I thought the Trecena added only 1 Day!
Boy, was I wrong!!!
The Aztec University system illustrated many large and small jobs that men could perform; Teaching mathematics, history, astronomy; surgery. acrobats,actors, even policemen who could subdue rowdy drunks during the night. It included, fresh-water "engineers," and hortoculturalists for a total of at least 31 different disciplines to be studied at Teotihucan.
Astronomy and Math go together in our world, but not in the Maya. Each has its own method of identification. Math, of course, is easier to understand.by the visual illustrated on the wall
Thie group above appears have two teachers. One illustrates bars for the number desired [5 X 2 = 10].. The other. [a TA in our school system] who just confirmed five was created by a student. The TA then inferred to the student, they should add their two fives together and add two "one's". He is indicating the object under his hand, a close duplicate of the one above his head appears to be the goal.
The TA explains that one dot is for the illustrated glyph by the main teacher above him with which the student can apply the math to astronomy indicated by the beauiful rose [nebula in the sky] which will connect to other disciplines such as "Slash and Burn" agriculture.
Karl Taube in his paper, called the Maya agricultural method "swiddin." [See reference below] A student as he learns his mathematics can deal with many other disciplines, i.e. the value of objects for barter, creating a home with correct orientation to the stars, marketing one's produce or pottery, etc.
A twelve is inferred by the two added dots between the five of the TA and that of the student. A third was either forthcoming or it was deliberately left out as not yet part of the lesson. The counting process called the Trecena was used for a truncated work schedule that applies to milpa horticulture. It is not only necessary to own three milpa plots, but also to calculate his weekly procedures to keep all three milpas fertile.
[The count must be calculated in a very complex pattern {hence truncated to four days per week to avoid too many distractions} The Independent Invention scenario below is based upon modern problems for students who are not accustomed to printed book-learning.]
However, When 1583, Rome introduced the IMIX, as the first day of the first month, the structure of the calendar intended, was altered. An error occurred in the 52-week cycle. The artist put KIMI on the 45th-week in the correct position and KIMI in the EB position of week 46 to show the calendar would have an incorrect ending for 52 weeks when IMIX is the first day of the first month of the year. It must be removed for the four-day weeks to come out correctly.
The second set of 26-weeks are a disaster. Nothing is correct, even though all are in place, except for 45th and 46th week columns as noted above. The second KIMI so close to the original indicates that the native who was ordered to redraw this calendar knew there would be a bad ending and refused to do any more than 51 weeks. He left the rest as blanks. The problem could be solved by adding a week starting with BEN in the empty space between the last week glyphs and the empty cartouches. The second set of 26-weeks would then be completed correctly, but only for the 52-weeks in the 360-year. I believed it should have begun with the week starting with IK and neatly end the 26 weeks in IMIX.
I was quite proud of myself for figuring it all out, especially with Karl Taube's help about the agriculture process. Then, one day, mumbling the, by now familiar IK, MANIK, EB, CABAN mantra to myself for the hundredth time; I suddenly realized I had repeated the first line of the vertical version as the thirteenth line. Hey, that is a neat program, a pre-computer "constant loop."
I tried to convince my readers that this was a valid "loop." As usual, no one even dreamed that I was serious. The Mesamericanos could never have created such a "computer" program so many centuries before our magic computers became a reality. Anyway, the mantra, I had been repeating to myself, was only one of many having four different names across the mesoamerican world. It was so much easier to use only the numbers.
Even calculus formulae used MOD-13 constantly for calculating meso-dates. Chart after chart was created, years became garbled. They never seemed to reach into recorded European years after the Conquest.
Then one day, I was browsing into year-bearer charts for the upteenth time, eyes glazing
over, with the multiple changes. . . .I gave up. The 1-13 sequences made no sense at all. Suddenly, it dawned on me that the number 13 read exactly the same as number 01.
Then, why was 01 the next number in line. One cannot have a running loop with two repeats in a row. That would meant A WHOLE DAY was added in the vertical Trecena every time the number 13 was counted, followed by another 01 sequence
I really thought I was learning things after solving the horizontal Trecenta, that was another plus for my argument. But, yet, something was still wrong. Days went by, I prepared a presentation, but it bombed and the Trecena had to be deleted because of lack of time. I finished my little speech on the last slide using the Madrid Serpent pages, informing all that the paper copy was correct for a horizontal count of the Trecena for each of the twelve years counted in each of the 01 to 13 count. I figured if I had so much trouble even trying to talk properly; it was not what I had wanted to do.
Again, I almost missed the bus. Ended up sitting next to a person I could not talk to very well: a most amazing person who had been riding the buses for two months. We ended up simplifying our conversation to mere basics for hours until we both fell asleep. Next thing I knew we had arrived in Houston, and I was almost home. It seemed like I had been gone for a year. . . . a year?. . . .Wait, a minute. . . . .a year-bearer in the Trecena was 52 weeks of ONE YEAR in the horizontal count.
The answer was not ONE DAY, but ONE YEAR was added to the Trecena every time the number 01 followed the 13. No wonder, the years were weird.
Taube, Karl, titled "The Classic Maya Maize God: A Reappraisal" [In Fifth Round Table, Pre-Columbian Art. Ed.: Merle Greene [1985, 171-181], San Francisco, California.]
Gates,William, (1978) An Outline Dictionary of the Maya Glyphs. Dover edition.
Borgia Codex, Dover Edition.
Madrid Trio-Cortesano Codex
Astronomy and Math go together in our world, but not in the Maya. Each has its own method of identification. Math, of course, is easier to understand.by the visual illustrated on the wall
 |
| Lessons in the Discipline Mathematics and Possible Trecena concepts. |
The TA explains that one dot is for the illustrated glyph by the main teacher above him with which the student can apply the math to astronomy indicated by the beauiful rose [nebula in the sky] which will connect to other disciplines such as "Slash and Burn" agriculture.
Karl Taube in his paper, called the Maya agricultural method "swiddin." [See reference below] A student as he learns his mathematics can deal with many other disciplines, i.e. the value of objects for barter, creating a home with correct orientation to the stars, marketing one's produce or pottery, etc.
A twelve is inferred by the two added dots between the five of the TA and that of the student. A third was either forthcoming or it was deliberately left out as not yet part of the lesson. The counting process called the Trecena was used for a truncated work schedule that applies to milpa horticulture. It is not only necessary to own three milpa plots, but also to calculate his weekly procedures to keep all three milpas fertile.
[The count must be calculated in a very complex pattern {hence truncated to four days per week to avoid too many distractions} The Independent Invention scenario below is based upon modern problems for students who are not accustomed to printed book-learning.]
The horizontal layout of the Trecena carries the correct procedure [with 1-IMIX as the beginning of the first WEEK of the first MONTH of the year 0 POP [which Rome iniciated], in 1583-4 for the Mesoamerican calendars so as to make them more like the European. The Euros would also have less trouble following the native calendars.
The second set of 26-weeks are a disaster. Nothing is correct, even though all are in place, except for 45th and 46th week columns as noted above. The second KIMI so close to the original indicates that the native who was ordered to redraw this calendar knew there would be a bad ending and refused to do any more than 51 weeks. He left the rest as blanks. The problem could be solved by adding a week starting with BEN in the empty space between the last week glyphs and the empty cartouches. The second set of 26-weeks would then be completed correctly, but only for the 52-weeks in the 360-year. I believed it should have begun with the week starting with IK and neatly end the 26 weeks in IMIX.
I was quite proud of myself for figuring it all out, especially with Karl Taube's help about the agriculture process. Then, one day, mumbling the, by now familiar IK, MANIK, EB, CABAN mantra to myself for the hundredth time; I suddenly realized I had repeated the first line of the vertical version as the thirteenth line. Hey, that is a neat program, a pre-computer "constant loop."
I tried to convince my readers that this was a valid "loop." As usual, no one even dreamed that I was serious. The Mesamericanos could never have created such a "computer" program so many centuries before our magic computers became a reality. Anyway, the mantra, I had been repeating to myself, was only one of many having four different names across the mesoamerican world. It was so much easier to use only the numbers.
Even calculus formulae used MOD-13 constantly for calculating meso-dates. Chart after chart was created, years became garbled. They never seemed to reach into recorded European years after the Conquest.
Then one day, I was browsing into year-bearer charts for the upteenth time, eyes glazing
over, with the multiple changes. . . .I gave up. The 1-13 sequences made no sense at all. Suddenly, it dawned on me that the number 13 read exactly the same as number 01.
Then, why was 01 the next number in line. One cannot have a running loop with two repeats in a row. That would meant A WHOLE DAY was added in the vertical Trecena every time the number 13 was counted, followed by another 01 sequence
I really thought I was learning things after solving the horizontal Trecenta, that was another plus for my argument. But, yet, something was still wrong. Days went by, I prepared a presentation, but it bombed and the Trecena had to be deleted because of lack of time. I finished my little speech on the last slide using the Madrid Serpent pages, informing all that the paper copy was correct for a horizontal count of the Trecena for each of the twelve years counted in each of the 01 to 13 count. I figured if I had so much trouble even trying to talk properly; it was not what I had wanted to do.
Again, I almost missed the bus. Ended up sitting next to a person I could not talk to very well: a most amazing person who had been riding the buses for two months. We ended up simplifying our conversation to mere basics for hours until we both fell asleep. Next thing I knew we had arrived in Houston, and I was almost home. It seemed like I had been gone for a year. . . . a year?. . . .Wait, a minute. . . . .a year-bearer in the Trecena was 52 weeks of ONE YEAR in the horizontal count.
The answer was not ONE DAY, but ONE YEAR was added to the Trecena every time the number 01 followed the 13. No wonder, the years were weird.
Conclusion
The Aztec/Maya Elite understood that many farmers were unable to read so instead of
creating a 30- day/month for their 360-day year, they left out Saturdays and Sundays of all the 52 weeks. The Borgia Codex, on the other hand, did 8.pages with the 260-day Trecena separated from the 7-day weeks of the newer 365.25-day.
It was inferred the 260-days were actually 26 years or half a HAAB or half of a 52-year cycle.
If one takes the horizontal 52-week Trecena into account----as a working schedule for farmers who could not read----then the 52-year cycle is "Independent Invention," no more, no less. This ends the 01 to 13 nonsense. The 13 count only means 13-weeks per season. Therefore, I must conclude there is a lot of work to be done straightening out the real calendar of Mesoamerica.
___________ creating a 30- day/month for their 360-day year, they left out Saturdays and Sundays of all the 52 weeks. The Borgia Codex, on the other hand, did 8.pages with the 260-day Trecena separated from the 7-day weeks of the newer 365.25-day.
It was inferred the 260-days were actually 26 years or half a HAAB or half of a 52-year cycle.
If one takes the horizontal 52-week Trecena into account----as a working schedule for farmers who could not read----then the 52-year cycle is "Independent Invention," no more, no less. This ends the 01 to 13 nonsense. The 13 count only means 13-weeks per season. Therefore, I must conclude there is a lot of work to be done straightening out the real calendar of Mesoamerica.
Taube, Karl, titled "The Classic Maya Maize God: A Reappraisal" [In Fifth Round Table, Pre-Columbian Art. Ed.: Merle Greene [1985, 171-181], San Francisco, California.]
Gates,William, (1978) An Outline Dictionary of the Maya Glyphs. Dover edition.
Borgia Codex, Dover Edition.
Madrid Trio-Cortesano Codex
