Item Size:  10.5"     Type:  Wall Plaque

Material:  Casting Stone, with Antique Stone Finish

Original:  555 C.E.

The Maya Calendar depicted here is known as the Haab, the Maya solar calendar of 365 days. It was divided into 18 months of 20 days each, plus a 19th month consisting of the five remaining days at the end of the year, and known as the month of Uayeb (“the resting of the year"). The Maya also had a ritual calendar of 260 days, about the same length as a pregnancy, called the Tzolkin. This had 13 months of 20 days each. Yet a third calendar, called the calendar round, had a cycle of 52 solar years. This calendar was crafted to include both the Haab and Tzolkin calendars, physically intermeshing with each other like cogs in wheels. Any specific day in the 260-day calendar had a unique corresponding position in the 360-day calendar, but that corresponding position would not repeat itself again for 52 solar years. The sculpture above shows the Maya god of time at the center, supporting the burden of time on his back. He is surrounded by the hieroglyphs of the Haab’s 19 months.