Long count
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The long count is a calendar for counting days in the Mayan calendar system .
Since the dates in the ritual Tzolkin calendar and in the civil Haab calendar of the Maya repeat every 260 and 365 days and the combinations of the two calendar indications are repeated every 52 Haab years, i.e. in every calendar round, the Maya needed for astronomical ones Calculations and the history record another calendar that could clearly describe longer periods of time, the long count.
functionality
As with the Tzolkin and Haab calendars, the Maya used a (modified) system of twenty to continuously count the day . For example, the spelling of the Long Count is 9.12.11.5.18 and means 9 Baktun 12 Katun 11 Tun 5 Uinal 18 Kin . Higher numerical values were also occasionally used, for example, on stele 9 from Cobá, 15 values are recorded via alautun .
| Importance position | calculation | Numerical value | Surname |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 1 | kin |
| 2 | 20 k'in | 20th | uinal |
| 3 | 18 uinal | 360 | to do |
| 4th | 20 do | 7,200 | k'atun |
| 5 | 20 k'atun | 144,000 | baktun |
| 6th | 20 baktun | 2,880,000 | pictun |
| 7th | 20 pictun | 57,600,000 | calabtun |
| 8th | 20 calabtun | 1,152,000,000 | kinchiltun |
| 9 | 20 kinchiltun | 23,040,000,000 | alautun |
The number sequence of the days that have passed since the beginning of the counting, written one on top of the other in the classical Maya period, was supplemented by the exact day designation of the calendar round, i.e. with the Tzolkin and Haab dates, e.g. B. 4 Ahau 8 Cumku . The individual digits run from 0 to 19, except for the penultimate digit ( Uinal ), which only runs up to 17. Because 1 do has only 18 instead of 20 uinals, one activity lasts 360 days, i.e. about one haab year.
It is certain that the beginning of the present Mayan creation falls on the date 13.0.0.0.0 4 Ahau 8 Cumku (August 11 or 13, 3114 BC). So 13 Baktun 0 Katun 0 Tun 0 Uinal 0 Kin 4 Ahau 8 Cumku is the starting point of the Mayan calendar. The Maya did not use the time 0.0.0.0.0, the first baktun was named 13 instead of 0 , but after completing cycle 13 baktun the count jumped to 1 baktun , so the long count 1.0.0.0.0 correlates with the 10th or November 12, 2720 BC From a purely mathematical point of view, however, the entry 13.0.0.0.0 for the starting point of the calendar system actually stands for 0.0.0.0.0. At first it may seem illogical that the Maya wrote their calendar beginning not 0.0.0.0.0, but 13.0.0.0.0. However, this can be explained with the religious meaning of the number 13.
Of particular interest is the recurrence of the date 13.0.0.0.0 (December 21 or 23, 2012), since this long count corresponds to the day of creation for the first time since the starting point . For the Maya the return of this constellation would have been of ritual significance, but there is no evidence that such an event would have meant the end of the world or the beginning of a new creation in the Maya minds. On the contrary, the Maya dated calendar events well into the future. In addition, this supposed “ doomsday day ” in December 2012 would be a 4 Ahau 3 Kankin and not a 4 Ahau 8 Cumku , as was the case on the day of creation, and therefore does not exactly match anyway.
For dates directed into the future, 13 baktun are not followed by 1 baktun again, but 14 baktun, followed by 15 baktun, etc. After completing 19 baktun , the calendar does not jump to 20 baktun, but back to 0 baktun. To ensure clarity, a new counting unit is now included in the long counting, the Pictun (1 Pictun = 20 Baktun), so that the date has six digits. The 80th calendar anniversary of the accession to the throne of K'inich Janaab 'Pakal I can serve as an example, which is indicated in an inscription with 1 Pictun 0 Baktun 0 Katun 0 Tun 0 Uinal 8 Kin 5 Lamat 1 Mol (1.0.0.0.0.8 or 23 October 4772 AD). It follows that, firstly, no date can ever repeat itself exactly; second, that every day in the Mayan calendar system is absolutely unique; and third, that the Mayan calendar is theoretically oriented towards infinity.
Tzolkin and Haab
Since the last digit of the long counter counts 20 days ( Kin ), there is a clear assignment to the twenty day names of the Tzolkin calendar:
0 = Ahau, 1 = Imix, 2 = Ik, 3 = Akbal, 4 = Kan, 5 = Chiccan, 6 = Cimi, 7 = Manik, 8 = Lamat, 9 = Muluc, 10 = Oc, 11 = Chuen, 12 = Kb, 13 = Ben, 14 = Ix, 15 = Men, 16 = Cib, 17 = Kaban, 18 = Edznab, 19 = Cauac.
The Haab date 8 Cumku does not fall again until after 379,600 Haab years on a date in which 13.0.0.0.0 occurs.
Correlation problem
To this day there is no clear assignment of calendar dates of the Long Count to those of the Gregorian calendar . However, it is assumed that the Thompson correlation , named after the Englishman John Eric Sidney Thompson , applies, according to which the date 13.0.0.0.0 corresponds to the Julian date 584.283 (not to be confused with the Julian calendar ). The long count begins on August 11, 3114 BC. Chr. Gregorian calendar and reached the winter solstice on 21st December 2012 again the state 13.0.0.0.0. Based on the dates from the classical Maya period, more recent studies on the basis of many different sources confirm that the Gregorian day 13 August 3114 BC was the starting date of the Long Count. Chr. (13.0.0.0.0 4 Ahau 8 Cumku) and with it the correlation proposal 584.285.
Early dating
| Site | Surname | Gregorian date | Long count | Province, country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chiapa de Corzo | Stele 2 | December 6, 36 BC Chr. | 7.16.3.2.13 | Chiapas , Mexico |
| Tres Zapotes | Stele C | September 1, 32 BC Chr. | 7.16.6.16.18 | Veracruz (state) , Mexico |
| El Baúl | Stele 1 | March 2, 37 AD | 7.19.15.7.12 | Escuintla , Guatemala |
| Abaj Takalik | Stele 5 | May 19, 103 | 8.3.2.10.15 | Retalhuleu , Guatemala |
| Abaj Takalik | Stele 5 | June 3, 126 | 8.4.5.17.11 | Retalhuleu, Guatemala |
| La Mojarra | Stele 1 | May 19, 143 | 8.5.3.3.5 | Veracruz, Mexico |
| La Mojarra | Stele 1 | July 11, 156 | 8.5.16.9.7 | Veracruz, Mexico |
| at La Mojarra | Tuxtla statuette | March 12, 162 | 8.6.2.4.17 | Veracruz, Mexico |
| Tikal | Stele 29 | July 8, 292 | 8.12.14.8.15 | Peten , Guatemala (oldest Mayan date) |
| Tikal (?) | Leiden plaque | 17th September 320 | 8.14.3.1.12 | Leiden , Netherlands |
In general, it can be stated that all early dates consist of complete series of numbers (e.g. 8.6.2.4.17), whereas later dates mostly have a “0” in the uinal and k'in digit (e.g. 9.16.5.0 .0), sometimes also at the tun- point. It can be concluded from this that the early dates actually refer to a specific day, while the later dates focus on a calendar event (e.g. end or start of a tun or uinal cycle). It is also possible that specific events (e.g. accession to power or jubilees to the throne) were placed on a corresponding - auspicious (?) - day in the later dating.
See also
Calendar round , Aztec calendar , vigesimal system
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Linda Schele , David Freidel: The unknown world of the Maya . Albrecht Knaus, Munich 1991, p. 511 f.
- ↑ a b Linda Schele, David Freidel: The unknown world of the Maya . Albrecht Knaus, Munich 1991, pp. 67-76.
- ↑ Sven Gronemeyer, Barbara MacLeod: What Could Happen in 2012: A Re-Analysis of the 13-Bak'tun Prophecy on Tortuguero Monument 6 (PDF; 9.9 MB). Wayeb Note 34, 2010, pp. 40-42.
- ↑ Linda Schele, David Freidel: The unknown world of the Maya . Albrecht Knaus, Munich 1991, p. 74.
- ^ Sven Gronemeyer, Barbara MacLeod: What Could Happen in 2012: A Re-Analysis of the 13-Bak'tun Prophecy on Tortuguero Monument 6 . Wayeb Note 34, 2010, pp. 4-7.
- ↑ Mario Krygier, Jens Rohark: Fascination 2012. The book on the Mayan calendar. How the Mayan Calendar Really Works . docupoint, Magdeburg 2008, ISBN 978-3-939665-82-3 .