Links to all the Calendars in this post Egyptian Calendar Bronze Age Sky Disk Chinese Calendar Bulgarian Calendar Babylonian Calendar Trundholm Sun Chariot Phaistos Disk Genetic Disk Hindu Calendar Jewish Calendar Muslim Calendar Hopi Calendar Zuni Calendar Cherokee Calendar Aztec Calendar Mayan Calendar Gregorian Calendar
Since humans have been on planet earth we have been mesmerized by the passage of time. Little is know about prehistoric timekeeping but some records and artifacts have given us a glimpse into early man's obsession with time. It suspected that even ice-age hunters over 20,000 years ago scratched lines in animal bone to mark the passage of time, possibly marking phases of the moon.
There are monolith structures all over the world that that were used as calendars, these magical wonders of architecture include Stonehenge, El Castillo to the Great Pyramids at Giza. Many of these structures have been left out of the history books but they are there for all to see, speculation abounds as to their reasons for being and their age but it is generally agreed that most were used to measure time.
At the Chichen Itza you will find that the 79 foot pyramid is built so precise and in such perfect alignment that during the spring and fall equinox a serpent shaped shadow slithers down the steps. The temple is listed as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World and is commonly called El Castillo.
Egyptian Calendar
The Egyptians are generally credited with devising the earliest known date: 4236 B.C., the founding of the Egyptian calendar. Dividing the day into 24 hours was an Egyptian idea. They took math very seriously working out complicated equations, geometry, fractions and even the decimal system. They invented the clock, metal pipes, of all things the toilet seats, looms, potters wheel, carpentry tools, scissors, keys, toothpaste, cement, devised reservoirs, irrigation systems, measured flood levels and last but not least they started the 365 day calendar.
The ancient civil Egyptian calendar dates back to the 5th Millennium, known as the Annus Vagus or "Wandering Year". The Ancient Egyptian astrologers had long studied the stars which helped them in forecasting the seasons of flood and sowing which was vital to the prosperity of Egypt. The astronomers identified the planets in the solar system and also took great interest in the stars. The brightest star in the Egyptian sky was Sirius. Sirius disappeared for a 70 day period and reappeared on the eastern horizon on July 19th which also coincided with the Nile floods.
This was therefore the date of New Year's Day for the Ancient Egyptians. The Ancient Egyptians had a great interest in the passing of time and how this effected vital events such as the annual flooding of the Nile.
Akhet was the time of the year that the Nile flooded. The name 'Akhet' literally means inundation. This occurred normally between July and December. During this time irrigation canals redirected water from the Nile to the more arid areas.
Proyet was the time of the year when the Nile receded. Because the temperatures were much cooler than other times of the year this was the perfect time for the farmers to sow their crops. Proyet occurred normally from December to March.
Shumo was summertime for the Egyptians. Lasting from March to July it was a dry time when the crops were harvested and was often one of the busiest times of the year. Because the crops were now in it was also the time when the tax collectors showed up for the Pharaoh's share.
Bronze Age Sky Disk
A group of German scientists has deciphered the meaning of one of the most spectacular archaeological discoveries in recent years: The mystery-shrouded sky disc of Nebra was used as an advanced astronomical clock. The purpose of the 3,600 year-old sky disc of Nebra, which caused a world-wide sensation when it was brought to the attention of the German public in 2002, is no longer a matter of speculation.
The Nebra disk may have been a ritual object or, more likely a calculating tool used with observations at Goseck or a similar site to determine planting and harvest times. The arrival of the stars in the night sky showed that it was time to start bringing in the harvest.
The disc was originally smeared with rotten eggs. These would have caused a chemical reaction on its bronze surface, which would have turned the disc's background a deep violet color simulating a night sky out of which the gold-embossed stars would have shone.
The third arc on the disk is also highly interesting. The ancients did not understand how the sun could set in the west and end up in the east the next morning. Representations of a disk in a ship, from Bronze Age Egypt and Scandinavia, reveal an age-old belief that a ship carried the sun across the night sky. The Nebra disk is the first evidence of such a faith in central Europe.
Chinese Calendar
The Chinese calendar is a luni-solar calendar, incorporating elements of a lunar calendar with those of a solar calendar. It is not exclusive to China, but followed by many other Asian cultures as well. The mysterious Chinese calendar however has links with many different dimensions starting from astrology and agriculture to the solar terms and the four seasons. It is primarily a calendar that is still used for the purpose of marking traditional events such as the Chinese New Year which is probably the most important event for the Chinese.
The calendar is based upon the Five Elements (metal, wood, water, fire,earth) concept which has been part of the Chinese concept of the essential components of the structure of the physical world. The other culturally important aspect of the ancient Chinese calendar is the zodiac animals that are assigned to each year.
Animal Personality Traits
Legend has it that in ancient times, Buddha asked all the animals to meet him on Chinese New Year. Twelve came, and Buddha named a year after each one. He announced that the people born in each animal's year would have some of that animal's personality.
Rat: quick-witted, smart, charming, persuasive, quick temper and critical Ox: patient, kind, stubborn, conservative, tendency to have one's way Tiger: authoritative, emotional, courageous, tendency to be hotheaded & stubborn Rabbit: popular, compassionate, sincere, overly sentimental and conservative Dragon: energetic, warm-hearted, charismatic, perfectionist, makes demands Snake: charming, wise, introverted, generous, needs humor & tight with money Horse: energetic, independent, impatient, enjoys traveling, egotistical Goat: Charming, elegant, artistic, quick to complain. Can be pessimistic at times Monkey: fun, energetic, active, opportunistic, can be distrustful Rooster: independent, practical, hard-working, shrewd, boastful, flashy dresser Dog: patient, diligent, generous, faithful, kind, Tendency to worry & find fault Pig: loving, tolerant, honest, and appreciative of luxury, naive, materialistic If you want to look up your Zodiac Sign here is a link.
The Chinese calendar is still used today to choose the most auspicious date for a wedding or the opening of a building. Because each month follows one cycle of the moon, it is also used to determine the phases of the moon.
Bulgarian Calendar
The Ancient Bulgarian Calendar - 5505 years BC It is known that the ancient Bulgarians knew the basic laws of motion of the planets and the Earth around the Sun perfectly, and because of that they possess the most impeccable calendar ever created. The ancient Bulgarian calendar is based on observations of Jupiter and the Sun and is more precise than the modern Western (Gregorian) calendar we use today. The Bulgarians are the people with the most ancient system of measuring time – a fact, which indicates their early civilizing force. One of the primary uses of the early Bulgarian Calendar was to recognize the reign of each emperor.
For its 1400 years of statehood history and interesting geopolitical location, forming a strategic bridge between Asia and Europe, the ancient kingdom saw a long succession of invaders, conquerors, traders and settlers, who mingled with the ancient civilization and left their marks and artifacts for the future generation and the world to finally discover.
The Huns, in their travels, may have brought the Chinese method of timekeeping to Bulgaria. What is little known to most people is the striking resemblance of the Bulgarian calendar to the Chinese zodiac. If you look at the ancient calendar above you see that it is comprised of twelve signs, one for each month and each corresponding to an animal similar to the Chinese calendar.
The Babylonian Calendar
The Babylonian calendar is one of the greatest achievements of Antiquity: it combines a solar and a lunar cycle in such a way that the beginning of the year never wanders far from the Spring equinox. The basic theoretical principle is well-known: in a cycle of nineteen years, we have twelve years of twelve lunar months and seven years of thirteen months.
Theoretically, dates in ancient Babylonian texts can be converted to our calendar; Babylonia (Babylonian Bâbili,"gate of God"; Old Persian Babirush),Was the ancient country of Mesopotamia, known originally as Sumer and later as Sumer and Akkad, lying between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, south of modern Baghdâd, Iraq.
The Babylonians excelled at astronomy. Many of the constellations that we see in the sky were first categorized by them. The kept careful records and recorded celestial events under the belief they could shape future events. Under Hammurabi the Lawgiver, in 1800 B.C., star catalogs and planetary records were compiled.
Ziggurat or sky observatory The Neo-Babylonian used Ziggurat's as observatories and mapped the night time sky into constellations. They developed the 12 signs of the zodiac, recorded the motions of the planets and even predicted eclipses.
The Sumerian administration needed a time unit comprising the whole agricultural cycle; for example, from the delivery of new barley and the settling of pertinent accounts to the next crop. This financial year began about two months after barley cutting. For other purposes, a year began before or with the harvest. This fluctuating and discontinuous year was not precise enough for the meticulous accounting of Sumerian scribes, who by 2400 B.C.E. already used the schematic year of 30 x 12 = 360 days.
At about the same time, the idea of a royal year took precise shape, beginning probably at the time of barley harvest, when the king celebrated the new (agricultural) year by offering first fruits to gods in expectation of their blessings for the year. When, in the course of this year, some royal exploit (conquest, temple building, and so on) demonstrated that the fates had been fixed favorably by the celestial powers, the year was named accordingly.
Trundholm Sun Chariot
Sun chariot, one of the most famous Bronze Age artifacts from Denmark. The sun chariot depicts a horse-drawn, six-wheeled wagon in cast bronze with a gold-covered sun disk that displays a spiral motif The sculpture is dated by the Nationalmuseet to about 1400 BC, though other dates have been suggested. The belief is that the disk was designed by a person with some measure of astronomic knowledge and that the sculpture functioned as a calendar. There is some school of thought that the Sun Chariot indicates that the sun, stars and earth are in perpetual motion.
The Sun Chariot illustrates the idea that the sun was drawn on its eternal journey by a divine horse. The two sides of the disk are considered as representations of the sun, on a chariot pulled by a horse across the heavens from East to West during the day, showing its bright side, the gilded one. During the night, it returns from West to East , showing his “dark side” to the Earth. A sun image and the horse have been placed on wheels to symbolize the motion of the sun.
Sol (Sun) is called "the bride of the sky" , across which she journeys daily in a chariot drawn by the horses Arvak and Alsvid, the chariot itself fashioned by the gods from a spark that flew out of Muspellsheim (Norse mythology means realm of fire). The Bronze Age Trundholm sun-chariot indicates that the daily journey of Sun's horse-drawn chariot was an important component in Northern Europe's ancient sun-cult. Julius Caesar, in his simplified account of Germanic religion, reports that the Germans worshiped fire (or Vulcan), together with the sun and the moon, an indication (among many others) that solar religion must have been more significant in earlier periods. Sol will be swallowed at Ragnarok by the wolf Skoll/Fenrir , but her daughter will eventually take her place in the reordered world . In the language of men the sun is called Sol; in the language of the gods she is called Sunna, which is also her name in the Second Merseburg Charm.
So revered is the Sun Chariot that it is the motif on the 1000-krone banknote
Phaistos Disk
Although there has been some controversy over the authenticity of the Disk it is widely believed to be genuine and is on display in the Heraklion Museum of Crete, Greece. Numerous theories have been suggested and range from the Phaistos Disk being a prayer token to a calendar to a message from ancient aliens. A recent and quite plausible theory is that it was a coded message that was read and then disposed of by dropping it into the pits. If this is the case it would represent one of the earliest forms of sophisticated encryption.
mena7 Member # 20555
posted Genetic Disk
These are very strange artifacts from Colombia. They do not fit any existing pre-Colombian culture, the artifacts are considered to be at least 6,000 years old. To date there is no explanation as to what kind of technology was used to make such instruments and tools from lydite.
On the disk there are carvings that describes the astonishing knowledge of our ancestors. The disk was examined by the Museum of Natural History in Vienna, Austria. Dr. Vera Hammer, expert for precious stones analyzed the object.
On the edge of the disk there are symbols of a snake. There is a hole in the middle of the disk which give some indication that it may have been fixed to a rod or a stick and then turned so both sides could be seen. One side shows biological detail suchas sperms, female egg cells and genitals, the fertilized egg, fetus and a growing embryo. The other side shows what could be interpreted as cell division and the depiction of frog creatures at different stages.
It could be that this is a calendar that shows different phases of human life and evolution. Very significant are the distant lying eyes and the broad nose which is characteristic of the embryonic structure of the head.
Many scientist cried fraud when the disks was first discovered but this is not at all unusual when something does not fit into what we have been taught or what is out of the ordinary. There are many ancient relics that reside in museums around that globe that defy conventional explanation that have been quietly put into various museums. It seems that historians and academics would occasionally relegate these ancient technologies to a shelf in the museum storage room rather then attempt to explain them.
Hindu Calendar
Panchang is formed from two Hindu words, Panch and Ang. Panch means five and ang means limbs. Therefore,Panchang means five limbs. Panchang is a book of tables that lists the days of every month along with astronomical data and calculations. On the basis of this data, the days of Hindu festivals are fixed. It also mentions the auspicious days for marriages and special ceremonies.
In the “Brahma-Vaivarta Purana”, Lord Krishna tells Ganga Devi that a Golden Age will come in the Kali Yuga - one of the four stages of development that the world goes through as part of the cycle of eras, as described in Hindu scriptures. Lord Krishna predicted that this Golden Age will start 5,000 years after the beginning of the Kali Yuga, and will last for 10,000 years.
Mayan Calendar Matches Hindu Calendar It is interesting that this prediction of the emergence of a new world is prophesied to appear about the same time that the Mayans predicted it to come! The Mayan calendar began with the Fifth Great Cycle in 3114 BC and will end on 21 December 2012 AD. The Hindu Kali Yuga calendar began on 18 February 3102 B.C. There is only a difference of 12 years between the Hindu's beginning of the Kali Yuga and the Mayans beginning of the Fifth Great Cycle.
Golden Age Could Begin in 2012 The ancient Hindus mainly used lunar calendars but also used solar calendars. If an average lunar year equals 354.36 days, then this would be about 5270 lunar years from the time when the Kali Yuga started until 21 Dec 2012. This is the same year that the Mayans predict rebirth of our planet. It is also about 5113 solar years of 365.24 days per year, and is day number 1,867,817 into the Kali Yuga. By either solar or lunar years, we are over 5,000 years into the Kali Yuga and it is time for Lord Krishna's prophecy to happen according to the ancient Hindu scriptures. Lord Krishna's Golden Age could easily begin in 2012!
Mayan Prophecy Matches Hindu Prophecy It is amazing that both calendars began at about the same time over 5,000 years ago and both calendars predict a totally new world and/or golden age after about 5,000 years into their calendars! These two calendars seem to give us a strong indication that a new era, a new dimension is arriving in 2012. Historically, this is an amazing fact since these two ancient cultures did not have any contact.
Jewish Calendar
What does a calendar do? The simplest answer to this question is that it measures time. It also gives a sense of ‘controlling’ time which is another way of saying one has control of one’s life. But more than this, calendars were often produced for the purpose of worship, which is one of the primary focuses of the Jewish Calendar.
The Number 7 is a special number in Scripture and symbolizes divine perfection or completion. It is woven into every aspect of the Hebrew calendar. The Sabbath is observed on the 7th day of the week and every seventh year God decreed a Sabbatical year, and every seventh sabbatical year was considered a Jubilee year. Seven weeks after the Passover came the feast of Pentecost. The feast of Tabernacles, which is the last feast and completes the cycle, lasts for seven days. The seventh month is known as Tishri, and it contains the most holy days within the Hebrew calendar. Today they are referred to as the "High Holy Days."
The Lord indeed created time yet He dwelt in a dimension that is beyond time and space. Time and space is where the sovereign God would meet with His highest creation, man.
Muslim Calendar
The Islamic Calendar, is as old as Islam. It dates back to the oldest known civilization. God in the Quran tells us that , our religion, Islam, is the oldest and same religion known to mankind. All God's prophets and messengers came with the same message of submission, to submit to the One and only God.
Reviewing the history of calendars show that, when God created the universe, He created the Lunar and Solar calendar. It might be interesting to know that God used the word "MONTH" 12 times and the word "DAY" 365 times throughout the Quran.
In ancient Arab culture, there were traditionally four months during which the tribes agreed to an amnesty on any ongoing fighting. During the months of Muharram, Rajab, Dhul-Qi'dah, and Dhul-Hijjah, any battles were to be automatically suspended in order to allow for trade and travel in the area. This tradition was upheld in Islam, and these four months are called the “forbidden months.” However, if only one side observes the automatic truce and the other side continues fighting, the party observing the truce is obliged to defend itself.
Hopi Calendar
The Hopi religious calendar begins anew each year in November with the Kelmuya season. Only those who have been initiated into "manhood" may participate in the ceremonies, which celebrate the creation of the present world, the Fourth World. Kelmuya (November) Fourth World Creation, Month of the SparrowHawk, Native Americans followed the movements of the celestial markers - much as we do today. They called it Star Knowledge. Beyond the land where they lived, was the sky, and that beyond were dimensional portals or sky holes. Beyond that was an area that they called the Ocean of Pitch, were the beauty of the night sky and the galaxies spun out towards them. Beyond that were the boundaries of the universe. And that set along the rim at the boundaries of the universe were 4 different extraterrestrial groups.
The Hopis called the Pleiadians the Chuhukon, meaning those who cling together. They considered themselves direct descendants of the Pleiadians. The Navajos named the Pleiades the Sparkling Suns or the Delyahey, the home of the Black God. The Iroquois pray to them for happiness. The Cree claim they came to earth from the stars in spirit form first and then became flesh and blood.
Zuni Calendar
The Zuni year is divided into two seasons, inaugurated by the solstices, each of which is composed of six months--lunations, subdivided into three ten-day periods. The significations of the month names are interesting: the month of the winter solstice, which is the beginning of the year, is called Turning-Back, in reference to the Sun Father’s return from the south; it is followed by Limbs-of-the-Trees-Broken-by Snow, No-Snow-in-the-Road, Little-Wind, Big-Wind, and No-Name. For the remaining half of the year, these appellations, though now inappropriate, are used again, the months of the second half-year being, strictly speaking, nameless.
Both Zuni and Hopi have priests whose special duty is to observe the annual course of the sun, and hence to determine the dates for the great festivals of the winter and summer solstices. The Zuni sun priest uses as his gnomon a petrified stump which stands at the outskirts of the village, and at which he sprinkles meal and makes his morning prayers to the sun, until, on the day when that luminary rises at a certain point of Corn Mountain, the priesthood is informed of the approaching change. Every fourth morning, for twenty days, the sun priest offers prayer-plumes to the Sun Father, the Moon Mother, and to departed sun priests.
Aztec [Sun] Calendar
The Aztec calendar was an alteration of the Mayan calendar. It consisted of a 365 day agricultural calendar as well as a 260-day sacred calendar. It is currently on display at the Museo Nacional de Antropologia in Mexico City, Mexico. What’s fascinating about this calendar is that every year has a “no time” period-days “outside the calendar” to freely celebrate life. There are a total of five “nameless days” at the end of every Mayan solar year. This is supposed to be a phase of transition and preparation for the next year. Most people mistakenly believe the Aztec and the Mayans were philosophically and geographically kindred spirits. That is not the case at all, to read about the differences between the Aztec and Maya click here.
Mayan Calendar
Incredibly, the Maya understood that our world turned, but they also knew that it was only a part of a larger solar system that moved independently through our galaxy. This end-date of the Long Count Calendar December 21, 2012 marks the coming of a truly rare cosmic event that will occur when this procession of the equinoxes positions our solar system in the very center of our galaxy when Earth will cross the ecliptic path of the sun.
The world is talking about what will happen on this date, however, not everyone is looking forward to it with the same set of expectations. For some, 2012 hints at a coming apocalypse but more optimistic views believe that, as the Maya claimed, we would begin to experience some form of spiritual awakening, perhaps initiated by some cosmic event or compelling miracle. But, we have no way of knowing for sure what effects these cosmic events will have on Earth, as the last time an alignment like this took place was over 150,000 years ago!
The notion of 2012 being the end of the world is actually fairly new, it was first suggested by New Age religionist José Argüelles in his 1987 book The Mayan Factor: 'Path Beyond Technology'. You can rest assured that when you wake up on Dec 22, 2012 there may have been a change in the cosmic universe but the earth as you know it will be intact!
Gregorian Calendar
The Gregorian Calendar is what the vast majority of the world uses today. The original goal of the Gregorian calendar was to change the date of Easter.In 1582, when Pope Gregory XIII introduced his Gregorian calendar, Europe adhered to the Julian calendar, first implemented by Julius Caesar in 46 B.C. Since the Roman emperor’s system miscalculated the length of the solar year by 11 minutes, the calendar had since fallen out of sync with the seasons. This concerned Gregory because it meant that Easter, traditionally observed on March 21, fell further away from the spring equinox with each passing year. 1. Leap years don’t really occur every four years in the Gregorian calendar. 2. The Gregorian calendar differs from the solar year by 26 seconds per year. 3. Some Protestants viewed the Gregorian calendar as a Catholic plot. 4. Britain’s adoption of the Gregorian calendar sparked riots and protest. 5. Before the Gregorian calendar’s adoption, the English new year began on March 25, or Lady Day.
The Gregorian calendar, also known as the Western calendar, or Christian calendar, is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII , after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582, a papal bull known by its opening words Inter gravissimas. The reformed calendar was adopted later that year by a handful of countries, with other countries adopting it over the following centuries. The motivation for the Gregorian reform was that the Julian calendar assumes that the time between vernal equinoxes is 365.25 days, when in fact it is presently almost exactly 11 minutes shorter. The error between these values accumulated at the rate of about three days every four centuries, resulting in the equinox occurring on March 11 (an accumulated error of about 10 days) and moving steadily earlier in the Julian calendar at the time of the Gregorian reform. Since the Spring equinox was tied to the celebration of Easter, the Roman Catholic Church considered that this steady movement in the date of the equinox was undesirable, hence the birth of the Gregorian Calendar
Clyde Winters Member # 10129
posted
Leo Wiener, in Africa and the Discovery of America also discussed the fact that the West African zodiacs are of 13 months like that of the Amerindians ( Vol.3, p.279). This information is based on the work of F.Bork, Tierkreise auf westafrikanischen Kalebassen, in Mitteilungen der vorderasiatischen Gesellschaft, Vol.21, p.266.
Wiener wrote: “In the first place, the central square contains the Mandingo tutelary god with his attributes and appurtenances. The numerical calculations based on 20 and 13, which is the essence of the American calendars, is surely built on African models. Here again we possess but the scantiest material for verification, but just enough to be startling and unique”(p.270).
Coe and Stone, Reading the Maya Glyphs wrote : "The first part of a Calendar Round is the 260-day Count, often called in the literature by the ersatz Maya name "tsolk'in". This is the eternally repeating cycle , and concist of the numbers 1 through 13, permuting against a minicycle of 20 named days. Since 13 and 20 have no common denominator, a particular day name will not recur with a particular coefficient until 260 days have passed. No one knows exactly when this extremely sacred calendar was invented, but it was certainly already ancient by the time the Classic period began. There are still highland Maya calendar priests who can calculate the day in the 260-day Count, and it is apparent that this basic way of time-reckoning has never slipped a day since its inception" (pp.41-42).
This sacre calendar has 13 months of 20 days (13x20=260). John Montgomery, How to Read Maya Hieroglyphs, wrote "The Tzolk'in or 260 day Sacred Almanac, was widely used in ancient times for divinatory purposes. Guatemalan Maya and other cultures in Mexico still use it as a means of "day keeping". The origins of the 260-day calendar are debatable although a number of scholars have suggested it corresponds to the nine month period of human gestation" (p.74).
Lets recap Wiener noted the existence of 13 month 20 day zodiacs in West Africa, and the American sacre calendar of 20 days and 13 months. Coe and Montgomery says the 13 month 260-day calendar continues to be used in Guatemala and other cultures up to today.
This proves that you are making claims without any foundation. It further supports Leo Wiener's discussion of the 13 month calendar of the Americans that you dispute.
Wiener has already shown that the Mande probably had a calendar with 13 months of 20 days as evident from the Calabash zodiacs.
Mande calendrics are the result of a combination climatic, social andastronomical factors. The moon, seasons and stars are used for reckoning time. The major star studied by the Mande is Sirius.
The Mande have several calendars, lunar, ritual and etc. The Mande system of notation is based on 20, 60 and 80 according to M. Griaule & G.Dieterlen.
Aspects of the Mande notation system is found among most West Africans. Griaule in Signes grapheques des Dogon, made it clear that the number 80 also represented 20 (80÷20=20; 20 x 4=80) and probably relates to the Mande people (see: R. Temple, The Sirius Mystery, (1976) p.80)
The base of the Mande calculation is 60 (60÷20=3; 3x20=60). The Malinke-Bambara term for 20 is muġa . The Malinke-Bambara term for 60 is debė ni- muġa or 40+20 (=60).
The Dogon claim they got their calendric system from the Mande. The importance of the number 20 is evident in the discussion of the trajectory of the star Digitaria around Serius, as illustrated in Figure iii, above. Note the small cluster of 20 dots (DL) in the figure that represent the star when it is furtherest from Sirius (R. Temple, Sirius Mystery (1976) p.40)
In the figure of Kanaga sign above Figure i, also illustrates the base notation 20 and 60. The head, tail and four feet each represent 20 ,i.e., 6 x 20=120; 120÷60=2. The calculation of Sigui also indicates the Mande notation system of 20 and 60 as illustrated in Figure ii.
Further confirmation of the base 20 notation in relation to the Sirius system is the kosa wala. For example on the koso wala we have 10 sequences made up of 30 rectangles (10x30 =300), which can be divided by 20: 300÷20=15; and 60: 300÷60=5. And as noted by Griaule & Dieterlen in addition to the above, 20 reactangles in the koso wala represent stars and constellations (R. Temple, The Sirius Mystery (1976) p.48).
The Mayan system like the Mande system is also based on 60 and 20. For example as you note in your question the basic part of the Haab year is the Tun 18 month 20 day calendar, plus the five day month of Wayeb.
The basic unit of the calendar is the Tun made up of 18 winal (months) of 20 k’in (days) or 360 days. Thus we have 18x20=360; 360÷60=6.
Next we have the K’tun,(20 Tun) which equals 7200 days, 7200÷60=120÷60=2; or 7200÷20=360÷20=18.
After K’tun comes Baktun (=400 Tun) 144,000 days, 144,000÷60=2400÷60=40; or 144,000÷20=7200÷20=360÷20=18.
Yes the Mande had the zero. The Mayan symbol for ‘zero’ means completion. M. Griaule in Signes d’Ecriture Bambara, says the Malinke-Bambara sign for zero is fu ‘nothing, the emptiness preceding creation’ (see Signes graphique soudanais, (eds) Marcel Griaule & Germaine Dieterlen
In conclusion, Mayan calendrics are probably based on the Mande notation system of 20 and 60. And the Malinke-Bambara people possessed the zero.
As pointed out on numerous occasions during this debate many Mayan groups record successfully time only using the 13 month 20 day calendar so there was no need for the Olmec to record a date and use a system like the Haab (Tun+ Wayeb ) to determine its actual time. A similar calendar of 13 months and 20 days was recorded on West African calabashes.
As illustrated above the Mande notation system of 20 and 60 is also the system of the Maya. The Mayan name for day k’in, may also be of Mande origin since it agrees with the Malinke-Bambara term kenč that means ‘day light, day’. The Mayan term for series of 360 days is tun, this corresponds to the Mande term dő-na ‘an arrangement of dates/days’, the Mande term for calendar is dő-gyăle-la. The Mayan speakers probably used tun, because they learned the Mande calendar in association with ritual days of the Mande speaking Olmecs.
Prudence M. Rice in Maya Calendar Origin, makes it clear that the Maya sacre calendar of 13 month 20 days include the day names: ‘rain, Lord, world, snake ,deer and rabbit (see p.34). This is interesting because the same characters are found on the 13month calabash from West Africa.
Mande calendrics are the result of a combination climatic, social andastronomical factors. The moon, seasons and stars are used for reckoning time. The major star studied by the Mande is Sirius.
Mats play an important role in Mande calculations. The mat and mat motifs play an important role in Mayan society as well.
If you look at this calabash you will notice that in the center of the calabash we have a figure that resembles the Kanaga sign. It also very interesting that this Kanaga figure also includes a mat constituting the central design in the figure.
The characters on this calabash are explained by Mande cosmology. We see the following charaters on this almanac.
1. 2 lizards pointing out the four directions (North, South, East and West) plus the mat in the center of the four directions. These lizard figures probably represent the world. 2. Antelope (deer) 3. 7 circles or the Pleides 4. butterfly 5. bow/ double sword 6. grain/tree 7. 2 people representing humanity and the headrest denoting royalty in African societies 8. Crescent Moon & star (Venus?) 9. heart or ace of club figure 10. rabbit/hare 11. crocodile & snake 12. Crane 13. Calabash or bowl
These figures on the Calabash are ritual emblems associated with Malinke-Bambara.The Malinke-Bambara recognized the Sirius system in their cosmology.
In relation to the Lizard in facing upward we see the calabash or bowl on the right hand side. This calabash may represent the water bowl of Faro, the leading god of the Bambara. On the left hand side of this Lizard we see the seven circles, which are believed to have represented the seven stars of the Pleides. Among the Malinke-Bambara and other West African people the Pleides was a marker of the growing season.
The second Lizard is facing left. Above the right arm we see the seven stars of the Pleides. Below the right are we see the double sword which may represent Orion’s sword. Orion’s sword is that region of the sky below Orion’s belt that includes the Orion Nebula. It is interesting that in relation to the Pleides and Sword of Orion, we see the rabbit/hare. This is most interesting because Orion was said to be the hunter of the hare/rabbit.
The Antelope is believed to have taught human beings to farm. It relates to the Malinke-Bambara tradition that a half-man half-antelope introduced agriculture to mankind.
The Crane is also related to Malinke-Bambara tradition. Among the Bambara the Crested Crane is credited with the birth of speech.
The adult figure on the calabash and the head rest make it clear that this figure represented a Lord of dignitary. Finally the heart shaped or ace of clubs figure probably represents the flani da. The flani da symbolized the One Creator. I don't really disagree with Bork except in the fact that what he calls a buffalo, I identify as an antelope, and the figure, he calls an antelope I recognize as a hare. Hare
I believe this is a hare because it accurately depicts the ears and form of a hare instead of an antelope.
Antelope
I do not believe the small human figure is a man. I believe it represents a child.
What he calls a fetish stool, looks to me to be a head rest. Also I do not see a bird in the tree/plant so I refer to the figure as a tree.
I believe that this calabash may be recording the coronation of a king, or the almanac is discussing someones initiation into a secret society. Thus the man and child may indicate the role initiation plays in the transformation of the child into a man.
This interpretation of the calabash from the Guinea coast suggest that it records some event that involved agriculture. It also suggest that it corresponds to Malinke-Bambara traditions.
The Maya day signs: Lord ,World, snake, deer, and rabbit are found on the sacre calendar of the Maya. As noted above these same signs are found on the Guinea calabash calendar (or almanac ?). We have shown how the signs on the Guinea calabash are explained by Malinke-Bamabara ideology. The similarity in Mayan and Malinke-Bambara ideology found in the calendrics can best be explained by the fact that the Maya and other Amerind groups got this calendar from the Olmecs, who I have shown spoke Malinke-Bambara. These shared ideology for the figures on the sacre Mayan calendars and the Guinea coast calabash support the view of Leo Wiener in Africa and the Discovery of America that the calendars were related.
In summary this calabash confirms the theory of Leo Wiener, that the Mayan sacre calendar was related to calendars in West Africa.
The Prague astronomical clock, or Prague orloj (Czech: Pražský orloj [praʃskiː orloj]), is a medieval astronomical clock located in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. The clock was first installed in 1410, making it the third-oldest astronomical clock in the world and the oldest one still working
Description[edit]
The Orloj is mounted on the southern wall of Old Town City Hall in the Old Town Square. The clock mechanism itself is composed of three main components: the astronomical dial, representing the position of the Sun and Moon in the sky and displaying various astronomical details; "The Walk of the Apostles", a clockwork hourly show of figures of the Apostles and other moving sculptures—notably a figure of Death (represented by a skeleton) striking the time; and a calendar dial with medallions representing the months. According to local legend, the city will suffer if the clock is neglected and its good operation is placed in jeopardy and a skeleton, mounted on the clock, was supposed nod his head in confirmation. Based on the legend, the only hope was represented by a boy born in the New Year´s night.[1]
History[edit]
The clock tower The oldest part of the Orloj, the mechanical clock and astronomical dial, dates back to 1410 when it was made by clockmaker Mikuláš of Kadaň and Jan Šindel, the latter a professor of mathematics and astronomy at Charles University. The first recorded mention of the clock was on 9 October 1410.[2] Later, presumably around 1490, the calendar dial was added and clock facade was decorated with gothic sculptures.
Formerly, it was believed that the Orloj was constructed in 1490 by clockmaster Jan Růže (also called Hanuš); this is now known to be a historical mistake. A legend, recounted by Alois Jirásek, has it that the clockmaker Hanuš was blinded on the order of the Prague Councillors so that he could not repeat his work; in turn, he broke down the clock, and no one was able to repair it for the next hundred years.
In 1552 it was repaired by Jan Taborský, clock-master of Orloj, who also wrote a report of the clock where he mentioned Hanuš as maker of this clock. This mistake is due to an incorrect interpretation of records from the period. Mistake later disproved Zdeněk Horský, because in 1962 appeared an Orloj book with a copy of the documents from 1410. The assumption of Hanuš authorship is probably connected with his reconstruction of the Old Town Hall in years 1470-1473. The clock stopped working many times in the centuries after 1552, and was repaired many times.
In 1629 or 1659 wooden statues were added, and figures of the Apostles were added after major repair in 1787-1791. During the next major repair in years 1865-1866 the golden figure of crowing rooster was added.
The Orloj suffered heavy damage on May 7 and especially May 8, 1945, during the Prague Uprising, when Germans set fire from several armored vehicles and an anti-aircraft gun to the south-west side of the Old Town Square in an effort to silence the provocative broadcasting initiated by the National Committee on May 5. The hall and nearby buildings burned along with the wooden sculptures on the Orloj and the calendar dial face made by Josef Mánes. After significant effort, the machinery was repaired, the wooden Apostles restored by Vojtěch Sucharda, and the Orloj started working again in 1948.[3]
The Orloj was last time renovated in autumn 2005, restored were statues and lower ring by Josef Manes. Wooden statues were covered with a net against pigeons.
600th Anniversary[edit]
On October 9, 2010, the Clock's 600th anniversary was celebrated with a light show on the face of the clock tower. Two 2x Christie 18K HD projectors, each with a 1920x1080 resolution, were used to project several animated videos on the clock. The videos showed it being built, torn down, rebuilt, and peeled away to show its internal mechanisms and the famous animated figures, as well as various events in the clock's history. The video interacted with the tower's architecture, such as rain rolling off the arch, and showing the passage of time with moving shadows.
Astronomical dial[edit]
Functions noted The astronomical dial is a form of mechanical astrolabe, a device used in medieval astronomy. Alternatively, one may consider the Orloj to be a primitive planetarium, displaying the current state of the universe.
The astronomical dial has a background that represents the standing Earth and sky, and surrounding it operate four main moving components: the zodiacal ring, an outer rotating ring, an icon representing the Sun, and an icon representing the Moon.
Stationary background[edit]
The background represents the Earth and the local view of the sky. The blue circle directly in the center represents the Earth, and the upper blue is the portion of the sky which is above the horizon. The red and black zikimsonik areas indicate portions of the sky below the horizon. During the daytime, the Sun sits over the blue part of the background and at night it sits over the black. During dawn or dusk, the mechanical sun is positioned over the red part of the background.
Written on the eastern (left) part of the horizon is aurora (dawn in Latin) and ortus (rising). On the western (right) part is occasus (sunset), and crepusculum (twilight).
Golden Roman numbers at the outer edge of blue circle are the timescale of a normal 24 hour day and indicate time in local Prague time, or Central European Time. Curved golden lines dividing the blue part of dial into 12 parts are marks for unequal "hours". These hours are defined as 1/12 of the time between sunrise and sunset, and vary as the days grow longer or shorter during the year.
Zodiacal ring[edit]
Astronomical dial Inside the large black outer circle lies another movable circle marked with the signs of the zodiac which indicates the location of the Sun on the ecliptic. The signs are shown in anticlockwise order. In the photograph accompanying this section, the Sun is currently moving anticlockwise from Cancer into Leo.
The displacement of the zodiac circle results from the use of a stereographic projection of the ecliptic plane using the North pole as the basis of the projection. This is commonly seen in astronomical clocks of the period.
The small golden star shows the position of the vernal equinox, and sidereal time can be read on the scale with golden Roman numerals. Zodiac is on the 366 teeth gear inside the machine. This gear is connected to the sun gear and the moon gear by 24 teeth gear.[clarification needed]
Old Czech time scale[edit]
At the outer edge of the clock, golden Schwabacher numerals are set on a black background. These numbers indicate Old Czech Time (or Italian hours), with 24 indicating the time of sunset, which varies during the year from as early as 16:00 in winter to 20:16 in summer. This ring moves back and forth during the year to coincide with the time of sunset.
Sun[edit]
The golden Sun moves around the zodiacal circle, thus showing its position on the ecliptic. The sun is attached to an arm with a golden hand, and together they show the time in three different ways: 1.The position of the golden hand over the Roman numerals on the background indicates the time in local Prague time. 2.The position of the Sun over the curved golden lines indicates the time in unequal hours. 3.The position of the golden hand over the outer ring indicates the hours passed after sunset in Old Czech Time.
Additionally, the distance of the Sun from the center of the dial shows the time of sunrise and sunset. Sun and hand of the sun are at the 365 teeth gear inside the machine.
The clock tower on a Christmas night
The moon sphere is seen showing approximately a half moon Moon[edit]
The movement of the Moon on the ecliptic is shown similarly to that of the Sun, although the speed is much faster (due to the Moon's own orbit around the Earth). The half-silvered sphere of the moon also shows the Lunar phase. Moon is on the 379 teeth gear inside the machine.
Computer Models of Prague Orloj[edit]
The movements of the various mechanical parts of the astronomical dial are too slow to appreciate in real time, but become easier to comprehend using a software model of the Orloj, in the form of an animation. One such animation can be found via the home page of "Prague ŕ la carte", or directly by going here. An animated picture with explanations, and a spreadsheet that 'constructs' the clock for each moment in the year and at each place in the world is to see in a Didactic explanation
There are also at least three different applications (apps) available for Windows Phone 7, the iPhone or iPad that are based on the Orloj. They can be found via Zune Marketplace, the App Store or via the first of the two animations linked to in the previous paragraph
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