The Maya Apocalypse And Its Western Roots

169 Pages·2022·3.617 MB·English

by  Matthew Restall, Amara Solari

The Maya Apocalypse and
Its Western Roots

The Maya Apocalypse
and Its Western Roots
Matthew Restall and Amara Solari
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD
Lanham • Boulder • New York • London
Published by Rowman & Littlefield
An imprint of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706
www .rowman .com
86-90 Paul Street, London EC2A 4NE
Copyright © 2022 by The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by
any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval
systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who
may quote passages in a review.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Restall, Matthew, 1964– author. | Solari, Amara, 1978– author.
Title: The Maya apocalypse and its western roots / Matthew Restall and Amara
Solari.
Description: Lanham : Rowman & Littlefield, [2022] | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021020912 (print) | LCCN 2021020913 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781538154977 (cloth) | ISBN 9781538154984 (paperback) | ISBN
9781538154991 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Two thousand twelve, A.D. | Maya calendar. | Maya
philosophy. | Prophecies. | End of the world. | Millennialism. | Civilization,
Western. | Civilization, Medieval.
Classification: LCC F1435.3.C14 R472 2022 (print) | LCC F1435.3.C14
(ebook) | DDC 909/.09821—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn. loc .gov/2021020912
LC ebook record available at https://lccn. loc .gov/2021020913
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for
Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
To our Dads,
again, and always.

Contents
List of Figures ix
Introduction: You Really Can Survive 1
1 The History of the End of the World: The Maya Prediction 9
2 They Deserve Better: The Maya Evidence 29
3 God Is Angry: The Millenarian Mother Lode 49
4 The Moctezuma Factor: The End of the World Comes
to Mexico 69
5 Apocalypto: The Millennium Comes to the Maya 91
6 We Are Always Almost There: Why People Believe 113
Sources and Suggestions for Further Reading 137
Index 145
About the Authors 153
vii

Figures
I.1. Dan Piraro, “I only had enough room to go up to 3
2012,” Bizarro (comic strip).
I.2. Dan Piraro, “Cheer up, pal. It’s not the end of the 4
world,” Bizarro (comic strip).
1.1. Monument 6 from El Tortuguero. 11
1.2. Map of the Maya area. 14
1.3. Stela 25, Izapa. 18
1.4. Stela C (south side) at Quiriguá, carved in 775. 21
1.5. Stela C (east side) at Quiriguá, carved in 775. 22
1.6. The Invocation of the Gods and the Grand Deluge, from 24
the Dresden Codex, pp. 73–74.
2.1. Left, portion of Naranjo Altar 1: J5–J11; right, portion 30
of new La Corona, Panel 2: V5–V8.
2.2. The Temple of the Cross, Palenque. 35
2.3. Ix Ahau Na (Lady House) from the Dresden Codex, 37
p. 49.
2.4. The Mayan Empire: A 2010 educational graphic from 40
boston .com.
2.5. Gaspar Antonio Chi, The Mani Land Treaty Map, 1557 46
(extant copy from 1600).
3.1. Albrecht Dürer, The Apocalyptic Woman, 1511. 51
3.2. Franz von Hauslab the Younger, Daniel Interprets 53
Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream, 1815–1853.
ix