A second reference to the Mayan December 2012 prophecy has been publicized, and is carved on a piece of brick found at Comalcalco in southern Mexico.
Previously, only one ancient glyph has been referred to on a stone tablet at nearby Tortuguero.
Known as the Comalcalco brick, the inscription is about 1,300 years old, and is thought to have been laid facing inward or concealed with stucco, implying it was not meant to be seen.
Mexico’s National Institute of History and Anthropology (INAH) issued an online statement about the second glyph, holding that western messianic thinking has distorted the views of ancient civilizations like the Maya to prophesize an apocalypse, when in fact the Mayan calendar foresees a series of cycles with the end of one era forming the start of another.
“According to the Maya concept, every 13 b‘aktunoob ’(which together account for 5,200 years) the cosmos is regenerated, completing a cycle of creation,” the INAH statement reads.
Mayan civilization peaked between 300 and 900 AD. Its calendar starts in 3,114 BC with time divided into periods called b'ak’tuns, each lasting about 394 years.
The Tortuguero tablet describes events at the end of the 13th b‘ak’tun in December 2012 when a god or gods will descend, known as B’alu‘n Yookte ’K‘uh,’ which translates as “nine pillars.”
More than 50 experts on Mayan culture from 12 countries will convene at the Seventh Palenque Round Table from Nov. 27 to Dec. 2 to discuss various aspects of the calendar.
