World will not end in 2012, according to 9th-century Mayan calendar

[Ryft]

["Ancient Maya workshop for astronomers discovered." CBC News. (2012, May 11).]

Archeologists have discovered Maya astronomical tables that are hundreds of years older than any previously discovered—and which pour more cold water on the myth that the society predicted the world would end in 2012. ... Astronomical records were key to the Maya calendar, which has received some attention recently because of doomsday warnings that it predicts the end of the world this December. Experts say it makes no such prediction. The new finding provides a bit of backup: The calculations include a time span longer than 6,000 years that could extend well beyond 2012.

[Bob McDonald, "Maya Wall Calendar." Quirks and Quarks. (2012, May 12).]

The city of Xultun is an ancient Maya settlement, located in present day Guatemala. A structure recently excavated there has revealed rare Maya paintings, as well as evidence of astronomical tables relating to various calendrical cycles, including those of the moon, Mars and Venus. The paintings, found on the inner walls of the structure, depict a Maya king, as well as a scribe holding a stylus. The astronomical tables—a series of hieroglyphic bars and dots arranged in columns—are also found on the inner walls. The excavation was recently carried out by Dr. William Saturno, a Professor of Archaeology at Boston University. He believes the early 9th century structure was the workshop of the scribe depicted in the painting. These findings are the oldest-known Mayan astronomical tables, as well as the first known instance of Mayan art painted on the walls of a dwelling.

http://cbc.ca/quirks/media/2011-2012/qq-...-12_02.mp3

(The second button from the left is the Play button.)

[Polaris]

The world will end when it's time for the world to end.

[Welsh cake]

I don't see what the big deal is about forewarnings of the end of the world/life from ancient civilizations. They didn't demonstrate any real understanding of how our universe works which modern science currently does.

Besides the world has ended for them. They're dead.

[Colanth]

The Mayan calendar claims that the Mayan calendar ends in 2012. The claim that the world will end in 2012 is something that started with Hollywood.

Raise a child to believe in the Jebus fantasy and he'll believe in any fantasy.

[Zen Badger]

Funny how they predicted the end of the world but didn't foresee the Spaniards arrival.

[FallentoReason]

The Mayan calendar claims that the Mayan calendar ends in 2012. The claim that the world will end in 2012 is something that started with Hollywood.

According to Mayan myth, the world has actually already ended three times before. This is supposedly the fourth world that the gods created after mucking up the first 3. The reasoning behind 2012 being the end is that their system for counting seasons and such will roll over to 13.0.0.0.0 or 13 b'ak'tun (which is made up of 20 k'atun which is made up of 20 tun which is made up of 18 winal which is made up of 20 k'in. Kind of like our year being made up of 52 weeks which are made up of 7 days and our DD/MM/YY system). 13 b'ak'tun was the supposed lifespan of the first 3 worlds, so therefore this world is going to be no different.

The point though is that if one wants to believe in this then it means one is believing in yet another trivial religion of the world. Until these gods can be proven there's no reason to think that 3 previous worlds existed and that this one will end at 13 b'ak'tun.

[Epimethean]

They didn't predict the end of the world any more than we do when we toss our calendars in December. They had simply run through one calendar of an age or time period. It's a big pile of trumped up mumbo-jumbo that the Mayans are unlikely ever to have considered.

[FallentoReason]

They didn't predict the end of the world any more than we do when we toss our calendars in December. They had simply run through one calendar of an age or time period. It's a big pile of trumped up mumbo-jumbo that the Mayans are unlikely ever to have considered.

According to their religion, the fourth world was going to end on the 13th b'ak'tun.

There is a strong tradition of "world ages" in Mayan literature, but the record has been distorted, leaving several possibilities open to interpretation.[16] According to the Popol Vuh, a compilation of the creation accounts of the K'iche' Maya of the Colonial-era highlands, we are living in the fourth world.[17] The Popol Vuh describes the gods first creating three failed worlds, followed by a successful fourth world in which humanity was placed. In the Maya Long Count, the previous world ended after 13 b'ak'tuns, or roughly 5,125 years.[18][Note a] The Long Count's "zero date"[Note b] was set at a point in the past marking the end of the third world and the beginning of the current one, which corresponds to 11 August 3114 BC in the proleptic Gregorian calendar.[19][Note c] This means that the fourth world will also have reached the end of its 13th b'ak'tun, or Mayan date 13.0.0.0.0, on 21 December 2012.[1][Note c] In 1957, Mayanist and astronomer Maud Worcester Makemson wrote that "the completion of a Great Period of 13 b'ak'tuns would have been of the utmost significance to the Maya".[20] In 1966, Michael D. Coe wrote in The Maya that "there is a suggestion ... that Armageddon would overtake the degenerate peoples of the world and all creation on the final day of the 13th [b'ak'tun]. Thus ... our present universe [would] be annihilated [in December 2012][Note d] when the Great Cycle of the Long Count reaches completion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_phenom...k.27tun_13

[Oldandeasilyconfused]

I don't see what the big deal is about forewarnings of the end of the world/life from ancient civilizations. They didn't demonstrate any real understanding of how our universe works which modern science currently does. dead.

THAT'S the joke; they did no such thing. The Mayan calendar system is NOT predictive. Ignormamuses misunderstood the Mayan long count and the credulous believed them. Actual scholars knew all along and said so.


Try Googling it:

The Prediction

The Maya actually never made a single prediction related to an apocalypse, but it is claimed by 2012 proponents that the Maya could predict future events. The accuracy of this claim appears to hinge on the type of prediction that is claimed. One problem with proponents is that they generally fail to cite references, so that the claims of various predictions being made are difficult to impossible to reference and check.

Rohaan Solare1 stakes out a definitive position, stating:

Contrary to popular understanding, the ancient Meso-Americans, be they Aztec or Maya or any other group, left no oral or written “prophecy” record about what would or could happen on or about the year 2012 other than a great age of 5125 years would end and another commence.2

http://www.2012hoax.org/maya-prediction

The link below gives a pretty good explanation of the Meso-American calendar used by the Mayans.

The Mesoamerican Long Count calendar is a non-repeating, vigesimal (base-20) and base-18 calendar used by several Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures, most notably the Maya. For this reason, it is sometimes known as the Maya (or Mayan) Long Count calendar. Using a modified vigesimal tally, the Long Count calendar identifies a day by counting the number of days passed since a mythical creation date that corresponds to August 11, 3114 BCE in the Gregorian calendar.[n 1] The Long Count calendar was widely used on monuments.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayan_Long_Count

[FallentoReason]

What is their very own myth suggesting though? They believed 3 previous worlds existed and all lasted 13 b'ak'tuns. So what can be said about the fourth world?