All about the ancient tribes
In contrast to the calendars utilized in Western cultures, the Mayan calendar included a zero. The majority of Mayanist researchers, such as Mark Van Stone and Anthony Aveni, subscribe to the ‘GMT (Goodman-Martinez-Thompson) connection’ with the Long Count, which sets the beginning date of the b’ak’tun 13 at 21 December 2012 and the end date of 11 August 3114 BC.
The majority of historians believe that 4 Ahau 8 Cumku, which most likely occurred on August 11, 3114 bce, was the base date that the Maya utilized for the beginning of the ″Long Count″ and the first ″Great Cycle,″ a span of 5,125 years that would conclude on December 21, 2012 ce.
The Tzolkin calendar is a 260-day calendar that numbers the days from 1 to 13 in a continuous cycle, for a total of 20 cycles during the course of the year. These cycles are used to mark important events in religious and ceremonial life. The Haab is a solar calendar that has 365 days and is composed of 18 months that each have 20 days and one month that has five days.
Something unknown occurred before the end of the eighth century and continued until the beginning of the ninth century, during which time it shook the Maya civilization to its very core. By the year 900 A.D., all of the Classic towns that were located in the southern lowlands had been deserted, which meant that the Maya civilisation in that area had come to an end.
The Mayan calendar places the date of the beginning of the world on August 11th, 3114 before now. This day, as shown by the Julian calendar, falls on September 6th, 3114 years before the common era. According to the Gregorian calendar, the cycle will come to a close on December 21, 2012; while, according to the Julian calendar, it will conclude on June 21, 2020.
The calendar was also used to indicate the time of events that occurred in the past and those that will occur in the future.For instance, the dates of events that took place 90 million years ago are recorded on certain Maya monuments, while other monuments make predictions about events that will take place 3,000 years in the future.In the same way as our modern astrological zodiac does, the calendar contained forecasts of the future.
Many books and specialist publications present the idea as if it were established fact that the Maya calendrical system, which consisted of the Haab and the Tzolk’in, was more precise and corresponded more closely to the actual solar year than the Gregorian calendar does (even though reputable sources claim it is 365 days compared to 365.2425 days).
At the very least, the Mayan calendar may be traced back to the fifth century before the common era, and it is still in use in some Mayan communities today. However, despite the fact that Mayan culture had a significant role in the evolution of the calendar, it was not first developed by the Mayans.
Greeks were the ones who provided the Romans with the foundation for their oldest known calendar. A total of 304 days were distributed among the year’s 10 months of the calendar. It would appear that the Romans paid no attention to the remaining 61 days, which occurred in the heart of the winter.
Overpopulation, environmental deterioration, conflict, shifting trade routes, and protracted drought are only few of the possible contributing factors that may have led to the collapse of the Maya civilisation in the southern lowlands.Scholars have also proposed a variety of other possible explanations.It is quite likely that the collapse was caused by a multifaceted confluence of several variables.
Archaeologists are almost unanimous in their belief that the demise of the Mayan civilisation was brought on by a combination of factors, including prolonged drought, warfare, unsustainable agricultural techniques, and overpopulation.
The Mayan prediction that the end of the world will occur on December 21, 2012 according to their calendar served as the inspiration for the plot of the movie. Solar flares would bring the extinction of all life on earth as well as the destruction of the planet itself. This phenomena was adapted for the big screen by ″2012.″
In order to find a solution to this issue, the Egyptians conceptualized a civil year that consisted of 365 days and was split into three distinct seasons.Each season was comprised of four months that were each 30 days long.Intercalary days were added at the end of the year to bring the total number of days in a year up to 360.This meant that there were 364 total days in a year instead of the usual 360.
How to Determine Your Birthday Using the Maya Long Count: A Guide for Educators
What exactly is a Tzolkin? The Tzolkin date is derived from the addition of the durations of two separate ″weeks.″ Our calendar use a single week consisting of seven days, whereas the Mayan calendar utilized two distinct lengths of week: a numbered week consisting of 13 days, in which each day was assigned a number from one to thirteen; and a week consisting of seven days.