Page 164 - Fingerprints of the Gods by Graham Hancock

Graham Hancock – FINGERPRINTS OF THE GODS

star’. They understood other things about it as well. The ‘synodical
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revolution’ of a planet is the period of time it takes to return to any given
point in the sky—as viewed from earth. Venus revolves around the sun
every 224.7 days, while the earth follows its own slightly wider orbit. The
composite result of these two motions is that Venus rises in exactly the
same place in the earth’s sky approximately every 584 days.
Whoever invented the sophisticated calendrical system inherited by the
Maya had been aware of this and had found ingenious ways to integrate it
with other interlocking cycles. Moreover, it is clear from the mathematics
which brought these cycles together that the ancient calendar masters
had understood that 584 days was only an approximation and that the
movements of Venus are by no means regular. They had therefore
worked out the exact figure established by today’s science for the
average synodical revolution of Venus over very long periods of time.
19
That figure is 583.92 days and it was knitted into the fabric of the Mayan
calendar in numerous intricate and complex ways. For example, to
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reconcile it with the so-called ‘sacred year’ (the tzolkin of 260 days, which
was divided into 13 months of 20 days each) the calendar called for a
correction of four days to be made every 61 Venus years. In addition,
during every fifth cycle, a correction of eight days was made at the end of
the 57th revolution. Once these steps were taken, the tzolkin and the
synodical revolution of Venus were intermeshed so tightly that the degree
of error to which the equation was subject was staggeringly small—one
day in 6000 years. And what made this all the more remarkable was that
21
a further series of precisely calculated adjustments kept the Venus cycle
and the tzolkin not only in harmony with each other but in exact
relationship with the solar year. Again this was achieved in a manner
which ensured that the calendar was capable of doing its job, virtually
error-free, over vast expanses of time.
22
Why did the ‘semi-civilized’ Maya need this kind of high-tech precision?
Or did they inherit, in good working order, a calendar engineered to fit
the needs of a much earlier and far more advanced civilization?
Consider the crowning jewel of Maya calendrics, the so-called ‘Long
Count’. This system of calculating dates also expressed beliefs about the
past—notably, the widely held belief that time operated in Great Cycles
which witnessed recurrent creations and destructions of the world.
According to the Maya, the current Great Cycle began in darkness on 4
Ahau 8 Cumku, a date corresponding to 13 August 3114 BC in our own
calendar. As we have seen, it was also believed that the cycle will come
23

18 The Maya, p. 176.
19 The Rise and Fall of Maya Civilization, p. 170; Mysteries of the Mexican Pyramids, p.
290.
20 The Rise and Fall of Maya Civilization, p. 170.
Ibid., 170-1.
21
22 Ibid., 169.
23 Breaking The Maya Code, p. 275.

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