Ancient Mayan pyramids were clocks made of stone. The massive temples monitored the movement of the Sun, forming a precise solar calendar. This Mesoamerican civilization was very advanced in astronomy, NOVA reported.
How did the Mayans know so much?
Since time immemorial, the night sky has fascinated mankind. Even today we still look up,
in our quest to understand the origins and future of our world. Technological progress has changed our understanding of the things we see. Heaven is no longer just the home of the gods.
And yet, we are still influenced by the discoveries of ancient civilizations, such as the Mayans of Central America. They left a unique legacy in the form of this mysterious document compiled by Mayan astronomers.
Complex hieroglyphs reveal the accumulated knowledge of the Maya - when will the next solar eclipse occur? When will Venus appear as the morning star? Experts are still in awe of the Maya's meticulous calculations.
In their time, i.e. by 1492, the Maya were far ahead of the Europeans in mathematics and astronomy. It is not clear how the document reached Europe. Was it stolen by the colonialists or sent as an official gift. This is still under research.
It is clear that the document ended up in Dresden, Germany. And it is here to this day, in the Saxon State and University Library.
It is one of the four authentic Mayan codices known to us throughout the world. Known as the Dresden Codex. Deciphering it has forever changed the way we see Mayan cultures.
The Dresden Codex spans 39 pages written by both sides. The 3.5 meter long document served as a pocket book for religious rituals. Today we assume that the eclipse tables were used to warn when a solar or lunar eclipse was expected. People were very afraid of these events.