Upon checking my e-mail this morning at yahoo, one of the first pages that appeared on the news section of the main site was this one, which does its best to inform the general public about the possible destruction of the world in 2012 based off the infamous Mayan calendar. As someone who has also earned a Spanish minor at Grand Valley State University, I have had the privilege of studying the Mayan culture before the hype about this possible doomsday event rose in its popularity. Also, as part of an early world history course at Grand Valley State, one of the main topics of discussion is learning about the early successful civilizations of the world. I decided to do some in-depth research in regards to the Mayan civilization, and also look into why so many people today are highly concerned about 2012.
According to this historical website, "The Maya are probably the best-known of the classical civilizations of Mesoamerica. Mayan history starts in the Yucatan around 2600 B.C., Mayan history rose to prominence around A.D. 250 in present-day southern Mexico, Guatemala, western Honduras, El Salvador, and northern Belize."
In other words, the Maya civilization existed roughly along the times of the famous classical Roman empire and during the height of Han Dynasty China, two civilizations that my classmates and I are currently studying as part of our world history course at Grand Valley State University. This particular site, as well, lays out a fairly detailed map explaining where the Mayan civilization existed within the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico. So now, we have the when, the what, and the where describing the Mayan civilization. But what about why? Why 2012? What is the big deal? Or how? How does the Mayan calendar predict this special date?
Perhaps the most important ruin discovery of the Mayan civilization is that of Chichen Itza. It is a pyramid design, but there is far more to it than just that. Chichen Itza represents part of the epic Mayan calendar. At this site, one can learn about the importance of the equinoxes for the Mayan civilization. The site describes that on both the spring and the autumnal equinox, the light from the sun will hit the stairs descending from the pyramid at directly the right point. It is rumored that the shadows cast by the pyramid itself will cause a serpent's image to be shown on those stairs, descending to the earth from the top of the pyramid. December 21, 2012, happens to be the fall equinox when this epic image appears--and it is also the very end of the current Mayan calendar. In other words, Chichen Itza is the embodiment of the prediction of the Mayan calendar.
The Mayan Calendar, as it currently stands, is scheduled to run out of dates December 21, 2012. Does this mean the end of the world, however? Remember that the Mayan civilization began around 2000 BCE, and reached its height shortly after the common era began. As someone who has been lucky enough to visit the Mayan ruin of Chichen Itza, I am not so easily convinced. However, using the information I have researched in this post, I will let you decide. Given the information here, is it enough to convince anyone that the world will ultimately reach its destruction in 2012?
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I don't believe that the end of the world predicted by the Mayans has any credibility. This is mainly because societies have always faced stresses, either external or internal, that would give rise to end of the world theories. A lack of the understanding of the natural world and of unexplainable events in life can lead to pessimistic views of a human's place in the world. So there have been many predictions of the end of the world as a whole and none of them have come true.
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