maya calendars are the best-documented and most completely understood. The essentials of the Maya calendar are based upon a system which had been in common use throughout the region, dating back to at least the 5th century BC. It shares many aspects with calendars employed by other earlier Mesoamerican civilizations, such as the ] and ] and contemporary or later ones such as the ] and ]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.questia.com/read/119342989|title=Maya Calendar Origins: Monuments, Mythistory, and the Materialization of Time}}</ref>


By the ] tradition, as documented in Colonial Yucatec accounts and reconstructed from Late Classic and Postclassic inscriptions, the deity ] is frequently credited with bringing the knowledge of the calendar system to the ancestral Maya, along with ] in general and other foundational aspects of Maya culture.<ref>See entry on ''Itzamna'', in Miller and Taube (1993), pp.99-100.</ref> By the ] tradition, as documented in Colonial Yucatec accounts and reconstructed from Late Classic and Postclassic inscriptions, the deity ] is frequently credited with bringing the knowledge of the calendrical system to the ancestral Maya, along with ] in general and other foundational aspects of Mayan culture.<ref>See entry on ''Itzamna'', in Miller and Taube (1993), pp.99–100.</ref>


==Overview==
==General overview==
{{Further|Maya astronomy}}
{{calendars}}
The most important of these calendars is one with a period of 260 days. This 260-day calendar was prevalent across all Mesoamerican societies, and is of great antiquity (almost certainly the oldest of the calendars). It is still used in some regions of ], and amongst the ] communities of the ]n highlands. The Maya version is commonly known to scholars as the '']'', or ''Tzolk'in'' in the revised ] of the Academia de las Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala.<ref name="Academia">{{cite book |author= Academia de las Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala |yer=1988 |title=Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala: Documento de referencia para la pronunciación de los nuevos alfabetos oficiales |publisher=Instituto Indigenista Nacional |location= Guatemala City}}. Refer citation in Kettunen and Hemke (2005:5) for details and notes on adoption among the ] community.</ref> The Tzolk'in is combined with another 365-day calendar (known as the '']'', or ''Haab'''&nbsp;), to form a synchronized cycle lasting for 52 Haabs, called the '']''. Smaller cycles of 13 days (the '']'') and 20 days (the '']'') were important components of the Tzolk'in and Haab' cycles, respectively. The Maya calendar consists of several cycles or ''counts'' of different lengths. The 260-day count is known to scholars as the '']'', or ''Tzolkʼin''.<ref name="Academia">{{cite book |author=Academia de las Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala |date=1988 |title=Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala: Documento de referencia para la pronunciación de los nuevos alfabetos oficiales |publisher=Instituto Indigenista Nacional |location=Guatemala City}} For details and notes on adoption among the ] community, see Kettunen & Helmke (2020), p. 7.</ref> The Tzolkin was combined with a 365-day vague solar year known as the ] to form a synchronized cycle lasting for 52 Haabʼ called the ]. The Calendar Round is still in use by many groups in the Guatemalan highlands.<ref>Tedlock (1992), p. 1</ref>

A different form of calendar was used to track longer periods of time, and for the inscription of ]s (i.e., identifying when one event occurred in relation to others). This form, known as the '']'', is based upon the number of elapsed days since a mythological starting-point.<ref>"Mythological" in the sense that when the Long Count was first devised sometime in the Mid- to Late Preclassic, long after this date; see for e.g. Miller and Taube (1993, p.50).</ref> According to the correlation between the Long Count and Western calendars accepted by the great majority of Maya researchers (known as the GMT correlation), this starting-point is equivalent to ] ] in the ] or ] in the ] (−3113 astronomical). The Goodman-Martinez-Thompson correlation was chosen by Thompson in 1935 based on earlier correlations by Joseph Goodman in 1905 (11 August), Juan Martínez Hernández in 1926 (12 August), and John Eric Sydney Thompson in 1927 (13 August).<ref>Finley (2002), Voss (2006, p.138)</ref><ref>Malmström (1997): "".</ref> By its linear nature, the Long Count was capable of being extended to refer to any date far into the future (or past). This calendar involved the use of a ] system, in which each position signified an increasing ] of the number of days. The ] was essentially ] (i.e., ]-20), and each unit of a given position represented 20 times the unit of the position which preceded it. An important exception was made for the second place value, which instead represented 18 × 20, or 360 days, more closely approximating the solar year than would 20 × 20 = 400 days. It should be noted however that the cycles of the Long Count are independent of the solar year.

Many Maya Long Count inscriptions are supplemented by what is known as the ''Lunar Series'', another calendar form which provides information on the ] and position of the ] in a half-yearly cycle of ]s.

A 584-day ''Venus cycle'' was also maintained, which tracked the appearance and ] of ] as the morning and evening stars. Many events in this cycle were seen as being inauspicious and baleful, and occasionally warfare was timed to coincide with stages in this cycle.

Other, less-prevalent or poorly-understood cycles, combinations and calendar progressions were also tracked. An ''819-day count'' is attested in a few inscriptions; repeating sets of 9- and 13-day intervals associated with different groups of ], animals and other significant concepts are also known.


A different calendar was used to track longer periods of time and for the inscription of ]s (i.e., identifying when one event occurred in relation to others). This is the ]. It is a count of days since a mythological starting-point.<ref>"Mythological" in the sense that when the Long Count was first devised sometime in the Mid- to Late Preclassic, long after this date; see e.g. Miller and Taube (1993, p.&nbsp;50).</ref> According to the correlation between the Long Count and Western calendars accepted by the great majority of Maya researchers (known as the Goodman-Martinez-Thompson, or GMT, correlation), this starting-point is equivalent to August 11, 3114&nbsp;BC in the ] or September 6, in the ] (−3113 astronomical). The GMT correlation was chosen by ] in 1935 on the basis of earlier correlations by ] in 1905 (August 11), Juan Martínez Hernández in 1926 (August 12) and Thompson himself in 1927 (August 13).<ref>Voss (2006, p.&nbsp;138)</ref> By its linear nature, the Long Count was capable of being extended to refer to any date far into the past or future. This calendar involved the use of a ] system, in which each position signified an increasing ] of the number of days. The ] was essentially ] (i.e., ]-20) and each unit of a given position represented 20 times the unit of the position which preceded it. An important exception was made for the second-order place value, which instead represented 18 × 20, or 360 days, more closely approximating the solar year than would 20 × 20 = 400 days. The cycles of the Long Count are independent of the solar year.
==Maya concepts of time==
With the development of the place-notational Long Count calendar (believed to have been inherited from other Mesoamerican cultures), the Maya had an elegant system with which events could be recorded in a linear relationship to one another, and also with respect to the calendar ("linear time") itself. In theory, this system could readily be extended to delineate any length of time desired, by simply adding to the number of higher-order place markers used (and thereby generating an ever-increasing sequence of day-multiples, each day in the sequence uniquely identified by its Long Count number). In practice, most Maya Long Count inscriptions confine themselves to noting only the first 5 coefficients in this system (a ''b'ak'tun''-count), since this was more than adequate to express any historical or current date (with an equivalent span of approximately 5125 solar years). Even so, example inscriptions exist which noted or implied lengthier sequences, indicating that the Maya well understood a linear (past-present-future) conception of time.


Many Maya Long Count inscriptions contain a ], which provides information on the ], number of the current ] in a series of six and which of the nine ] rules.
However, and in common with other Mesoamerican societies, the repetition of the various calendric cycles, the natural cycles of observable phenomena, and the recurrence and renewal of death-rebirth imagery in their mythological traditions were important and pervasive influences upon Maya societies. This conceptual view, in which the "cyclical nature" of time is highlighted, was a pre-eminent one, and many rituals were concerned with the completion and re-occurrences of various cycles. As the particular calendaric configurations were once again repeated, so too were the "supernatural" influences with which they were associated. Thus it was held that particular calendar configurations had a specific "character" to them, which would influence events on days exhibiting that configuration. ]s could then be made from the ] associated with a certain configuration, since events taking place on some future date would be subject to the same influences as its corresponding previous cycle dates. Events and ceremonies would be timed to coincide with auspicious dates, and avoid inauspicious ones.<ref>Coe (1992), Miller and Taube (1993).</ref>


Less-prevalent or poorly understood cycles, combinations and calendar progressions were also tracked. An ''819-day Count'' is attested in a few inscriptions. Repeating sets of 9 days (see below "Nine lords of the night")<ref>See separate brief Misplaced Pages article ]</ref> associated with different groups of ], animals and other significant concepts are also known. <!--Because of the unknown elements of "819-day Count" and its assumed intervals, this needs citations.-->
The completion of significant calendar cycles ("period endings"), such as a ], were often marked by the erection and dedication of specific monuments such as twin-pyramid complexes such those in ] and ], but (mostly in ] inscriptions) commemorating the completion, accompanied by dedicatory ceremonies.


==Tzolkʼin==
A cyclical interpretation is also noted in Maya creation accounts, in which the present world and the humans in it were preceded by other worlds (one to five others, depending on the tradition) which were fashioned in various forms by the gods, but subsequently destroyed. The present world also had a tenuous existence, requiring the supplication and offerings of periodic sacrifice to maintain the balance of continuing existence. Similar themes are found in the creation accounts of other Mesoamerican societies.<ref>Miller and Taube (1993, pp.68-71).</ref>
{{Main|Tzolkʼin}}


The '']'' (in modern Maya ]; also commonly written ''tzolkin'') is the name commonly employed by Mayanist researchers for the Maya Sacred Round or 260-day calendar. The word ''tzolkʼin'' is a ] coined in ], to mean "count of days" (Coe 1992). The various names of this calendar as used by precolumbian Maya people are still debated by scholars. The ] calendar equivalent was called '']'', in the ] language.
==Tzolk'in==
{{main|Tzolk'in}}
Some ]s employ the name '']'' (in modern Mayan ]; also and formerly commonly written ''tzolkin'') for the Maya Sacred Round or 260-day calendar. Tzolk'in is a ] coined in ], to mean "count of days" (Coe 1992). The actual names of this calendar as used by Precolumbian Maya peoples are still debated by scholars. The ] calendar equivalent was called '']'', in the ].


The Tzolk'in calendar combines twenty day names with the thirteen numbers of the '']'' cycle to produce 260 unique days. It is used to determine the time of religious and ceremonial events and for divination. Each successive day is numbered from 1 up to 13 and then starting again at 1. Separately from this, each day is given a name in sequence from a list of 20 day names: The tzolkʼin calendar combines twenty day names with the thirteen day numbers to produce 260 unique days. It is used to determine the time of religious and ceremonial events and for divination. Each successive day is numbered from 1 up to 13 and then starting again at 1. Separately from this, every day is given a name in sequence from a list of 20 day names:


{|class="wikitable" border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" align="center" {|class="wikitable" style="margin:0 auto; border:none;"
|+'''Tzolk'in calendar: named days and associated ]''' |+ Tzolkʼin calendar: named days and associated ]s
!style="background:#ffdead;" |Seq. <BR>N<sup>o.</sup> <sup>1</sup> ! Seq.<br/>Num. <sup>1</sup>
!style="background:#ffdead;" |Day <BR>Name <sup>2</sup> ! Day<br/>Name <sup>2</sup>
!style="background:#ffdead;" |Glyph <BR> example <sup>3</sup> ! Glyph<br/> example <sup>3</sup>
!style="background:#ffdead;" |16th C. <BR>Yucatec <sup>4</sup> ! 16th-c.<br/>Yucatec <sup>4</sup>
! K'iche'
!style="background:#ffdead;" |reconstructed <BR>Classic Maya <sup>5</sup>
! Reconstructed<br/>Classic Maya <sup>5</sup>
!style="background:#ffdead;" |Seq. <BR>N<sup>o.</sup> <sup>1</sup>
|rowspan="11" style="width:1px;; border:none;"|
!style="background:#ffdead;" |Day <BR>Name <sup>2</sup>
!style="background:#ffdead;" |Glyph <BR> example <sup>3</sup> ! Seq.<br/>Num. <sup>1</sup>
!style="background:#ffdead;" |16th C. <BR>Yucatec <sup>4</sup> ! Day<br/>Name <sup>2</sup>
!style="background:#ffdead;" |reconstructed <BR>Classic Maya <sup>5</sup> ! Glyph<br/> example <sup>3</sup>
! 16th-c.<br/>Yucatec <sup>4</sup>
! Quiché
! Reconstructed<br/>Classic Maya <sup>5</sup>
|- |-
! 01
|style="background:#efefef;"| 01
|'''Imix''''||]|| Imix || Imix (?) / Ha' (?) |'''Imix''' ||] ||Imix ||Imox ||Imix (?) / Haʼ (?)
! 11
|style="background:#efefef;"| 11
|'''Chuwen'''||]|| Chuen || (unknown) |'''Chuwen''' ||] ||Chuen ||Bʼatzʼ ||(unknown)
|- |-
! 02
|style="background:#efefef;"| 02
|'''Ik''''||]|| Ik || Ik' |'''Ikʼ''' ||] ||Ik ||Iqʼ ||Ikʼ
! 12
|style="background:#efefef;"| 12
|'''Eb''''||]|| Eb || (unknown) |'''Ebʼ''' ||] ||Eb || ||(unknown)
|- |-
! 03
|style="background:#efefef;"| 03
|'''Ak'b'al'''||]|| Akbal || Ak'b'al (?) |'''Akʼbʼal''' ||] ||Akbal ||Aqʼabʼal ||Akʼbʼal (?)
! 13
|style="background:#efefef;"| 13
|'''B'en'''||]|| Ben || (unknown) |'''Bʼen''' ||] ||Ben ||Aj ||C'klab{{Clarify|date=March 2019}}
|- |-
! 04
|style="background:#efefef;"| 04
|'''K'an'''||]|| Kan || K'an (?) |'''Kʼan''' ||] ||Kan ||Kʼat ||Kʼan (?)
! 14
|style="background:#efefef;"| 14
|'''Ix'''||]|| Ix || Hix (?) |'''Ix''' ||] ||Ix ||Iʼx, Balam ||Hix (?)
|- |-
! 05
|style="background:#efefef;"| 05
|'''Chikchan'''||]|| Chicchan || (unknown) |'''Chikchan''' ||] ||Chicchan ||Kan ||(unknown)
! 15
|style="background:#efefef;"| 15
|'''Men''' ||] ||Men ||Tzikin ||Men (?)<ref name="Stuart 2024">{{cite web |last=Stuart |first=David |title=Day Sign Notes: Men / Tz'ikin |website=Maya Decipherment |date=2024-04-19 |url=https://mayadecipherment.com/2024/04/19/day-sign-notes-men/ |access-date=2024-05-01}}</ref>
|'''Men'''||]|| Men || (unknown)
|- |-
! 06
|style="background:#efefef;"| 06
|'''Kimi'''||]|| Cimi || Cham (?) |'''Kimi''' ||] ||Cimi ||Kame ||Cham (?)
! 16
|style="background:#efefef;"| 16
|'''K'ib''''||]|| Cib || (unknown) |'''Kʼibʼ''' ||] ||Cib ||Ajmaq ||(unknown)
|- |-
! 07
|style="background:#efefef;"| 07
|'''Manik''''||]|| Manik || Manich' (?) |'''Manikʼ''' ||] ||Manik ||Kej ||Manichʼ (?)
! 17
|style="background:#efefef;"| 17
|'''Kab'an'''||]|| Caban || Chab' (?) |'''Kabʼan''' ||] ||Caban ||Noʼj ||Chabʼ (?)
|- |-
! 08
|style="background:#efefef;"| 08
|'''Lamat'''||]|| Lamat || Ek' (?) |'''Lamat''' ||] ||Lamat ||Qʼanil ||Ekʼ (?)
! 18
|style="background:#efefef;"| 18
|'''Etz'nab''''||]|| Etznab || (unknown) |'''Etzʼnabʼ''' ||] ||Etznab ||Tijax ||(unknown)
|- |-
! 09
|style="background:#efefef;"| 09
|'''Muluk'''||]|| Muluc || (unknown) |'''Muluk''' ||] ||Muluc ||Toj ||(unknown)
! 19
|style="background:#efefef;"| 19
|'''Kawak'''||]|| Cauac || (unknown) |'''Kawak''' ||] ||Cauac ||Kawoq ||(unknown)
|- |-
! 10
|style="background:#efefef;"| 10
|'''Ok'''||]|| Oc || (unknown) |'''Ok''' ||] ||Oc ||Tzʼiʼ ||(unknown)
! 20
|style="background:#efefef;"| 20
|'''Ajaw'''||]|| Ahau || Ajaw |'''Ajaw''' ||] ||Ahau ||Ajpu ||Ajaw
|- |-
|colspan="11" |'''''NOTES:'''''
|style="background:#efefef;" colspan=10|
# The sequence number of the named day in the Tzolkʼin calendar
<div style="font-size:90%;">'''''NOTES:'''''
# Day name, in the standardized and revised orthography of the Guatemalan Academia de Lenguas Mayas<ref name="Academia"/>
# The sequence number of the named day in the Tzolk'in calendar
# Day name, in the standardised and revised orthography of the Guatemalan Academia de Lenguas Mayas<ref name="Academia"/>
# An example glyph (]) for the named day. Note that for most of these several different forms are recorded; the ones shown here are typical of carved monumental inscriptions (these are "]" versions) # An example glyph (]) for the named day. Note that for most of these several different forms are recorded; the ones shown here are typical of carved monumental inscriptions (these are "]" versions)
# Day name, as recorded from 16th century ] accounts, principally ]; this orthography has (until recently) been widely used # Day name, as recorded from 16th-century ] accounts, principally ]; this orthography has (until recently) been widely used
# In most cases, the actual day name as spoken in the time of the Classic Period (ca. 200–900) when most inscriptions were made is not known. The versions given here (in ], the main language of the inscriptions) are reconstructed based on phonological evidence, if available; a '?' symbol indicates the reconstruction is tentative.<ref>Classic-era reconstructions are as per Kettunen and Helmke (2005), pp.45–46..</ref></div> # In most cases, the actual day name as spoken in the time of the Classic Period (c. 200–900) when most inscriptions were made is not known. The versions given here (in ], the main language of the inscriptions) are reconstructed on the basis of phonological evidence, if available; a '?' symbol indicates the reconstruction is tentative.<ref>Classic-era reconstructions are as per Kettunen and Helmke (2020), pp.&nbsp;56–57.</ref>
|-
|} |}


Some systems started the count with 1 Imix', followed by 2 Ik', 3 Ak'b'al, etc. up to 13 B'en. The ''trecena'' day numbers then start again at 1 while the named-day sequence continues onwards, so the next days in the sequence are 1 Ix, 2 Men, 3 K'ib', 4 Kab'an, 5 Etz'nab', 6 Kawak, and 7 Ajaw. With all twenty named days used, these now began to repeat the cycle while the number sequence continues, so the next day after 7 Ajaw is 8 Imix'. The repetition of these interlocking 13- and 20-day cycles therefore takes 260 days to complete (that is, for every possible combination of number/named day to occur once). Some systems started the count with 1&nbsp;Imix, followed by 2&nbsp;Ikʼ, 3&nbsp;Akʼbʼal, etc. up to 13&nbsp;Bʼen. The day numbers then start again at 1 while the named-day sequence continues onwards, so the next days in the sequence are 1&nbsp;Ix, 2&nbsp;Men, 3&nbsp;Kʼibʼ, 4&nbsp;Kabʼan, 5&nbsp;Etzʼnabʼ, 6&nbsp;Kawak and 7&nbsp;Ajaw. With all twenty named days used, these now began to repeat the cycle while the number sequence continues, so the next day after 7 Ajaw is 8 Imix. The repetition of these interlocking 13- and 20-day cycles therefore takes 260 days to complete (that is, for every possible combination of number/named day to occur once).


The earliest known inscription with a Tzolkʼin is an Olmec earspool with 2&nbsp;Ahau 3&nbsp;Ceh - 6.3.10.9.0, September 2, -678 (Julian astronomical).<ref>{{cite book |last=Edmonson |first=Munro S. |date=1988 |title=The Book of the Year MIDDLE AMERICAN CALENDRICAL SYSTEMS |location=Salt Lake City |publisher=University of Utah Press |page=20 |isbn=0-87480-288-1 }}</ref>
===Divination===
Each day of the Tzolk'in has a Patron Spirit who influences events. Ah K'in, the Mayan ]-priest, whose title means "Day Keeper", read the Tzolk'in to determine the answers to yes/no questions as well as more complex questions involving health, wealth and family. The Sacred Calendar is also used to set the most auspicious dates for household, lineage, and community rituals.


==Haabʼ==
When a child is born, the day keeper interprets the Tzolk'in cycle to identify the baby’s character (similarly done today with a ]). For example, a child born on the day of Ak'b'al is thought to be feminine, wealthy, and verbally skillful. The birthday of Ak'b'al (along with several other days) is also thought to give the child the ability to receive messages with the supernatural world through somatic twitches of "blood lightning", so he or she might become a Shaman-priest or a Marriage Spokesman.
{|class="wikitable"

|+ '''Haabʼ months''': names and ]<ref>Kettunen and Helmke (2020), pp.&nbsp;58–59</ref> in sequence
There are several forms of Maya Calendar divination employing the sacred coral seeds which each Calendar diviner carries in a small bag with crystals and 'other small things' (Tozzer 1941).
! Seq.<br/>Num.

! Yucatec <br/>name
The Precolumbian Maya practiced a form of Bibliomancy, in which they would cast the seeds upon a calendar to determine the good and bad days for the year.
! Hieroglyph<br/>

! Classic Period
Precolumbian Maya employed and Modern Maya Ah K'in employ Sortilage, in which piles of four or five beans are counted from the current calendar day of the ] to arrive at the result.
glyph sign

! Meaning of glyph<br/><ref>These names come from de Landa's description of the calendar and they are commonly used by Mayanists, but the Classic Maya did not use these actual names for the day signs. The original names are unknown. See {{cite book |author=Coe, Michael D. |author-link=Michael D. Coe |author2=Mark L Van Stone |author2-link=Mark L Van Stone |date=2005 |title=Reading the Maya Glyphs |publisher=Thames & Hudson |location=London |isbn=978-0-500-28553-4 |page= |url=https://archive.org/details/readingmayaglyph0000coem/page/43 }}</ref>
Modern Maya Ah K'in also employ Cartomancy, in which the fifty two cards of the poker deck represent the fifty two Year Bearers of the Maya ].
!Reconstructed Classic Maya

Maya shamans also perform a wide variety of divinatory arts which do not specifically depend upon a mastery of the sacred calendar, including crystal, mirror, and water gazing; and spirit possession, among others.

===Origin of the Tzolk'in===
The exact origin of the Tzolk'in is not known, but there are several theories. One theory is that the calendar came from mathematical operations based on the numbers thirteen and twenty, which were important numbers to the Maya. The numbers multiplied together equal 260. Another theory is that the 260-day period came from the length of human ]. This is close to the average number of days between the ''first missed'' menstrual period and birth, unlike ] which is 40 weeks (280 days) between the ''last'' menstrual period and birth. It is postulated that ] originally developed the calendar to predict babies' expected birth dates.

A third theory comes from understanding of astronomy, geography and paleontology. The mesoamerican calendar probably originated with the Olmecs, and a settlement existed at Izapa, in southeast Chiapas Mexico, before 1200 BCE. There, at a latitude of about 15] N, the Sun passes through zenith twice a year, and there are 260 days between zenithal passages, and ]s (used generally for observing the path of the Sun and in particular zenithal passages), were found at this and other sites. The sacred almanac may well have been set in motion on August 13, 1359 BCE, in Izapa. Vincent H. Malmström, a geographer who suggested this location and date, outlines his reasons:
<blockquote>
(1) Astronomically, it lay at the only latitude in North America where a 260-day interval (the length of the "strange" sacred almanac used throughout the region in pre-Columbian times) can be measured between vertical sun positions -- an interval which happens to begin on the 13th of August -- the day the peoples of the Mesoamerica believed that the present world was created;
(2) Historically, it was the only site at this latitude which was old enough to have been the cradle of the sacred almanac, which at that time (1973) was thought to date to the 4th or 5th centuries B.C.; and
(3) Geographically, it was the only site along the required parallel of latitude that lay in a tropical lowland ecological niche where such creatures as alligators, monkeys, and iguanas were native -- all of which were used as day-names in the sacred almanac.<ref>Malmström (1997), and http://www.dartmouth.edu/~izapa/izapasite.html</ref>
</blockquote>

Malmström also offers strong arguments against both of the former explanations.

A fourth theory is that the calendar is based on the crops. From planting to harvest is approximately 260 days.

==Haab'==
{| class="wikitable" style="float: left;"
|+'''Haab' Months'''<ref>''Kettunen and Helmke'' (2005), pp.47–48</ref>
!Name !! Meaning<sup>†</sup>
|- |-
! 1
|Pop || mat
|'''Pop''' ||{{Haab20|0}}
|]||
|k'anjalaw
|- |-
! 2
|Wo || black conjunction
|'''Woʼ''' ||{{Haab20|1}}
|]||
|ik'at
|- |-
! 3
|Sip || red conjunction
|'''Sip''' ||{{Haab20|2}}
|]||
|chakat
|- |-
! 4
|Sotz' || bat
|'''Sotzʼ''' ||{{Haab20|3}}
|]||bat
|sotz'
|- |-
! 5
|Sek || ?
|'''Sek''' ||{{Haab20|4}}
|]||
|kaseew
|- |-
! 6
|Xul || dog
|'''Xul''' ||{{Haab20|5}}
|]||
|chikin
|- |-
! 7
|Yaxk'in || new sun
|'''Yaxkʼin''' ||{{Haab20|6}}
|]||
|yaxk'in
|- |-
! 8
|Mol || water
|'''Mol''' ||{{Haab20|7}}
|]||
|mol
|- |-
! 9
|Ch'en || black storm
|'''Chʼen''' ||{{Haab20|8}}
|]||black<ref name=CoeVanstone43/>
|ik'siho'm
|- |-
! 10
|Yax || green storm
|'''Yax''' ||{{Haab20|9}}
|]||green<ref name=CoeVanstone43>{{cite book |author=Coe, Michael D. |author-link=Michael D. Coe |author2=Mark L Van Stone |author2-link=Mark L Van Stone |date=2005 |title=Reading the Maya Glyphs |publisher=Thames & Hudson |location=London |isbn=978-0-500-28553-4 |page= |url=https://archive.org/details/readingmayaglyph0000coem/page/43 }}</ref>
|yaxsiho'm
|- |-
! 11
|Sac || white storm
|'''Sak''' ||{{Haab20|10}}
|]||white<ref name=CoeVanstone43/>
|saksiho'm
|- |-
! 12
|Keh || red storm
|'''Keh''' ||{{Haab20|11}}
|]||red<ref name=CoeVanstone43/>
|chaksiho'm
|- |-
! 13
|Mak || enclosed
|'''Mak''' ||{{Haab20|12}}
|]||
|mak
|- |-
! 14
|K'ank'in || yellow sun
|'''Kʼankʼin''' ||{{Haab20|13}}
|]||
|uniiw
|- |-
! 15
|Muwan || owl
|'''Muwan''' ||{{Haab20|14}}
|]||
|muwaan
|- |-
! 16
|Pax || planting time
|'''Pax''' ||{{Haab20|15}}
|]||
|paxiil
|- |-
! 17
|K'ayab' || turtle
|'''Kʼayab'''||{{Haab20|16}}
|]||
|k'anasiiy
|- |-
! 18
|Kumk'u || granary
|'''Kumkʼu''' ||{{Haab20|17}}
|]||
|ohl
|- |-
! 19
|Wayeb' || five unlucky days
|'''Wayebʼ''' ||{{Haab20|18}}
|-
|]||five unlucky days
|colspan="2"|<sup>†</sup> ''Jones 1984''
|wayhaab
|} |}


{{main|Haab'}} {{Main|Haabʼ}}
The Haab' was the Maya solar calendar made up of eighteen months of twenty days each plus a period of five days ("nameless days") at the end of the year known as ''Wayeb''' (or ''Uayeb'' in 16th C. orthography). Bricker (1982) estimates that the Haab' was first used around 550 BCE with the starting point of the ].


The Haabʼ was made up of eighteen months of twenty days each plus a period of five days ("nameless days") at the end of the year known as ''Wayeb''' (or ''Uayeb'' in 16th-century orthography). The five days of Wayebʼ were thought to be a dangerous time. Foster (2002) writes, "During Wayeb, portals between the mortal realm and the Underworld dissolved. No boundaries prevented the ill-intending deities from causing disasters." To ward off these evil spirits, the Maya had customs and rituals they practiced during Wayebʼ. For example, people avoided leaving their houses and washing or combing their hair. Bricker (1982) estimates that the Haabʼ was first used around 550&nbsp;BC with a starting point of the ].<ref>Zero Pop actually fell on the same day as the solstice on 12/27/−575, 12/27/−574, 12/27/−573 and 12/26/−572 (], ]), if you don't account for the fact that the Maya region is in roughly time zone UT−6. See . {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120823124027/http://www.imcce.fr/en/grandpublic/temps/saisons.php |date=August 23, 2012 }}</ref>
The Haab' month names are known today by their corresponding names in colonial-era ], as transcribed by 16th century sources (in particular, ] and books such as the '']'' of Chumayel). Phonemic analyses of Haab' glyph names in pre-Columbian ] have demonstrated that the names for these twenty-day periods varied considerably from region to region and from period to period, reflecting differences in the base language(s) and usage in the Classic and Postclassic eras predating their recording by Spanish sources.<ref>Boot (2002), pp.111–114.</ref>


The Haabʼ month names are known today by their corresponding names in colonial-era ], as transcribed by 16th-century sources (in particular, ] and books such as the '']'' of Chumayel). Phonemic analyses of Haabʼ glyph names in pre-Columbian ] have demonstrated that the names for these twenty-day periods varied considerably from region to region and from period to period, reflecting differences in the base language(s) and usage in the Classic and Postclassic eras predating their recording by Spanish sources.<ref>Boot (2002), pp.&nbsp;111–114.</ref>
Each day in the Haab' calendar was identified by a day number in the month followed by the name of the month. Day numbers began with a glyph translated as the "seating of" a named month, which is usually regarded as day 0 of that month, although a minority treat it as day 20 of the month preceding the named month. In the latter case, the seating of Pop is day 5 of Wayeb'. For the majority, the first day of the year was 0 Pop (the seating of Pop). This was followed by 1 Pop, 2 Pop as far as 19 Pop then 0 Wo, 1 Wo and so on.


Each day in the Haabʼ calendar was identified by a day number in the month followed by the name of the month. Day numbers began with a glyph translated as the "seating of" a named month, which is usually regarded as day 0 of that month, although a minority treat it as day 20 of the month preceding the named month. In the latter case, the seating of Pop is day 5 of Wayebʼ. For the majority, the first day of the year was 0&nbsp;Pop (the seating of Pop). This was followed by 1&nbsp;Pop, 2&nbsp;Pop as far as 19&nbsp;Pop then 0&nbsp;Wo, 1 Wo and so on.
As a calendar for keeping track of the seasons, the Haab' was crude and inaccurate, since it treated the year as having 365 days, and ignored the extra quarter day (approximately) in the actual ]. This meant that the seasons moved with respect to the calendar year by a quarter day each year, so that the calendar months named after particular seasons no longer corresponded to these seasons after a few centuries. The Haab' is equivalent to the wandering 365-day year of the ]. Some argue that the Maya knew about and compensated for the quarter day error, even though their calendar did not include anything comparable to a ], a method first implemented by the Romans.


Because the Haabʼ had 365 days and the ] is 365.2422 days, the days of the Haabʼ did not coincide with the tropical year.
=== Wayeb' ===
The five nameless days at the end of the calendar called Wayeb' were thought to be a dangerous time. Foster (2002) writes "During Wayeb, portals between the mortal realm and the Underworld dissolved. No boundaries prevented the ill-intending deities from causing disasters." To ward off these evil spirits, the Maya had customs and rituals they practiced during Wayeb'. For example, people avoided leaving their houses or washing or combing their hair.<br clear="both">


== Calendar Round == ==Calendar Round==
A Calendar Round date is a date that gives both the Tzolkʼin and Haabʼ. This date will repeat after 52&nbsp;Haabʼ years or 18,980 days, a Calendar Round. For example, the current creation started on 4&nbsp;Ahau 8&nbsp;Kumkʼu. When this date recurs it is known as a Calendar Round completion.
Neither the Tzolk'in nor the Haab' system numbered the years. The combination of a Tzolk'in date and a Haab' date was enough to identify a date to most people's satisfaction, as such a combination did not occur again for another 52 years, above general life expectancy.


Arithmetically, the duration of the Calendar Round is the ] of 260 and 365; 18,980 is 73 × 260 Tzolkʼin days and 52 × 365 Haabʼ days.<ref>For further details, see Thompson 1966: 123–124</ref>
Because the two calendars were based on 260 days and 365 days respectively, the whole cycle would repeat itself every 52 Haab' years exactly. This period was known as a Calendar Round. The end of the Calendar Round was a period of unrest and bad luck among the Maya, as they waited in expectation to see if the gods would grant them another cycle of 52 years.

Not every possible combination of Tzolkʼin and Haabʼ can occur. For Tzolkʼin days Imix, Kimi, Chuwen and Kibʼ, the Haabʼ day can only be 4, 9, 14 or 19; for Ikʼ, Manikʼ, Ebʼ and Kabʼan, the Haabʼ day can only be 0, 5, 10 or 15; for Akbʼalʼ, Lamat, Bʼen and Etzʼnabʼ, the Haabʼ day can only be 1, 6, 11 or 16; for Kʼan, Muluk, Ix and Kawak, the Haabʼ day can only be 2, 7, 12 or 17; and for Chikchan, Ok, Men and Ajaw, the Haabʼ day can only be 3, 8, 13 or 18.<ref>Kettunen and Helmke (2020), p.&nbsp;51</ref>

===Year Bearer===
A "Year Bearer" is a ] day name that occurs on 0{{nbsp}}Pop, the first day of the ]. Since there are 20 Tzolkʼin day names, 365 days in the Haabʼ, and the remainder of 365 divided by 20 is 5 ({{math|365 {{=}} 18×20 + 5}}), the Tzolkʼin day name for each successive 0{{nbsp}}Pop will be 5 later in the cycle of Tzolk'in day names. Similarly, since there are 13 Tzolk'in day numbers, and the remainder of 365 divided by 13 is 1 ({{math|365 {{=}} 28×13 + 1}}), the Tzolk'in day number for each successive 0{{nbsp}}Pop will be 1 greater than before. As such, the sequence of Tzolk'in dates corresponding to the Haab' date 0{{nbsp}}Pop are as follows:

{{bulleted list
|1 Ikʼ
|2 Manikʼ
|3 Ebʼ
|4 Kabʼan
|5 Ikʼ
|...
|12 Kab'an
|13 Ik'
|1 Manik'
|...
}}

Thus, the Year Bearers are the four Tzolkʼin day names that appear in this sequence: Ik', Manik', Eb', and Kab'an.

"Year Bearer" literally translates a Mayan concept.<ref>Thompson 1966: 124</ref> Its importance resides in two facts. For one, the four years headed by the Year Bearers are named after them and share their characteristics; therefore, they also have their own prognostications and patron deities.<ref>For a thorough treatment of the Year Bearers, see Tedlock 1992: 89–90; 99–104 and Thompson 1966</ref> Moreover, since the Year Bearers are geographically identified with boundary markers or mountains, they help define the local community.<ref>See Coe 1965</ref>

The classic system of Year Bearers described above is found at Tikal and in the ]. During the Late Classic period a different set of Year Bearers was in use in Campeche. In this system, the Year Bearers were the ] that coincided with 1 Pop. These were Akʼbʼal, Lamat, Bʼen and Edznab. During the Post-Classic period in Yucatán a third system was in use. In this system the Year Bearers were the days that coincided with 2 Pop: Kʼan, Muluc, Ix and Kawak. This system is found in the Chronicle of Oxkutzcab. In addition, just before the Spanish conquest in Mayapan the Maya began to number the days of the Haabʼ from 1 to 20. In this system the Year Bearers are the same as in the 1 Pop – Campeche system. The Classic Year Bearer system is still in use in the Guatemalan highlands<ref>Tedlock 1992: 92</ref> and in Veracruz, Oaxaca and Chiapas, Mexico.<ref name="Miles, Susanna W pp. 273-84">Miles, Susanna W, "An Analysis of the Modern Middle American Calendars: A Study in Conservation." In Acculturation in the Americas. Edited by Sol Tax, pp. 273–84. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1952.</ref>


==Long Count==<!-- This section is linked from ] --> ==Long Count==<!-- This section is linked from ] -->
] ]]
]. The left column gives a Long Count date of 8.5.16.9.9, or 156 CE. The two right columns are glyphs from the ].]]

{{Main|Mesoamerican Long Count calendar}} {{Main|Mesoamerican Long Count calendar}}
Since Calendar Round dates can only distinguish in 18,980 days, equivalent to around 52 solar years, the cycle repeats roughly once each lifetime, and thus, a more refined method of dating was needed if history was to be recorded accurately. To measure dates, therefore, over periods longer than 52 years, Mesoamericans devised the Long Count calendar. Since Calendar Round dates repeat every 18,980 days, approximately 52 solar years, the cycle repeats roughly once each lifetime, so a more refined method of dating was needed if history was to be recorded accurately. To specify dates over periods longer than 52 years, Mesoamericans used the Long Count calendar.

The Maya name for a day was ''kʼin''. Twenty of these kʼins are known as a ''winal'' or ''uinal''. Eighteen winals make one ''tun''. Twenty tuns are known as a ''kʼatun''. Twenty kʼatuns make a ''bʼakʼtun''.

The Long Count calendar identifies a date by counting the number of days from the Mayan creation date 4 Ahaw, 8 Kumkʼu (August 11, 3114 BC in the ] or September 6 in the ] -3113 astronomical dating). But instead of using a base-10 (]) scheme, the Long Count days were tallied in a modified base-20 scheme. Thus 0.0.0.1.5 is equal to 25 and 0.0.0.2.0 is equal to 40. As the winal unit resets after only counting to 18, the Long Count consistently uses base-20 only if the tun is considered the primary unit of measurement, not the kʼin; with the kʼin and winal units being the number of days in the tun. The Long Count 0.0.1.0.0 represents 360 days, rather than the 400 in a purely base-20 (]) count.

There are also four rarely used higher-order cycles: ], ], ], and ].

Since the Long Count dates are unambiguous, the Long Count was particularly well suited to use on monuments. The monumental inscriptions would not only include the 5 digits of the Long Count, but would also include the two tzolkʼin characters followed by the two haabʼ characters.


Misinterpretation of the ] was the basis for a popular belief that a ]. December 21, 2012 was simply the day that the calendar went to the next ], at Long Count 13.0.0.0.0. The date of the start of the next b'ak'tun (Long Count 14.0.0.0.0) is March 26, 2407. The date of the start of the next ] (a complete series of 20 bʼakʼtuns), at Long Count 1.0.0.0.0.0, is October 13, 4772.
The Mayan name for a day was ''k'in''. Twenty of these k'ins are known as a ''winal'' or ''uinal''. Eighteen winals make one ''tun''. Twenty tuns are known as a ''k'atun''. Twenty k'atuns make a ''b'ak'tun''.


{|class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto;"
The Long Count calendar identifies a date by counting the number of days from ], ]E. But instead of using a base-10 (]) scheme like Western numbering, the Long Count days were tallied in a modified base-20 scheme. Thus 0.0.0.1.5 is equal to 25, and 0.0.0.2.0 is equal to 40. As the winal unit resets after only counting to 18, the Long Count consistently uses base-20 only if the tun is considered the primary unit of measurement, not the k'in; with the k'in and winal units being the number of days in the tun. The Long Count 0.0.1.0.0 represents 360 days, rather than the 400 in a purely base-20 (]) count.
|+ '''Table of Long Count units'''
<center>
! Long Count <br/> unit !! Long Count <br/> period !! Days !! Approximate <br/> ]
{| class="wikitable"
|+'''Table of Long Count units'''
!Days !! Long Count period !! Long Count period !! Approx solar years
|- |-
| 1 ||= 1 K'in ||&nbsp; ||&nbsp; |1 Kʼin ||&nbsp; ||style="text-align:right;"| 1 ||style="text-align:right;"|&nbsp;
|- |-
|1 Winal ||20 Kʼin ||style="text-align:right;"| 20 ||style="text-align:right;"|&nbsp;
| 20 ||= 20 K'in ||= 1 Winal ||1/18th
|- |-
|1 Tun ||18 Winal ||style="text-align:right;"| 360 ||style="text-align:right;"|{{val|fmt=commas|{{Rnd|360/365.2422|0}}}}
| 360 ||= 18 Winal ||= 1 Tun || 1
|- |-
|1 Kʼatun ||20 Tun ||style="text-align:right;"| 7,200 ||style="text-align:right;"|{{val|fmt=commas|{{Rnd|7200/365.2422|0}}}}
| 7,200 ||= 20 Tun ||= 1 K'atun || 20
|- |-
|1 Bʼakʼtun ||20 Kʼatun ||style="text-align:right;"| 144,000 ||style="text-align:right;"|{{val|fmt=commas|{{Rnd|144000/365.2422|0}}}}
| 144,000 ||= 20 K'atun ||= 1 B'ak'tun || 395
|-
|1 Piktun ||20 Bʼakʼtun ||style="text-align:right;"| 2,880,000 ||style="text-align:right;"|{{val|fmt=commas|{{Rnd|2880000/365.2422|0}}}}
|-
|1 Kalabtun ||20 Piktun ||style="text-align:right;"|57,600,000 ||style="text-align:right;"|{{val|fmt=commas|{{Rnd|57600000/365.2422|0}}}}
|-
|1 Kʼinchiltun ||20 Kalabtun ||style="text-align:right;"|1,152,000,000 ||style="text-align:right;"|{{val|fmt=commas|{{Rnd|1152000000/365.2422|0}}}}
|-
|1 Alautun ||20 Kʼinchiltun ||style="text-align:right;"|23,040,000,000 ||style="text-align:right;"|{{val|fmt=commas|{{Rnd|23040000000/365.2422|0}}}}
|} |}
</center>


==Supplementary Series==
There are also four rarely-used higher-order cycles: ''piktun'', ''kalabtun'', ''k'inchiltun'', and ''alautun''.
Many Classic period inscriptions include a series of glyphs known as the Supplementary Series. The operation of this series was largely worked out by ]. The Supplementary Series most commonly consists of the following elements:


===Lords of the Night===
Since the Long Count dates are unambiguous, the Long Count was particularly well suited to use on monuments. The monumental inscriptions would not only include the 5 digits of the Long Count, but would also include the two tzolk'in characters followed by the two haab' characters.
{{Main|Lords of the Night}}
Each night was ruled by one of the nine lords of the underworld. This nine-day cycle was usually written as two glyphs: a glyph that referred to the Nine Lords as a group, followed by a glyph for the lord that would rule the next night.


===Lunar Series===
The ] forms the basis for a ] belief, first forecast by ], that a ] will take place on or about ] ], a forecast that mainstream ] scholars consider a mis-interpretation.<ref>], Curator of Latin American Art and Archaeology , ], quoted in .<br>
A lunar series generally is written as five glyphs that provide information about the current ], the number of the lunation in a series of six, the current ruling lunar deity and the length of the current lunation.
"For the ancient Maya, it was a huge celebration to make it to the end of a whole cycle," says Sandra Noble, executive director of the ] in ]. To render ], ], as a doomsday or moment of cosmic shifting, she says, is "a complete fabrication and a chance for a lot of people to cash in." (Quoted in ''USA Today'', Wednesday, March 28, 2007, p. 11D.)</ref>


==Venus Cycle== ===Moon age===
The Maya counted the number of days in the current lunation. They used two systems for the zero date of the lunar cycle: either the first night they could see the thin crescent moon or the first morning when they could not see the waning moon.<ref>Thompson, J. Eric S. Maya Hieroglyphic Writing, 1950 Page 236</ref> The age of the moon was depicted by a set of glyphs that mayanists coined glyphs D and E:
{{main|Transits of Venus}}

Another important calendar for the Maya was the ] cycle. The Maya were skilled ]s, and could calculate the Venus cycle with extreme accuracy. There are six pages in the Dresden Codex (one of the ]) devoted to the accurate calculation of the location of Venus. The Maya were able to achieve such accuracy by careful observation over many years. There are various theories as to why Venus cycle was especially important for the Mayans, including the belief that it was associated with war and used it to divine good times (called ]) for coronations and war. Maya rulers planned for wars to begin when Venus rose. The Maya also possibly tracked other planets’ movements, including those of Mars, Mercury, and Jupiter.
* A new moon glyph was used for day zero in the lunar cycle.
* D glyphs were used for lunar ages for days 1 through 19, with the number of days that had passed from the new moon.
* For lunar ages 20 to 30, an E glyph was used, with the number of days from 20.

===Count of Lunations===
The Maya counted the lunations. This cycle appears in the lunar series as two glyphs that modern scholars call the 'C' and 'X' glyphs. The C glyph could be prefixed with a number indicating the lunation. No prefixing number meant one, whereas the numbers two through six indicated the other lunations.<ref>Teeple 1931:53</ref><ref>Thompson Maya Hieroglyphic Writing 1950:240</ref> There was also a part of the C glyph that indicated where this fell in a larger cycle of 18 lunations. Accompanying the C glyph was the 'X' glyph that showed a similar pattern of 18 lunations.<ref>Linden 1996:343–356.</ref><ref>Schele, Grube, Fahsen 1992</ref>

===Lunation length===
The present era lunar synodic period is about 29.5305877 ] or about 29 days 12 hours 44 minutes and 2+<sup>7</sup>/<sub>9</sub> seconds. As a whole number, the number of days per lunation will be either 29 or 30 days, with the 30-day intervals necessarily occurring slightly more frequently than the 29-day intervals. The Maya wrote whether the lunar month was 29 or 30 days as two glyphs: a glyph for lunation length followed by either a glyph made up of a moon glyph over a bundle with a suffix of 9 for a 29-day lunation or a moon glyph with a suffix of 10 for a 30-day lunation. Since the Maya didn't use fractions, lunations were approximated by using the formula that there were 149 lunations completed in 4400 days, which yielded a rather short mean month of exactly <sup>4400</sup>/<sub>149</sub> = 29+<sup>79</sup>/<sub>149</sub> days = 29 days 12 hours 43 minutes and 29+<sup>59</sup>/<sub>149</sub> seconds, or about 29.5302 days.<ref>Teeple 1931:67</ref>

==819-day count==
Some Mayan monuments include glyphs that record an 819-day count<ref>{{cite news |title= The Mayan mystic 819-day calendar |trans-title=The Mayan mystic 819-day calendar |url= https://mexicanroutes.com/the-mayan-mystic-819-day-calendar/ |publisher= Mexican Routes |date=2024-12-26 |accessdate=27 Dec 2024 |language=English }}</ref> in their Initial Series. These can also be found in the ].<ref>Grofe, Michael John 2007 The Serpent Series: Precession in the Maya Dresden Codex page 55 p.&nbsp;206</ref> This is described in Thompson.<ref>Maya Hieroglyphic Writing 1971 pp.&nbsp;212–217</ref> More examples of this can be found in Kelley.<ref>Decipherment of Maya Script, David Kelley 1973 pp.&nbsp;56–57</ref> Each group of 819 days was associated with one of four colors and the cardinal direction with which it was associated{{snd}} black corresponded to west, red to east, white to north and yellow to south.

The 819-day count can be described several ways: Most of these are referred to using a "Y" glyph and a number. Many also have a glyph for Kʼawill{{snd}} the god with a smoking mirror in his head. Kʼawill has been suggested as having a link to Jupiter.<ref>Star Gods of the Maya Susan Milbrath 1999, University of Texas Press</ref> In the ] almanac 59 there are ]s of the four colors. The accompanying texts begin with a directional glyph and a verb for 819-day-count phrases. Anderson<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.traditionalhighcultures.org/819-Day-Count_&_Y_Glyph.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150506025253/http://www.traditionalhighcultures.org/819-Day-Count_%26_Y_Glyph.html |archive-date=May 6, 2015 |title=Lloyd B. Anderson The Mayan 819-day Count and the "Y" Glyph: A Probable association with Jupiter |publisher=Traditional High Cultures Home Page |access-date=March 30, 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> provides a detailed description of the 819-day count.

=== Synodic periods of the classical planets ===

Moon: 1 x 819 + 8 days = 28 (synodic 29.53 d) "28 months"
Moon: 4 x 819 + 2 days = 111 (synodic 29.53 d) "111 months"
Moon: 15 x 819 + 0.3 days = 416 (synodic 29.53 d) "416 months"

Draconic: 31 x 819 days = 933 (draconic 27.21 d) "nodal months"

Mercury: 1 x 819 + 8 days = 7 (synodic 115.88 d)
Mercury: 15 x 819 + 2 days = 106 (synodic 115.88 d)

Venus: 5 x 819 + 8 days = 7 (synodic 583.9 d)

Sun: 4 x 819 + 11 days = 9 (synodic 365.24 d) "9 years"
Sun: 33 x 819 + 1 days = 74 (synodic 365.24 d) "74 years"

Mars: 20 x 819 + 2 days = 21 (synodic 779.9 d)

Jupiter: 1 x 819 + 21 days = 2 (synodic 398.88 d)
Jupiter: 19 x 819 + 5 days = 39 (synodic 398.88 d)

Saturn: 6 x 819 - 1 days = 13 (synod 378.09 d)

<ref>2023, John H. Linden, Victoria R. Bricker, The Maya 819-Day Count and Planetary Astronomy https://doi.org/10.1017/S0956536122000323</ref>

==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.<ref>Coe, William R. 'TIKAL a handbook of the ancient Maya Ruins' The University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa. 1967 p. 114</ref> 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&nbsp;kʼatuns (or 260&nbsp;tuns), in which each kʼatun was named after its concluding day, Ahau ('Lord'). 1&nbsp;Imix was selected as the recurrent 'first day' of the cycle, corresponding to 1 ] in the Aztec day count. The cycle was counted from katun 11&nbsp;Ahau to katun 13&nbsp;Ahau. Since a katun is {{math|20 × 360 {{=}} 7200}} days long, and the remainder of 7200 divided by 13 is 11 ({{math|7200 {{=}} 553×13 + 11}}), the day number of the concluding day of each successive katun is 9 greater than before (wrapping around at 13, since only 13 day numbers are used). That is, starting with the katun that begins with 1{{nbsp}}Imix, the sequence of concluding day numbers is 11, 9, 7, 5, 3, 1, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 13, 11, ..., all named Ahau. The concluding day 13&nbsp;Ahau was followed by the re-entering first day 1&nbsp;Imix. This is the system as found in the colonial Books of ]. In characteristic Mesoamerican fashion, these books project the cycle onto the landscape, with 13 ''Ahauob'' 'Lordships' dividing the land of Yucatán into 13 'kingdoms'.<ref>Roys 1967: 132, 184–185</ref>


==See also== ==See also==
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]
* ]


==Notes== ==Notes==
{{reflist}} {{Reflist|30em}}


==References== ==References==
{{Refbegin|indent=yes}}<!--BEGIN biblio format. -->
{{ref indent}}<!-- BEGIN hanging indent style. Pls use a colon (:) instead of asterisk (*) for bullet markers in the references list -->
: {{cite book | author={{aut|Aveni, Anthony F.}} | year=2001 | title=Skywatchers |edition=Revised and updated edition of: ''Skywatchers of Ancient Mexico'' | publisher=] |location=Austin | isbn=0-292-70502-6 |oclc=45195586}} * {{cite book |author= Aveni, Anthony F. |author-link= Anthony Aveni |date= 2001 |title= Skywatchers |edition= originally published as: ''Skywatchers of Ancient Mexico'' , revised and updated |location= Austin |publisher= ] |isbn= 0-292-70504-2 |oclc= 45195586}}
: {{cite book |author={{aut|Boot, Erik}} |year=2002 |title=A Preliminary Classic Maya-English/English-Classic Maya Vocabulary of Hieroglyphic Readings |format=] |publisher=Mesoweb |url=http://www.mesoweb.com/resources/vocabulary/Vocabulary.pdf |accessdate=2006-11-10}} * {{cite book |author= Boot, Erik |date= 2002 |title= A Preliminary Classic Maya-English/English-Classic Maya Vocabulary of Hieroglyphic Readings |publisher= Mesoweb |url= http://www.mesoweb.com/resources/vocabulary/Vocabulary.pdf |access-date= 2006-11-10}}
: {{cite journal | author={{aut|Bricker, Victoria R.}} |year=1982 |month=February |title=The Origin of the Maya Solar Calendar |journal=] |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=pp.101&ndash;103 |location=Chicago, IL |publisher=], sponsored by ] |doi=10.1086/202782|issn=0011-3204 |oclc=62217742 |pages=101}} * {{cite journal |author= Bricker, Victoria R. |date=February 1982 |title= The Origin of the Maya Solar Calendar |journal= ] |volume= 23 |issue= 1 |pages= 101–103 |location= Chicago, IL |publisher= ], sponsored by ] |doi= 10.1086/202782 |s2cid=143962107 |issn= 0011-3204 |oclc= 62217742}}
: {{cite book |author={{aut|Coe, Michael D.}} |authorlink=Michael D. Coe |year=1987 |title=The Maya |publisher=Thames & Hudson |location=London; New York |edition=4th edition (revised) |isbn=0-500-27455-X |oclc=15895415}} * {{cite journal |author= Chambers, David Wade |date= 1965 |title= Did the Maya Know the Metonic Cycle |journal= Isis |volume= 56 |issue= 3 |pages= 348–351 |doi= 10.1086/350004 |s2cid= 145711182 }}
: {{cite book |author={{aut|Coe, Michael D.}} |authorlink=Michael D. Coe |year=1992 |title=Breaking the Maya Code |publisher=Thames and Hudson |location=London |isbn=0-500-05061-9 |oclc=26605966}} * {{cite journal |author= Coe, Michael D. |author-link= Michael D. Coe |date= 1965 |title= A Model of Ancient Maya Community Structure in the Maya Lowlands |journal= Southwestern Journal of Anthropology |volume= 21|doi= 10.1086/soutjanth.21.2.3629386 |s2cid= 130245359 }}
: {{cite web |author={{aut|Finley, Michael}} |year=2002 |title=The Correlation Question |work=The Real Maya Prophecies: Astronomy in the Inscriptions and Codices |url=http://members.shaw.ca/mjfinley/corr.html |publisher=Maya Astronomy |accessdate=2007-05-11}} * {{cite book |author= Coe, Michael D. |author-link= Michael D. Coe |date= 1987 |title= The Maya |publisher= ] |location= London and New York |edition= 4th revised |isbn= 0-500-27455-X |oclc= 15895415}}
: {{cite book | author={{aut|Foster, Lynn V.}} |year=2002| title=Handbook to Life in the Ancient Maya World |others=with Foreword by Peter Mathews| location=New York | publisher=Facts on File |isbn=0-8160-4148-2 |oclc=50676955}} * {{cite book |author= Coe, Michael D. |author-link= Michael D. Coe |date= 1992 |title= Breaking the Maya Code |publisher= ] |location= London |isbn= 0-500-05061-9 |oclc= 26605966 |url= https://archive.org/details/breakingmayacode00coem_0 }}
: {{cite book | author={{aut|Ivanoff, Pierre}} |others=Elaine P. Halperin (trans.)| year = 1971| title = Mayan Enigma: The Search for a Lost Civilization| |edition=English translation of ''Découvertes chez les Mayas''|location= New York | publisher=Delacorte Press|id=ISBN 0-440-05528-8 |oclc=150172 }} * {{cite book |author= Foster, Lynn V. |date= 2002 |title= Handbook to Life in the Ancient Maya World |others= with Foreword by Peter Mathews |location= New York |publisher= ] |isbn= 0-8160-4148-2 |oclc= 50676955}}
* {{cite book |author= Ivanoff, Pierre |others= Elaine P. Halperin (trans.)|date= 1971 |title= Mayan Enigma: The Search for a Lost Civilization |edition= translation of ''Découvertes chez les Mayas'', English |location= New York |publisher= Delacorte Press |isbn= 0-440-05528-8 |oclc= 150172}}
: {{cite web |author={{aut|Jacobs, James Q.}} |year=1999 |title=Mesoamerican Archaeoastronomy: A Review of Contemporary Understandings of Prehispanic Astronomic Knowledge |url=http://www.jqjacobs.net/mesoamerica/meso_astro.html |work=Mesoamerican Web Ring |publisher=jqjacobs.net |accessdate=2007-11-26}}
: {{cite book | author={{aut|Jones, Christopher}} | year = 1984| title = Deciphering Maya Hieroglyphs |others=Carl P. Beetz (illus.)|edition=2nd edition, prepared for Weekend Workshop April 7 and 8, 1984| publisher=University Museum, University of Pennsylvania |location=Philadelphia |isbn= |oclc=11641566}} * {{cite book |author= Jones, Christopher |date= 1984 |title= Deciphering Maya Hieroglyphs |others= Carl P. Beetz (illus.) |edition= prepared for Weekend Workshop April 7 and 8, 1984, 2nd |publisher= ] |location= Philadelphia |oclc= 11641566}}
: {{cite book | author={{aut|Kettunen, Harri}} |coauthors=and {{aut|Christophe Helmke}} | year=2005 | title=Introduction to Maya Hieroglyphs: 10th European Maya Conference Workshop Handbook |url= http://www.mesoweb.com/resources/handbook/ |format=] |accessdate=2006-06-08 | location=Leiden | publisher=''Wayeb'' and ]}} * {{cite book |author= Kettunen, Harri |author2=Christophe Helmke |date= 2020 |title= Introduction to Maya Hieroglyphs: 17th edition |url= https://wayeb.org//download/Kettunen_Helmke_2020_Introduction_to_Maya_Hieroglyphs_17th_ed.pdf |access-date= 2020-10-06 |location= Couvin, Belgium |publisher= Wayeb}}
* {{cite book |author= Linden, John H. |date=1996 |title= The Deity Head Variants of the C Glyph|series=The Eight Palenque Round Table, 1993|pages=343–356}}
: {{cite book | author={{aut|Malmström, Vincent H.}} |authorlink=Vincent H. Malmström | year=1997 | title=Cycles of the Sun, Mysteries of the Moon: The Calendar in Mesoamerican Civilization |location=Austin | publisher=] | isbn=0-292-75197-4 |oclc=34354774 |url=http://www.dartmouth.edu/~izapa/CS-MM-Cover.html | edition=online reproduction by author | accessdate=2007-11-26}}
* {{cite news |author= MacDonald, G. Jeffrey |date= 27 March 2007 |title= Does Maya calendar predict 2012 apocalypse? |url= https://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2007-03-27-maya-2012_N.htm |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080316220726/http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2007-03-27-maya-2012_N.htm |archive-date= 2008-03-16 |newspaper= ] |publisher= ] |location= McLean, VA |issn= 0734-7456 |access-date= 2009-05-28}}
: {{cite book |author={{aut|Miller, Mary}} |authorlink=Mary Miller |coauthors=and {{aut|]}} |year=1993 |title=The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya: An Illustrated Dictionary of Mesoamerican Religion |publisher=Thames and Hudson |location=London |isbn=0-500-05068-6 |oclc=27667317}}
: {{cite book | author={{aut|Robinson, Andrew}} |authorlink=W. Andrew Robinson |year = 2000 | title = The Story of Writing: Alphabets, Hieroglyphs and Pictograms | location= London; New York | publisher=Thames and Hudson |id=ISBN 0-500-28156-4 |oclc=59432784}} * {{cite book |author=Milbrath, Susan |date=1999 |title=Star Gods of the Maya: Astronomy in Art, Folklore, and Calendars |series=The Linda Schele series in Maya and pre-Columbian studies |location=Austin |publisher=] |isbn=0-292-75225-3 |oclc=40848420}}
: {{cite book |author={{aut|Schele, Linda}} |authorlink=Linda Schele |coauthors= and {{aut|David Freidel}} |year=1990 |title=A Forest of Kings: The Untold Story of the Ancient Maya |edition=Reprint|publisher=Harper Perennial |location=New York |isbn=0-688-11204-8 |oclc=145324300}} * {{cite book |author= Miller, Mary |author-link= Mary Miller (art historian) |author2= Karl Taube |author2-link= Karl Taube |date= 1993 |title= The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya: An Illustrated Dictionary of Mesoamerican Religion |publisher= Thames and Hudson |location= London |isbn= 0-500-05068-6 |oclc= 27667317 |url= https://archive.org/details/godssymbolsofa00mill }}
* Rice, Prudence M., ''Maya Calendar Origins: Monuments, Mythistory, and the Materialization of Time'' (Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2007) .
: {{cite book |author={{aut|Tedlock, Barbara}} |year=1982 |title=Time and the Highland Maya |location=Albuquerque |publisher=] |isbn=0-826-30577-6 |oclc=7653289}}
: {{cite book | author={{aut|Tedlock, Dennis}} (trans.) |year = 1985 | title=Popol Vuh: the Definitive Edition of the Mayan Book of the Dawn of Life and the Glories of Gods and Kings| location= New York | publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=0-671-45241-X |oclc=11467786}} * {{cite book |author= Robinson, Andrew |author-link= W. Andrew Robinson |date= 2000 |title= The Story of Writing: Alphabets, Hieroglyphs and Pictograms |location= London and New York |publisher= ] |isbn= 0-500-28156-4 |oclc= 59432784 |url-access= registration |url= https://archive.org/details/storyofwriting0000robi }}
* {{cite book |author= Roys, Ralph L. |date= 1967 |title= The Book of Chilam Balam of Chumayel |location= Norman |publisher= ]}}
: {{cite book |author={{aut|Thomas, Cyrus}} |authorlink=Cyrus Thomas |year=1897 |chapter=Day Symbols of the Maya Year |chapterurl=http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/18973/ |format=] EBook online reproduction |editor=J. W. Powell (ed.) |title=Sixteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1894–1895 |location=Washington DC |publisher=], ]; ] |pages=pp.199–266 |oclc=14963920}}
* {{cite book |author= Schele, Linda |author-link= Linda Schele |author2= David Freidel |author2-link= David Freidel |date= 1992 |title= A Forest of Kings: The Untold Story of the Ancient Maya |edition= originally published New York: Morrow, 1990, pbk reprint |publisher= ] |location= New York |isbn= 0-688-11204-8 |oclc= 145324300 |url-access= registration |url= https://archive.org/details/forestofkingsunt0034sche }}
: {{cite book | author={{aut|Thompson, J. Eric S.}} |authorlink=J. Eric S. Thompson |year=1971 | title=Maya Hieroglyphic Writing; An Introduction |series=Civilization of the American Indian Series, No. 56 | |edition=3rd edition |location=Norman | publisher=] | isbn=0-806-10447-3 |oclc=275252}}
* {{Cite journal|issue = 29|last = Schele|first = Linda|author2=Nickolai Grube |author3=Federico Fahsen |title = The Lunar Series in Classic Maya Inscriptions: New Observation and Interpretations|journal = Texas Notes on Precolumbian Art, Writing, and Culture|date = October 1992}}
: {{cite book |author={{aut|Tozzer, Alfred M.}} |coauthors=(ed., notes and trans.) |authorlink=Alfred Tozzer |year=1941 |title=Landa's Relación de las cosas de Yucatán: a translation |others=Charles P. Bowditch and Ralph L. Roys (additional trans.) |edition=English translation of ]'s ''Relación de las cosas de Yucatán'' , with notes, commentary, and appendices incorporating translated excerpts of works by Gaspar Antonio Chi, Tomás López Medel, Francisco Cervantes de Salazar, and Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas. |series=Papers of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University vol. 18 |publisher=] |location=Cambridge, MA |oclc=625693}}
*{{cite web |last=Taub |first=Ben |title=We Finally Know How The Maya Calendar Matches Up With The Planets |website=IFLScience |date=2023-04-19 |url=https://iflscience.com/we-finally-know-how-the-maya-calendar-matches-up-with-the-planets-68528}}
: {{cite book |author={{aut|Voss, Alexander}} |year=2006 |chapter=Astronomy and Mathematics |pages=pp.130–143 |editor= ] (ed.) |others=Eva Eggebrecht and Matthias Seidel (assistant eds.) |title=Maya: Divine Kings of the Rain Forest |location=Cologne, Germany |publisher=Könemann Press |isbn=3-8331-1957-8 |oclc=71165439}}
* {{cite book |author= Tedlock, Barbara |date= 1992 |edition=rev. |title= Time and the Highland Maya |location= Albuquerque |publisher= ] |isbn= 0-8263-0577-6 |oclc= 7653289}}
{{ref indent-end}}<!-- END hanging indent style -->
* {{Cite book|edition = Pub. 403|publisher = Carnegie Institution of Washington|volume = I|pages = 29–116|last = Teeple|first = John E.|title = Contributions to American Archaeology|chapter = Maya Astronomy|location = Washington D.C.|date = November 1931|chapter-url = http://www.mesoweb.com/publications/CAA/CAA02.pdf}}
* {{cite book |editor1= Tedlock, Dennis |editor-link= Dennis Tedlock |translator=Tedlock, Dennis |date= 1985 |title= Popol Vuh: The Definitive Edition of the Mayan Book of the Dawn of Life and the Glories of Gods and Kings |others= with commentary based on the ancient knowledge of the modern Quiché Maya |location= New York |publisher= ] |isbn= 0-671-45241-X |oclc= 11467786}}
* {{cite book |author= Thomas, Cyrus |author-link= Cyrus Thomas |date= 1897 |chapter= Day Symbols of the Maya Year |chapter-url= http://www.gutenberg.org:80/etext/18973 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070122051930/http://www.gutenberg.org:80/etext/18973 |archive-date=January 22, 2007 |via= ] |type=EBook online reproduction |editor= J. W. Powell |title= Sixteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1894–1895 |location= Washington DC |publisher= ], ]; ] |pages= 199–266 |oclc= 14963920}}
* {{cite book |author= Thompson, J. Eric S. |author-link= J. Eric S. Thompson |date= 1971 |title= Maya Hieroglyphic Writing: An Introduction, 3rd Edition|series= Civilization of the American Indian Series, No. 56 |edition= 3rd |location= Norman |publisher= ] |isbn= 0-8061-0447-3 |oclc= 275252}}
* {{cite book |editor1= Tozzer, Alfred M. |editor-link= Alfred Tozzer |translator=Tozzer, Alfred M. |date= 1941 |title= Landa's Relación de las cosas de Yucatán: a translation |others= Charles P. Bowditch and Ralph L. Roys (additional trans.) |edition= translation of ]'s ''Relación de las cosas de Yucatán'' , with notes, commentary, and appendices incorporating translated excerpts of works by ], Tomás López Medel, ], and ]. English |series= Papers of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University vol. 18 |publisher= ] |location= Cambridge, MA |oclc= 625693}}
* {{cite book |author= Voss, Alexander |date= 2006 |chapter= Astronomy and Mathematics |editor= Nikolai Grube |editor-link= Nikolai Grube |others= Eva Eggebrecht and Matthias Seidel (assistant eds.) |title= Maya: Divine Kings of the Rain Forest |location= Cologne, Germany |publisher= Könemann |pages= 130–143 |isbn= 978-3-8331-1957-6 |oclc= 71165439}}


{{Refend}}<!-- END biblio format style -->
== External links ==
{{commons|Maya calendar|Maya calendar}}
*
* (Uses the proleptic Gregorian calendar.)
* at
*
* (The calculator uses the proleptic Gregorian calendar, with a number of links to other Maya calendar sites.)


==External links==
* {{gutenberg|no=18973|name=Day Symbols of the Maya Year}} 1897 text by Cyrus Thomas
{{Commons|Maya calendar|Maya calendar}}
{{Gutenberg|no=18973|name=Day Symbols of the Maya Year}} 1897 text by Cyrus Thomas
* This converter uses the Julian/Gregorian calendar and includes the 819 day cycle and lunar age.
*


<br />{{Time in religion and mythology}}


{{calendars}}
{{Time in religion and mythology}}
{{Maya}}
{{Authority control}}


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Latest revision as of 02:04, 28 December 2024

Calendar used in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica

This article is part of a series on the
Maya civilization
Drawing of a Mayan stone carving with elaborate decoration.
History
Spanish conquest of the Maya

The Maya calendar is a system of calendars used in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica and in many modern communities in the Guatemalan highlands, Veracruz, Oaxaca and Chiapas, Mexico.

The essentials of the Maya calendar are based upon a system which had been in common use throughout the region, dating back to at least the 5th century BC. It shares many aspects with calendars employed by other earlier Mesoamerican civilizations, such as the Zapotec and Olmec and contemporary or later ones such as the Mixtec and Aztec calendars.

By the Maya mythological tradition, as documented in Colonial Yucatec accounts and reconstructed from Late Classic and Postclassic inscriptions, the deity Itzamna is frequently credited with bringing the knowledge of the calendrical system to the ancestral Maya, along with writing in general and other foundational aspects of Mayan culture.

Overview

Further information: Maya astronomy

The Maya calendar consists of several cycles or counts of different lengths. The 260-day count is known to scholars as the Tzolkin, or Tzolkʼin. The Tzolkin was combined with a 365-day vague solar year known as the Haabʼ to form a synchronized cycle lasting for 52 Haabʼ called the Calendar Round. The Calendar Round is still in use by many groups in the Guatemalan highlands.

A different calendar was used to track longer periods of time and for the inscription of calendar dates (i.e., identifying when one event occurred in relation to others). This is the Long Count. It is a count of days since a mythological starting-point. According to the correlation between the Long Count and Western calendars accepted by the great majority of Maya researchers (known as the Goodman-Martinez-Thompson, or GMT, correlation), this starting-point is equivalent to August 11, 3114 BC in the proleptic Gregorian calendar or September 6, in the Julian calendar (−3113 astronomical). The GMT correlation was chosen by John Eric Sydney Thompson in 1935 on the basis of earlier correlations by Joseph Goodman in 1905 (August 11), Juan Martínez Hernández in 1926 (August 12) and Thompson himself in 1927 (August 13). By its linear nature, the Long Count was capable of being extended to refer to any date far into the past or future. This calendar involved the use of a positional notation system, in which each position signified an increasing multiple of the number of days. The Maya numeral system was essentially vigesimal (i.e., base-20) and each unit of a given position represented 20 times the unit of the position which preceded it. An important exception was made for the second-order place value, which instead represented 18 × 20, or 360 days, more closely approximating the solar year than would 20 × 20 = 400 days. The cycles of the Long Count are independent of the solar year.

Many Maya Long Count inscriptions contain a supplementary series, which provides information on the lunar phase, number of the current lunation in a series of six and which of the nine Lords of the Night rules.

Less-prevalent or poorly understood cycles, combinations and calendar progressions were also tracked. An 819-day Count is attested in a few inscriptions. Repeating sets of 9 days (see below "Nine lords of the night") associated with different groups of deities, animals and other significant concepts are also known.

Tzolkʼin

Main article: Tzolkʼin

The tzolkʼin (in modern Maya orthography; also commonly written tzolkin) is the name commonly employed by Mayanist researchers for the Maya Sacred Round or 260-day calendar. The word tzolkʼin is a neologism coined in Yucatec Maya, to mean "count of days" (Coe 1992). The various names of this calendar as used by precolumbian Maya people are still debated by scholars. The Aztec calendar equivalent was called Tōnalpōhualli, in the Nahuatl language.

The tzolkʼin calendar combines twenty day names with the thirteen day numbers to produce 260 unique days. It is used to determine the time of religious and ceremonial events and for divination. Each successive day is numbered from 1 up to 13 and then starting again at 1. Separately from this, every day is given a name in sequence from a list of 20 day names:

Tzolkʼin calendar: named days and associated glyphs
Seq.
Num.
Day
Name
Glyph
example
16th-c.
Yucatec
K'iche' Reconstructed
Classic Maya
Seq.
Num.
Day
Name
Glyph
example
16th-c.
Yucatec
Quiché Reconstructed
Classic Maya
01 Imix Imix Imox Imix (?) / Haʼ (?) 11 Chuwen Chuen Bʼatzʼ (unknown)
02 Ikʼ Ik Iqʼ Ikʼ 12 Ebʼ Eb (unknown)
03 Akʼbʼal Akbal Aqʼabʼal Akʼbʼal (?) 13 Bʼen Ben Aj C'klab
04 Kʼan Kan Kʼat Kʼan (?) 14 Ix Ix Iʼx, Balam Hix (?)
05 Chikchan Chicchan Kan (unknown) 15 Men Men Tzikin Men (?)
06 Kimi Cimi Kame Cham (?) 16 Kʼibʼ Cib Ajmaq (unknown)
07 Manikʼ Manik Kej Manichʼ (?) 17 Kabʼan Caban Noʼj Chabʼ (?)
08 Lamat Lamat Qʼanil Ekʼ (?) 18 Etzʼnabʼ Etznab Tijax (unknown)
09 Muluk Muluc Toj (unknown) 19 Kawak Cauac Kawoq (unknown)
10 Ok Oc Tzʼiʼ (unknown) 20 Ajaw Ahau Ajpu Ajaw
NOTES:
  1. The sequence number of the named day in the Tzolkʼin calendar
  2. Day name, in the standardized and revised orthography of the Guatemalan Academia de Lenguas Mayas
  3. An example glyph (logogram) for the named day. Note that for most of these several different forms are recorded; the ones shown here are typical of carved monumental inscriptions (these are "cartouche" versions)
  4. Day name, as recorded from 16th-century Yucatec Maya accounts, principally Diego de Landa; this orthography has (until recently) been widely used
  5. In most cases, the actual day name as spoken in the time of the Classic Period (c. 200–900) when most inscriptions were made is not known. The versions given here (in Classic Maya, the main language of the inscriptions) are reconstructed on the basis of phonological evidence, if available; a '?' symbol indicates the reconstruction is tentative.

Some systems started the count with 1 Imix, followed by 2 Ikʼ, 3 Akʼbʼal, etc. up to 13 Bʼen. The day numbers then start again at 1 while the named-day sequence continues onwards, so the next days in the sequence are 1 Ix, 2 Men, 3 Kʼibʼ, 4 Kabʼan, 5 Etzʼnabʼ, 6 Kawak and 7 Ajaw. With all twenty named days used, these now began to repeat the cycle while the number sequence continues, so the next day after 7 Ajaw is 8 Imix. The repetition of these interlocking 13- and 20-day cycles therefore takes 260 days to complete (that is, for every possible combination of number/named day to occur once).

The earliest known inscription with a Tzolkʼin is an Olmec earspool with 2 Ahau 3 Ceh - 6.3.10.9.0, September 2, -678 (Julian astronomical).

Haabʼ

Haabʼ months: names and glyphs in sequence
Seq.
Num.
Yucatec
name
Hieroglyph
Classic Period

glyph sign

Meaning of glyph
Reconstructed Classic Maya
1 Pop 𝋠 k'anjalaw
2 Woʼ 𝋠 ik'at
3 Sip 𝋠 chakat
4 Sotzʼ 𝋠 bat sotz'
5 Sek 𝋠 kaseew
6 Xul 𝋠 chikin
7 Yaxkʼin 𝋠 yaxk'in
8 Mol 𝋠 mol
9 Chʼen 𝋠 black ik'siho'm
10 Yax 𝋠 green yaxsiho'm
11 Sak 𝋠 white saksiho'm
12 Keh 𝋠 red chaksiho'm
13 Mak 𝋠 mak
14 Kʼankʼin 𝋠 uniiw
15 Muwan 𝋠 muwaan
16 Pax 𝋠 paxiil
17 Kʼayab 𝋠 k'anasiiy
18 Kumkʼu 𝋠 ohl
19 Wayebʼ 𝋠 five unlucky days wayhaab
Main article: Haabʼ

The Haabʼ was made up of eighteen months of twenty days each plus a period of five days ("nameless days") at the end of the year known as Wayeb' (or Uayeb in 16th-century orthography). The five days of Wayebʼ were thought to be a dangerous time. Foster (2002) writes, "During Wayeb, portals between the mortal realm and the Underworld dissolved. No boundaries prevented the ill-intending deities from causing disasters." To ward off these evil spirits, the Maya had customs and rituals they practiced during Wayebʼ. For example, people avoided leaving their houses and washing or combing their hair. Bricker (1982) estimates that the Haabʼ was first used around 550 BC with a starting point of the winter solstice.

The Haabʼ month names are known today by their corresponding names in colonial-era Yukatek Maya, as transcribed by 16th-century sources (in particular, Diego de Landa and books such as the Chilam Balam of Chumayel). Phonemic analyses of Haabʼ glyph names in pre-Columbian Maya inscriptions have demonstrated that the names for these twenty-day periods varied considerably from region to region and from period to period, reflecting differences in the base language(s) and usage in the Classic and Postclassic eras predating their recording by Spanish sources.

Each day in the Haabʼ calendar was identified by a day number in the month followed by the name of the month. Day numbers began with a glyph translated as the "seating of" a named month, which is usually regarded as day 0 of that month, although a minority treat it as day 20 of the month preceding the named month. In the latter case, the seating of Pop is day 5 of Wayebʼ. For the majority, the first day of the year was 0 Pop (the seating of Pop). This was followed by 1 Pop, 2 Pop as far as 19 Pop then 0 Wo, 1 Wo and so on.

Because the Haabʼ had 365 days and the tropical year is 365.2422 days, the days of the Haabʼ did not coincide with the tropical year.

Calendar Round

A Calendar Round date is a date that gives both the Tzolkʼin and Haabʼ. This date will repeat after 52 Haabʼ years or 18,980 days, a Calendar Round. For example, the current creation started on 4 Ahau 8 Kumkʼu. When this date recurs it is known as a Calendar Round completion.

Arithmetically, the duration of the Calendar Round is the least common multiple of 260 and 365; 18,980 is 73 × 260 Tzolkʼin days and 52 × 365 Haabʼ days.

Not every possible combination of Tzolkʼin and Haabʼ can occur. For Tzolkʼin days Imix, Kimi, Chuwen and Kibʼ, the Haabʼ day can only be 4, 9, 14 or 19; for Ikʼ, Manikʼ, Ebʼ and Kabʼan, the Haabʼ day can only be 0, 5, 10 or 15; for Akbʼalʼ, Lamat, Bʼen and Etzʼnabʼ, the Haabʼ day can only be 1, 6, 11 or 16; for Kʼan, Muluk, Ix and Kawak, the Haabʼ day can only be 2, 7, 12 or 17; and for Chikchan, Ok, Men and Ajaw, the Haabʼ day can only be 3, 8, 13 or 18.

Year Bearer

A "Year Bearer" is a Tzolkʼin day name that occurs on 0 Pop, the first day of the Haabʼ. Since there are 20 Tzolkʼin day names, 365 days in the Haabʼ, and the remainder of 365 divided by 20 is 5 (365 = 18×20 + 5), the Tzolkʼin day name for each successive 0 Pop will be 5 later in the cycle of Tzolk'in day names. Similarly, since there are 13 Tzolk'in day numbers, and the remainder of 365 divided by 13 is 1 (365 = 28×13 + 1), the Tzolk'in day number for each successive 0 Pop will be 1 greater than before. As such, the sequence of Tzolk'in dates corresponding to the Haab' date 0 Pop are as follows:

  • 1 Ikʼ
  • 2 Manikʼ
  • 3 Ebʼ
  • 4 Kabʼan
  • 5 Ikʼ
  • ...
  • 12 Kab'an
  • 13 Ik'
  • 1 Manik'
  • ...

Thus, the Year Bearers are the four Tzolkʼin day names that appear in this sequence: Ik', Manik', Eb', and Kab'an.

"Year Bearer" literally translates a Mayan concept. Its importance resides in two facts. For one, the four years headed by the Year Bearers are named after them and share their characteristics; therefore, they also have their own prognostications and patron deities. Moreover, since the Year Bearers are geographically identified with boundary markers or mountains, they help define the local community.

The classic system of Year Bearers described above is found at Tikal and in the Dresden Codex. During the Late Classic period a different set of Year Bearers was in use in Campeche. In this system, the Year Bearers were the Tzolkʼin that coincided with 1 Pop. These were Akʼbʼal, Lamat, Bʼen and Edznab. During the Post-Classic period in Yucatán a third system was in use. In this system the Year Bearers were the days that coincided with 2 Pop: Kʼan, Muluc, Ix and Kawak. This system is found in the Chronicle of Oxkutzcab. In addition, just before the Spanish conquest in Mayapan the Maya began to number the days of the Haabʼ from 1 to 20. In this system the Year Bearers are the same as in the 1 Pop – Campeche system. The Classic Year Bearer system is still in use in the Guatemalan highlands and in Veracruz, Oaxaca and Chiapas, Mexico.

Long Count

East side of Stela C, Quirigua with the mythical creation date of 13 baktuns, 0 katuns, 0 tuns, 0 uinals, 0 kins, 4 Ahau, 8 Cumku – August 11, 3114 BC in the proleptic Gregorian calendar
Main article: Mesoamerican Long Count calendar

Since Calendar Round dates repeat every 18,980 days, approximately 52 solar years, the cycle repeats roughly once each lifetime, so a more refined method of dating was needed if history was to be recorded accurately. To specify dates over periods longer than 52 years, Mesoamericans used the Long Count calendar.

The Maya name for a day was kʼin. Twenty of these kʼins are known as a winal or uinal. Eighteen winals make one tun. Twenty tuns are known as a kʼatun. Twenty kʼatuns make a bʼakʼtun.

The Long Count calendar identifies a date by counting the number of days from the Mayan creation date 4 Ahaw, 8 Kumkʼu (August 11, 3114 BC in the proleptic Gregorian calendar or September 6 in the Julian calendar -3113 astronomical dating). But instead of using a base-10 (decimal) scheme, the Long Count days were tallied in a modified base-20 scheme. Thus 0.0.0.1.5 is equal to 25 and 0.0.0.2.0 is equal to 40. As the winal unit resets after only counting to 18, the Long Count consistently uses base-20 only if the tun is considered the primary unit of measurement, not the kʼin; with the kʼin and winal units being the number of days in the tun. The Long Count 0.0.1.0.0 represents 360 days, rather than the 400 in a purely base-20 (vigesimal) count.

There are also four rarely used higher-order cycles: piktun, kalabtun, kʼinchiltun, and alautun.

Since the Long Count dates are unambiguous, the Long Count was particularly well suited to use on monuments. The monumental inscriptions would not only include the 5 digits of the Long Count, but would also include the two tzolkʼin characters followed by the two haabʼ characters.

Misinterpretation of the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar was the basis for a popular belief that a cataclysm would take place on December 21, 2012. December 21, 2012 was simply the day that the calendar went to the next bʼakʼtun, at Long Count 13.0.0.0.0. The date of the start of the next b'ak'tun (Long Count 14.0.0.0.0) is March 26, 2407. The date of the start of the next piktun (a complete series of 20 bʼakʼtuns), at Long Count 1.0.0.0.0.0, is October 13, 4772.

Table of Long Count units
Long Count
unit
Long Count
period
Days Approximate
Solar Years
1 Kʼin   1  
1 Winal 20 Kʼin 20  
1 Tun 18 Winal 360 1
1 Kʼatun 20 Tun 7,200 20
1 Bʼakʼtun 20 Kʼatun 144,000 394
1 Piktun 20 Bʼakʼtun 2,880,000 7,885
1 Kalabtun 20 Piktun 57,600,000 157,704
1 Kʼinchiltun 20 Kalabtun 1,152,000,000 3,154,071
1 Alautun 20 Kʼinchiltun 23,040,000,000 63,081,429

Supplementary Series

Many Classic period inscriptions include a series of glyphs known as the Supplementary Series. The operation of this series was largely worked out by John E. Teeple. The Supplementary Series most commonly consists of the following elements:

Lords of the Night

Main article: Lords of the Night

Each night was ruled by one of the nine lords of the underworld. This nine-day cycle was usually written as two glyphs: a glyph that referred to the Nine Lords as a group, followed by a glyph for the lord that would rule the next night.

Lunar Series

A lunar series generally is written as five glyphs that provide information about the current lunation, the number of the lunation in a series of six, the current ruling lunar deity and the length of the current lunation.

Moon age

The Maya counted the number of days in the current lunation. They used two systems for the zero date of the lunar cycle: either the first night they could see the thin crescent moon or the first morning when they could not see the waning moon. The age of the moon was depicted by a set of glyphs that mayanists coined glyphs D and E:

  • A new moon glyph was used for day zero in the lunar cycle.
  • D glyphs were used for lunar ages for days 1 through 19, with the number of days that had passed from the new moon.
  • For lunar ages 20 to 30, an E glyph was used, with the number of days from 20.

Count of Lunations

The Maya counted the lunations. This cycle appears in the lunar series as two glyphs that modern scholars call the 'C' and 'X' glyphs. The C glyph could be prefixed with a number indicating the lunation. No prefixing number meant one, whereas the numbers two through six indicated the other lunations. There was also a part of the C glyph that indicated where this fell in a larger cycle of 18 lunations. Accompanying the C glyph was the 'X' glyph that showed a similar pattern of 18 lunations.

Lunation length

The present era lunar synodic period is about 29.5305877 mean solar days or about 29 days 12 hours 44 minutes and 2+/9 seconds. As a whole number, the number of days per lunation will be either 29 or 30 days, with the 30-day intervals necessarily occurring slightly more frequently than the 29-day intervals. The Maya wrote whether the lunar month was 29 or 30 days as two glyphs: a glyph for lunation length followed by either a glyph made up of a moon glyph over a bundle with a suffix of 9 for a 29-day lunation or a moon glyph with a suffix of 10 for a 30-day lunation. Since the Maya didn't use fractions, lunations were approximated by using the formula that there were 149 lunations completed in 4400 days, which yielded a rather short mean month of exactly /149 = 29+/149 days = 29 days 12 hours 43 minutes and 29+/149 seconds, or about 29.5302 days.

819-day count

Some Mayan monuments include glyphs that record an 819-day count in their Initial Series. These can also be found in the Dresden codex. This is described in Thompson. More examples of this can be found in Kelley. Each group of 819 days was associated with one of four colors and the cardinal direction with which it was associated – black corresponded to west, red to east, white to north and yellow to south.

The 819-day count can be described several ways: Most of these are referred to using a "Y" glyph and a number. Many also have a glyph for Kʼawill – the god with a smoking mirror in his head. Kʼawill has been suggested as having a link to Jupiter. In the Dresden codex almanac 59 there are Chaacs of the four colors. The accompanying texts begin with a directional glyph and a verb for 819-day-count phrases. Anderson provides a detailed description of the 819-day count.

Synodic periods of the classical planets

   Moon: 1 x 819 + 8 days = 28 (synodic 29.53 d) "28 months"
   Moon: 4 x 819 + 2 days = 111 (synodic 29.53 d) "111 months"
   Moon: 15 x 819 + 0.3 days = 416 (synodic 29.53 d) "416 months"
   Draconic: 31 x 819 days = 933 (draconic 27.21 d) "nodal months"
   Mercury: 1 x 819 + 8 days = 7 (synodic 115.88 d)
   Mercury: 15 x 819 + 2 days = 106 (synodic 115.88 d)
   Venus: 5 x 819 + 8 days = 7 (synodic 583.9 d)
   Sun: 4 x 819 + 11 days = 9 (synodic 365.24 d) "9 years"
   Sun: 33 x 819 + 1 days = 74 (synodic 365.24 d) "74 years"
   Mars: 20 x 819 + 2 days = 21 (synodic 779.9 d)
   Jupiter: 1 x 819 + 21 days = 2 (synodic 398.88 d)
   Jupiter: 19 x 819 + 5 days = 39 (synodic 398.88 d)
   Saturn: 6 x 819 - 1 days = 13 (synod 378.09 d)

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. 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 was named after its concluding day, Ahau ('Lord'). 1 Imix was selected as the recurrent 'first day' of the 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 = 7200 days long, and the remainder of 7200 divided by 13 is 11 (7200 = 553×13 + 11), the day number of the concluding day of each successive katun is 9 greater than before (wrapping around at 13, since only 13 day numbers are used). That is, starting with the katun that begins with 1 Imix, the sequence of concluding day numbers is 11, 9, 7, 5, 3, 1, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 13, 11, ..., all named Ahau. The concluding day 13 Ahau was followed by the re-entering first day 1 Imix. This is the system as found in the colonial Books of Chilam Balam. In characteristic Mesoamerican fashion, these books project the cycle onto the landscape, with 13 Ahauob 'Lordships' dividing the land of Yucatán into 13 'kingdoms'.

See also

Notes

  1. Tedlock, Barbara, Time and the Highland Maya Revised edition (1992 Page 1) "Scores of indigenous Guatemalan communities, principally those speaking the Mayan languages known as Ixil, Mam, Pokomchí and Quiché, keep the 260-day cycle and (in many cases) the ancient solar cycle as well (chapter 4)."
  2. Miles, Susanna W, "An Analysis of the Modern Middle American Calendars: A Study in Conservation." In Acculturation in the Americas. Edited by Sol Tax, p. 273. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1952.
  3. "Maya Calendar Origins: Monuments, Mythistory, and the Materialization of Time".
  4. See entry on Itzamna, in Miller and Taube (1993), pp.99–100.
  5. ^ Academia de las Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala (1988). Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala: Documento de referencia para la pronunciación de los nuevos alfabetos oficiales. Guatemala City: Instituto Indigenista Nacional. For details and notes on adoption among the Mayanist community, see Kettunen & Helmke (2020), p. 7.
  6. Tedlock (1992), p. 1
  7. "Mythological" in the sense that when the Long Count was first devised sometime in the Mid- to Late Preclassic, long after this date; see e.g. Miller and Taube (1993, p. 50).
  8. Voss (2006, p. 138)
  9. See separate brief Misplaced Pages article Lords of the Night
  10. Stuart, David (2024-04-19). "Day Sign Notes: Men / Tz'ikin". Maya Decipherment. Retrieved 2024-05-01.
  11. Classic-era reconstructions are as per Kettunen and Helmke (2020), pp. 56–57.
  12. Edmonson, Munro S. (1988). The Book of the Year MIDDLE AMERICAN CALENDRICAL SYSTEMS. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press. p. 20. ISBN 0-87480-288-1.
  13. Kettunen and Helmke (2020), pp. 58–59
  14. These names come from de Landa's description of the calendar and they are commonly used by Mayanists, but the Classic Maya did not use these actual names for the day signs. The original names are unknown. See Coe, Michael D.; Mark L Van Stone (2005). Reading the Maya Glyphs. London: Thames & Hudson. p. 43. ISBN 978-0-500-28553-4.
  15. ^ Coe, Michael D.; Mark L Van Stone (2005). Reading the Maya Glyphs. London: Thames & Hudson. p. 43. ISBN 978-0-500-28553-4.
  16. Zero Pop actually fell on the same day as the solstice on 12/27/−575, 12/27/−574, 12/27/−573 and 12/26/−572 (astronomical year numbering, Universal Time), if you don't account for the fact that the Maya region is in roughly time zone UT−6. See IMCCE seasons. Archived August 23, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  17. Boot (2002), pp. 111–114.
  18. For further details, see Thompson 1966: 123–124
  19. Kettunen and Helmke (2020), p. 51
  20. Thompson 1966: 124
  21. For a thorough treatment of the Year Bearers, see Tedlock 1992: 89–90; 99–104 and Thompson 1966
  22. See Coe 1965
  23. Tedlock 1992: 92
  24. Miles, Susanna W, "An Analysis of the Modern Middle American Calendars: A Study in Conservation." In Acculturation in the Americas. Edited by Sol Tax, pp. 273–84. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1952.
  25. Thompson, J. Eric S. Maya Hieroglyphic Writing, 1950 Page 236
  26. Teeple 1931:53
  27. Thompson Maya Hieroglyphic Writing 1950:240
  28. Linden 1996:343–356.
  29. Schele, Grube, Fahsen 1992
  30. Teeple 1931:67
  31. "The Mayan mystic 819-day calendar" [The Mayan mystic 819-day calendar]. Mexican Routes. 2024-12-26. Retrieved 27 Dec 2024.
  32. Grofe, Michael John 2007 The Serpent Series: Precession in the Maya Dresden Codex page 55 p. 206
  33. Maya Hieroglyphic Writing 1971 pp. 212–217
  34. Decipherment of Maya Script, David Kelley 1973 pp. 56–57
  35. Star Gods of the Maya Susan Milbrath 1999, University of Texas Press
  36. "Lloyd B. Anderson The Mayan 819-day Count and the "Y" Glyph: A Probable association with Jupiter". Traditional High Cultures Home Page. Archived from the original on May 6, 2015. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
  37. 2023, John H. Linden, Victoria R. Bricker, The Maya 819-Day Count and Planetary Astronomy https://doi.org/10.1017/S0956536122000323
  38. Coe, William R. 'TIKAL a handbook of the ancient Maya Ruins' The University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa. 1967 p. 114
  39. Roys 1967: 132, 184–185

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