The Dresden Codex

The Maya possessed a concept of 'Deep Time' that rivals modern geology. Their Long Count calendar tracked days in a linear count from a creation date in 3114 BCE, allowing them to anchor events millions of years in the past or future. The Dresden Codex demonstrates this mastery, calculating the synodic period of Venus with an error of less than one day in 500 years. This was timekeeping as high science, serving a civilization obsessed with the precision of destiny.

In Maya thought, time units were often depicted as gods carrying burdens. A day was not an empty container to be filled; it was a specific deity arriving with a specific load of influence. The Codex allows the priest to read these influences, predicting danger or opportunity. It reveals a view of time where the past is a prophecy for the future, and where nothing is ever truly new, only returning.