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The Maya And Aztec Calendars Valid Or Not

by JayMendoza

The calendars of the Aztec and Mayans are very similar to each other. The Aztec ritual day cycle is called Tonalpohualli. The Tonalpohualli was formed with a cycle of numerals 1-13 and formed a cycle of 20 day names. Many of these names were similar to the Mayans.

The Aztec calendar differed quite significantly from the Mayan calendar because of the primitive number system that they used. They way they recorded dates were not a precise either. The Aztec calendar was made to keep two different types of time: The Tonalpohualli and xiuhpohualli.

The Tonalpohualli was known as the counting of days. It is said that the ancient people would observe the sun crossing a certain zenith near the Mayan city of Copan, every 260 days. This is how the first 260 day cycle began. They broke the 260 days down into 20 periods with each period containing 13 days. Each period of 13 days was called Trecenas. A name was then given to each period and shown with a hieroglyphic sign. They were then given a number of 1-13. There was also a god or a deity that would preside over each of the Trecenas.

As a religious calendar, the priest use to use it to determine the luck of days. It would help to determine such everyday activities such as sowing crops, building houses and going to war.

Another name for xiuhpohualli is known as the counting of years. The Aztec state used this solar count calendar for agricultural and ceremonial purposes. This calendar consisted of 18 months with 20 days and it was known as veintenas. The nemontemi is the five days that are unrecorded and these days are the days of transition from one year to the next. All their festivals took place at this time of year. They would all get together and get dressed up in their best clothing and adorn the Aztec masks. There would be lots of singing and dancing along with the human sacrifices.

All the religious ceremonies including the human sacrifices and the Aztec pottery would be held in the Great Temple before their Gods. The Great Temple is located in the center of the city of Tenochitlan.

A civilization that was unique and left the way for us to incorporate a higher dimension of knowledge of time and creation was the classic Mayan civilization with their unique Mayan masks and Mayan pottery. They did this by tracking the movement of the Moon and Venus along with other heavenly bodies. With this, they created a calendar that measures the solar year within a matter of minutes.

They Mayans have stated that everything has a place in time and that there is time for everything. The priest would interpret the calendar as well as the heavens to determine the control they had over their daily activities. With this knowledge, they knew when to plant crops, harvest, when it would rain or they would be in for a dry season. Their knowledge of time, seasons, and the cycles was incredible.

You can see the close relation between the Aztec calendar and the Mayan calendar. One is more complicated than the other but it seems that even the calendars of today come from the Mayan civilization.

About the Author: Frank Cole

Aztec Artwork This is the time of year that the festivals began. The nemontemi is the five days that are unrecorded and these days are the days of transition from one year to the next. Everyone would come in their best outfits and adorn their ceremonial Aztec masks.

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The Maya And Aztec Calendars Valid Or Not