Operating instructions: Initially the applet gets the current date from your computer and converts it into the Maya calendar dates. You can enter a new date and press the "Convert" button to convert any other date between 3000 B.C. and 4000 A.D. For B.C. dates enter a negative year number. E.g. November 26, 2359 B.C. would be entered as 26 November -2359.

Or, you can increase or decrease the day by one by hitting the "Day + 1" or "Day - 1" buttons. Increasing a day at a time also give you a chance to see the Maya counting system in action. Mayan Calendar Converter

Reading the Graphics: Typically Maya monuments arranged the dates somewhat as shown in the block diagram at the left. The top portion was an initial series introductory glyph (ISIG). This is the face (with what looks like large ears) at the top of the graphic in the applet above. The Long Count, consisting of five numbers and labels, followed the introductory glyph. The numbers indicated how many baktuns, katuns, tuns, uinals and kins had elapsed since the starting date of the Long Count.

Maya used a base 20 numbering system. You can pick out the numbers in the graphic as they consist for the most part of circles and bars. (I'll leave it up to you to discover the zero.) A circle represents one and a bar represents five. In the photograph below at the top left corner we see the number one, one dot flanked above and below by two ear shaped scrolls. To the right of the one is a round face and to the right of the face we find the number 13, three dots aligned vertically followed by two bars (3 + 2 X 5 = 13).

This is part of a panel from the Temple of the Foliated Cross at Palenque, Mexico. In part it translates as "On November 8, 2360 B.C. GII, the matawil, touched the Earth. . . ." (3) (Translation from A Forest of Kings: the untold story of the ancient Maya by Linda Schele & David Freidel, William Morrow & Co., 1990) Photograph by C. Hartley Copyright 2003.

Following the Long Count one finds a number and a glyph which gives the Tzolkin Calendar date. On the last line of the graphic we find another number and glyph which gives the Haab Calendar date. The lower right corner glyph tells the Lord of the Night for the particular date.

The Maya Calendar Parts: Mayan Calendar Converter

The Long Count keeps track of the days which have passed since a starting date in the Julian Calendar of September 6, 3113 B.C. Currently the Long Count is above 1,868,000 days. To keep track of this large and growing number the Maya counted days or kins, uinals (which are 20 kins), tuns (which are 18 uinals), katuns (which are 20 tuns), and baktuns (which are 20 katuns).

For example to decode the Long Count (for the Gregorian date of February 13, 2002) of 12 katun, 19 katun, 8 tun, 17 uinal and 16 kins (which is written shorthand as 12.19.8.17.16) we look to see what each part represents.16 kin represents 16 days. A uinal is 20 kin or 20 days; thus 17 uinal is 340 days. A tun is 18 uinal or 360 days; thus 8 tun is 2880 days. A katun is 20 tun or 7,200 days; thus 19 katun is 136,800 days. A baktun is 20 katun or 144,000 days; thus 12 baktun is 1,728,000 days. Thus the Long Count for February 13, 2002 is 16 + 340 +2880+ 136,800 + 1,728,000 = 1,868,036 days.

The Long Count is displayed in the graphic and its decomposition is to the write of the graphic above.

The Tzolkin Calendar Round has 20 named days and 13 numbered days. Each day is assigned a name in succession (much as we name the days Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday etc.) and each day is given a number in succession (much as we number the days of the month). The 13 numbers and 20 names form a cycle which repeats itself every 260 days. The Tzolkin date is also displayed and translated in the graphic above.

The Tzolkin date in the photograph above is 1 Ahau.

The Haab Calendar Round has 18 named months with 20 numbered days in each month; this accounts for 360 days before it repeats itself. To make the Round come to 365 days there is a nineteenth month of only 5 days. The Haab date is computed and displayed above.

The Haab date in the photograph above is just to the right of the Tzolkin date and is 13 Mac.

Footnotes:
1. The Julian calendar is used for dates before 4 October 1582 and the Gregorian calendar is used for dates after 4 October 1582. There is no year zero, consistent with the use the of the calendar by historians (and unlike the conventions adopted by astronomers). I have noticed that a number of Maya Calendar Converters on the WEB have not carefully differentiated between Julian and Gregorian Calendars and zero year and non zero year use.
2.There is some disagreement amount anthropologists as to the conversion between Julian Day Numbers and the Maya Long Count. This applications uses the difference of 584282.5 days.
3. Linda Schele & David Freidel use the Gregorian Calendar to express dates which occured before the Gregorian Calendar was invented. Historians usually express dates in the Julian Calendar when it was in use, and in the Gregorian Calendar when it was in use. In the Julian Calendar this date should be November 26, 2359 B.C.