Experts admit
second Mayan prediction of 2012 as end of the
world
 Mexico - The Mexican National Institute of
Anthropology and History have admitted that
they have a
second reference to the date 2012 as "end
of the world" on a carved fragment found
at an archaeological site in southern Mexico.
Salt
Lake Tribune reports that archaeologists have
long acknowledged that reference to date
2012 as "end of the world" is found
on a stone tablet from the Tortuguero site in
the Gulf coast state of Tabasco. But on Thursday,
the Mexican National Institute of Anthropology
and History announced that there is what appears
another reference to the same date in an inscription
on a brick found at the Camalcalco ruin. According
to a spokesman for the institute Arturo Mendez,
the inscription had been known for years and
has been carefully studied by experts. Some experts,
however, dispute that the "Comalcalco Brick" inscription
really makes reference to dates (December 21,
2012 or December 23, 2012) that some have said
is the end of the world.
The "Comalcalco
Brick" inscription,
like the previous Tortuguero inscription, is
difficult to interpret because it is cryptic.
The Tortuguero inscription, for instance, makes
prophetic reference to uncertain but possibly
cataclysmic events to occur in 2012, in connection
with the Mayan god of war and creation. The mystery
of the message in the Tortuguero inscription
is complicated by an illegible ending, though
some have claimed the eroded text reads "He
will descend from the sky."
Salt Lake Tribune reports that the face of the "Comalcalco
Brick" which carries the "prophetic
message" appears to have been covered with
stucco and laid facing inward. This is taken
to imply the message on the brick is a sacred
message not meant for profane eyes. However,
a specialist in Mayan inscriptions at the University
of Texas, Austin, David Stuart, said, "[though]
some have proposed it as another reference to
2012...I remain rather unconvinced."
Stuart
explains that what the brick contains is a "Calender
Round," that is, day
and month combination that will recur every 52
years.
According to David Stuart, the date on the brick
coincides with end of the 13th Baktun, a 394-year
period. With the Mayan Long Count calender starting
in 3114 B.C., the 13th Baktun will end around
December 21, 2012. But according to Stuart,
"There’s no reason it couldn’t
be also a date in ancient times, describing some
important historical event in the Classic period.
In fact, the third glyph on the brick seems to
read as the verb huli, 'he/she/it arrives.' There’s
no future tense marking [unlike the Tortuguero
phrase], which in my mind points more to
the Comalcalco date being more historical
than prophetic."
Detail showing three columns of glyphs from
2nd century CE La Mojarra Stela 1. The left
column gives a Long Count date of 8.5.16.9.7,
or 156 CE. The two right columns are glyphs
from the Epi-Olmec script.
Boston
Herald reports that the Institute of
Anthropology and History says belief that the
Mayans prophesied the world will end in December
2012 is misinterpretation of Mayan calender
and thought. Newser reports that the Institute
of Anthropology and History, in a statement
on Thursday, said,
"Western messianic thought
has twisted the cosmo-vision of ancient civilizations
like
the Maya."
The experts, according to Newser, say rather
than speak of the end of the world, the Mayans
had a cyclical notion of historical time. Cyclical
renewal of historical time, the experts say,
was not associated with or essentially linked
to apocalyptic events.
The announcement of what
appears a second reference, in Mayan archaeological
relics, to late December
2012 as "end of the world," has,
predictably, fueled speculations on Internet.
The
Mexican National Institute of Anthropology
and History is organizing a forum for 60
Mayan experts at the archaeological site of
Palenque
to address the rumors that the Mayan Long
Count calender predicts the world to end in
December,
2012.
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