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The Haab', "civil calendar", comprises eighteen "months" of twenty days
each, plus an additional period of five days
("nameless days") at the end of the year known as Wayeb' (or Uayeb in 16th C. orthography).
Mayan Month Names
The Haab' month names are most commonly referred to by
their names in colonial-era Yucatec (Yukatek). Each day in the Haab' calendar was
identified by a day number within the month followed
by the name of the month. Day numbers began with a
glyph translated as the "seating of" a named month,
which is usually regarded as day 0 of that month,
although a minority treat it as day 20 of the month
preceding the named month. In the latter case, the
seating of Pop is day 5 of Wayeb'. For the majority,
the first day of the year was 0 Pop (the seating of
Pop). This was followed by 1 Pop, 2 Pop ... 19 Pop, 0
Wo, 1 Wo and so on.
| Month |
Meaning |
| Pop |
mat |
| Wo |
black conjunction |
| Sip |
red conjunction |
| Sotz' |
bat |
| Sek |
? |
| Xul |
dog |
| Yaxk'in |
new sun |
| Mol |
water |
| Ch'en |
black storm |
| Yax |
green storm |
| Sac |
white storm |
| Keh |
red storm |
| Mak |
enclosed |
| K'ank'in |
yellow sun |
| Muwan |
owl |
| Pax |
planting time |
| K'ayab' |
turtle |
| Kumk'u |
granary |
| Wayeb' |
five unlucky days |
Anthropologists estimate that the Haab' was first used
around 550 BCE with the starting point of the December
winter solstice. The Haab' was the foundation of the
agrarian calendar and the month names are based on the
seasons and agricultural events. For example the
thirteenth month, Mak, may refer to the end of the
rainy season and the fourteenth month, K'ank'in, may
refer to ripe crops in the fall.
 Inscriptions on The Temple of the Cross at Palenque
shows clearly that the Maya were aware of the true
length of the year, even though they did not employ
the use of leap days in their system of calculations
generally. J. Eric Thompson wrote that the Maya
knew of the drift between the Haab and the solar year
and that they made "calculations as to the rate at
which the error accumulated, but these were merely
noted as corrections they were not used to change the
calendar."
There are at least two inscriptions with periods of
1508 Haab from Palenque which equates to 1507
tropical years, or 550420 days. This gives the Maya
approximation to the tropical year at being 365.2422
days, being more accurate than the Gregorian Year
currently used across the world today. 1508 Haab also
incorporates 29 full Calendar Rounds, and two codices,
the Codex Laud and Codex Mexicanus also records the
1508 Haab intervals.
Wayeb'
The five nameless days at the end of the calendar
called Wayeb' or Uayeb, were thought to be a dangerous
and unlucky time.
Foster writes "During Wayeb, portals between
the mortal realm and the Underworld dissolved. No
boundaries prevented the ill-intending deities from
causing disasters." To ward off these evil spirits,
the Maya had customs and rituals they practiced during
Wayeb'. For example, people avoided leaving their
houses or washing or combing their hair.
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