During that long period, hundreds of dialects were spoken in that territory, which today generate nearly 44 different Mayan languages. To speak of the «ancient Mayans» is to refer to the history of one of the most important pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures, since its scientific and astronomical legacy is worldwide. Contrary to a widely held belief, the Mayan civilization never «disappeared.» At least not completely, as their descendants still live in the region and many of them speak one of the Mayan languages.
Mayan literature illustrates the life of this culture. Works such as the Rabinal Achí, the Popol Vuh, and the various books of the Chilam Balam are proof of this. What was destroyed by the conquest was the model of civilization that, until the arrival of the first Spaniards, had generated three millennia of history. According to the Popol Vuh, a book that compiles the details of the accounts of creation known to the Quiché Mayan ethnic group of the highlands of the colonial era, we currently live in the fourth world. The Popol Vuh states that the first gods created three failed worlds; the fourth world was successful and prospered, and became the home of modern man. In the long count, each previous world ended after the thirteenth Baktun (5,125 years). Chilam Balam is the name of several books that recount historical events and circumstances of the Mayan civilization. They were written in the Mayan language by anonymous people during the 16th and 17th centuries in the
Yucatan Peninsula. The name of the town where they were written is added to this name, for example, the Chilam Balam of Chumayel, etc. They were written after the Spanish conquest.
«During the colonial period, most of the writings and vestiges of the Mayan religion were destroyed by the Spanish Catholic missionaries, who considered that such vestiges represented pagan influences and were therefore harmful to the catechization of the Mayans…”
rutas mayas
All the aboriginal peoples of Central America used similar calendars. The Mayan calendar called THE LONG COUNT began its count on August 13, 3114 (relating it to our calendar). The Mayans also had an astronomical calendar, especially used for agriculture, of a lunar type that had 12.5 months, each of which had 29.2 days, equivalent to a solar year of 365.2 days. The liturgical calendar or “TZOLKIN” had the number of days of their divinities, that is, 260, distributed in 20 months. It was used especially for religious celebrations and predicted the destiny of men, in relation to the day they were born. When day 13 was reached, the cycle began again from day 1, combining the numbers with 20 names. The civil calendar or “HAAB” had 18 months, each with 20 days, totaling 360 days plus 5 days that were added to accommodate the astronomical calendar, totaling the number of days of the Earth’s translational movement. Here too, names and numbers are combined. Those 5 days were days off. Naturally, every 52 years there was a coincidence between the civil and astronomical calendars, marking a complete cycle, a time when cataclysms and catastrophes occurred.
Calendar
The Mayan civilization inhabited a vast region called Mesoamerica, in the territory of Central America, in the current territories of Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador and in the territory today comprised of five states in the southeast of Mexico, which are Campeche, Chiapas, Quintana Roo, Tabasco and Yucatan, with a history of approximately 3,000 years.
Learn about the Mayan culture with this valuable informative guide to Quintana Roo and Yucatan, where Mayan areas are still intact and the entire mix of inhabitants coexist with tourists and local people who have come to stay in the Mexican Caribbean because here they not only enjoy the climate but also the delicious food…
All the aboriginal peoples of Central America used similar calendars. The Mayan calendar called THE LONG COUNT began its count from August 13, 3114 (relating it to our calendar). The Mayans also had an astronomical calendar, especially used for lunar agriculture, which had 12.5 months, each of which had 29.2 days, equivalent to a solar year of 365.2 days. The liturgical calendar or “TZOLKIN” had the number of days of their divinities, that is, 260, distributed over 20 months. They were used especially for religious celebrations and to predict the destiny of men, in relation to the day they were born. When the 13th day came, the cycle would start again from day 1, combining the numbers with 20 names. The civil calendar or “HAAB” had 18 months, each with 20 days, totaling 360 days plus 5 days that were added to accommodate the astronomical calendar, totaling the number of days of the Earth’s translational movement. Here too, names and numbers are combined. These 5 days were days off. Naturally, every 52 years there was a coincidence between the civil and astronomical calendars, marking a complete cycle, a moment in which cataclysms and catastrophes occurred.
