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MAYA CALENDAR AND 13TH BAKTUN |
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One of the Maya’s greatest cultural achievements was the invention of a calendar that has marked off the days of great cycles of time, beginning from a “zero date” of August 11,3114 BC. No one knows what this date signified to the Maya, and or why it was chosen as the starting point of their “Long Count” of time. In fact, archaeologists believe the Long Count was not even invented until several thousand years after 3114 BC.
The earliest date discovered so far on a stelae in Guatemala is 235 BC, which marks the known beginning of the country’s written history. From later hieroglyphic inscriptions carved by the Maya on stelae, altars and stairways, archaeologists have been able to piece together a surprisingly precise history of their rulers at some sites. While the Long Count was abandoned many years ago, contemporary Mayahave faithfully kept the count of days in the Tzolkin or Cholq`ij ritual calendar, consisting of twenty named days with numerical prefixes ranging from one to thirteen – the basic, 260-day unit of the Long Count. This count of days is marching inevitably toward the end of an immense, 5,125-year cycle of history, when the 13th Baktun of the Maya calendar will draw to a close, on December 23,2012. The Maya will then be launched into a new cycle of time in which, according to ancient beliefs, their history and the great accomplishments of their ancestors will be repeated. |
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