Posted on 01/01/2003 3:18:59 PM PST by blam
Professor says Mayan calendar does not portend Earth’s doom
By Steve Reeves
January 01, 2003
TUSCALOOSA | Does our planet have only a scant 10 more years of existence left?
Some people believe the ancient Mayan calendar suggests the end of the world will come on Dec. 21, 2012.
But University of Alabama professor Enrique Gomez is not among them.
“The world won’t end in 2012," laughed Gomez, who teaches in UA’s astronomy and physics department. “I can assure you of that."
Gomez, a native of Mexico City, said he is much more interested in Mayan culture and how the Maya wove together ideas about creationism, astronomy and their calendar into a narrative about their view of the world.
He will talk about the Mayan civilization on Jan. 17 at 6 p.m. in room 227 of Gallalee Hall on the UA campus.
The Mayan civilization, which was located in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, began to crumble around 900 A.D., but its people left behind valuable contributions to art and literature.
They built pyramids and invented an elaborate system of writing, which they used to record significant events in their history.
“The Mayans were a very sophisticated culture, and they were a very literate culture," Gomez said.
Early Mayas, who had a keen interest in the stars, came up with two calendars ó the “Short Count" and the “Long Count." Each is intricate and relies on aspects of astronomical cycles. The Long Calendar used special symbols to signify each day, week and month.
The Mayans put their Long Count system in place more than 2,300 years ago, and for some reason made Dec. 21, 2012 the end of the calendar.
Some researchers believe that date is important because it coincides with the winter solstice, and on that date the Milky Way galaxy, on which the Mayans placed great significance, will align with the sun.
Many authors and scientists have said Dec. 21, 2012, is the day the Maya believed the world would end. Gomez said no one knows for sure if the Mayans intended to portend the end of the world on that particular day.
“It’s kind of hard to say exactly what they meant," he said. “We do not know exactly what person came up with the calendar and the significance of certain dates."
Gomez said what is really significant about the Mayan calendar is that it was in use for at least 26 continuous centuries.
“It was a calendar that was used by many different cultures and in many different languages," he said. “It’s part of our common heritage."
Reach Steve Reeves at steve.reeves@tuscaloosanews.com or 722-0208.
A topic from a few years ago:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/815326/posts?page=59#59
Has that ever been a topic? Thanks, I’m saving it. :’)
Archaeologists claim that the Maya began counting time as of year 3114 B.C. This is called the zero year and is likened to January 1, 1 AD.
The "Calendar Round" is like two gears that inter-mesh, one smaller than the other. One of the 'gears' is called the tzolkin, or Sacred Round. The other is the haab, or Calendar Round. The smaller wheels together represent the 260-day Sacred Round; the inner wheel, with the numbers one to thirteen, meshes with the glyphs for the 20 day names on the outer wheel. A section of a large wheel represents part of the 365-day year - 18 months of 20 days each (numbered 0-19). The five days remaining at year's end were considered evil. In the diagram, the day shown is read 4 Ahua 8 Cumka. As the wheels turn in the direction of the arrows, in four days it will read 8 Kan 12 Cumku. Any day calculated on these cycles would not repeat for 18,980 days - 52 years.
The Aztec Calendar (Sun Stone) was originally named Cuauhxicalli, or Eagle Bowl, in Aztec. It was commissioned by the Aztec ruler, Axayacatl who reigned from 1469-1481 when it was common practice for each new ruler to commission not only a new Sun Stone, but also a renovation of the Templo Mayor.
The Aztec Calendar Stone - if you look closely the position of the little wheels are obvious, as are the pointers. There is no END, it's a circle that continues to go 'round and 'round in cycles that the Aztecs as followers of Maya science, believed would repeat and repeat...
Bronze Wheels. 'Calendar wheels'?
IMHO...
I watched the program on the History channel and although I’m a Christian, I still had questions about their date 2012. I know no one knows the day or hour of Christ’s return but I wasn’t sure if that also meant we’re not to know the date of the earths end. I know there is still no reason to worry because even if that date was correct, it could only mean that Christ would be returning sometime during the next four years, which would really be great! After reading some of what’s been written in this forum, I really had to laugh at myself for even considering the Mayan calendar might be correct. I suppose it’s kind of like those physics that can’t tell when their own lives are heading for a curve while trying to make everyone else believe they can foretell the future. I think what some and even what sometimes I myself don’t stop to think about is the fact that Satan knows what tragedies will happen in the future since he is the author of everything evil. He can and will give information to those who seek it in the wrong places. Then we believe those people because some of what they’ve already said has come true. He also knows what’s been said behind closed doors and is able to reinvent voices and appearances of those who’ve gone. If we choose to seek out mediums for false comfort, he’s ready and willing to take part. I, for one, am very happy to know that time is in God’s hands and not that of the Mayans or any other culture or person who decides to tell us what the future holds. Just sorry I had to read something online to remember what I already knew, but thanks for everyone posting here...smile. You all helped me back to what I knew before watching that show.
God bless!
Don't know. If you haven't read Cosmic Winter by Clube and Napier, do so.
Nice area. I went to Tulum a few times...you could still walk around on everything then. I'm told that walking is limited now.(as it should be.)
I’ve thought about it over the years, maybe the library has it...
AND I am not saying I think the world will end in 2012. I actually believe there are many reasons why it ends there.
Thanks for the blast from the past. (My post was wriiten almost 8 years ago).
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