Ancient Mayan Astronomy the Sun, Moon, and Planets

The ancient Maya were avid astronomers, recording and interpreting every aspect of the sky. They believed that the will and actions of the gods could be read in the stars, moon, and planets, so they dedicated time to doing so, and many of their most important buildings were built with astronomy in mind. The sun, moon, and planets—Venus, in particular—were studied by the Maya. The heyday of Maya astronomy was in the 8th century CE, and Maya daykeepers published astronomical tables tracking the movements of celestial bodies on the walls of a special structure at Xultun, Guatemala in the early 9th century. The tables are also found in the Dresden Codex, a bark-paper book written about the 15th century CE. Although the Maya calendar was largely based on the ancient Mesoamerican calendar created at least as early as 1500 BCE, Maya calendars were corrected and maintained by specialist astronomical observers. Archaeologist Prudence Rice has argued that the Maya even structured their governments based in part on the requirements of tracking astronomy. The Maya and the Sky The Maya believed that the Earth was the center of all things, fixed and immovable. The stars, moons, sun, and planets were gods; their movements were interpreted as gods traveling between the Earth, the underworld, and other celestial destinations. These gods were greatly involved in human affairs, and so their movements were watched closely. Many events in Maya life were planned to coincide with certain celestial moments. For example, a war might be delayed until the gods were in place, or a ruler might ascend to the throne of a Mayan city-state only when a certain planet was visible in the night sky. Sun God Kinich Ahau The sun was of utmost importance to the ancient Maya. The Mayan sun god was Kinich Ahau. He was one of the more powerful gods of the Mayan pantheon, considered an aspect of Itzamna, one of the Mayan creator gods. Kinich Ahau would shine in the sky all day before transforming himself into a jaguar at night to pass through Xibalba, the Mayan underworld. In a story in the Quiche Maya council book called the Popol Vuh, the hero twins Hunaphu and Xbalanque transform themselves into the sun and the moon. Some Mayan dynasties claimed to be descended from the sun. The Maya were expert at predicting solar phenomena such as eclipses, solstices, and equinoxes, as well as determining when the sun reached its apex. The Moon in Maya Mythology The moon was nearly as important as the sun to the ancient Maya. Mayan astronomers analyzed and predicted the moon’s movements with great accuracy. As with the sun and planets, Mayan dynasties often claimed to be descended from the moon. Mayan mythology generally associated the moon with a maiden, an old woman, and/or a rabbit. The primary Maya moon goddess was Ix Chel, a powerful goddess who battled with the sun and made him descend into the underworld every night. Although she was a fearsome goddess, she was also the patroness of childbirth and fertility. Ix Ch’up was another moon goddess described in some of the codices; she was young and beautiful and may have been Ix Chel in her youth or in another form. A lunar observatory on the island of Cozumel appears to mark the occurrence of the lunar standstill, the varying movement of the moon through the skies. Venus and the Planets The Maya were aware of the planets in the solar system—Venus, Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter—and tracked their movements. The most important planet by far to the Maya was Venus, which they associated with war. Battles and wars would be arranged to coincide with the movements of Venus, and captured warriors and leaders would likewise be sacrificed according to the position of Venus in the night sky. The Maya painstakingly recorded the movements of Venus and determined that its year, relative to Earth, not the sun, was 584 days long, closely approximating the 583.92 days that modern science has determined. The Maya and the Stars Like the planets, the stars move across the heavens, but unlike the planets, they stay in position relative to one another. To the Maya, the stars were less important to their mythos than the sun, moon, Venus and other planets. However, the stars shift seasonally and were used by Mayan astronomers to predict when the seasons would come and go, which was critical for agricultural planning. For example, the rise of the Pleiades in the night sky occurs at about the same time that the rains come to the Mayan regions of Central America and southern Mexico. The stars, therefore, were of more practical use than many other aspects of Mayan astronomy. Architecture and Astronomy Many important Mayan  buildings, such as temples, pyramids, palaces, observatories, and ball courts, were laid out in accordance with astronomy. Temples and pyramids, in particular, were designed in such a way that the sun, moon, stars, and planets would be visible from the top or through certain windows at important times of the year. One example is the observatory at Xochicalco, which, although not considered an exclusively Mayan city, certainly had Mayan influence. The observatory is an underground chamber with a hole in the ceiling. The sun shines through this hole for most of the summer but is directly overhead on May 15 and July 29. On these days the sun would directly illuminate an illustration of the sun on the floor, and these days were held importance for Mayan priests. Other possible observatories have been identified at the archaeological sites of Edzna and Chichen Itza. Mayan Astronomy and the Calendar The Mayan calendar was linked to astronomy. The Maya basically used two calendars: the Calendar Round and the Long Count. The Mayan Long Count calendar was divided into different units of time that used the Haab, or solar year (365 days), as a base. The Calendar Round consisted of two separate calendars; the first was the 365-day solar year, the second was the 260-day Tzolkin cycle. These cycles align every 52 years. Sources and Further Reading Bricker, Victoria R., Anthony F. Aveni, and Harvey M. Bricker. Deciphering the Handwriting on the Wall: Some Astronomical Interpretations of the Recent Discoveries at Xultun, Guatemala. Latin American Antiquity 25.2 (2014): 152-69. Print.Galindo Trejo, Jesus. Calendric-Astronomical Alignment of Architectural Structures in Mesoamerica: An Ancestral Cultural Practice. The Role of Archaeoastronomy in the Maya World: The Case Study of the Island of Cozumel. Eds. Sanz, Nuria, et al. Paris, France: UNESCO, 2016. 21–36. Print.Iwaniszewski, Stanislaw. Time and the Moon in Maya Culture: The Case of Cozumel. The Role of Archaeoastronomy in the Maya World: The Case Study of the Island of Cozumel. Eds. Sanz, Nuria, et al. Paris, France: UNESCO, 2016. 39–55. Print.Milbrath, Susan. Maya Astronomical Observations and the Agricultural Cycle in the Postclassic Madrid Codex. Ancient Mesoamerica 28.2 (2017): 489–505. Print.Rice, Prudence M. Maya Political Science: Time, Astronomy, and the Cosmos. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2004. Saturno, William A., et al. Ancient Maya Astronomical Tables from Xultà ºn, Guatemala. Science 336 (2012): 714–17. Print.Ã…  prajc, Ivan. Lunar Alignments in Mesoamerican Architecture. Anthropological Notebooks 3 (2016): 61-85. Print.

Internalizing My Personal Interactions with Others Essay

Early Childhood Early childhood is a significant time of physical, cognitive, social and emotional development in my life. Seeking emotional regulation is crucial in this period. I remember an instance in my life when I was still in preschool. Our teacher asked us to stand up because we are going to pray before we eat our snack, but I did not stand up so the teacher called my attention. I just stood up and bowed my head till the prayer was finished. I was so ashamed that I cannot even look at the surroundings and my classmates in the classroom. Since I was really shy at that time, I was not able to finish my preschool class. With this attitude, I realized that I have an internalizing problem. Internalizing problems occur when a child has†¦show more content†¦This is the time where I experience tremendous growth and changes in my body as this imply the onset of puberty. Likewise, this stage is important to me as it helps me to be a responsible and mature individual at a young age. One partic ular event in my life that I will never forget was when my mother got sick of kidney disease. During this period, I felt I needed to grow up early for my family especially for my younger siblings. My mother was confined in the hospital for weeks, and I was the one left to attend the needs of my brother and sister. I knew I had to be strong for them. At a young age, I learned how to cook, help in their assignments and take care of them. It was tough since I was also studying at that time. I had to adapt to the situation and be in charge of them. This incident caused me to value my family for more than anything else. In a way, familism influenced my life. Familism is the belief that family members should care for one another even if it means sacrificing one’s own freedom and success (Berger, Depression, pg. 377). Going through a challenging time in my adolescent year made me tougher and selfless for my family. After studying about familism in the adolescence stage, I can say that familism improves the relationship that I have with my family; however, I was not able to enjoy my adolescent days as compared to the others as my age. Familism allows me to have a deeper perspective on how toShow MoreRelatedFactors That Influence Attachment Between Foster Children And Their Caregivers1161 Words   |  5 Pageschild, gender of the child, time in placement, sensitivity, and attachment security. The dependent variables or measured variables were symptoms of reactive attachment disorder, secure base distortions, externalizing behavior (parent teacher), internalizing behavior (parent teacher). 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7 Improvements That’d Benefit Customers Free Essays

Hey, It’s been a while. Hope you had a great summer. We’ve been scratching our heads on the best way to really educate you this year, but unfortunately, the only genius ideas we could think of have been â€Å"how to sleep creatively in class† and â€Å"how to have social life while crying through your studies† – if you ever need these, please let us know. We will write a custom essay sample on 7 Improvements That’d Benefit Customers or any similar topic only for you Order Now Seeing as we could not really come up with better (and boring) education related suggestions for you, we decided to write about us (we’re vain†¦ I know), and the 7 major benefits you’d get by using our services this academic year. 1. Better Review Improvement Process Previously, we relied on our writers to provide a good quality project, but due to cost restrictions, we could not get it externally reviewed. This caused a number of quality related issues that we’re not very proud of. 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Andrew Davis Essay Example For Students

Andrew Davis Essay Andrew DavisAs an accomplished Hollywood director, Andrew Davis words are important for anyone hoping to become a player in the game, AKA Hollywood. Andrew Davis has directed many successful action films for Hollywood. The way that he found his success and has maintained it is the most important thing that I learned from Andrew Davis. He has given me an example of how one person found success in Hollywood amongst a flood of others seeking the same high ground. The Fugitive is by far the most successful film Andrew Davis has directed. Some critics have even gone as far to state that The Fugitive is the best action thriller of the decade. Some of his other more recent films include A Perfect Murder, Steal Little, Steal Big and Chain Reaction. Andrew Davis is also known for making intense action films such as Under Siege, Code of Silence and Above the Law. His comments on why and how he came into making such films and being labeled as an action film director provide an interesting insight into the way that Hollywood works. He stated that since he found some initial success with action films he was repeatedly called upon by Hollywood to just do what he did last time.He mentioned that he had ambitions to break away from being pegged as an action film director, but that it was a difficult thing to do when you were trying to keep your hand in the game.These comments illustrate one of the ways that Hollywood works. Perhaps the most important thing Andrew Davis talked about was the power of networking in Hollywood. Often talked about in class, Andrew Davis is a prime example of the breaks that one can get through friends and contacts. His relationship with Thomas Haskell provided him with a valuable contact in Hollywood. Andrew Daviss relationship with Academy Award winner Thomas Haskell points to the importance of making and keeping in contact with as many people as possible in the industry. Andrew Davis recommended to the class that if at all possible, one should try and find a mentor for guidance and assistance in the early days of delving into Hollywood. As a filmmaker, Andrew Davis utilizes a more spontaneous approach to directing, as opposed to more structured directors such as Stanley Kubrick. Andrew Davis described making a film as, a cross between war and a circus. His approach to filmmaking in comparison with other guest this quarter and last fall illustrates the vast differences in styles of directors. Finally, Andrew Davis reconfirmed the comments of just about every other guest that almost every film is comes to production via different routes. Some films are handed to directors to be made and others are made when screenplays find their ways to directors who in turn takes takes the screenplays to studios for financial backing. Andrew Davis is a very interesting person and creator of cinema. The story of his journey to Hollywood and succeeding is an inspirational one. Many of his films have become very successful commercially. He has given me a valuable insight into succeeding in Hollywood.