The Antediluvian Calendar in Genesis 5 illustrates the early Black Head Sumerian zodiac that had six astrological signs.  Sumerian and Babylonian animal zodiacs stipulate the vernal equinox began the New Year.  Mayan Calendar 260-day-Tzolken-sacred-years and 360-day-Tun-years are products of the Decan stars and numbering systems.  Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Chinese, Hindu and African people shared a 12-month zodiac.  Numerically matching 364-day-Ethiopic-years with 364-year-Ethiopic-cycles demonstrates astrology in ancient religion.

Sumerian 6 Sign Zodiac and Mayan Calendar 360-Day-Tun-Years

The Antediluvian Calendar in Genesis 5 establishes original counting techniques that carry forward to variations of Jewish and Mesoamerican calendar systems.  Significant 364-day-Ethiopic-years and the matching corollary term, 364-year-Ethiopic-cycles manifest similar traits.  Mayan 52-year Calendar Rounds and Judaic 50-year Jubilee Cycles have nearly identical properties regarding the 360-day midpoint length of year.  Discernable differences arise from how the calendars marked four special days in the old year.  New Year beginnings and the annual tally within each cycle are a direct result.  Many Mesoamerican Calendar variations exist to suggest no firm rules ever did apply.  Middle Eastern influences controlling religious Judaism were contributing factors as well.  An ancient Babylonian tradition recites the Creation epic on the fourth day of the New Year’s festival.  Exactly when and how ancient New Year’s Days increment next year counts within a greater cycle is a contentious subject.


Annual procedures leading to New Year’s Day on the vernal, spring equinox divide a Judaic 360-day midpoint length of year into four equal quarters having 90-days each.  The vernal equinox occurs in springtime when the ecliptic intersects the celestial equator.  One single day each quarter aligns with each Royal day-star.  The four archangel stars conclusively identify as Regulus, Aldebaran, Antares and Fomalhaut.  These four archangel stars once signified four cardinal points in the ancient year.  Descriptions in the Books of Enoch and elsewhere add these 4-day stars to 360-days every year to create the 364-day-Ethiopic-year.  One Royal day-star adds with each of four quarters.  Early astronomy and astrology combine long ago.  Regulus introduces the summer solstice.  Regulus is the heart of the constellation Leo the lion and leader of the four royal stars.  Aldebaran is a red giant star and the Eye of Taurus the Bull.  Antares is the heart of the Scorpion.  Fomalhaut belongs to the Southern Fish, Pisces.  According to Enoch, the four day-stars are isolated and especially “not included in the regular computation of the year.”

The Antediluvian Calendar is similar to the classical Mayan Calendar in many respects.  A 360-day-Tun-year consists of 18 Uinal periods of 20-days each.  The 18 Uinal glyph names reflect an original group of 18 affiliated Mesoamerican tribes.  Many Old Testament researchers relate the famous 12 tribes of Israel to 12 astrological signs of the ancient Mesopotamian zodiac.  We associate zodiac names with "zoo," because most constellations aptly name animal gods.  Familiar names include Leo the lion, Aries the ram, Scorpio the scorpion, Cancer the crab, Pisces the fish, Capricorn the goat and Taurus the bull.  God made the heavenly bodies to show us SIGNS that serve to mark calendar time.  Since ancient days, humanity has encompassed the pseudo-science of astrology to render interpretations involving motions of the sun, moon, planets and stars.  Our intentions here posit archaic spiritual preoccupations against the backdrop of emerging calendar science.

Genesis 1:14-15
“And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.  And it was so.”

Mayan worship spread the 260-day-Tzolken-sacred-year amongst polytheism.  Numbered day signs from 1 to 13 associate with animal god names in the Maya glyph language.  The ecliptic marks the double-headed serpent path of the Mayan zodiac.  According to the Paris codex, Mayan god animals were in position at the time of the vernal equinox in 3113 B.C.E. or the presumed starting date of the Mayan Calendar.  Of course, not all 13 constellations in the zodiac were visible together.  Only four constellations were viewable while the other nine were below the horizon in the nether underworld.  Known parts of the zodiac appear in a manner that compare with other zodiacs.  Scorpio equates with the scorpion.  Gemini appears related to a pig.  Mayan turtle stars form sections of the Gemini and Orion constellations.  The ecliptic ends with the rattlesnake tail we call the Pleiades.  The Pleiades rest midway between Aries and Taurus.  Aries is the Jaguar god, Leo is a frog and finally Scorpion.  Dual Mayan Calendar years worked like meshed gears to perform one 52-year Calendar Round that has 18,980-days.  Counterpart to the 360-day-Tun-year was the 260-day-Tzolken-sacred-year.  Continuation of religious festivals has preserved beliefs surrounding the zodiacal Tzolken.

The ancient Mesoamerican Tzolken zodiac includes the constellation Ophiuchus according to many archeo-astrologists.  Stargazers recognize Ophiuchus as the Serpent Holder 13th sign between Scorpio and Sagittarius.  Lunar months favor traditional 12 astrological sign zodiacs in a 360-day format.  The 12-month zodiac omits Ophiuchus even though the ecliptic passes through it.  The Serpent Holder was the mysterious Grecian god healer Aesculapius, who had the ability to raise the dead and cure the sick.  Obscure ties with Sumerian or Babylonian zodiacs entwine Ophiuchus with Creation tales of Tiamut, Enki and Marduk - Jupiter.  Ophiuchus is the hidden constellation.

Judaic views about monotheism recognize a single omnipotent God without regard to any other form of idolatry, man made or celestial.  Lunar months have always been traditionally important to Jewish Calendar reckoning.  Whether three 30-day months culminate in 90-day quarters or as part of Metonic 19-year lunar/solar cycles, sighting the new moon crescent was of paramount importance to Jewish Calendar reckoning.  Jewish month names show Sumerian-Babylonian influence.  Sumerian and Babylonian calendars also began months according to new moon crescents.  Monotheism replaced polytheism for Jewish people living in Mesopotamia.

Sumerian cosmology is responsible for an early set of core beliefs found in the Holy Bible.  Sumerians have the distinction of being the earliest inhabitants of the Fertile Crescent region.  Beginning 8,000-years B.C.E., Sumerian culture realized a priest-astronomer class, improved agrarian techniques and developed the first sexagesimal (base 60) numbering system.  Sumerian language bears affinity to vocabulary and similar concepts found in the ancient tongues of India and Africa.  They referred to themselves as “Black Heads.”  The name Sudan traces the “Land of the Blacks.”  Biblical references may include the famous Kingdom of Kush from Northern Sudan eastward to the Nile River.  One other point is worth mentioning.  Etymology for the name Adam shows derivation from the Assyrian Adami or man.  Some references also indicate Adami was particularly the black headed man.  In light of the Ethiopic 364-day-calendar-year and full knowledge that cultural exchanges took place between Northern Africa and Egypt, there is reasonable assurance that Sumerian astrology and astronomy predicates later Babylonian and Egyptian zodiacs.  Astrological signs are the ancient mathematical interpretations that measure time.  Entire pictures decorated minds and artwork long ago.  Astronomical constellations are the modern approach that purely references scientific observation.  Many star charts contain line diagrams that signify astrological sign shapes.

The Sumerian year had 12-lunar-months, based upon phases of the moon and just two seasons.  Summer began on the vernal spring equinox, lasting 6-months through until the autumnal equinox.  Winter was the harvest season and outlined by monthly written characters for hand, seed, grain and cutting.  Sighting new moon crescents determined the length of month and intercalary lunar months were necessary to keep the lunar year on track with the solar year.  Sumerian, ancient Hindu and later Semitic days began at sundown.

The Sumerian zodiac had only six houses or star groups.  Modern astrology includes 12 houses or sky divisions, including the hidden part beneath the horizon, and numbers the position from the east at the time of observation.  The first house is rising when the seventh house is setting in the west, so six houses are visible at night.  Sumerians spaced their houses some 60-degrees apart or about 60-days during the course of a year instead of today’s 30-day monthly division.  Sumerians cast the first spiritual underpinnings that relate astrological positions to governing events in the future.  National affairs such as war, drought and a plentiful harvest were the concerns of original astrology.  Priests advised the king and other ruling authorities when and how to act in order to appease the gods.  The sky heaven “An” had a masculine nature.  Earth “Ki” had a feminine nature and together An and Ki bore “Enlil.”  Enlil was the god of the air, who ruled over the “lil” wind or atmosphere.

Babylonian astrology-astronomy provides clues we need to study 360-day-Tun-years in more detail and bridge the gap between Mayan and Jewish Calendars.  Consider looking at the zodiac on the vernal equinox.  Babylonian astronomer priests established a standard set of 18 constellations along and around the ecliptic as early as 2,000 B.C.E.  Stars outside the zodiac belt were useful for orientation purposes.  Babylonian astronomer priests later divided the year into 12 star constellations.  Dawn heliacal risings for each sign were separate by about 30-days.  Precision involved erecting fixed sacred pillars called Baals in the Old Testament for observation purposes.  Egyptian and early Babylonian zodiacs had 36 Decans or star groups which were separated by about 10-days during the year.  Prior to the Roman Julian Calendar, the Romans were using a 10-month calendar with 36-day-months.  Eventually 12-months stabilized more or less in their current configuration.  Lunar months having 29-days or 30-days became the norm for nomadic people and expanding Greco-Roman culture into larger geographic areas.  Mesoamerican Calendars are the exception to strict lunar observation.  Fixed ceremonial centers encourage dividing 360-day-Tun-years into 18 Uinals of 20-days each.  The Mayan lunar series or supplementary series evidences that moon glyphs tracked phases and cycles.  However, the majority of lunar scripts are still unknown.

Babylonian worship divided the starry sky into three different bands around 3,000 B.C.E.  The northern band was the Path of Anu.  Winter constellations correspond primarily with the Path of Anu.  Our latitude limits the stars we see with respect to the Tropic of Capricorn.  Extending the equator into space creates a mathematical plane that aligns with the celestial equator.  Babylonians replaced the earth-mother Sumerian “Ki” with “Ea.”  From eastern to western horizons, the central Path of Ea identifies our modern celestial equator.  To the south is the Path of Enlil band.  Latitude position again limits the stars seen in the summer sky with respect to the Tropic of Cancer.  Calendar months reckon 30-days according to the rule of “three stars each.”  Each Decan star was from a different band in the sky.  Carved figures often represent sprits for each of the 36 Decan stars.  A new Decan star rose about every 10-days.  The Decans were mighty, great gods.  Decan stars were companions and guides to help the deceased.  Some stars bestowed blessings while others were hostile or adverse.

Mesoamerican Calendars distinguish a visible nighttime sky that divides the 260-day-Tzolken-sacred-year zodiac into 13 animal constellations.  The ecliptic or celestial equator subsequently determines the Tzolken part of the Mayan Calendar.  Babylonian and Egyptian zodiacs concentrate upon the entire 36 Decan star array during the year with a “three stars each” notion.  Half of 36 Decan stars are the visible 18 Decan stars during 6-months of either winter or summer.  The other 18 Decan stars belong to the opposing 6-months and are below the horizon.  Again, Sumerians noticed six 60-degree houses that later evolved into the earliest Babylonian 18 astrological signs.  By 1,200 B.C.E., Mesoamerican Olmecs concerned themselves with 13 visible astrological signs of a 260-day-Tzolken-sacred-year.  The 360-day-Tun-year and 365-day-Haab-years are later additions to the Mesoamerican Calendars.  The ecliptic pathway eventually replaced the central Path of Ea as reference to divide the Semitic sky by a factor of three.  Reducing the Sumerian-Babylonian numbering system from sexagesimal (base 60) to the later Mesoamerican vigesimal (base 20), infers that Mesoamerica 360-day-Tun-years were using 20-degree houses for their astrological signs.  Each astrological Uinal continued to have three Decan stars in the tribal Tun schema of 18 Uinals.  The Mesoamerican zodiac supplants the 12-house Sumerian-Babylonian zodiac that had three Decan stars each.

Babylonian and Egyptian 360-day-calendar-years are equal to 36 Decan stars multiplied by 10-days each (Eqn. 1).  The 260-day-Tzolken-sacred-year results from 13 Tzolken sacred zodiac signs of 20-days each (Eqn. 2).  The Mayan Calendar 360-day-Tun-year answers for 18 Uinals multiplied by 20-days each (Eqn. 3).  Compared with Semitic cosmology, the Mayan moon goddess seems like the Venus Ishtar goddess of rebirth and fertility.  As the moon goddess moved through 13 sacred signs and 18 star groups coincident with 18 tribes, she held the fertility profile of a “Rabbit in the Moon.”

Mesoamerican cultures may have alternatively adapted the Babylonian Eighteen Stars Path of the Moon to the ecliptic that marks apparent motions of the sun and moon.  The Greek zodiac 2,000-years ago borrowed 12 astrological sign names from 12 astronomical constellations.  Greco-Roman zodiacs consistently lay along the ecliptic.  Concordance with the Egyptian zodiac has shown the ecliptic was a focus for astral worship.  Today, there are several different permutations of the zodiac and personal horoscopes are an outgrowth resource once reserved for kings and leaders.

Equations 1-3

Semitic 360-day-calendar-year
1.    36 Decan stars
x 10-days
= 360-day-midpoint length of year

Mayan 260-day-Tzolken-sacred-year, 13 animal gods relate with 13 Zodiac Constellations
2.    13-animal gods
x 20-days
= 260-day-Tzolken-sacred-year

Mayan 360-day-Tun-year, 18 Uinals relate with Early Babylonian 6 Zodiac Constellations
3.    18 Uinals
x 20-days
= 360-day-Tun-year

Are you a pastor, educator or a student of the Holy Bible?  Timeemits.com seeks anointed people to review and contribute to the Ages_of_Adam ministry.  Ancient lunar/solar calendars like the Jewish and Mayan calendars provide the background to understanding early time.  Ancient calendars of the Holy Bible use differences between the moon and sun, numerical matching and a 364-day calendar year to describe X-number of days that match with X-number of years.  Ages_of_Adam is a free read at timeemits.

Clark Nelson is webmaster for http://www.timeemits.com/Get_More_Time.htm, author of Ages_of_Adam and sequel, Holy_of_Holies. Copyright 2006  Clark Nelson and timeemits.com  All Rights Reserved. URL http://www.timeemits.com/HoH_Articles/Sumerian_6_Sign_Zodiac_and_Mayan_Calendar_360.htm

Antediluvian, Genesis, Sumerian, zodiac, astrology, signs, house, Decan, stars, Babylon, Egypt, Hindu