Page 29 - 200911 - The 'X' Chronicles newspaper - November 2009

november2009_june_july_2009.qxd 23/11/2009 4:37 PM Page 29 29 Mayan Calendar Predictions: T or F? 29 Mayan Calendar Predictions: T or F? Does Maya calendar Does Maya calendar predict 2012 apocalypse? predict 2012 apocalypse? Continued from Page 28 "For the ancient Maya, it was a huge celebration to make it to the end of a whole cycle," says Sandra Noble, executive director of the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies in Crystal River, Fla. To render Dec. 21, 2012, as a doomsday or moment of cosmic shifting, she says, is "a complete fabrication and a chance for a lot of people to cash in." Part of the 2012 mystique stems from the stars. On the winter solstice in 2012, the sun will be aligned with the center of the Milky Way for the first time in about 26,000 years. This means that "whatever energy typically streams to Earth from the center of the Milky Way will indeed be disrupted on 12/21/12 at 11:11 p.m. Universal Time," Joseph writes. But scholars doubt the ancient Maya extrapolated great meaning from anticipating The ancient Maya were united by a [see epigraphy]. Two dialects dominate the the alignment — if they were even aware of shared religious system and language, although inscriptions and are presumed to be the more what the configuration would be. there are actually many Mayan languages. prestigious forms of the Maya language. One is Astronomers generally agree that "it While the political system was also shared from the southern area of the Maya and the would be impossible the Maya themselves among the Maya, each chiefdom had its own other from the Yucatan peninsula. With the would have known that," says Susan Milbrath, a ruler. Battles between cities and protective advent of the Spanish, the prestige language Maya archaeoastronomer and a curator at the alliances were frequent. became Spanish. Florida Museum of Natural History. What's more, she says, "we have no record or Sacrifice and Ball Games: Maya Gods and Goddesses knowledge that they would think the world would come to an end at that point." Human sacrifice is a part of many 1. Ah Puch : Ah Puch is the god of death. His University of Florida anthropologist cultures, including the Maya, and is usually depiction is skeletal, with corpses and skulls. He Susan Gillespie says the 2012 phenomenon associated with religion in that people are may be shown with black spots. He is also comes "from media and from other people sacrificed to the gods. The Maya creation myth known as Yum Kimil and the A god. Ah Puch's making use of the Maya past to fulfill agendas involved a sacrifice made by the gods that had day is Cimi. that are really their own." [] to be re-enacted by humans from time to time. 2. Chac : Chac is a benevolent fertility god. He One of the occasions of human sacrifice was the is god of agriculture, rain and lightning. He may Who Were The Ancient ball game. It is not known how often sacrifice of be represented as an old man with reptilian Maya? the loser ended the game, but the game itself features. He is connected with the Aztec god was often deadly. When the Spanish came to Tlaloc. Chac may be god B. God B is associated Mesoamerica they witnessed serious injuries with life and never death. The day associated The Maya lived in subtropical from the sport. See The Mesoamerican World with god B may be Ik. Mesomerica in parts of the countries that are for more on this fascinating ancient sport. 3. Kinich Ahau : Kinich Ahau is a Maya sun now Guatemala, El Salvador, Belize, Honduras, god. He sounds like God D, whose day is Ahau, and the Yucatan peninsula area of Mexico. Architecture of the Maya: which is equivalent of "king". God D is shown Major sites of the Maya are located at: as a toothless old man, or with one tooth in his •Palenque The Maya built pyramids, like the lower jaw. He never appears with symbols of •Copan people of Mesopotamia and Egypt. Maya death. Other suggestions for god D are •Bonampak pyramids were usually 9-step pyramids with flat Kukulcan and Itzamna. •Tikal tops on which were perched temples to the gods 4. Kukulcan : The Aztec knew Kukulcan as •Chichén Itzá accessible by stairs. They corresponded with the Quetzalcoatl ("feathered snake"). A serpent and •Yakchilan 9 layers of the Underworld. hero-god, he taught the Maya about civilization •Piedras Negras Maya created corbeled arches. There and was associated with rain. He was also •Calakmul. were sweat baths, a ball game area, and a central associated with the four elements, the colors Old settlements of the Maya are visible ceremonial area that may have also served as a yellow, red, black, and white, and good and evil. from planes passing above the jungles. market in the cities of the Maya. The Maya at Worship of Quetzalcoatl included human the city of Uxmal used concrete in their sacrifices. Kukulcan is probably god B, When Were the Ancient Maya?: buildings. Commoners had homes made of although Chac is another possibility. The day thatch and either adobe or sticks. Some associated with god B may be Ik. God B has a The recognizable culture of the Maya residents had fruit trees. Canals afforded an black body, large nose and tongue hanging out developed between 2500 B.C. and A.D. 250. opportunity for mollusks and fish. to the side. God B is associated with life and The peak period of Maya civilization was in the never death. Classic period, which began in A.D. 250. The Language of the Maya: 5. Ix Chel : Ix Chel is a rainbow, earth, and Maya lasted for about another 700 years before moon goddess of the Maya. Ix is a feminine suddenly disappearing as a major force; The Maya spoke various Maya family prefix. however, the Maya did not die out then and languages some of which were phonetically 6. Ixtab: Ixtab is the Maya goddess of the haven't to this day. transcribed via hieroglyphs. The Maya painted hanged and suicide. She is depicted with a rope their words on bark paper that has disintegrated, around her neck. [] What Do We Mean by the Ancient Maya?: but also wrote in on more enduring substances