Babylonian – Mayan Astronomy Essay, Research Paper

Mayan Astronomy was better Than Babylonian Astronomy

Mayan astronomy differed in several ways compared to

Babylonian astronomy. Among the numerous ways were their different beliefs in the heavens, space, planets Earth and even their calendars.

The Mayan calendar is one of the world?s most ancient calendar systems. Even though it is seen as the most complex, it is also seen as the most accurate. The 260-day and the 365-day cycle?s are almost exactly equal to the actual solar year in the tropics.

The Mayan?s made their calendar by looking to the heavens for their guidance. They built and used observatories, used the stars and planets to observe, shadow casting, and observations of the horizon to trace the motions of the sun. they used all of these methods to calculate and record all information in chronicles. They used these to keep track of time.

The Babylonians constructed their calendar by studying the motions of the sun and moon. They made the day after the new moon, the start of a new month. They wanted to calculate it in advance rather than waiting for the calendar makers to determine it by observation.