UNDERSTANDING THE MAYAN CALENDAR 

The Mayan civilization consisted of people who were well before their time.  They were innovative, creative, and highly motivated to achieve, which they did.  One of their most amazing accomplishments is the Mayan Calendar, which is what our current calendar is based on.  This calendar is actually a complex system that is a series of calendars, which includes a sacred 260-day calendar known as Tzol’kin (Long Count), a 365-day calendar known as the Haab (Civil Calendar), and then, a 52-Haab cycle known as the Calendar Round, used to synchronize the Tzol’kin and Haab cycles. 

The most amazing aspect of the Mayan calendar is its complexity and accuracy.  Adopted by the other Mesoamerican nations, this calendar is designed to use three specific dating systems in parallel.  To give you an idea what a Mayan calendar would look like, consider the following: 

·        12.18.16.2.6 is the Long Count date

·        3 Cimi is the Tzol’kin date

·        4 Zotz is the Haab date

First, we will start with the Long Count of the Mayan calendar.  This is a mix that consists of base-20/base-18, which is the representation of a number and a representation of the number of days since the beginning of the Mayan era.  This system also consists of a base unit, known as kin (day) that is the final component of the Long Count.  Then there is tun and katun that go along with kin, and then uinal and baktun.  The kin, tun, and katun include numbers 0 to 19, the uinal goes from 0 to 17, and finally, the baktun goes from 1 to 13.

The Long Count logically would begin as 0.0.0.0.0 but with baktun, which is the first component, being numbered from 1 to 13 instead of 0 to 12, meaning the date would now be listed as 13.0.0.0.0.  The fascinating thing about this is that no two experts can agree on how this plays out.  For example, some experts would interpret this as September 8, 3114 BC (Julian) that equals August 13, 3114 BC (Gregorian), another sees it as September 6, 3114 BC (Julian) that equals August 11, 3114 BC (Gregorian), and yet another as November 11, 3374 BC (Julian), which equals October 15, 3374 BC (Gregorian).

The Tzol’kin date now represents a combination of two week lengths.  As you know, the calendar we use today is comprised of just one week but for the Mayan calendar, there are two.  The first week is comprised of 13 days, numbered from 1 to 13 and the second week has 20 days, with special names that include Ahau, Lmix, Lk, Akbal, Kan, Chicchan, Cimi, Manik, Lamat, Muluc, Oc, Chuen, Eb, Ben, Lx, Men, Cib, Caban, Etznab, and Caunac.  In Tzol’kin, with a Long Count of 13.0.0.0.0, this would be the same as 4 Ahau.

For Haab, this is the civil calendar, which consists of 18 months, each consisting of 20 days that is then followed by an additional five days called Uayeb.  With this, you get the 365 day calendar.  The names of the months in this case include Pop, Yaxkin, Mac, Uo, Mol, Kankin, Zip, Chen, Muan, Zotz, Yax, Pax, Tzec, Zc, Kavab, Xul, Ceh, and Cumku.  With Long Count being 13.0.0.0.0, for Haab, this would match up with 8 Cumku.

As you can see, the Mayan calendar is indeed complex but during that era it made complete sense.  During the early days of the Mayan civilization, there was a 360-day calendar but when the 4^th century rolled around, the three calendars of the Mayans were maintained but at this time, the calendar was divided into 365 days with 18 months being changed to 20 months, which then followed a five-day period, although these five days were thought to be unlucky.