Maya Calendar and Maya Astronomy

Maya Calendar The Maya developed a sophisticated calendar. The ritual calendar thatdeveloped in Mesoamerica used a count of 260 days. This calendar gaveeach day a name, much like our days of the week. There were 20 daynames, each represented by a unique symbol. The days were numberedfrom 1 to 13. Since there are 20 day names, after the count ofthirteen was reached, the next day was numbered 1 again. The 260-dayor sacred count calendar was in use throughout Mesoamerica forcenturies, probably before the beginning of writing.Maya Day Names & Approximate MeaningsImix Waterlily Chuwen FrogIk' Wind Eb SkullAk'bal Night Ben Corn stalkK'an Corn Ix JaguarChikchan Snake Men EagleKimi Death head Kib ShellManik' Hand Kaban EarthLamat Venus Etz'nab FlintMuluk Water Kawak Storm cloudOk Dog Ahaw LordThe Maya also tracked a vague solar year in which they counted 365days per year. Because they could not use fractions, the "quarter"day left over every year caused their calendar to drift with regardto the actual solar year. The 365-day year contained months were alsogiven names. numbers 0-19 before they changed, so that the count goesZero Pohp to 19 Pohp, then continues with Zero Wo.Month Names and Approximate MeaningsPohp Mat Yax Green ??Wo ?? Zak White ??Sip ?? Keh Red ??Sotz' Bat Mak ??Sek ?? K'ank'in ??Xul Dog Muwan OwlYaxk'in New Sun Pax ??Mol Water K'ayab TurtleCh'en Black ?? Kumk'u ??To the eighteen regular months the Maya appended a special five-daymonth called Wayeb composed of 5 days which were considered unnamedand unlucky. Thus the days were counted: One Imix, Zero Pohp, Two Ik,One Pohp. When the thirteenth day was reached the next day wasThirteen Ben, Twelve Pohp; then One Ix, Thirteen Pohp, Two Men,Fourteen Pohp. After Seven Ahaw, Nineteen Pohp, the next day wasEight Imix, Zero Wo.In addition, the Maya used special glyphs to indicate time periods,the kin represented one day. Winals are periods of 20-days which wenow call a month. The Tun was a year of 360 days and the K'atun was atime period of 20 years of 360 days each. As we will see later, theK'atun ending was a special time period celebrated by the Maya. Ithas its parallel in the modern world, the period of time which wecall a decade. The Maya also counted 400-year periods called Baktuns.The Maya used these time periods in a special day count which is nowcalled the Long count. Today a typical long count date is writtenthus: 9.14.12.2.17. This represents 9 baktuns, 14 k'atuns, 12 tuns, 2winals and 17 k'ins. [Special note: All names given here are in thenew orthography developed by native Maya of Guatemala. Their systemis being accepted by many various organizations of Maya and similarforms of this orthography are being adopted by other Maya groups. Inreality, this system probably makes it easier for English speakers topronounce the actual words. Given the Maya propensity for words andlanguage it is only a natural development.]> michielb.nl / projects / maya astronomyMaya AstronomyThe Maya were quite accomplished astronomers. Their primary interest,in contrast to "western" astronomers, were Zenial Passages when theSun crossed over the Maya latitudes. On an annual basis the suntravels to its summer solstice point, or the latitude of 23-1/3degrees north.Most of the Maya cities were located south of this latitude, meaningthat they could observe the sun directly overhead during the timethat the sun was passing over their latitude. This happened twice ayear, evenly spaced around the day of solstice.The Maya could easily determine these dates, because at local noon,they cast no shadow. Zenial passage observations are possible only inthe Tropics and were quite unknown to the Spanish conquistadors whodescended upon the Yucatan peninsula in the 16th century. The Mayahad a god to represented this position of the Sun called the DivingGod.VenusThe SunThe MoonThe EclipticThe Milky WayPolitical aspect of their cosmologyVenusVenus was the astronomical object of greatest interest. I think itpossible that the Maya knew it better than any civilization outsideMesoamerica. They thought it was more important than the Sun. Theywatched it carefully as it moved through its stations--it takes 584days for Venus and the Earth to line up in their previous position ascompared to the Sun. It takes about 2922 days for the Earth, Venus,the Sun, and the stars to agree.The pattern of Venus is usually reckoned at Inferior Conjunction,that time when Venus passes between the Sun and the Earth. A diagramof this situation can be seen on the left.During this period, Venus cannot be seen from Earth. It disappearsfor a short period that averages 8 days. When it first rises afterinferior conjunction, that is when it was first spotted in themorning sky, called heliacal rising because it is rising with thesun, was the most important position of Venus.After rising, Venus will reach its greatest brilliancy then itgreatest elongation west, moving quickly (in retrograde motion) awayfrom the Sun. After that it will remain visible for about 260 days inthe morning sky until it reaches superior conjunction. At this pointVenus is on the opposite side of the Sun as we view it from Earth. Itbecomes dim, until it dips back under the horizon, only to appear onthe opposite side of the sun an average of 50 days later. It thenrises as a evening star and remain in the night sky about 260 daysuntil it goes through its eastern elongation point and greatestbrilliancy before arriving at Inferior Conjunction again.The Maya made daytime observations of Venus. Venus had apsychological effect upon the Maya and other Mesoamerican cultures,it has been shown that the Maya were timing some of their wars basedon the stationary points of Venus and Jupiter. Humans were sacrificedon first appearance after Superior Conjunction when Venus was at itsdimmest magnitude but they most feared the first Heliacal Risingafter Inferior Conjunction.In the Dresden Codex, the Maya had an almanac that displayed the fullcycle of Venus. They counted five sets of 584 days, that is 2,920days is approximately 8 years or 5 repetitions of the Venus cycle.The SunThe Maya evidently thought quite a bit about the Sun and they watchedit trace out a path along the ecliptic. They followed it year round,presumably following its path along the horizon as well. At ChichenItza, during sunset a sun serpent rises up the side of the stairwayof the pyramid called El Castillo on the day of Spring and AutumnEquinox. It tells us that the Maya noted, not only the extremes ofthe Sun at the Solstices, but also the Equinoxes when the Sunappeared to rise due East or due West. In addition to the ZenialPassages mentioned earlier, ecliptic observations must have been amajor portion of Maya solar observing.The MoonThe Maya had a lunar component to their calendric inscriptions. Aftergiving the pertinent information on the date according to the Mayacalendar the typical Maya inscriptions contain a lunar reckoning. Thelunar count was counted as 29 or 30 days, alternating. The lunarsynodic period is close to 29.5 days, so by alternating their countbetween these two numbers the moon was carefully meshed into thecalendric sequence as well. Their lunar knowledge was impressive forthey also made eclipse predictions, an almanac for predicting them iscontained in the Dresden Codex.The EclipticThe Maya portrayed the Ecliptic in their artwork as a Double-HeadedSerpent. The ecliptic is the path of the sun in the sky which ismarked by the constellations of fixed stars. Here the moon and theplanets can be found because they are bound, like the Earth, to thesun. The constellations on the ecliptic are also called the zodiac.We don't know exactly how fixed constellations on the ecliptic wereseen by the Maya, but we have some idea of the order in some parts ofthe sky. We know there is a scorpion, which we equate with our ownconstellation of Scorpius, in this figure I believe they used theclaws of Libra. It has also been found that Gemini appeared to theMaya as a pig or peccary, (a nocturnal animal in the pig family.)Some other constellations on the ecliptic are identified as a jaguar,at least one serpent, a bat, a turtle, a xoc monster--that is, shark,or a sea monster. The Pleiades were seen as the tail of therattlesnake and is called, "Tz'ab."The Milky WayThe Milky Way itself was much venerated by the Maya. They called itthe World Tree, which was represented by a tall and majesticflowering tree, the Ceiba. The Milky Way was also called the WakahChan. Wak means "Six" or "Erect". Chan or K'anmeans "Four", "Serpent" or "Sky". The World Tree was erect whenSagittarius was well over the horizon. At this time the Milky Wayrose up from the horizon and climbed overhead into the North. Thestar clouds that form the Milky Way were seen as the tree of lifewhere all life came from. Near Sagittarius, the center of our galaxy,where the World Tree meets the Ecliptic was given special attentionby the Maya. A major element of the World Tree include the KawakMonster, a giant head with a kin in its forehead. This monster wasalso a mountain or witz monster. A sacrificial bowl on its headcontains a flint blade representing sacrifice, and the Kimi glyphthat represents death. The Ecliptic is sometimes represented as a barcrossing the major axis of the world tree, making a form that issimilar to the Christian Cross. On top of the World Tree we find abird that has been called, the Principal Bird deity, or Itzam Ye.There is also evidence that shows the Sun on the World Tree as itappeared to the Maya at Winter Solstice.During the months of winter, when the so-called "Winter" Milky Waydominates the sky, it was called the "White Boned Serpent." This partof the Milky Way passed overhead at night during the dry season. Itis not brilliant like the star clouds that dominate the sky North ofthe equator during the months of Summer, but observers at darklocations will easily see the glow. Here the Ecliptic crosses theMilky Way again, near the constellation of Gemini which was theapproximate location of the Sun during Summer Solstice. It ispossible that the jaws of the White-Boned Serpent were represented bythe Kawak monster head.Politics and CosmologyThe Maya Kings timed their accession rituals in tune with the starsand the Milky Way. They celebrated k'atun endings approximately everytwenty years. At the end of the 20-year k'atun period, Maya rulersregularly erected a stela, called a stone tree, to commemorate theevent. On stone stela they depicted themselves at the time of theseceremonies dressed in costumes that contained the symbols that wereassociated with the World Tree.Their headdresses contained the Principal Bird Deity, in their armsthey held a so-called ceremonial bar that represented the double-headed serpent of the ecliptic. By wearing the costume elements ofthe World Tree the Maya ruler linked himself to the sky, the gods andthat essential ingredient, life. In addition, it has been found thatwhen the k'atun ending coincided with certain planetary positions theMaya went to war to obtain captives.The cosmology of the Maya was a living, religious philosophy thatpermeated their lives to a degree that might seem excessive to modernpeople. They were astute observers, sensitive to the cyclical natureof the sun, moon and planets.> michielb.nl / projects / maya astronomy