What’s today’s Mayan Long Count date?

I wanted to know.

I read up on the Mayan calendar.

It was easy to code up in Python:

[sourcecode lang=”python”]
#!/usr/bin/env python

# This code is completely untested, it doesn’t do anything relative
# to timezones or the like. It does appear to broadly function.
#
# 1 k’in == 1 day
# 1 winal = 20 k’in or 20 days
# 1 tun = 18 winal or 360 days
# 1 k’atun = 20 tun or 7200 days
# 1 b’ak’tun = 20 k’atun or 144000 days

import time
from datetime import date

def calc(n):
# n is the days since the start of the latest b’ak’tun
# which occurred on September 18, 1618
baktun = int(n / 144000)
n = n – baktun * 144000
katun = int(n / 7200)
n = n – katun * 7200
tun = int(n / 360)
n = n – tun * 360
winal = n / 20
n = n – winal * 20
kin = n
return map(lambda x : str(x), [12+baktun, katun, tun, winal, kin])

today = date.today()
s = date(1618, 9, 18)

print "Mayan Long Count = %s" % (‘.’.join(calc(int((today – s).days))))
[/sourcecode]

Today is 12.19.19.17.13. In 7 days, the right most place will roll over, and the date will be 13.0.0.0.0, starting a new b’ak’tun.

Or the world will end. Enjoy!

4 thoughts on “What’s today’s Mayan Long Count date?”

  1. kiwimonster

    Hmm… This doesn’t seem to correct for whatever the Mayan central meridian that their clocks are all based on. If the world is about to end, I don’t want to get it wrong by a couple of hours; that would be awkward.

  2. simon

    Not meaning to be (too) pedantic, but ‘datetime.today()’ returns local time, rather than UTC. So your world wide audience could get slightly different results.

    Any way Merry Christmas (if the world lasts that long….)

  3. Mark

    Well, given that the Mayans didn’t have any notion of UTC either, I didn’t find that to be too much of an issue. I did comment that it doesn’t do anything relative to time zones. 🙂

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