From BBC News (video report):
'End of era' inscriptions discovered in Guatemala
29 June 2012 Last updated at 12:10 ET
Archaeologists in Guatemala have announced the discovery of a 1,300-year-old
text that makes reference to the last date of the Mayan calendar.
According to the Mayan calendar, 21 December 2012 will mark the end of a five-millennium cycle. Some believe it prophesies the end of the world. But experts say it just signifies the end of an era.
Margarita Rodriguez reports.
And from a press release at Eureka Alert
Public release date: 28-Jun-2012
Tulane University:
"This text talks about ancient political history rather than prophecy," says Marcello A. Canuto, director of Tulane's Middle American Research Institute and co-director of the excavations at La Corona.
Since 2008, Canuto and Tomás Barrientos of the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala have directed excavations at La Corona, a site previously ravaged by looters.
"Last year, we realized that looters of a particular building had discarded some carved stones because they were too eroded to sell on the antiquities black market," said Barrientos, "so we knew they found something important, but we also thought they might have missed something."
What Canuto and Barrientos found was the longest text ever discovered in Guatemala. Carved on staircase steps, it records 200 years of La Corona history, states David Stuart, director of the Mesoamerica Center at The University of Texas at Austin, who was part of a 1997 expedition that first explored the site.
While deciphering these new finds in May, Stuart recognized the 2012 reference on a stairway block bearing 56 delicately carved hieroglyphs. It commemorated a royal visit to La Corona in AD 696 by the most powerful Maya ruler of that time, Yuknoom Yich'aak K'ahk' of Calakmul, only a few months after his defeat by long-standing rival Tikal in AD 695. Thought by scholars to have been killed in this battle, this ruler was visiting allies and allaying their fears after his defeat.
"This was a time of great political turmoil in the Maya region and this king felt compelled to allude to a larger cycle of time that happens to end in 2012," says Stuart.
So, rather than prophesy, the 2012 reference places this king's troubled reign and accomplishments into a larger cosmological framework.
"In times of crisis, the ancient Maya used their calendar to promote continuity and stability rather than predict apocalypse," says Canuto.
Of course, this report wouldn't be complete without a video on the - are you ready for this - THE RETURN OF (cue spooky music) SYAITAN! It's only Part 1 of 4, so if you're interested you'll have to check out the rest for yourselves at You Tube. For my part, I thought it was great entertainment! Unfortunately, "The Light Ray" chose to appear over a pyramid at Chicken Itza rather than at La Corona (isn't that the name of a Mexican beer...).
There is also a video on a December 21, 2012 message supposedly embedded in the Quran. What? Nothing in the Bible? Tsk tsk.
According to the Mayan calendar, 21 December 2012 will mark the end of a five-millennium cycle. Some believe it prophesies the end of the world. But experts say it just signifies the end of an era.
Margarita Rodriguez reports.
And from a press release at Eureka Alert
Public release date: 28-Jun-2012
Tulane University:
Maya archaeologists unearth new 2012 monument
Archaeologists working at the site of La Corona in Guatemala have discovered a 1,300-year-old-year Maya text that provides only the second known reference to the so-called "end date" of the Maya calendar, December 21, 2012. The discovery, one of the most significant hieroglyphic finds in decades, was announced today at the National Palace in Guatemala."This text talks about ancient political history rather than prophecy," says Marcello A. Canuto, director of Tulane's Middle American Research Institute and co-director of the excavations at La Corona.
Since 2008, Canuto and Tomás Barrientos of the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala have directed excavations at La Corona, a site previously ravaged by looters.
"Last year, we realized that looters of a particular building had discarded some carved stones because they were too eroded to sell on the antiquities black market," said Barrientos, "so we knew they found something important, but we also thought they might have missed something."
What Canuto and Barrientos found was the longest text ever discovered in Guatemala. Carved on staircase steps, it records 200 years of La Corona history, states David Stuart, director of the Mesoamerica Center at The University of Texas at Austin, who was part of a 1997 expedition that first explored the site.
While deciphering these new finds in May, Stuart recognized the 2012 reference on a stairway block bearing 56 delicately carved hieroglyphs. It commemorated a royal visit to La Corona in AD 696 by the most powerful Maya ruler of that time, Yuknoom Yich'aak K'ahk' of Calakmul, only a few months after his defeat by long-standing rival Tikal in AD 695. Thought by scholars to have been killed in this battle, this ruler was visiting allies and allaying their fears after his defeat.
"This was a time of great political turmoil in the Maya region and this king felt compelled to allude to a larger cycle of time that happens to end in 2012," says Stuart.
So, rather than prophesy, the 2012 reference places this king's troubled reign and accomplishments into a larger cosmological framework.
"In times of crisis, the ancient Maya used their calendar to promote continuity and stability rather than predict apocalypse," says Canuto.
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As Mr. Don would say, it was the media propaganda of the times. The only reason we know about it at all is because the Mayans carved in stone, like the ancient Egyptians. Of course, this report wouldn't be complete without a video on the - are you ready for this - THE RETURN OF (cue spooky music) SYAITAN! It's only Part 1 of 4, so if you're interested you'll have to check out the rest for yourselves at You Tube. For my part, I thought it was great entertainment! Unfortunately, "The Light Ray" chose to appear over a pyramid at Chicken Itza rather than at La Corona (isn't that the name of a Mexican beer...).
There is also a video on a December 21, 2012 message supposedly embedded in the Quran. What? Nothing in the Bible? Tsk tsk.
Sis, These are fun videos. Maybe we will see them on one of the US TV programs soon... How did they miss this news? Oh Yeh, they didn't get permission from the US gov. Freedom of the press ... US NEWS TV is free to use gov. aproved news only.
ReplyDeleteConnie Chung complained about gov. sensorship of the news. And some believe the gov. got mad at her and barred her from TV. I haven't seen her on TV in many years.