On the fall and spring equinox, sunlight strikes the stairs of the pyramid and a serpent head at its base, which makes it look like a giant snake is coming down the temple. It’s not in Guatemala, but this Mayan temple is famous for its astronomical alignment. A good example of this is the underground observatory at Xochicalco-it has a hole in the ceiling, and on May 15 and July 29, the sun is directly overhead and illuminates an illustration of the sun on the observatory floor.Īnother great example of this alignment is the temple of Chichén Itzá on the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. During the fall and spring equinox, some buildings allowed sunrays to enter through a small opening and light up the interior walls. The measurements of these structures were incredibly precise. In many Mayan cities, ceremonial buildings were aligned with the four cardinal directions-north, south, east, and west.

As such, the stars were one of the more practical features of Mayan astronomy. For example, the ascent of Pleiades occurs around the same time that rain falls in Guatemala. The stars do, however, shift with the seasons and allowed the Mayans to predict annual agricultural changes. They stayed in relative position to one another and do not move across the sky like the planets. Stars were not as important as the sun, moon, or planets. Due of its importance, Venus was carefully tracked-the Maya determined that its year was 584 days long, which is unbelievably close to the 583.92 days that has now been determined. Prisoners of war were even sacrificed according to the position of Venus. Venus was associated with war, and battles were arranged to align with the movements of this planet. The most important planet for the Maya was Venus. Not to be outdone by city-states aligned with the sun, other Mayan dynasties claimed to be descendants of the moon. Ix Chel was also the patroness of fertility and childbirth. One example is the Maya Moon Goddess of Ix Chel, who battled with the Sun and forced him to descend into the underworld each night. Mayan mythology typically aligned the moon with a woman or a rabbit. The moon also played an important role in Mayan astronomy. Certain Mayan dynasties even claimed to be descendants of the sun. Known as Kinich Ahau, he was considered to be a creator god who would shine all day and then transform himself into a jaguar at night to pass into the underworld, which was known as Xibalba. That’s because the sun was considered the most powerful of all the Gods. The Mayans were keen predictors of solar phenomenon, including equinoxes and eclipses. This ability to accurately align agricultural patterns with seasonal shifts surely helped advance the Mayan civilization.

They helped predict the seasons and agricultural cycles, telling people when to plant their crops and when to pull them. This information was then recorded in their chronicles, or “codices.” Calendars eventually emerged from these observations as a way to track and forecast the passage of time.Īstronomy was not, however, simply a divine comedy playing out in the heavens above-astronomical observations had a direct impact on the local people. They used temple observatories, shadow-casting structures, and solar observations to trace the motion of the stars, sun, and planets. The Mayans believed that the Gods were actively involved in human affairs, and thus devoted a significant amount of time and energy trying to decipher their movements.Īstronomy was primarily the province of Mayan priest-astronomers, who translated celestial movements for rulers and the inhabitants of local city-states. These celestial objects were thought to be Gods, and their movements were believed to be an interaction between the heavens, Earth, and underworld. They believed that the Earth was the center of the universe and that the sun, moon, planets, and stars all rotated around it. The Mayans were expert astronomers who meticulously charted the movements of celestial objects.

Astronomical phenomena in dresden codex