Topic (to be done on the blog) :We will be finding out about the Mayans next
week, starting with their interesting calendars. Can you find out why the Mayan
calendar has only 260 days, while our calendar has 365?
The mayan calendar has only 260 days is because for them to allow them to accurately track the occurrence of conjunctions involving the Earth and Venus over a full 2000 year grand cycle . So that this might be achieved, the 260 day period of the Mayan calendar .
combined with a basic Earth year of 365 days, as a means to generate an extended 52 year period of time, through which they were able to make subtle corrections to their calendar, to maintain harmony between it and the true astronomical observations i.e. Earth-Venus conjunctions.
The mayan calendar moves in cycle with the last cycle ending in December 2012.This has often been interpreted as the world will end on December 21st 2012 at 11:11.
It remains a mystery as to why the Mayans devised a calendar based on a 260 day cycle, and many tentative theories have been put forward to explain this. Although nothing can be concluded with certainty, modern analysis suggests that this was to enable them to accurately track the passage of Venus - which was a very important planet to them, being a central figure in their mythologies, religion and culture - through the heavens, especially relative to the earth’s own orbit. The primary method by which the Maya kept track of Venus was by noting the successive passage of conjunctions between it and the Earth.
In observing both the Earth and Venus over many thousands of years, it is evident that the Maya determined a set of exceptionally accurate values for both the length of the Earth tropical year (365.24218408 days including the ‘year drift’, as opposed to the basic calendar year of 365 days), and the Venus orbital period (224.69526222 days).
From the values for the orbital periods of both bodies, it is readily apparent that there is almost an exact re-alignment of the Earth and Venus every 8 tropical years. Thus, if one were to begin with an initial conjunction between both planets and the sun, after 8 tropical years, Venus will have completed just over 13 orbits about the sun itself:
365.24218408 x 8 = 2921.93747264 days 2921.93747264 / 224.69526222 = 13.0040012582
However, as is quite obvious, the 8/13 conjunction cycle itself is not perfect, for following precisely 8 tropical years, although the Earth will have returned to its initial position, Venus will have slightly outpaced the Earth, having already entered into its 14th orbit. Hence, there will be a distinct ‘Advance of Venus’ after 8 tropical years.
The advance of Venus relative to the earth, over 8 tropical years, can be expressed in terms of actual days as follows:
(13.0040012582 – 13) x 224.69526222 = 0.89906378 days
Therefore, the Venus Advance: 0.89906378 days, for every 2921.93747264 days (8 tropical years)
Obviously these figures are too complicated, and they needed a more basic yet accurate set of time intervals to track the advance, by using a number of whole days, over which the forward advance of Venus would itself correspond to a very basic time interval, such as, a simple fraction of 1 day.
This is what led them to invent the 260 day astronomical cycle - a time interval which they themselves call a Tzolkin. In 260 days, as we can see below, the Venus advance is found to be almost an exact basic fraction of a single day:
260 x (0.89906378/ 2921.93747264) = 0.0800005424 days
Therefore, under the Mayan calendar the Venus Advance: 0.0800005424 days, 0.08 days ignoring the following 4 insignificant decimal places, for every 260 days.
Based upon these figures, the Maya would have easily been able to keep track of the advance of Venus at regular intervals of 260 days. For upon completion of such a number of days, they will have known that the forward advance of Venus will have been almost exactly 0.08 of one solar day, or 115.2 minutes of time (0.08 x 24 x 60).
The Tzolkin, apart from signifying the ‘forward advance of Venus measure’ of 260, helped them to generate another astronomical cycle called the Sheaf by combining it with a calendar year of 365 days. It is defined as the lowest common multiple (LCM) of the two, 18980 days, that is the lowest number of days that they would each divide without leaving a remainder. Thus, after exactly 1 Sheaf of 18980 days, both time intervals would re-synchronise, as evident from below:
365 / 260 = 73 / 52
365 x 52 = 18980 days 260 x 73 = 18980 days
As one can see then, after exactly 52 calendar years, 73 completed periods of the forward advance of Venus will have occurred, which will be the starting point for a new (Sheaf) round.
Did you know the Mayan’s had two calendars? A solar calendar called the Haab’, which had 365 days and a religious calendar called the Tzolk’in. The Tzolk’in had only 260 days because it was divided up into 20 periods of 13 days. The Mayans set the date by referring to both calendars and these were on a 52-week cycle. Their calendar ended in 2012 when they thought it would be the end of the world. They believed this because there was a massive volcano that they thought would erupt and kill everyone, also plunge the whole world into ash. Esme
Maya would have easily been able to keep track of the advance of Venus at regular intervals of 260 days. both the Earth and Venus over many thousands of years, it is evident that the Maya determined a set of exceptionally accurate values for both the length of the Earth tropical year.
After exactly 52 calendar years, 73 completed periods of the forward advance of Venus will have occurred, which will be the starting point for a new way around. And the Mayan calendar has only 260 days because for them to allow them to accurately track the occurrence of conjunctions involving the Earth and Venus over a full 2000 year grand cycle.
Both the Earth and Venus over many thousands of years, it is evident that the Maya determined a set of exceptionally accurate values for both the length of the Earth tropical year. After exactly 52 calendar years 73 completed periods of the forward advance of Venus will have occurred which will be the starting point for a new round. And the Mayan calendar has 260 days because for them to allow them to accurately track the occurrence of conjunctions involving the Earth and Venus over a full 2000 year grand cycle.
The Mayan Calendar Venus was an important planet for the Mayans, and their calendar was developed to accurately track the occurrences of conjunctions involving Earth and Venus over a 2000 year cycle. This was also further combined with the Earth year of 365 days, creating an extended 52 period of time, so they could make slight corrections to their calendar.
The Ancient Maya lived from 2000 B.C. to as late as the 16th century A.D., even after competing cultures like the Aztecs and Spanish Conquistadors took power in that part of the world. Mayan warriors dressed in outfits with many feathers and tassels, and in modern Mayan celebrations warrior costumes with bright feathers are made for men dancing in traditional parades.
Why the Mayan Calendar only has 260 days There has been much discussion over the past few days on the uniqueness of the Mayan Calendar and why it only has 260 days. Many have come up with their own theories on this subject, but it still remains a mystery. Here is my explanation: The Ancient Mayans devised their calendar based on the lunar and planetary movement of different outer planets. These ancient Mexicans wrote a numerous quantity of calendars, but the most common of them were the Haab (the yearly, 365 day orbit of the earth), used as a common calendar for all, and the Tzolk’in ( a religious 260 day calendar) used in special occasions. Also, the Long Count Calendar was used in measures of time greater than 52 years. The Haab The Haab calendar was split into 18 months with 20 days and a final month with only five days (Wayeb). Unusually, the months and days started from zero to nineteen (excluding Wayeb). Many farmers follow the Haab calendar as it is the calendar that is most formally used. Farmers track their harvests on days from the Haab calendars and celebrate their harvest by thanking their god for rain. The last month of the Haab calendar was special because Wayeb (the ultimate month) has only five days. It is said that the Mayans worked for the first eighteen months and then celebrated in the last. So if the Haab calendar equals 365 (20 x 18 + 5) how does it compare to 260? Well let me now show you another calendar that has 260 days – the Tzolk’in
The Tzolk’in Unlike the Haab, the Tzolk’in is found to be very unique. Instead of the regular 365.26 yearly period, the Tzolk’in has 260 days. The Mayans did this to fit the gestational period of a woman and 9 full moon orbits of the earth. The Tzolk’in was used in religious occasions, and wasn’t as common as the Haab, but it still was popular. There were 20 days and 13 numbers for every day, and when multiplied, will come up to 260. However the calendar was made in such a way that each of the numbers matched to a day. The Long Count Calendar The long calendar is used for terms bigger than 52 years. It began in 3114 BC in the 4th era as it is said that the gods messed up in the first three. Then the calendar goes like this: 1 DAY = K’UN 20 K’UNS = UINAL or 20 days 18 UINALS = TUN about a year 20 TUNS = KA’TUN 7,200 days 20 KA’TUN = BAK’TUN 144,000 days or 394.26 years So the date for 21st December 2012 was 13 BAK’TUNS 0 KA’TUNS 0 TUNS 0 UINALS and 0 K’INS. No wonder Mayans considered it as the end of the world! In summary, the Mayans don’t have 260 days because they wanted to or thought it was a fancy number, they had it because they wanted it to match with the alignments of sun and moon.
The Mayans had three different calendars - the Long Count calendar, the Haab' (365 days) and the Tzolk'in (260 days). They invented a 260 day calendar as a way of tracking the planet Venus, which is/was a very important planet to them and a huge part of their creation myths.
The Mayans used a calender system using a 260 day cycle which they combined with a calender year period of 365 days to get a 52 year period known as the CalenderRound. The Mayans created the 265 day cycle to track conjuntions involving Earth and Venus,Over a full 2000 year grand cycle.
The Mayans had three calendars known as the Long Count calendar, the Haab' (which had 365 days) and the Tzolk'in (which had 260 days). The reason they invented 260 days, was because it was their way of tracking planet Venus. This is because Venus was a very special planet to them.
The Long Count The long count is represented as a five place notation system. This is: kins (days) winals (20-day months) tuns (360 days) k'atuns (20 tuns) bak'tuns (20 k'atuns)
The Haab' The Haab' was split into 18 months which had 20 days and the last month had 5 days.Farmers follow the Haab' calendar for their harvesting.
The Mayans made three(one with a day cycle of 260, another with 365 and the final with another number (which I cannot find in my research). The 260 day calendar was used to track Venus.
The Mayans had a calendar system with a 260 day cycle. There are 2 different types of calendars: The long count calendar called the haab which is 365 days and the tzolk'in which is 260 days. They thought Venus was the most important planet to them. They used a 260 day calendar to track Venus. Also the Mayans believed that the end of the world would be on the 21st of December 2012 (which isn't true otherwise I wouldn't be writing this to you)!
The Mayans used three separate calendars.The Long Count was pricipally used forhistorical purposes,since it can define any datefor millenia in the past and future.The Haab was a civil calendar based on a year of 360 days consisting of 18 periods of 20 days.Five days were added at the end of the Haab year to approximately synchronize it with the solar year.The Tzolkin calendar was used for ceremonial purposes,which had 20 periods of 13.The Tzolkin calendar went through a complete cycle every 260 days. The signficance of this cyde is unknown ;it may be connected with the orbit of Venus,which has a period of 263 days.The Haab and Tzolkin date did not have a year componet;however,a combined Haaband Tzolkin date specify a unique day within a 52 year cycle.
The Mayans had two different calenders. The short calender was called the Tzolk'in which had 260 days. This calender had 260 days because they thought the world would end then (2012). the long calender was called the Haab that we use today which had 365 days.
The Mayans would have used two different calender's. One was called the Haab which 365 days like he regular calendar that we would use today. The other calender's was called the Tzolk'in which had 260 days because they thought that there doomsday would come at 2012 which is way past us now. Sufyaan
The mayan calendar has only 260 days is because for them to allow them to accurately track the occurrence
ReplyDeleteof conjunctions involving the Earth and Venus over a full 2000 year grand cycle . So that this might be achieved, the 260 day period of the Mayan calendar .
combined with a basic Earth year of 365 days, as a means to generate an extended 52 year period
of time, through which they were able to make subtle corrections to their calendar, to maintain harmony between it and the true astronomical observations i.e. Earth-Venus conjunctions.
The mayan calendar moves in cycle with the last cycle ending in December 2012.This has often been interpreted as the world will end on December 21st 2012 at 11:11.
ReplyDeleteIt remains a mystery as to why the Mayans devised a calendar based on a 260 day cycle, and many tentative theories have been put forward to explain this. Although nothing can be concluded with certainty, modern analysis suggests that this was to enable them to accurately track the passage of Venus - which was a very important planet to them, being a central figure in their mythologies, religion and culture - through the heavens, especially relative to the earth’s own orbit. The primary method by which the Maya kept track of Venus was by noting the successive passage of conjunctions between it and the Earth.
ReplyDeleteIn observing both the Earth and Venus over many thousands of years, it is evident that the Maya determined a set of exceptionally accurate values for both the length of the Earth tropical year (365.24218408 days including the ‘year drift’, as opposed to the basic calendar year of 365 days), and the Venus orbital period (224.69526222 days).
From the values for the orbital periods of both bodies, it is readily apparent that there is almost an exact re-alignment of the Earth and Venus every 8 tropical years. Thus, if one were to begin with an initial conjunction between both planets and the sun, after 8 tropical years, Venus will have completed just over 13 orbits about the sun itself:
365.24218408 x 8 = 2921.93747264 days
2921.93747264 / 224.69526222 = 13.0040012582
However, as is quite obvious, the 8/13 conjunction cycle itself is not perfect, for following precisely 8 tropical years, although the Earth will have returned to its initial position, Venus will have slightly outpaced the Earth, having already entered into its 14th orbit. Hence, there will be a distinct ‘Advance of Venus’ after 8 tropical years.
The advance of Venus relative to the earth, over 8 tropical years, can be expressed in terms of actual days as follows:
(13.0040012582 – 13) x 224.69526222 = 0.89906378 days
Therefore, the Venus Advance:
0.89906378 days, for every 2921.93747264 days (8 tropical years)
Obviously these figures are too complicated, and they needed a more basic yet accurate set of time intervals to track the advance, by using a number of whole days, over which the forward advance of Venus would itself correspond to a very basic time interval, such as, a simple fraction of 1 day.
This is what led them to invent the 260 day astronomical cycle - a time interval which they themselves call a Tzolkin. In 260 days, as we can see below, the Venus advance is found to be almost an exact basic fraction of a single day:
260 x (0.89906378/ 2921.93747264) = 0.0800005424 days
Therefore, under the Mayan calendar the Venus Advance:
0.0800005424 days, 0.08 days ignoring the following 4 insignificant decimal places, for every 260 days.
Based upon these figures, the Maya would have easily been able to keep track of the advance of Venus at regular intervals of 260 days. For upon completion of such a number of days, they will have known that the forward advance of Venus will have been almost exactly 0.08 of one solar day, or 115.2 minutes of time (0.08 x 24 x 60).
The Tzolkin, apart from signifying the ‘forward advance of Venus measure’ of 260, helped them to generate another astronomical cycle called the Sheaf by combining it with a calendar year of 365 days. It is defined as the lowest common multiple (LCM) of the two, 18980 days, that is the lowest number of days that they would each divide without leaving a remainder. Thus, after exactly 1 Sheaf of 18980 days, both time intervals would re-synchronise, as evident from below:
365 / 260 = 73 / 52
365 x 52 = 18980 days
260 x 73 = 18980 days
As one can see then, after exactly 52 calendar years, 73 completed periods of the forward advance of Venus will have occurred, which will be the starting point for a new (Sheaf) round.
Mayan calendar
ReplyDeleteDid you know the Mayan’s had two calendars? A solar calendar called the Haab’, which had 365 days and a religious calendar called the Tzolk’in. The Tzolk’in had only 260 days because it was divided up into 20 periods of 13 days. The Mayans set the date by referring to both calendars and these were on a 52-week cycle.
Their calendar ended in 2012 when they thought it would be the end of the world. They believed this because there was a massive volcano that they thought would erupt and kill everyone, also plunge the whole world into ash.
Esme
Maya would have easily been able to keep track of the advance of Venus at regular intervals of 260 days. both the Earth and Venus over many thousands of years, it is evident that the Maya determined a set of exceptionally accurate values for both the length of the Earth tropical year.
ReplyDeleteAfter exactly 52 calendar years, 73 completed periods of the forward advance of Venus will have occurred, which will be the starting point for a new way around. And the Mayan calendar has only 260 days because for them to allow them to accurately track the occurrence of conjunctions involving the Earth and Venus over a full 2000 year grand cycle.
Both the Earth and Venus over many thousands of years, it is evident that the Maya determined a set of exceptionally accurate values for both the length of the Earth tropical year. After exactly 52 calendar years 73 completed periods of the forward advance of Venus will have occurred which will be the starting point for a new round. And the Mayan calendar has 260 days because for them to allow them to accurately track the occurrence of conjunctions involving the Earth and Venus over a full 2000 year grand cycle.
ReplyDeleteThe Mayan Calendar
ReplyDeleteVenus was an important planet for the Mayans, and their calendar was developed to accurately track the occurrences of conjunctions involving Earth and Venus over a 2000 year cycle. This was also further combined with the Earth year of 365 days, creating an extended 52 period of time, so they could make slight corrections to their calendar.
The Ancient Maya lived from 2000 B.C. to as late as the 16th century A.D., even after competing cultures like the Aztecs and Spanish Conquistadors took power in that part of the world. Mayan warriors dressed in outfits with many feathers and tassels, and in modern Mayan celebrations warrior costumes with bright feathers are made for men dancing in traditional parades.
ReplyDeleteWhy the Mayan Calendar only has 260 days
ReplyDeleteThere has been much discussion over the past few days on the uniqueness of the Mayan Calendar and why it only has 260 days. Many have come up with their own theories on this subject, but it still remains a mystery. Here is my explanation:
The Ancient Mayans devised their calendar based on the lunar and planetary movement of different outer planets. These ancient Mexicans wrote a numerous quantity of calendars, but the most common of them were the Haab (the yearly, 365 day orbit of the earth), used as a common calendar for all, and the Tzolk’in ( a religious 260 day calendar) used in special occasions. Also, the Long Count Calendar was used in measures of time greater than 52 years.
The Haab
The Haab calendar was split into 18 months with 20 days and a final month with only five days (Wayeb). Unusually, the months and days started from zero to nineteen (excluding Wayeb).
Many farmers follow the Haab calendar as it is the calendar that is most formally used. Farmers track their harvests on days from the Haab calendars and celebrate their harvest by thanking their god for rain.
The last month of the Haab calendar was special because Wayeb (the ultimate month) has only five days. It is said that the Mayans worked for the first eighteen months and then celebrated in the last.
So if the Haab calendar equals 365 (20 x 18 + 5) how does it compare to 260? Well let me now show you another calendar that has 260 days – the Tzolk’in
The Tzolk’in
Unlike the Haab, the Tzolk’in is found to be very unique. Instead of the regular 365.26 yearly period, the Tzolk’in has 260 days. The Mayans did this to fit the gestational period of a woman and 9 full moon orbits of the earth.
The Tzolk’in was used in religious occasions, and wasn’t as common as the Haab, but it still was popular. There were 20 days and 13 numbers for every day, and when multiplied, will come up to 260. However the calendar was made in such a way that each of the numbers matched to a day.
The Long Count Calendar
The long calendar is used for terms bigger than 52 years. It began in 3114 BC in the 4th era as it is said that the gods messed up in the first three. Then the calendar goes like this:
1 DAY = K’UN
20 K’UNS = UINAL or 20 days
18 UINALS = TUN about a year
20 TUNS = KA’TUN 7,200 days
20 KA’TUN = BAK’TUN 144,000 days or 394.26 years
So the date for 21st December 2012 was 13 BAK’TUNS 0 KA’TUNS 0 TUNS 0 UINALS and 0 K’INS. No wonder Mayans considered it as the end of the world!
In summary, the Mayans don’t have 260 days because they wanted to or thought it was a fancy number, they had it because they wanted it to match with the alignments of sun and moon.
The Mayans had three different calendars - the Long Count calendar, the Haab' (365 days) and the Tzolk'in (260 days).
ReplyDeleteThey invented a 260 day calendar as a way of tracking the planet Venus, which is/was a very important planet to them and a huge part of their creation myths.
The Mayans used a calender system using a 260 day cycle which they combined with a calender year period of 365 days to get a 52 year period known as the CalenderRound.
ReplyDeleteThe Mayans created the 265 day cycle to track conjuntions involving Earth and Venus,Over a full 2000 year grand cycle.
The Mayans had three calendars known as the Long Count calendar, the Haab' (which had 365 days) and the Tzolk'in (which had 260 days). The reason they invented 260 days, was because it was their way of tracking planet Venus. This is because Venus was a very special planet to them.
ReplyDeleteThe Long Count
The long count is represented as a five place notation system. This is:
kins (days)
winals (20-day months)
tuns (360 days)
k'atuns (20 tuns)
bak'tuns (20 k'atuns)
The Haab'
The Haab' was split into 18 months which had 20 days and the last month had 5 days.Farmers follow the Haab' calendar for their harvesting.
The Mayans made three(one with a day cycle of 260, another with 365 and the final with another number (which I cannot find in my research). The 260 day calendar was used to track Venus.
ReplyDeleteThe Mayans had a calendar system with a 260 day cycle. There are 2 different types of calendars: The long count calendar called the haab which is 365 days and the tzolk'in which is 260 days. They thought Venus was the most important planet to them. They used a 260 day calendar to track Venus. Also the Mayans believed that the end of the world would be on the 21st of December 2012 (which isn't true otherwise I wouldn't be writing this to you)!
ReplyDeleteThe Mayans used three separate calendars.The Long Count was pricipally used forhistorical purposes,since it can define any datefor millenia in the past and future.The Haab was a civil calendar based on a year of 360 days consisting of 18 periods of 20 days.Five days were added at the end of the Haab year to approximately synchronize it with the solar year.The Tzolkin calendar was used for ceremonial purposes,which had 20 periods of 13.The Tzolkin calendar went through a complete cycle every 260 days. The signficance of this cyde is unknown ;it may be connected with the orbit of Venus,which has a period of 263 days.The Haab and Tzolkin date did not have a year componet;however,a combined Haaband Tzolkin date specify a unique day within a 52 year cycle.
ReplyDeleteDaniel
The Mayans had two different calenders. The short calender was called the Tzolk'in which had 260 days. This calender had 260 days because they thought the world would end then (2012). the long calender was called the Haab that we use today which had 365 days.
ReplyDeleteThe Mayans would have used two different calender's. One was called the Haab which 365 days like he regular calendar that we would use today. The other calender's was called the Tzolk'in which had 260 days because they thought that there doomsday would come at 2012 which is way past us now.
ReplyDeleteSufyaan