{{The Maya people did not really mark their calendar for the end of the world on December 21, 2012.}}<\/p>\n
As tourists book hotels rooms in Mexico\u2019s Maya Riviera and Guatemalan resorts ahead of next month\u2019s fateful date, experts are busy debunking the doomsday myth.<\/p>\n
The apocalyptic prophecy that has inspired authors and filmmakers never appears in the tall T-shaped stone calendar that was carved by the Maya around the year 669 in southeastern Mexico.<\/p>\n
In reality, the stone recounts the life and battles of a ruler from that era, experts say. Plus, the last date on the calendar is actually December 23, 2012, not the 21st, and it merely marks the end of a cycle.<\/p>\n
So no need to build giant arks, because the terrible floods, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions depicted in the Hollywood blockbuster \u201c2012\u2033 were not prophesied by the Mayas.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Mayas had a cyclical idea of time. They were not preoccupied with the end of the world,\u201d Mexican archeologist Jose Romero told AFP.<\/p>\n
The stone, known as Monument 6, was located in El Tortuguero, an archeological site that was discovered in 1915.<\/p>\n
Broken in six pieces, the different fragments are exhibited in US and Mexican museums, including Tabasco\u2019s Carlos Pellicer Camara Anthropology Museum and New York\u2019s Metropolitan Museum.<\/p>\n
The first study on the stone was published by a German researcher in 1978. Since then, various archeologists have examined its significance and agree that it refers to the December 23 date.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe last inscription refers to December 23, 2012, but the central theme of Monument 6 is not the date, it\u2019s not the prophecies or the end of the world. It\u2019s the story of (then ruler) Bahlam Ajaw,\u201d Romero said.<\/p>\n
The final date represents the end of a cycle in the Mayan long count calendar that began in the year 3114 before Christ. It is the completion of 13 baak t\u2019uunes, a unit of time equivalent to 144,000 days.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is not the end of the Mayan long count calendar, which is endless. It\u2019s the beginning of a new cycle, that\u2019s all,\u201d said Mexican historian Erick Velasquez.<\/p>\n
Though the Maya made prophecies, they looked at events in the near future and were related to day-to-day concerns like rain, droughts, or harvests.<\/p>\n
The belief that the calendar foresees the end of the world comes from Judeo-Christian interpretations, the experts said.<\/p>\n
Velasquez warned against giving too much weight to Monument 6, noting that it is just one of more than 5,000 stones from the Mayan culture that have been studied.<\/p>\n
The Earth still has a few years left, even in eyes of the ancient Maya: Some stones refer to the year 7000.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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