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Mythology of the Mayas

Visit the links below to learn about Mayan myths related to objects in the sky, and aspects of their world.

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Maya astronomers had a remarkably accurate knowledge of the apparent motion of <a href="/venus/venus.html&edu=high">Venus</a>. They knew on what day Venus would appear again in the east after it had disappeared in the west. Venus, the morning star, was the patron planet of warfare.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of Windows to the Universe</em></small></p>

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Explore Mythology of the Mayas

The Earth: Bacabs

The Earth was conceived by the Maya as flat with four corners. Each corner represented a cardinal ...Read more

The Rain: Xib Chac

Xib Chac was the rain god according to the Mayan pantheon. The rain god was a benevolent deity, ...Read more

The Moon: Ix Chel

Ix Chel, the "Lady Rainbow," was the old Moon goddess in Maya mythology. Mayan people lived ...Read more

Venus: Kukulcan

Maya astronomers had a remarkably accurate knowledge of the apparent motion of Venus. They ...Read more

The Planet Mars

Mayans were sophisticated observers of the sky. Mayans used their astronomical knowledge to ...Read more

The Milky Way

Mayans seem to have thought of the Milky Way as the mystic road along which souls walk into ...Read more

Historical Events

4/21 Great Mississippi River Valley Flood on 1927 inundates 27,000 sq. miles
4/22 Earth Day
4/23 F5 tornado hits Gallipolis, Ohio on this date in 1968

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Did you know?

Did you know that the Earth’s crust is thinner under the oceans than it is on the continents?

Did you know that Colonial Americans used large sheets of mica as glass for windows?

 

Earth and Space Science Concept of the Day

Do you know what this word or phrase means?

Plate tectonics
xPlate tectonics : The theory supported by a wide range of evidence that considers the Earth's crust and upper mantle to be composed of several large, thin, relatively rigid plates that move relative to one another.

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Research Highlights

Oldest Earth Mantle Reservoir Discovered

Researchers have found a primitive Earth mantle reservoir on Baffin Island in the Canadian Arctic. Geologist Matthew Jackson and his colleagues from a multi-institution collaboration report the finding--the...Read more


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