The Maya counted every day since the creation of the world.

The language of Maya time

Maya scribes, astronomers and daykeepers built one of the most precise calendars in history. These are the words they used, and the ideas behind your reading.

K'inkeen

Both “day” and “sun”. The single day was the smallest unit of Maya time, and every day was alive, with its own name and spirit.

Winalwee-nal

A group of 20 days. The Maya counted in twenties: ten fingers and ten toes.

Tuntoon

360 days, the “year” of the Long Count. Stone monuments were raised to mark the end of each tun.

K'atunka-toon

7,200 days, almost 20 years. Each k'atun had its own prophecy, recorded in the books of Chilam Balam.

B'ak'tunbak-toon

144,000 days, about 394 years. The 13th b'ak'tun ended on 21 December 2012, the date the world talked about.

Tzolk'intsol-keen

“The count of days”: the sacred 260-day calendar of 20 day signs and 13 numbers. It is still kept by daykeepers in Guatemala today.

Haab'hahb

The 365-day solar year: 18 months of 20 days, each under a patron deity, followed by Wayeb'.

Wayeb'wah-yeb

The five “nameless days” at the end of the solar year, when the walls between worlds grew thin. People stayed home and kept quiet.

Calendar Round

The Tzolk'in and the Haab' turn together like two gears and only return to the same pair of days every 52 years, celebrated with a New Fire ceremony.

Long Count

A running count of every day since the creation of the current world on 4 Ajaw 8 Kumk'u, 13 August 3114 BC. Your birth has its own number in it.

Nawalna-wal

The spirit of a day sign. The sign you were born under is your nawal: a companion that shapes your character, gifts and path.

Ajq'ijah-keej

A daykeeper: the priest who reads the calendar. In ancient times the ah k'in, “he of the sun”, guided rulers and families alike.

The thirteen moons

A tradition that divides the year into thirteen moons of 28 days, each guarded by an animal, plus one day that belongs to none: the Day out of Time.