The Maya Calendar

The Maya developed a sophisticated calendar. The ritual calendar that developed in Mesoamerica used a count of 260 days. This calendar gave each day a name, much like our days of the week. There were 20 day names, each represented by a unique symbol. The days were numbered from 1 to 13. Since there are 20 day names, after the count of thirteen was reached, the next day was numbered 1 again. The 260-day or sacred count calendar was in use throughout Mesoamerica for centuries, probably before the beginning of writing.

Maya Day Names & Approximate Meanings:

Imix Waterlily Chuwen Frog
Ik' Wind Eb Skull
Ak'bal Night Ben Corn stalk
K'an Corn Ix Jaguar
Chikchan Snake Men Eagle
Kimi Death head Kib Shell
Manik' Hand Kaban Earth
Lamat Venus Etz'nab Flint
Muluk Water Kawak Storm cloud
Ok Dog Ahaw Lord

The Maya also tracked a vague solar year in which they counted 365 days per year. Because they could not use fractions, the "quarter" day left over every year caused their calendar to drift with regard to the actual solar year. The 365-day year contained months were also given names. numbers 0-19 before they changed, so that the count goes Zero Pohp to 19 Pohp, then continues with Zero Wo.

Month Names and Approximate Meanings:

Pohp Mat Yax Green ??
Wo ?? Zak White ??
Sip ?? Keh Red ??
Sotz' Bat Mak ??
Sek ?? K'ank'in ??
Xul Dog Muwan Owl
Yaxk'in New Sun Pax ??
Mol Water K'ayab Turtle
Ch'en Black ?? Kumk'u ??

To the eighteen regular months the Maya appended a special five-day month called Wayeb composed of 5 days which were considered unnamed and unlucky. Thus the days were counted: One Imix, Zero Pohp, Two Ik, One Pohp. When the thirteenth day was reached the next day was Thirteen Ben, Twelve Pohp; then One Ix, Thirteen Pohp, Two Men, Fourteen Pohp. After Seven Ahaw, Nineteen Pohp, the next day was Eight Imix, Zero Wo.
If you have a Java-enabled browser, you will see an interactive calender converter routine below. Fill in the Gregorian Date in the top fields (day, month number, year) and press `Convert' to find the Maya calender date corresponding to that. Please note that the order is day, month, year.

Note about this applet
This Java applet uses the 584,283 correlation. If you prefer the 584,285 correlation, you have to subtract 2 days from the date you want to convert. For instance: Jan 1, 1996 would become Dec 30, 1995. Please see this page for an example.

In addition, the Maya used special glyphs to indicate time periods, the kin represented one day. Winals are periods of 20-days which we now call a month. The Tun was a year of 360 days and the K'atun was a time period of 20 years of 360 days each. As we will see later, the K'atun ending was a special time period celebrated by the Maya. It has its parallel in the modern world, the period of time which we call a decade. The Maya also counted 400-year periods called Baktuns. The Maya used these time periods in a special day count which is now called the Long count. Today a typical long count date is written thus: 9.14.12.2.17. This represents 9 baktuns, 14 k'atuns, 12 tuns, 2 winals and 17 k'ins. [Special note: All names given here are in the new orthography developed by native Maya of Guatemala. Their system is being accepted by many various organizations of Maya and similar forms of this orthography are being adopted by other Maya groups. In reality, this system probably makes it easier for English speakers to pronounce the actual words. Given the Maya propensity for words and language it is only a natural development.