[Aztlan] 13 Baktun Date

[John Major Jenkins]

Jules,
 
In regards to your question about "13 Baktun". Clearly, the ancient Maya
believed that the end of 13 Baktuns was an important cycle ending. We
see this on Creation Monuments that associate 13.0.0.0.0 with 4 Ahau.
The prevailing observation is that these monuments always refer to the
end of the previous 13-Baktun cycle, back in 3114 BC. The Maya thought
about period endings in their Long Count calendar as times of
world-renewal and world-centering, and the "end of the world" hoopla is
largely a modern projection into ancient Maya doctrines. So, we can
understand the 13-Baktun cycle as a World Age period, and thus, by
extension, should expect that the end of the current 13-Baktun cycle ---
in 2012 --- would have been / is / will be significant for the Maya. The
question of the significance of 2012 doesn't hinge on the rather
simplistic and much overplayed question of whether the world will end or
not. Of greater interest is the question: was the cycle ending
intentionally placed in 2012? In other words, when the Long Count was
being formulated, was there an interest in making sure that the
13-baktun cycle ending fell on a specific date, in a specific era? The
credibility of even asking this question gains strength when we consider
that the 13-baktun cycle end date does fall on a December solstice. We
are left with explaining why this is so, or dismissing it as a
coincidence. The prevailing response to this question has been no, the
date in 2012 has no significance and plays no role in Maya eschatology
and is not an intentional artifact of calendrical and/or astronomical
calculations. An oft repeated problem is that we have no written
statements about the 2012 date; all dates apparently refer (because of
the associated haab date 8 Cumku) to the beginning of the cycle in 3114
bc. However, as a result of discussion on the UT Meso email group, it
became more widely known that a dated text from Tortuguero does exist
that refers to 13.0.0.0.0 4 Ahau 3 Kankin --- the date that correlates
to the end of the current cycle, December 21, 2012 (GMT:584283). David
Stuart translated part of the text. So, it can no longer be said that
there are no monuments referring to 2012, and we must try to be open to
exploring what the ancient Maya may have thought about it. It no longer
suffices to dismiss the inquiry with a chuckle and say, "no, the Maya
didn't believe the world is going to end." This is not to lend credence
to the doomsday people, but to point out that something interesting ---
and under-explored --- does appear to be associated with the December
21, 2012 date. Even if it is just a deeper elucidation of Maya
eschatological doctrines, that would be worth fleshing out. Links to
other items of interest regarding Maya statements referential to 2012:
 
http://www.alignment2012.com/mayan2012statements.html
Rober Sitler's 2012 page: http://www.stetson.edu/%7Ersitler/13PIK/
The UT Meso discussion on Tortuguero Monument 6: 
http://groups.google.com/group/utmesoamerica/browse_thread/thread/2ad64b
039cb60983/0396cfd4957fd61e#0396cfd4957fd61e
My essay on the significance of Tortuguero Monument 6 with reference to
Sven Gronemeyer's drawings:
http://www.alignment2012.com/bolon-yokte.html
 
John Major Jenkins
 
 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: aztlan-bounces at lists.famsi.org
[mailto:aztlan-bounces at lists.famsi.org] On Behalf Of Jules Siegel
Sent: Monday, December 18, 2006 9:31 AM
To: Aztlan
Subject: Re: [Aztlan] 13 Baktun Date
 
Sid Hollander wrote:
 
> So far I have not found the question of 1 or 2 days to be much of an
> intellectual problem worth the extended effort to argue one way or
> the other.  I have more interest examining the discussions of those 
> offering much different coefficients and their arguments.
 
What do we know about how the ancient Maya and their calendar makers
felt about 13 Baktun? Did they believe it meant the end of the world, or
simply the end of their calendar.
 
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