MAYA ASTRONOMY Unit 6 - SJC HISTORY

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    MAYA BOOK (Dresden Codex)
are of equal length.

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   Solar DAGGER                              GNOMEN
 in next class.

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    Haab which is a 365- day solar calendar, the Tzolk’in which is a 260-day sacred calendar, and the Calendar
Round of 52 years.
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.

The following is translation of the names of the 1st 4 months
HAAB                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.

The stars, moons, sun and planets were gods:

                                                                                                        n
their movements were seen as them going between the Earth, the Underworld and

                                                                                                      su
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.

                                                                                      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

                             watch video on website