ANNOUNCEMENTS Lingering MIDTERM EXAMS can be picked up AT THE END OF THIS LECTURE HOMEWORK #6 DUE THURSDAY. TWO (2, DOS, ZWEI, DIEUX, DUE, สอง, etc etc) OBSERVING PROJECTS ALSO DUE THIS THURSDAY. DECISIONS ON MIDTERM/FINAL/RESEARCH PAPER DUE NEXT TUESDAY….just after class ! FISKE PUBLIC SHOWS FOR EXTRA CREDIT including NOVEMBER 6th AND 12th ON POLYNESIAN NAVIGATION (FREE TO STUDENTS ON THE 12th). WHAT OTHER CULTURES YOU WOULD LIKE TO HEAR ABOUT THIS TERM ? THE MAYA: THE ULTIMATE CALENDAR MAKERS THE YEAR 1500, THE START OF “GLOBALIZATION” BRIEF CHRONOLOGY: 1519 CORTEZ INVADES MEXICO; subdues the Aztecs and established Spanish (and Holy Roman Christian Church) dominion over Mexico, including Yucatan. 1562 BISHOP DIEGO DE LANDA wrote “On the Relations of the Affairs of Yucatan” including an attempt at making the correspondence between the Maya written language and Latin. But Bishop Landa also burned HUNDREDS of Maya books, made it blasphemy to read and write Maya and executed or tortured the “heretics”. Maya people lost their language, history and culture. c. 2000: Maya Scholars decode and reconstruct the Maya language and history MAYA TIMES and PLACES SUMMARY OF WHAT WAS LOST WHEN CONQUISTADORS and CATHOLICS ARRIVED: • MAYA LANGUAGE, HISTORY AND CULTURE • MAYA ASTRONOMY WHICH CONTAINS HITHERTO UNAPPRECIATED CYCLES OF VENUS & ECLIPSES. • A DIFFERENT WAY OF INTERPRETING MATHEMATICAL “ZERO”. • AN ALTERNATIVE VIEW OF REALITY AND COSMOLOGY AND THAT IS WHAT IS STILL BEING LOST TODAY AROUND THE PLANET DUE TO THE CONTINUATION OF GLOBALIZATION; e.g., “..the imminent disappearance of half the extant languages of the world”. Wade Davis in The Wayfinders Video: Breaking the Maya Code THE CALENDARS OF THE MAYA EXAMPLES OF BEAUTIFUL NUMBERS AND DAYS CLOSELY LINKED… “GLYPHS” MARKING MONTHS THE NUMBERS “CARRY” THE DAYS “KIN” = TIME, DAY, SUN NUMBERING SYSTEM IS BASE 20 (FINGERS AND TOES) ZERO REPRESENTS COMPLETING A CYCLE, NOT EMPTINESS ------------------------------------------------------------ THREE CALENDAR SYSTEMS 1. LONG COUNT IS A SEQUENTIAL DAY COUNT LASTING ~ 5000 YEARS (USED FOR HISTORICAL DATING) 2. TSOL KIN IS A 260 DAY CALENDAR OF 13 NUMBERS & 20 NAMES 3. HAAB IS VAGUE SEASONAL YEAR OF 18 “MONTHS” OF 20 DAYS EACH + 5 DAYS TZOL KIN + HAAB = SACRED CALENDAR ROUND TSOL KIN + HAAB IS A DIVINATORY CALENDAR… OMENS AND “COMMANDS” FROM KUKULKAN (QUETZALCOATL TO THE AZTECAS) ARE DETERMINED BY THE CALENDAR ROUND DAY ON WHICH VENUS REAPPEARS IN THE MORNING SKY. Calendar Round MAYA CALENDAR ROUND = DAY reads the divination UPON VENUS TSOL HELIACAL RISING KIN (260 HAAB DAY MORNING COUNT) (365 DAY “VAGUE” YEAR) ENTIRE ROUND COMPLETED IN 52 YEARS MAYA CALENDAR ROUND TSOL KIN + HAAB IS A DIVINATORY CALENDAR… TSOL HAAB OMENS AND “COMMANDS” KIN (18 FROM KUKULKAN (260 DAY MONTHS (QUETZALCOATL TO THE COUNT) OF 20 AZTECAS) ARE DAYS + 5) DETERMINED BY THE 52 YEAR FULL CYCLE WESTERN CALENDAR ROUND CALENDAR ROUND DAY ON WHICH VENUS TROPICAL WEEK REAPPEARS IN THE (7 DAY YEAR MORNING SKY. COUNT) (28, 30 OR 31 DAY MONTHS) …look who else has such a crazy combination 6 YEAR FULL CYCLE BUT LEAP YEAR MESSES calendar !!! THIS UP (ACTUAL CYCLE IS {6,11,6 AND 5 YEARS!}) VENUS SYNODIC PERIOD: 584 DAYS 5 VENUS CYCLES ≈ 8 YEARS. MOTION OF VENUS AS VIEWED VENUS TABLE FROM FROM OUTSIDE THE SOLAR SYSTEM DRESDEN CODEX 1/ VENUS AS MORNING STAR 263 DAYS IN 1901 GERMAN LIBRARIAN ERNST FORSTEMANN NOTICED THE 2/ VENUS BEHIND SUN 50 DAYS RECURRENCE OF THE NUMBER 584 IN 3/ VENUS AS EVENING STAR 263 DAYS THIS TABLE. THE TABLE EXTENDS FOR 5 VENUS CYCLES: (5 x 584) = 2920 DAYS 4/. VENUS INVISIBLE 8 DAYS = (8 X 365) or 8 “vague years” (The “Haab”) TOTAL = 584 DAYS PALACE OF THE GOVENOR OF UXMAL HIS VIEW TO THE EAST TO SEE VENUS RISING MAYA ECLIPSE TABLE Longer Eclipse Cycles (EVEN NUMBERS OF SYNODIC & DRACONIC MONTHS ) CHINESE CYCLE SAROS CYCLE CYCLE MAYA CYCLE CYCLE = 46 TSOLKIN ROUNDS EXACTLY 46 TSOL KIN CALENDAR ROUNDS ECLIPSES HAPPEN ONLY ON SPECIFIC “KIN” THE MAYA HISTORICAL CALENDAR: THE “LONG COUNT” THE “LONG COUNT” THE MAYA: THE ULTIMATE CALENDAR MAKERS ONE CREATION CYCLE OF 1,872,000 TSOL KIN, HAAB AND LONG COUNT DAYS…~ 5000 YEARS ! THE LONG COUNT CYCLE JUST ENDED WAS SUPPOSED TO END IN EARTHQUAKE/FIRE BEGINNINGS AND ENDINGS CONTROVERSIAL. BEST ESTIMATE IS CALLED THE “MARTINEZ, GOODMAN, THOMPSON (GMT) CORRELATION: START: 13 AUGUST 3113 BCE END: 21 DECEMBER 2012 CE _________________________________ 1 DAY (“KIN”) Days 1 UINAL (20 KIN) Months 1 TUN (18 UINALS) ~ 360 DAYS (ONE HAAB) Years 1 KATUN (20 TUNS) “Decades” 1 BAKTUN (20 KATUNS) “Centuries” 13 BAKTUNS IS THE FULL CYCLE “Millennia” Vertical standing stones called STELAE commemorate important Maya dates; e.g. buildings, kinships, etc. TOTAL NUMBER OF KIN: 1,152,000 100,800 1080 20 12 ____________ 1,253,912 AFTER “START” END OF THE “LONG COUNT” CYCLE CORRELATION BETWEEN MAYA LONG COUNT AND GREGORIAN CALENDAR STILL CONTROVERSIAL BUT BEST START DATE: 12 AUG 3113 BCE ? (DUE TO GOODMAN-MARTINEZ-THOMPSON GMT CORRELATION TO THE “AHAU EQUATION”) OTHER GUESSES RANGE FROM 300 YEARS BEFORE GMT TO 500 YEARS AFTER GMT. GMT CORRELATION FINDS LAST LONG COUNT CYCLE ENDED ON 21 DEC 2012. *** HAPPY END OF THE WORLD (AGAIN) ** The “GREAT WORLD AGES” TRADITION CURRENT DURATION START/END CYCLE MAYA LONG 5125 YRS 3113 BCE COUNT 2012 CE GREAT AGE OF PISCES 2150 YRS c. 0 CE WORLD AGES c. 2150 CE INDIAN KALI YUGA 432,000 YRS c. 3102 BCE MAHA YUGA ?? ??.