Haab calendar

The Haab was the civil calendar of the Mayans. It is also called the "vague" year because, it
does not include a leap year like the Christian calendar. The Haab calendar is very similar to the
Gregorian calendar of 365 days that we use today. It is based on the solar observation. Haab
calendar consists 18 months, 20 days and 5 unlucky days. These months were called uinals.
A full cycle Haab calendar is 365 days, each month is 20 days (18x20=360 + 5(nameless days)).
The names of the month were:


There are two major components of haab calendar. The first is period of 18 months of 20
days(18x20=360) called a Tun and second is 19
th
month of 5 nameless days called the
Wayeb.
The first day of this calendar starts with o instead of 1. i.e 0 Pop or 0 Wo. So haab calendar
starts with 0 Pop, then followed 1 Pop, 2 Pop etc until 20 Pop has been reached then it start
with 0 Wo and then followed in sequence. so 0 Pop would correspond to our 1 January.
The Uayeb days considered unlucky days, this may be any assumption or depreciating external
speculation or superstition. These days acquired a very derogatory reputation for bad luck;
known as "days without names" or "days without souls," and were observed as days of prayer
and mourning. Fires were extinguished and the population refrained from eating hot food.
Anyone born on those days was "doomed to a miserable life."

This of course is a grand and somewhat depreciating external speculation, which can also
unfortunately lead toward an assumption and stigma of mere superstition alone. The better
words to apply would be that they considered the end of their Haab calendar cycle to be
rather mathematically 'important' and/or spiritually 'significant'.
The Haab calendar is very similar to the Gregorian calendar that we use today. It's based on the
cycle of the sun and was used for agricultural, economic and accounting activities. Much like
the Tzolk'in calendar, it's also comprised of uinals (periods of 20 days), and each day has its own
hieroglyph and number. However, instead of using 13 uinals for 260 days, the Haab calendar
has 18 uinals, giving it 360 days.
Mayan astronomers noticed that 360 days wasn't enough time for the sun to make it through a
full solar cycle. They argued that the calendar should follow the cycle as closely as possible for
accuracy. But Mayan mathematicians disagreed. They wanted to keep things simple, in
increments of 20, just like their math system. The astronomers and mathematicians finally
agreed on the 18 uinals, with five "nameless days" called the wayeb [source: The Maya
Calendar].
The wayeb, or uayeb, is considered one "month" of five days thought to be a very dangerous
time. The Mayans believed the gods rested during that time, leaving the Earth unprotected. The
Mayans performed ceremonies and rituals during the wayeb, hoping that the gods would
return once again [source: The Mayan Calendar Portal].
While this calendar was longer than the Tzolk'in, the Mayans wanted to create a calendar that
would record even more time. For this reason, the Tzolk'in and Haab calendars were combined
to form the Calendar Round.
In the Calendar Round, the 260 days of the Tzolk'in calendar are paired with the 360 days and
five nameless days of the Haab calendar. The two calendars are matched the same way the
Tzolk'in day names and numbers are (see the illustration of the Tzolk'in calendar on the
previous page). This gives the Calendar Round 18,890 unique days, a time period of around 52
years.
At the time, the Calendar Round was the longest calendar in Mesoamerica. Contemporary
historians, however, wished to record Mayan history for generations to come. To accomplish
that, they needed a calendar that would take them through hundreds, even thousands, of
years.