Astronomy Through The Eyes Of The Mayan

By: Evelyn Perez

The Solar System 1111.500

Professor Hale

21 April 2021
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The Mayan empire centered in modern-day Guatemala’s tropical lowlands, the

Yucatan Peninsula, Belize, and Mexican states, Tabasco and Chiapas. The Mayans

were divided into three separate sub-areas. All sub-areas had distinct environments and

cultural differences. The first is the Northern Mayan lowlands located in the Yucatan

Peninsula. The second is the Southern lowlands located in the Peten district of Northern

Guatemala and some parts of Mexico. The last and most famous is the southern Maya

highlands in the mountainous regions of Guatemala. The southern Maya highlands

reached their peak during the Classic Period (A.D 250 to 900). One of the most

dominant Indigenous groups in Mesoamerica was the Mayan civilization, whose power

peaked in the 6th century. The Mayans are known for their excellence in agriculture,

pottery, hieroglyphic writing, and calendar-making. The earliest Mayan agriculture group

focused on growing different types of crops such as cassava, a vegetable root, corn,

beans, and squash. Besides being agriculturally advanced, the Mayans were advanced

in cultural traits like building pyramids, city construction, and inscribed stone

monuments.

Around A.D. 250, the Classic Period began; this was the golden age for the Maya

Empire. “Classic Maya civilization grew to some 40 cities, including Tikal, Uaxactún,

Copán, Bonampak, Dos Pilas, Calakmul, Palenque, and Río Bec” (Mayans: Civilization,

Culture & Empire), each city held a population around 5,000 to 50,000 people. Mayas

have built sites like plazas, palaces, pyramids, and even courts to play their famous

Mayan ball games called the ulama. The Mayans built two different pyramids; the first

type had a temple at the top. The priest could climb these pyramids to make sacrifices

to the gods. The most religious ceremonies were held at the top of these pyramids. The
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second type of pyramid had stairs but could not be climbed because of how steep they

were. These pyramids were built only for the sacred gods. However, they still had secret

tunnels, doors, and even traps. Many of these Mayan temples were aligned with

celestial events such as the sun’s path.

The Mayans were deeply religious; they had multiple gods related to nature that

they worshiped. There were gods of the sun, moon, rain, and even corn. In Mayan

society, the kings, or “kuhul ajaw,” which means holy lords, claimed to be related to

gods and served as intermediaries between the people and the gods. In many ways, the

kings of the Mayans were thought to be gods themselves. They performed elaborate

religious ceremonies and rituals important to the Maya culture. The sun was significant

to the Mayans. The Mayan sun god, Kinich Ahau, was one of the most powerful gods of

the Mayan pantheon. Kinich Ahau would shine bright in the sky all day, then transform

himself into a jaguar at night so he could cross the Xibalba-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.” (Minster, Christopher. “Ancient Mayan Astronomy'').

As the sun was essential to the Mayans, so was the moon. Mayan astronomers

would analyze and predict the moon’s movements with extraordinary accuracy. Mayan

mythology would connect the moon with a maiden, an older woman, and even a rabbit.

Ix Chel, the Maya moon goddess, was a powerful goddess that fought with the sun and

made him go into the underworld every night. “Although she was a fearsome goddess,
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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 another form. A lunar observatory on the island of Cozumel

appears to mark the occurrence of the lunar standstill, the erratic movement of the

moon through the skies.” (Minster, Christopher. “Ancient Mayan Astronomy”).

The Maya were very aware of the different planets in the solar system, and they

tracked their movements. The most critical planet by far to the Maya was Venus, which

they associated with war. Many battles and wars would be arranged to correspond with

the movements of Venus. Many captured warriors and leaders would be sacrificed

according to Venuses’ positions in the night. The Maya recorded Venus’s movements

and determined that its year was relative to Earth and not the sun. They realized Venus

had 584 days, very close to the approximating 583.92 days modern science has

determined.

Just like planets, the stars move across the sky, to the Maya, stars are less

important to their mythos than the sun, moon, and Venus. However, the stars shifted

seasonally, and the Mayan astronomers predicted when the seasons would come and

go. This was very critical for agricultural planning. The stars were more used in a more

practical way in Mayan astronomy. The Mayans linked their calendar to their astronomy.

The Maya mainly used two calendars, the 260-day Sacred Round, or tzolkin, and the

365-day Vague Year, or Haab. These cycles align every 52 years. The Mayans would

celebrate the New Fire Festival on this day (El Fuego Nuevo). All the fires in their

households would be put out, and they would throw away any old material they used in
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the previous year. This symbolized the start of a fresh new year; to them, it was a time

of renewal and new beginnings.

The Mayans were one of the most Indigenous groups of Mesoamerica. The

Mayans were advanced in agriculture, mathematics, astronomy, and different cultural

traits. The Mayans worshiped gods like Ixchel (moon goddess) and Kinich Ahau(sun

god). They would make sacrifices to them on top of their pyramids they built. We can

trace modern astronomy to different cultures in different parts of the world like Mayan,

Greece, Rome, and many more. Studying other cultures can help astronomers

understand our wondrous universe.

Work Cited
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History.com Editors. (2010, May 17). Mayan scientific achievements. Retrieved May 01,

2021, from https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-americas/mayan-scientific-

achievements

Maya civilization. (n.d.). Retrieved May 01, 2021, from

https://www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/civil/maya/mmc07eng.html

Minster, Christopher. "Ancient Mayan Astronomy." ThoughtCo, Aug. 27, 2020,

thoughtco.com/ancient-maya-astronomy-2136314.