Did the Maya predict the end of the world?

Despite the buzz in pop culture and New Age circles, the world is not coming to an end on Dec. 21 that was predicted by ancient Mayans.

There’s been so much confusion about the end date on the Mayan calendar that NASA set up a site to dispel the apocalypse rumor and a few other doomsday myths.

What is happening is a reset of a calendar used by the ancient Maya. But rather than marking the end of the world, Dec. 21 marks the end of an era in the Mayan long-count calendar.

So just as our calendar starts anew on Jan. 1, the Mayan long-count calendar enters a new era with the passing of Dec. 21.

Now that you don’t have to fear the end of the world, take some time to test your knowledge of the calendar that started all the doomsday hype.

Pictured are people taking part in a Maya ritual on Dec. 14 in Merida, Mexico.

<script type=”text/javascript” charset=”utf-8″ src=”http://static.polldaddy.com/p/6779180.js”></script> <noscript><a href=”http://polldaddy.com/poll/6779180/”>What is the name of the location the Maya considered to be “where time began?”</a></noscript

Tourists got their picture on Dec. 15 taken next to a slab of stone counting down the days until Dec. 21, 2012, at the Xcaret theme park in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.

Answer: Izapa, Mexico

The sun passes directly overhead Izapa twice a year — on Aug. 13 and again on April 30, according to National Geographic, which credits Dartmouth geographer Vincent H. Malmström for Izapa’s distinction as the place “where time began.’’

The period between those dates is 260 days, which for the Maya became the length of their sacred calendar — the Tzolk’in. Writing for National Geographic Traveler, Andrew Evans said this means that Izapa is the geographical manifestation of the beginning and end of the sacred Mayan calendar, as well as the solar calendar.

Pictured: A man performed a ritual as he looked toward the descent of the Kukulkcan serpent, whose image is seen illuminated along the edge of the stairs of the Mayan Chichen Itza pyramid during the spring equinox in Chichen Itza, Mexico, on March 20.

<script type=”text/javascript” charset=”utf-8″ src=”http://static.polldaddy.com/p/6778517.js”></script> <noscript><a href=”http://polldaddy.com/poll/6778517/”>What is the name of Mayan text cited as predicting the end of the world?</a></noscript>

Pictured are tourists standing in the ruins of the Kohunlich archeological site near Chetumal, Mexico.

Answer: Dresden Codex

The Dresden Codex does not mention 2012, according to archeologist Brigitte Kovacevich at Southern Methodist University. Another text, the Chilam Balam does make dire predictions for certain period endings, but this book dates to the 15th and 16th centuries and was written after the Spanish conquest and heavily influenced by that event and Western culture, according to Kovacevich.

Pictured, Maya priest Idelfonso Ake Coccom of the Council of Elders and Mayan priests conducted a wedding in Merida, Mexico, between Luz Carmen Gonzalez and Jesus Chacon. The wedding was the last Maya wedding before the end of the Mayan long-count calendar and the beginning of a new era.

<script type=”text/javascript” charset=”utf-8″ src=”http://static.polldaddy.com/p/6778196.js”></script> <noscript><a href=”http://polldaddy.com/poll/6778196/”>What is another name for the Mayan calendar?</a></noscript>

This spot at the Tak’Alik A’Baj archeological site south of Guatemala City is where ceremonies will be held to celebrate the end of the Mayan cycle and the start of the new Maya era on Dec. 21.

Answer: Mesoamerican long-count calendar

The cyclic calendar consisting of sets of numbers is just one of several calendars used by the ancient Maya, according to the Exploratorium, a museum of science, art, and human perception in San Francisco. Other examples of calendars used by the Maya are the “haab,’’ which measured an astronomical year of 365 days and the “tzolkin,’’ which measured a ritual year of 260 days.

Pictured is another part of the Tak’Alik A’Baj archeological site.

<script type=”text/javascript” charset=”utf-8″ src=”http://static.polldaddy.com/p/6758396.js”></script> <noscript><a href=”http://polldaddy.com/poll/6758396/”>How long is the time unit known as a “baktun” in the Mayan calendar?</a></noscript>

A Mayan priest, pictured, carried out a ritual at the Iximche archeological site west of Guatemala City.

Answer: About 394 years

A baktun is made of 20 units of a measurement known as a katun, according to the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. A baktun is the equivalent of 144,000 days.

Pictured is a sky caiman vomiting water on one of the last pages of the 12th-century Dresden Codex displayed at the Saxon State Library in Dresden, Germany. The document is also known as the “Codex Dresdensis.” The Dresden Codex is one of four historic Mayan manuscripts that still exist in the world and that together suggest modern civilization will come to an end on Dec. 21.

<script type=”text/javascript” charset=”utf-8″ src=”http://static.polldaddy.com/p/6778910.js”></script> <noscript><a href=”http://polldaddy.com/poll/6778910/”>Who was allowed to have knowledge of calendars in Mayan culture?</a></noscript>

Tourists, pictured, climbed the pyramid at the archeological site in Coba, Mexico. Amid a worldwide frenzy of advertisers and new-agers preparing for a Maya apocalypse, one group is approaching Dec. 21 with calm and equanimity of the people whose ancestors supposedly made the prediction in the first place.

Answer: Priests

Only priests were allowed to have the knowledge of calendars and math, according to the Marjorie Barrick Museum at the Univeristy of Nevada. In this way, they were able to keep power over the other citizens.

Pictured are tourists climbing a pyramid at an archeological site in Coba, Mexico.

<script type=”text/javascript” charset=”utf-8″ src=”http://static.polldaddy.com/p/6779004.js”></script> <noscript><a href=”http://polldaddy.com/poll/6779004/”>How is the Mesoamerican-long count calendar used today?</a></noscript>

The Tunupa ship is seen as Bolivian priests made offerings in Lake Titicaca, Bolivia, as celebrations started on Sunday to mark the first of six days commemorating the end of an era in the Mayan calendar on Dec. 21.

Answer: The Maya used the calendar for more than 1,000 years and then stopped.

The Mesoamerican long-count calendar went out of use after being employed for 1,000 years, according to National Geographic. Eventully, the Maya forgot how to read the calendar in part because of an invasion of the Mayan empire by the Spanish in the 16th-century.

Navy soldiers, pictured, ate while waiting for the arrival of the Bolivian president to Suriqui island in Lake Titicaca on Dec. 16.

<script type=”text/javascript” charset=”utf-8″ src=”http://static.polldaddy.com/p/6779239.js”></script> <noscript><a href=”http://polldaddy.com/poll/6779239/”>How long is the era set to end in the Mayan calendar on Dec. 21?</a></noscript>

Navy soldiers, pictured, ate while waiting for the arrival of the Bolivian president to Suriqui island in Lake Titicaca on Dec. 16 for celebrations marking the end of the Mayan calendar.

Answer: 5,125 years

At the end of the era on Dec. 21 a new one begins and the long-count calendar resets, according to the National Museum of the American Indian.

Pictured is Bolivian President Evo Morales at a ceremony of the sacred fire making the end of the Mayan calendar at Intja island on Dec. 16.

<script type=”text/javascript” charset=”utf-8″ src=”http://static.polldaddy.com/p/6778590.js”></script> <noscript><a href=”http://polldaddy.com/poll/6778590/”>In what year did the Mayan era that is coming to an end on Dec. 21 begin?</a></noscript>

Pictured is a worker preparing finishing touches before the opening of Santuario de la Esperanza or Sanctuary of Hope in Cancun, Mexico in preparation for celebrations on Dec. 21.

Answer: 3114 B.C.

There are varying dates given for the starting point for the era that ends on Dec. 21. Some sources give the start in August 3114 B.C. Others give it in September of the same year.

Pictured is a worker preparing the Santuario de la Esperanza or Sanctuary of Hope in Cancun, Mexico, in preparation for celebrations on Dec. 21.

<script type=”text/javascript” charset=”utf-8″ src=”http://static.polldaddy.com/p/6779020.js”></script> <noscript><a href=”http://polldaddy.com/poll/6779020/”>How many baktun are in the Mayan era ending on Dec. 21?</a></noscript>

The Maya temple of Kukulkan, the feathered serpent and Mayan snake deity, is seen at the archeological site of Chichen Itza, in the southern Mexican state of Yucatan, on May 3.

Answer: 13

Dec. 21 is also referred to as Baktun 13 and it’s when the Mesoamerican long-count calendar will reset at the end of a 5,125-year cycle, according to the National Museum of the American Indian.

Pictured is Maya priest Idelfonso Ake Coccom, of the Council of Elders and Mayan priests, making an offering to the sun during the last Maya wedding before the end of the Mesoamerican long-count calendar in Merida, Mexico.

<script type=”text/javascript” charset=”utf-8″ src=”http://static.polldaddy.com/p/6779033.js”></script> <noscript><a href=”http://polldaddy.com/poll/6779033/”>Which planetary cycle is in close alignment with events significant to the ancient Maya?</a></noscript>

A performer, pictured, wore a traditional costume as he took part in the opening ceremony of the Mayan Culture Festival in Merida, Mexico, on Dec. 14.

Answer: Venus

Modern Mayanists have noticed that many historic events — especially wars — were planned on dates specific to the Venus cycle. Also, as the Maya civilization progressed, more and more of their cities were built in alignment to Venus, according toNational Geographic.

Pictured are Bolivian President Evo Morales, left, and Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca, right, eating a bowl of fish soup at the Tunupa ship in Lake Titicaca on Dec. 16 as part of the start of celebrations marking the end of the Mesoamerican long-count calendar.