When there is a sequence of 20 names in endless repetition, it is evident
that the 361st will be the same as the 1st, since 360 = 20 × 18. Therefore
the 362d will be the same as the 2d, the 363d as the 3d, the 364th as the
4th, and the 365 as the 5th. But the 365th, or 5th, name is the name of the
last day of the year, consequently the 1st day of the following year (the
366th from the beginning) will have the 6th name in the sequence. Following
out this same idea, it appears that the 361st day of the _second year_ will
have the same name as that with which it began, that is, the 6th name in
the sequence, the 362d day the 7th name, the 363d the 8th, the 364th the
9th, and the 365th, or last day of the _second year_, the 10th name.
Therefore the 1st day of the _third year_ (the 731st from the beginning)
will have the 11th name in the sequence. Similarly it could be shown {53}
that the _third year_, beginning with the 11th name, would necessarily end
with the 15th name; and the _fourth year_, beginning with the 16th name
(the 1096th from the beginning) would necessarily end with the 20th, or
last name, in the sequence. It results, therefore, from the foregoing
progression that the _fifth year_ will have to begin with the 1st name (the
1461st from the beginning), or the same name with which the _first year_
also began.
This is capable of mathematical proof, since the 1st day of the _fifth
year_ has the 1461st name from the beginning of the sequence, for 1461 =
4×365+1 = 73×20+1. The _1_ in the second term of this equation indicates
that the beginning day of the _fifth year_ has been reached; and the _1_ in
the third term indicates that the name-part of this day is the 1st name in
the sequence of twenty. In other words, every fifth year began with a day,
the name part of which was the same, and consequently only four of the
names in Table I could stand at the beginnings of the Maya years.
The four names which successively occupied this, the most important
position of the year, were: Ik, Manik, Eb, and Caban (see Table V, in which
these four names are shown in their relation to the sequence of twenty).
Beginning with any one of these, Ik for example, the next in order, Manik,
is 5 days distant, the next, Eb, another five days, the next, Caban,
another 5 days, and the next, Ik, the name with which the Table started,
another 5 days.
TABLE V. RELATIVE POSITIONS OF DAYS BEGINNING MAYA YEARS
IK
Akbal
Kan
Chicchan
Cimi
MANIK
Lamat
Muluc
Oc
Chuen
EB
Ben
Ix
Men
Cib
CABAN
Eznab
Cauac
Ahau
Imix
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account