ABSTRACT
Maya calendars were an expression of a world-view shared throughout much of ancient Mesoamerica, where neighboring cultures used many of the same methods of reckoning time. As such they were also a major aspect of a political ideology that developed during the Preclassic and Classic eras, becoming an essential aspect of kingship and the presentation of authority. Maya kings, queens and other elites represented themselves as embodiments of time, as well as active agents in ensuring its progression and maintenance. This chapter touches on the essential structures of time, their close relationships with one another, and how they all expressed certain fundamental truths about Mesoamerican cosmology and thought. These systems gave meaning to the way the Maya perceived time as both natural and cultural phenomena, rooted in the repeating movements of the sun, the cyclical growth of maize, and through the ritual actions of rulers and other elites.
