What Were the Three Maya Calendars?
Ritual or Sacred Calendar
- Called tzolkin
- Marked the ceremonial lives of people, as well as religious holidays.
- Total of 260 days, consisting of 13 months, each with 20 days.
- Imix, Ik, Akbal, Kan, Chiccan, Cimi, Manik, Lamat, Muluc, Oc, Chuen, Eb, Ben, Ix, Men, Cib, Caban, Etz'nab, Cauac, and Ahau
- number from 1-13 combined with name of day used to keep track of days
Civil Calendar
Called haab, this calendar was based on the solar year.
- Total of 365 days, consisting of 18 months with 20 days, plus 5 "unlucky" days
- "Unlucky" days were called Uayeb
- Same names for days as ritual calendar, each representing a god
- Could be used to predict eclipses since it was based on solar system
Long Count Calendar
- Continuous count of days from August 13, 3114 BCE, and set to end December 21, 2012 AD
- December 21, 2012 made people think Maya thought the world would end because its the end of the long count calendar
- tun (360 days)
- katun (7,200 days)
- baktun (144,000)
URL for images:
http://home.arcor.de/latinamerica/Mayas4_en.html
http://people.howstuffworks.com/mayan-calendar2.htm
Source for information:
Barbara L. Beck, The Ancient Maya, Franklin Watts, 1983.
Video Link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=AtQXORHB0lk
http://home.arcor.de/latinamerica/Mayas4_en.html
http://people.howstuffworks.com/mayan-calendar2.htm
Source for information:
Barbara L. Beck, The Ancient Maya, Franklin Watts, 1983.
Video Link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=AtQXORHB0lk