[Aztlan] 819day Count

[Ed Barnhart]

Hi Listeros,

I'm mainly a spectator on Aztlan, but since there seems to be such interest
about the possible foundations of the 819-day cycle, I will speak up. I
suggest pages 12-16 of Christopher Powell's UT at Austin Thesis, "A New View
on Maya Astronomy" located on our website at:
http://www.mayaexploration.org/pdf/A%20New%20View%20on%20Maya%20Astronomy.pd
f

Powell makes a convincing argument that the 819-day cycle was constructed to
mirror the pre-existing cycles that so neatly incorporated Venus, Mars, and
Mercury.  The entire thesis is an important read for anyone interested in
ancient Maya calendars and astronomy.

Regards, Ed

Dr. Edwin Barnhart
Director, Maya Exploration Center
7301 Ranch Road 620 N
Suite 155 #284
Austin, Texas 78726
(512) 350-3321

-----Original Message-----
From: aztlan-bounces at lists.famsi.org [mailto:aztlan-bounces at lists.famsi.org]
On Behalf Of g-131 at xoc.net
Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2008 5:32 AM
To: 'AZTLAN'
Subject: Re: [Aztlan] 819day Count

In regard to the 819 day count being a multiple of 7, 9, and 13. All three
of these cycles appear elsewhere in the Maya dates.

The rarely seen 7 day cycle is recorded by the Z and Y glyphs in the
supplementary series, as written up in a nice paper by Yoshiho Yasugi and
Kenji Saito, "Glyph Y of the Maya Supplementary Series," Research Reports on
Ancient Maya Writing 34, Center for Maya Research, Washington DC, 1991. I
worked through the paper, and agree with the argument presented completely.
The 7 day cycle has the same base date as the 819 day count, as the
coefficients line up, at least in most of the examples we have.

There is, of course, the 9 day cycle represented by the G glyph. Whether
this glyph was used by the Maya in the 819 day count is an interesting
question. Scholars assigned numbers to these glyphs as G1 through G9, but
those numbers are arbitrary. I have seen an example where the G4 glyph has
the coefficient of 7. If so, then this cycle does have the same base as the
819 day count. I haven't looked at this question in much depth.

The 13 day cycle is the trecena of the Tzolk'in. This cycles definitely
doesn't have the same base as the 819 day count, as it is one off from the
819 day count. The trecena of the Maya creation date is 4 (as in 4 Ajaw),
but the 819 day count is 3 on that date. If this cycle played into the 819
day count, the Maya would always have had to subtract one (base 13) from the
trecena to get where it fit into the 13 day cycle that was used for the 819
day count.

This information makes it inconclusive on whether the 7, 9, and 13 cycles
played into the creation of the 819 day count. Given the three glyphs from
those three cycles in an inscription, I could definitely tell you what the
819 day count was for that date by multiplying the coefficients, but whether
the Maya used it that was is completely unproven. The best we can say is
that it may have been the rationale for the 819 day cycle.

The colors and directions that were added to the 819 day count makes it
clear that there is actually a larger 3276 day cycle (4 * 819) before the
same 819 day count would repeat with the same color and direction.

Greg Reddick

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