Mayan Astronomy Part I

The stars light up the sky and many times I have looked into the skies wondering about the the stars, why they are there, what they do, what their significance is. Ancient cultures were no different in their interest in the stars. In our modern time, we show our interest in the sky through our science, ancient people showed their interest in the heavens through their religion. While many ancient cultures studied the heavens, the Mayans had some of the most interesting views of Astronomy.

The Mayans lived in southern Mexico and northern Central America, while parts of the Mayan culture have gone away, Mayan villages still exist in Mexico. This paper, however, deals with the classic period of the Mayan Civilization that ran from approximately 250AD to 900AD. In this classic period, the Mayans flourished in many ways, including their study of Astronomy and its entanglements with their religious beliefs.

The Mayans believed the universe was flat but it was an infinite size. They believed that the universe was divided into three different zones. The zones were the sky, the earth itself, and the underworld. Their belief in these three zones were the basis of their religious and cultural beliefs. For the purpose of this paper, we will talk about the sky zone.

The Mayan “sky” consisted of the stars at night, astronomical events, and the Sun during the day. They believed that the night sky showed the activity of their gods. They believed that the movements of the stars was the action of their gods. Many of the constellations that we know in modern times were known by the Mayans, but called by different names; the names of their gods. For example, they called the constellation Libra “the pig.”

(This is continued on Mayan Astronomy Part II)