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-4550 days until 13.0.0.0.0
What this all means:
The Mayan date is a count of days from the start of era. The date is defined with named position as: Baktun . Katun . Tun . Uinal . Kin.
There is considerable debate on the meaning of "Start of Era" and how to translate this date into a modern calendar date. The little we
do know about Mayan mathematics, we show here. In essence, it was a numbering system that employed both base 18 and base 20 math.
For the date above, that translates to the following count of days using the following rules:
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20 Kins make up 1
Uinal
18 Uinals make up 1 Tun
20 Tuns make up 1 Katun
20 Katuns make up 1 Baktun
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1 Batkun = 144000 Kins
1 Katun = 7200 Kins
1 Tun = 360 Kins
1 Uinal = 20 Kins
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| Day Count = Baktuns * 144000 | = 13 * 144000 | 1872000 |
| + Katuns * 7200 | = 0 * 7200 | 0 |
| + Tuns * 360 | = 12 * 360 | 4320 |
| + Uinals * 20 | = 11 * 20 | 220 |
| + Kins | = 10 | 10 |
| 1876550 |
The trick now is to take this count of days and convert it into a recognizable calendar date. Joseph Scalinger, 17th century French mathematician created an algorithm that can (generally) take a long number and convert it to a modern Gregorian date. Using the straight Mayan Count of Days without any kind of correlation would give you the following translation: | Day Count of 1876550 = September 19, 425 |
Clearly, that is not even close to today's date! So a debate ensued on the appropriate Correlation Number to apply to the Count of Days (LongCount) number. There are currently two schools of thought: One has adding 584283 to the Mayan LongCount number, the other has adding 584285. | 1876550 + Thompson Correlation number (584283) | = 2460833 | = June 6, 2025 |
| 1876550 + Lounsbury Correlation number (584285) | = 2460835 | = June 8, 2025 |
It seems a bit nit picky - worrying about the difference between 584283 and 584285- but its actually more than just an argument of two days. For the last 100 years or so, there has been many different theories on the best correlation number. The Mayans appear to like cycles, repeating and reoccurring numbers. No one has been able to explain the significance of 1872000 (LongCount), which when written into Mayan becomes 13.0.0.0.0. This is how that number is broken down. | Day Count = Baktuns * 144000 | = 13 * 144000 | 1872000 |
| + Katuns * 7200 | = 0 * 7200 | 0 |
| + Tuns * 360 | = 0 * 360 | 0 |
| + Uinals * 20 | = 0 * 20 | 0 |
| + Kins | = 0 | 0 |
| 1872000 |
In the list below, only one correlation number, when added to the LongCount number of 1872000 creates the end date of December 21, 2012! | Author | Correlation Number | Correlation Date | Correlation Number + LongCount | Date of 13.0.0.0.0 | | Robert Willson | 438905.5 | August 29, 3512 BC | 2310905.5 | December 11, 1614 | | Charles Smiley | 482698.5 | July 23, 3392 BC | 2354698.5 | November 5, 1734 | | Maud Makemson | 489137.5 | March 10, 3374 BC | 2361137.5 | June 22, 1752 | | Herbert Spinden | 489383.5 | November 11, 3374 BC | 2361383.5 | February 23, 1753 | | John Teeple | 492660.5 | October 31, 3365 BC | 2364660.5 | February 13, 1762 | | W.B. Dinsmoor | 497878.5 | February 13, 3350 BC | 2369878.5 | May 28, 1776 | | Anton Stock | 556407.5 | May 13, 3190 BC | 2428407.5 | August 27, 1936 | | Joseph Goodman | 584279.5 | September 3, 3114 BC | 2456279.5 | December 18, 2012 | | Martinez & Hernandez | 584280.5 | September 4, 3114 BC | 2456280.5 | December 19, 2012 | | J.E.S. Thompson | 584282.5 | September 6, 3114 BC | 2456282.5 | December 21, 2012 | | Floyd Lounsbury | 584284.5 | September 8, 3114 BC | 2456284.5 | December 23, 2012 | | Damian Kreichgauer | 626925.5 | June 6, 2997 BC | 2498925.5 | September 22, 2129 | | Franz Hochleitner | 674264.5 | January 14, 2867 BC | 2546264.5 | May 3, 2259 | | H. Schultz | 677722.5 | July 4, 2858 BC | 2549722.5 | October 20, 2268 | | Esalona Ramos | 679107.5 | April 19, 2854 BC | 2551107.5 | August 5, 2272 | | Weitzel & Vollemaere | 774077.5 | April 24, 2594 BC | 2646077.5 | August 12, 2532 |
So why all the disagreement? In a nutshell, there is very little written down by the Mayans themselves that is truly unequivocal and totally understood. We know that the Ancient Greeks already figured out the true diameter of the Earth, that the Romans were able to build their amazing aqueducts without laser levels and still accurately allow the gradual drop of water; we know the wonderful inventions and discoveries of other ancient civilizations because there has been such a plethora of written material by the best minds in that society. The Mayans stand apart, as many of their discoveries are speculative. We know they had a calendar that lasted 365 days. But that is hardly accurate over a long term. They had another that was 260 days. The number 1872000 may have some significance, but without an article written by an ancient Mayan explaining why the number is significant, then this mapping to a Gregorian calendar date and then mapping that date to the Winter Solstice and then trying to pretend that this is a prophesy on then end of the world, makes absolutely no rational sense. So next time one of your friends is telling you the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012, you can with absolute confidence reply: "No it won't." When pressed for evidence, you can say that a Black Cat told you so.
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