New interpretation of Maya glyphs supposedly related to the end of the world (Forwarded)

Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia
(National Institute of Anthropology and History)
Mexico City, Mexico

December 14, 2011

NEW INTERPRETATION OF MAYA GLYPHS SUPPOSEDLY RELATED TO THE END OF THE WORLD

* Epigraphists announced that Monument 6 at Tortuguero is related to a
mythic event that would happen on December 21st 2012

* The German specialist Sven Gronemeyer made a new interpretation of the
inscriptions on the Maya stele, which marks the closing of an era and the
beginning of another

Far from the versions of a catastrophic age, the Maya hieroglyphs inscribed
in Monument 6 at the archaeological site of Tortuguero, Tabasco, are related
to a mythic event that would happen on December 21st, 2012, during the
Winter solstice, when Bahlam Ajaw, an ancient ruler of the city, foresaw
himself as the host of Bolon Yokte', a deity that would return on that date,
when the change of eras takes place.

This was announced by Maya epigraphists who conducted a new interpretation
of the monument guarded at the "Carlos Pellicer Camara" Museum, which has
attracted attention worldwide in the past few years because it records the
end of an era in the long-count calendar used by the ancient civilization.

Reunited in Chiapas, where the 7th Palenque Round Table organized by the
National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) took place from
November 27th through December 2nd, specialists exposed advances on the
decipherment of glyphic inscriptions of Monument 6 at Tortuguero.

On this regard, Sven Gronemeyer, from La Trobe University, Australia,
announced that with his colleague Barbara Macleod, he conducted a new
interpretation of the text sculpted in the 7th century of the Common Era, in
which right panel is registered the mentioned date, related to the end of a
5,125 years cycle.

The panel refers to the end of 13 baktunes (each baktun is integrated by 400
years), when a creation cycle was completed. It is mentioned that when the
date arrived, one of the deities that participated in the beginning of the
present age, Bolon Yokte', would be invested in 4 Ajaw 8 Kumk'u, date that
corresponds to August 13th 3114 BC.

The German epigraphist pointed out that this fact is linked to the history
of the ancient city of Tortuguero, because in Monument 6, ruler Bahlam Ajaw
(612-679 AD) is mentioned: "the mention of a future event when the 13th
baktun is over, puts the Maya ruler in a mythic and historical narrative,
connecting the beginning of the current era (4 Ajaw 8 Kumku) with his reflex
in the future".

The mention of Bolon Yokte' in the text indicates that "It was evident for
the Tortuguero City elite that they had to be prepared for the return of the
god, being his host the ruler Bahlam Ajaw. Bolon Yokte', deity linked to
creation and war, could even be represented by governors".

After the mention of the end of 13 baktunes, at Monument 6, the date 4 Ajaw
3 Kankin (December 21st 2012) is recorded as the beginning of a new era.
Bolon Yokte' would preside on that day with the shrine of Tortuguero as
scenery, place where once such stele was placed.

"Arithmetic at the Maya calendar shows that the end of the 13th baktun was
simply the end of a period and the transition to a new cycle, although the
date is charged with symbolic values, such as the reflection about the day
of creation".

"The Lord at Tortuguero, Balam Ajaw, is represented as the guarantor of the
temporary transition, supported by the patron deities. In the eternity, the
investiture of Bolon Yokte' to supervise the end of the 13th baktun is a
small step for a god, and, not necessarily, a big one for humanity," warned
Gronemeyer at his lecture "The end is not close: the Maya calendar and the
end of the 13th baktun according to Tortuguero, Tabasco perspective".

Erik Velasquez, epigraphist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico,
when reflecting about the historical time at Maya inscriptions, emphasized
that history, in the way we understand it to present as the narration of
human events, was a minor preoccupation of Maya scribes.

"Scribes emphasized ritual acts over any other aspect of the life of
nobility, so when studying inscriptions we can find complex relations
between time, sculptures and buildings," declared Velasquez.

He recalled that at Monument 6 of Tortuguero, the culminating moment is
marked with the ritual dedication of the building that contained this
inscription, in 669 of the Common Era. The text places this event in
relation with the consecration of a steam bath more than 150 years before
and the end of 13 baktunes that would happen in 2012.

"In the ancient Maya conception, time was built in the same way that
sculptures and buildings: periods of time had conscience, will, personality
and behaved like humans," concluded Velasquez.