Unit 6

MAYA ASTRONOMY

What is astronomy? Astronomy is the study of the celestial objects including, the sun, the stars, moon, planets etc. It is very important to understand the celestial bodies since they dictate a lot of what occurs on earth. Earth rotates around the sun like a dog chases its tail but not as fast. Earth spins around an imaginary line called the axis. This rotation causes different parts of space to be exposed and aligned at different phases.

Ancient Maya Astronomy: The ancient Maya were keen astronomers, recording and interpreting every aspect of the sky. As they believed that the will and actions of the Gods could be read in the stars, moon and planets. They dedicated much time to doing so and many of their most important buildings were constructed with astronomy in mind. The Sun, Moon and planets (Venus in particular) were studied by the Maya. The Maya also based their calendars around astronomy. They also focused on the solstices and equinoxes. The solstice is either of the two times in the year, the summer solstice and the winter solstice, when the sun reaches its highest or lowest point in the sky at noon, marked by the longest and shortest days. The equinox the time or date (twice each year) at which the sun crosses the celestial equator, when day and night are of equal length.

MAYA BOOK (Dresden Codex)

Figure from the Madrid Codex, interpreted as an astronomer

Maya observational tools As a result of the social structure being developed the Maya began to be mindful about their surrounding and began to wonder about the celestial bodies. Of course, the first tool they developed was to simply observe closely the movements within the skies. From observing they began to record and that is how they manage to use mathematical systems to calculate and predict events in the skies. Visual and record keeping was basic in creating the calendars.

Solar TUBE HOMEWORK: Look up one of the following Maya Observational tools and write a brief description of it for oral presentation in next class.

Solar DAGGER

GNOMEN

Maya observational tools Secondly, the Maya began to look at alignments in the skies and the construction of their building were also aligned to connect with their gods. In addition, to architectural alignment solar tubes were created within the buildings to create an observatory. Cracks were left within buildings to observe the movement of the son creating solar daggers. The light would go through the cracks and create sort of like a dagger within a spiral diagram placed on a wall. Lastly, the Maya created some tools that resemble the present day Gnomon/gnomen, which would be used a stick place straight up and the shadow would represent the movement of the sun.

Maya calendars The Maya calendar system has its roots in older, Mesoamerican indigenous civilizations, particularly the Olmec. The Maya calendar is complex and serves both practical and ceremonial purposes. These calendars are based on solar, lunar, planetary, and human cycles. There are three most commonly known cyclical calendars used by the Maya. These include the Round of 52 years.

Haab which is a 365- day solar calendar, the Tzolk’in which is a 260-day sacred calendar, and the Calendar

In addition, the Maya developed the Long Count calendar to date mythical and historical events chronologically.

the Haab

18 named months of the Mayan Haab Calendar

The Haab The Maya solar calendar, called Haab, is a count of 365 days and thus approximates the solar year. The word “haab” means “year” in the Yucatec Mayan language. The Haab is composed of 18 months made of 20 days each, plus one month made of 5 days. A month made of 20 days is called a uinal. Each uinal has its own name. These 18 months together equal 360 days. The last month made of 5 days is called Wayeb. The 19 months together total 365 days. 18 x 20 + 5 = 365 The 20 days are counted from 0 to 19. The 19th month is the Wayeb. This last month of 5 days is counted from 0 to 4. The Maya farmers of the Yucatan follow the Haab calendar. The farmers conduct offerings and ceremonies on the same months every year. These ceremonies are the Sac Ha’, Cha’a Chac and Wajikol. The farmers ask for rain and make offerings during the growth cycle of the corn, especially during its planting and harvesting. The Maya in the highlands of Guatemala perform special ceremonies and rituals during the Haab month of Wayeb.

HAAB

The following is translation of the names of the 1st 4 months and a brief list of what was to be celebrated during each:

Pop - Mat (symbol of community and marriage) The first month of the year, preceded by fasting and abstinence. On the first day of the year there was gift giving and drinking. Wo - Frog Physicians and shamans made offerings to Itzamna, the god of magic and patron of priests. Predictions for the year were made and individual priests were assigned their festival obligations for the year. Zip - Red -- (perhaps red conjunction?) A month to honor the god of hunting, Ek Zip. Hunters and fisherman blessed their tools and performed blood letting ceremonies. Zotz - Bat Bee keepers prepared themselves for the coming activities by fasting. It may have also been associated with the beginning of the darkest months of the year in fall.

http://mayan-calendar.com/ancient_haab.html

TZOLKIN CALENDAR

time to HARVEST

time to PLANT

maya.nmai.si.edu/calendar/maya-calendar-converter

MAYA Long Count Date

17 July 1970 Yasser Musa

E Maya E-groups E-Groups are unique architectural complexes found among a number of ancient Maya settlements. They are central components to the settlement organization of Maya sites and could have served as astronomical observatories. The alignment of these structural complexes corresponds to the sun's solstices and equinoxes.

Why E-groups? Was there a specific purpose for the persistent E-Group pattern and if so, what might it have been? Maya scholars have put out three possible meanings or functions for E-Group arrangements: for use as a solar observatory; for the practice of ritual cycles; and for the practice of some use associated with the Mesoamerican ballgame. The reality probably was a combination of these things: the E-Group may well have been used for all of these purposes at once or even sequentially, since many of the buildings were rebuilt over a period of decades and centuries they were used.

Solar Observatory: If you stand on the platform on the radial pyramid at Uaxactun on the summer solstice, you will see the sun rise over the the top of the northern-most temple on the eastern group, and on the winter solstice, over the top of the southern-most. Calendric Cycles: A related possibility suggests that the E-Groups were constructed specically at the end or beginning of the Maya calendar cycles known as k'atuns (sometimes spelled without the single quote mark), or that the groups were used for celebrating the end or beginning of the katun cycle. Katuns are 20-year periods marked in the Maya calendar.

Cerros, Corozal, Belize The Maya and the Sky: The Maya believed that the Earth was the center of all things, fixed and immovable.

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their movements were seen as them going between the Earth, the Underworld and other celestial destinations. These Gods were greatly involved in human affairs, and so their movements were watched closely. Many events in Maya life were planned to coincide with certain celestial moments: for example, a war might be delayed until the Gods were in place, or a ruler might ascend to the throne of a Maya city-state only when a certain planet was visible in the night sky.

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The stars, moons, sun and planets were gods:

The glyph for the sun, or k'in, is pictured surrounded by a white “wing” and a black one, which represent the symbol for a solar eclipse.

Maya astronomers had the ability to predict and mark the passage of the seasons by observing the movements of the Sun along the horizon, or the Sun’s movements with respect to the pyramids and other temples. The Sun and its cycles are the foundation for Maya calendar keeping. “The great cities of our past were designed as symbolic landscapes that mimicked and enhanced the natural surroundings. My ancestors built monuments in concert with the movements of the Sun, the Moon, and the stars.” José Huchim Herrera, Yucatec Maya, Archaeologist and Architect

Sun God, Kinch Ahau | Jade Head, Belize

The Maya and the Sun: Kinch

Ahau

The Sun was very important to the ancient Maya. The Maya Sun God was Kinich Ahau. He was one of the more powerful Gods of the Maya pantheon, considered an aspect of Itzamna, one of the Maya creator Gods. Kinich Ahau would shine in the sky all day before transforming himself into a jaguar at night to pass through Xibalba, the Maya underworld. In the Popol Vuh, the hero twins, Hunaphu and Xbalanque, transformed themselves at one point into the Sun and the Moon. Some of the Maya dynasties claimed to be descended from the Sun. The Maya were expert at predicting solar phenomena, such as eclipses, equinoxes and when the Sun reached its apex.

The Maya rain god Chac and the moon goddess IxChel exchange cacao .

The Maya and the Moon: The Moon was nearly as important as the Sun for the ancient Maya. Maya astronomers analyzed and predicted the Moon’s movements with great accuracy. As with the sun and planets, Maya dynasties often claimed to be descended from the Moon. Maya mythology generally associated the moon with a maiden, an old woman and/or a rabbit. The Maya Moon Goddess was Ix Chel, a powerful Goddess who battled with the Sun and made him descend into the underworld every night. Although she was a fearsome Goddess, she was the patroness of childbirth and fertility. Ix Ch’up was another Moon Goddess described in some of the codices: she was young and beautiful and may have been Ix Chel in her youth.

Venus god from page 49 of the Codex Dresden.

The Maya and Venus: The Maya were aware of the planets in the solar system and marked their movements. By far, the

most important planet to the Maya

was Venus, which they associated with war. Battles and wars would be arranged to coincide with the movements of Venus and captured warriors and leaders would likewise be sacrificed according to the position of Venus in the night sky. The Maya painstakingly recorded the movements of Venus and determined that its year (relative to earth, not the sun) was 584 days long, amazingly close to the 583.92 days that modern science has determined.

ANALYSIS: An account of Maya Astronomy: Dresden Codex

MAYA MATHEMATICS - numbers

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