2012 Time Marker in the Palenque Temple of Inscriptions

2012 Mayan Time Marker in the Palenque Temple of Inscriptions

The west panel of the Temple of Inscriptions is a stucco inscription that consists of a grid of 20 x 12 glyphs. In there, we can appreciate the calendar mathematics in the study of the dates and prophecy of King Pakal as the sun-god of Palenque.

In our interpretations, being refutable or not, to avoid ambiguity the Scribes of Palenque tied up the birth, accession to the throne and death of King Hanab Pakal to the Long Count (LC) and to the K’atun suffixes which only happen each 375,000 years, and at the same time, they joined the birth and accession to the throne to the end of the first Pictun (approx. 8,000 years), that will happen in 4772 CE. Thus, if dates are to change, we have to move the dates 375,000 years into the future.

This argument against Mayan cronology is controversial, because modern epigraphists do not understand what Palencans pretended to say here. For example, two people are named under the same name, in this case, the reincarnation solution devised by the Ancient Order of Chilam Balam in 1952 is true and our Lord Pakal Ahau is the final product of that reincarnation, the only proof of the Chilam Balam prediction as well as the Palenque Prophecy (”…and He will be born again as the last solar child of Palenque and will be seated in the throne at the end of the 4 Ahaw K’atun”, where Katun 4 Ahaw is, of course, the final K’atun of the 13-Baktun cycle that ends in 2012), or the history of Palenque is a fantastic invention, or the inscriptions were used in a special way to treat the concept of time. In regard to all possibilities, we can only say that each proposition demands all inscriptions dates used to measure the same systems of time or historical glyphs be ignored with the Palenque dates, including the knowledge of Mayans and the Mesoamerican calendar in Pre-columbian, colonial and modern contexts, within the ‘historical hypothesis’ made by archaeologist Tatiana Prouskouriakoff.

In the case of the 2012 Time Marker inscribed in the west panel, if you add 13 Baktuns to the 4 Ahau 8 Cumku (Creation Date) you get the famous 2012 date that everyone thinks as the end of the world. However, the Scribes of Palenque wrote inscriptions dates in the west panel of the Temple of the Inscriptions that do not agree with common interpretations.

Knowing our Long Count is a cycle of 13 Baktuns, equivalent to 5,125 years and 133 days, if we start the Long Count on August 13, 3114 AC, we arrive to the next initial date of 13.0.0.0, that is December 23, 2012 (13.0.0.0.0 4 Ahaw 3 Kankin). According to Lord Pakal, the Mayans, at least in Palenque, did not consider the date as the end of the world, and conceived the cycle of 13 Baktuns as part of a larger cycle, a cycle of pictuns. The astronomers-priests recorded the end of the nine k’atuns, then the end of the current K’atun 13 (Year 2012), then the current Bak’tun of 10, then the current Pictun of 1. As it is inscribed in the west panel the calculations commemorate the accession of King Pakal to the throne in the date 1.0.0.0.0.8 3 Muluc 17 Mac, a date corresponding to October 25, 4772 CE. Meaning one Pictun is equivalent to 7,885 years and 65 days. Therefore, the world will continue to exist after 2012 CE, and this year has only a spiritual meaning in the life of our Lord Pakal Ahau, as he maintains a reserved answer on what will happen and what he will do at the end of 2012.

In closing, archaeologist Linda Schele’s comments are also remarkable with the interpretation. She explained, ‘King Pakal added a long distance number to connect his birth date (9.8.9.13.0 8 Ahaw 13 Pop) to the 80th calendar round anniversary of his accession. Furthermore, Pakal said that this date will be celebrated 8 days after the end of the 1st pictun. If the 2012 date were a new era date, the count would have to start all over again with everything “zeroing” — that is, if it is to work the way the ancient Maya treated their era date. According to Pakal, it will not zero’. Meaning, the time wheel does not contain another creation date.

As a homework, Lord Pakal Ahau includes the following inscriptions dates of the West Panel since 4 Ahaw 8 Cumku:

LORD SHIELD PACAL AND AGES

Birth Post –9.8.9.13.0 8 Ahau 13 Pop
Accession Post –9.9.2.4.8 5 Lamat 1 Mol — (12 years, 125 days)
Death Post –9.12.11.5.18 6 Etz’nab 11 Yax — (80 years, 158 days)
Reign Post –3.9.1.10 — (68 years, 33 days)

Notes from the Editor: And if you want to watch a Coronal Mass Ejection with solar tsunami flares coming to Earth in 2012, we recommend this Hollywood magnum opus cliché and entertaining 90-min apocalyptic movie, Inferno (released October 29, 1998), made for TV, with extreme temperatures over 145 degrees burning Los Angeles. It looks terrific in high definition screen. (Parental guidance suggested).