The calender we use today is the product of a great many centuries of patient study and of constant trial and error. When people first looked to heavenly bodies for a way to measure time, they observed that sun seemed to make constantly repeated journey in the heavens, always returning to the same place after many days.They also observed that the moon also followed a definite cycle.
Most ancients calenders were based on Moon cycles. these calenders were made to fits as best as they could within the larger framework of the sun cycle.There are 12 months in this calenders or also knows as 12 moon cycles.
The Egyptians were the first to base their calender on a year of 365 days, approximately the sun cycle. They also made the months purely arbitrary unit, not actual lunar cycle. The year was divided to 12 months of 30 days each. totaling 360 days.
Another seasonal sun calender was used in the antiquity was that of the Mayas of Mexico. Their invention probably goes back to the year 580 B.C, and it was the first seasonal and agricultural calender produced in America.The Mayan calender was arranged differently from that of the Egyptians. The Mayan solar year called a tun, had 18 months of 20 days each. It had a five-days unlucky period at its end to make 365 days. Each months has it own name and while the days are numbered from 0 to 19.
Dovetailed with the Mayan Sun calender was a religious year,sometime called a tzolkin. The tzolkinEach day had a name that was combined with the number 1 to 13 to count 260 days of tzolkin. contained 13 months of 20 days each.
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