The Long Count Date In Maya dating, the date reads from left to right with the 'Long Count' date coming first, then the 'Tzolkin date' and lastly, the 'Haab date'. For example, using the Maya calender numbering system, a typical date would read as: “13.0.0.0.0 4 Ahau, 8 Kumku." “13.0.0.0.0” is the Long Count date, “4 Ahau” is the Tzolkin date, and “8 Kumku” is the Haab' date. Here's how it works: Maya long count dates are written out from left to right with five numbers which are separated by four periods, written as such: 13.0.0.0.0 The year is marked to the far left, with the day being counted to the far right. The ancient Maya represented these number values with their own beautifully designed hieroglyphs instead of using actual …show more content…
numerals, as we are in these examples. The number on the right-most position is called the “k'in,” which counts single days, for example: 13.0.0.0.1, 13.0.0.0.2, 13.0.0.0.3, etc.. The Maya counted the days to 20. The “k'in” counts up to 19 and then goes back to zero, with counting picked back up by the next position, called the “uinal” (winals). So counting up from the day 13.0.0.0.19 would become 13.0.0.1.0. Example of Long Count date by Columbia Pictures[18] Each “uinal” is a block of 20 days (k'in), equivalent to months.
After an 'uinal' is added, the 'k'in' position then picks back up, again counting up to 19 and then adding to the 'uinal' on the 20th count. So the day after 13.0.0.1.0 would be 13.0.0.1.1 and then 13.0.0.1.2, all the way up to 13.0.0.1.19 until finally adding an 'uinal' to make 13.0.0.2.0. The 'uinals' count upward as well. While the Maya generally used a base-20 counting system in everything they did, the Long Count is really a mixed base-20 and base-18 system that represents the number of days since the start of the Maya era. To make this work, they modify this slightly for the 'uinals,' which only counts up to 17 before rolling over at 18 to the third position (middle), which is called the “tun.” Each “tun” is thus 18 blocks of 20 days, equaling 360 days, which is approximately a year by the solar calendar. The 'tuns' in turn count up to 19 and at 20, roll over into the fourth position from the right, which are called, “k'atuns.” A k'atun is 20 blocks of 360 days, which adds up to 7,200 days, or just under 20 years. The k'atun counts up to 19, before reaching 20 and rolling over into the final digit of the Long Count, called the
"b'ak'tun." If the word, “b'ak'tun,” sounds familiar, it's because on the modern date of December 21, 2012 on our calendar marked the end of the “13th b'ak'tun” of the Maya Long Count Calendar. In other words, it's the day the count will read 13.0.0.0.0. On December 22, 2012 the Maya Long Count Calendar read as 13.0.0.0.1. Each “b'ak'tun” is 144,000 days long, which is just under 400 years. To the ancient Maya, the 13th b'ak'tun represented a full cycle of creation according to their beliefs. The Maya never made any apocalyptic prophecies about the “End of the World” or anything like that. The Long Count is an astronomical calendar that was used to track long periods of time, which the Maya called the “universal cycle.” Each of these cycles are 2,880,000 days long, which is about 7885 solar years. The beginning of the 13th b'ak'tun was on August 11, 3114 BC on the Gregorian calendar or September 6, 3114 BC on the Julian calendar. This date marks the creation of the World for human beings, according to Maya Mythology. The ancient Maya believed that it was on this “Creation Date” that “Raised-up-Sky-Lord” caused three stones to be set by associated gods at “Lying-Down-Sky, First-Three-Stone-Place.” Because the sky still lay on the primordial sea, it was black, the setting of the three stones centered the cosmos which allowed the sky to be raised and revealed the sun. The creation of the World inhabitable by humans.[282][194][195][196][197][198]
It is very likely that most people have heard about the Mayan Civilization in one way or another. Whether fictitious or factual, this ancient culture iw idelt recognized. The Mayan people lived from about 250 to 900 CE in Mesoamerica. Which includes modern day Belize, Honduras, Guatemala, and parts of southern Mexico.These people had many remarkable achievements, all of which can fit under the categories of scale, genius effort, and significance. These achievements include an advanced trade system, an amazing understanding of numbers, and the ability to design and build cities that are still mostly standing today. However, their most impressive achievement is their complex calendars.
Solis, Felipe, Kristaan Villela, and Mary Ellen Miller. The Aztec Calendar Stone. Los Angeles, CA: Getty Research Institute, 2000.
In Europe, there were several advances being made that would affect our society today. However, simultaneously, societies across the world in the Americas would too be making these types of advances as well. One society in particular were the Maya. These people made technological strides that the Europeans themselves could not even fathom. But, what was their most remarkable achievement? One will find that their achievements of their trade network, a convenient method of transporting goods and messages; architecture, intricate buildings built in large cities on a massive scale; and number system, which takes into consideration some of our key principles in today’s math, have a momentous buildup to the Maya’s most remarkable achievement—their complex calendar, an astonishing nearly accurate calendar that governed Mayan society and is still seen in our own society today.
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” This quote from Arthur C. Clarke nicely represents the admiration that studying the Mayan, Aztec and Incan civilizations can inspire. In the current age of technology it is very hard to imagine these ancient civilizations accomplishing their many deeds without any modern tools or computers. The Mayan, Aztec and Incan civilizations of Central and South America made major advancements in engineering, math, astronomy, writing agriculture, and trading.
This book focuses on different types of calendars from a number of different places all around the world. This specific chapter, even more specifically this section, focuses on the Mayan calendar. These calendars were written by honored members of their aristocracy and were held to be of great value. The Spanish invaders believed them to be instruments of the devil and burnt great quantities of them. E. G. Richards explains that only four Mayan books are survive in the libraries of Europe, and one of those—The Dresden codex—suffered severe damage in another fire, one which was inflicted on that city in the Second World War. Richards says that the earliest record of a calendar survives from about 500 BC in Monte Alban near Oaxaca. This calendar employs a 260-day cycle, which was commonly used by several societies and is still in use among the present-day inhabitants of the region. The Maya used the calendar partly to anticipate propitious days to embark on wars and other activities. It was also used to record on stone pillars, or stelae, important events in the lives of their kings and to relate these to more mythical events of the past. The Mayan calendar system involved two major methods of specifying a specific date—the calendar round and the long count. The calendar round was used to specify a date within a period of about 52 years, while the long count served to relate such dates within a longer period named a great cycle. The calendar round involved three interlocking cycles of 13, 20, and 365 days respectively. The 365-day cycle was called a haab and was similar to the Egyptian wandering year. Each haab was divided into 18 periods called uinals; each uinal had 20 days and a name. The 18 uinal were followed by five epagomen...
Throughout the day we are constantly checking the time, preparing for the upcoming months, and keeping track of the year. Clocks tell us the time we use as a measurement. It’s how we keep track of those important months and events, such as holidays and birthdays. Although there are many investigations and research being done on the nature of time, many unresolved issues remain.
In math, the Maya developed a system based on three symbols: a dot, a bar, and a shell. The dot represented 1, the bar 5, and the shell 0. The Maya used the concept of 0, 1200 years before anyone in the Old World. Their number system was based on 20 and the value increased from bottom to top.
...d in the way it was.(Exploratorium.edu) Both the stairs representing the number of years on the calendar and the way the pyramid was built axis-wise, The pyramid of Kukulkán can be argued to be a pyramid built out of belief in symbols. As with the pyramid of Kukulkán, many Mayan temples were shown to reflect the belief of nine levels of the underworld.
BYU Studies 38.4 (1999): 43-64. Print. The. Sharer, Robert. A. The Ancient Maya.
In a Long Count calendar date there are five numbers which are separated by four periods (for example, 13.0.0.0.0). 13.0.0.0.0 is thought to have been the Mayan’s theory as to the world’s creation date. The Mayans used hieroglyphs, such as those in the image,
The Chinese use the lunar calendar. “Although China has adopted the Gregorian calendar in common with most other countries in the world for official and business purposes, the traditional Chinese calendar continues to define the dates of festivals and used for horoscopes” (“Chinese calendar”). The lunar calendar is based on of the moon. It uses the moon phases to figure out each month.
Due to archeological evidence we know that the African people were the first people in the world to use counting to keep track of their things, or time. Around 35,000 BC, in South Africa the earliest known tally stick was made, and was left in Lebombo Cave. 29 notches were cut into the stick. We don't know exactly what they were counting. Some people think they were counting the days from one moon phase to the next, but it could have been something else. Just as well. Now, what we do see is that by 35,000 BC people in South Africa had the idea of keeping records by making marks. “The Lebombo bone is a baboon fibula with a set of 29 notches carved in it. Archeologists believe these marks are evidence of a primitive calendar, measuring either the lunar or the menstrual calendar. This artifact is incredibly important for unders...
The Maya was an ancient culture that flourished on the Yucatan Peninsula in Americanism. They inherited this land from the Olmec, another ancient culture, who lived on the peninsula before them. As well as land, the Maya took on other Olmec customs, such as religion, architecture, and hieroglyphic writing. The Maya used these skills and built more complex versions, as well as inventing a few ideas on their own. These “ideas” included Calendars, Number system, trading throughout large regions, and the architecture of great temples and buildings. However, which of these achievements were the most remarkable? I believe that the Mayan number system is the most remarkable achievement. It consists of all the numbers we use today, and a very simple way of showing the place values. I will explain to you why I think this, as well as measure the achievement it three
The Maya culture has a long history that started in about 1000 BC. The history of the Maya is divided up into four different time periods: The Middle Preclassic Period, Late Preclassic Period, Classic Period, and Postclassic Period. The Middle Preclassic Period was when the small areas started to become city-like in the way that they started to build larger temples. The Late Preclassic Period was when the cities began to expand with paved roads and massive pyramids. The Classic Period was the time the Maya civilization hit it’s peak. Populations were growing rapidly and the structure of politics was formed. The Postclassic Period was when warfare was on the rise and cities were being abandoned(Coe 2005). This paper will focus on the Classic Period due to the fact that that is the greatest time period in Maya history.
Along with many other cultures, the Chinese had to devise a way to tell time. Emperor at the time, Yú Dí, also known as the Jade Emperor, decided he would make it twelve year cycle. Thirteen animals were invited; the cat was the last one to finish so it was eliminated. To start the order was determined by how they finished in the race. When the race was completed the animals landed in this order; First was the rat, then the ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and finally the boar. I was born on May, 22nd 1999 at 5:30 pm; this lands me with an outer animal of a rabbit, an inner animal of a snake, and as a secret animal a rooster.