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Tech & Science
Sak Tahn Waax: First Named Maya Astronomer-Mathematician in the Americas
Herz — Tech & Science Desk · · 30s summary · 3 min read
The essentials
Franco Rossi, a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has identified for the first time in the Americas a Maya astronomer-mathematician by his personal name: Sak Tahn Waax, meaning "White-Breasted Fox." This scholar inscribed an astronomical formula on a wall at Xultun, an archaeological site in Guatemala, around AD 826. His formula articulates four calendar systems and predicts the orbital cycles of Mars and Venus across 2,920 days. According to Rossi, this is the oldest name of an astronomer-mathematician ever documented across the entire American continent.
- First named astronomer-mathematician in the Americas: Sak Tahn Waax, circa AD 826.
- His formula articulates four calendar systems and predicts Mars and Venus cycles.
- Text 19 with 11 hieroglyphs discovered at Xultun, Guatemala since 2010.
- The formula spans 2,920 days, equivalent to five synodic cycles of Venus.
- Most of Maya astronomical knowledge was destroyed by Spanish missionaries in the 16th century.
What We Know
Franco Rossi, a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has deciphered the name of a Maya astronomer-mathematician who lived 1,200 years ago. His name was Sak Tahn Waax—meaning "White-Breasted Fox"—and he was probably male. He authored astronomical calculations around AD 826 at Xultun, a vast Maya archaeological site located northeast of Tikal in Guatemala, which contains a pyramid 35 meters tall.
According to Rossi, Sak Tahn Waax is the oldest astronomer-mathematician whose name is documented anywhere in the Americas.
The text containing the name and formula, called "Text 19," consists of 11 hieroglyphs. Deciphering it required high-resolution scans, photographs taken at various angles of light, and comparison with later Maya astronomical writings.
A Formula Articulating Four Calendar Systems
The formula inscribed in Text 19 articulates four calendar systems: a 260-day ritual calendar, a 365-day solar calendar, an approximation of Venus's synodic cycle (584 days), and an approximation of Mars's synodic cycle (780 days). A synodic cycle refers to the interval between two successive conjunctions of a planet with the Sun as observed from Earth—in other words, the time it takes for the planet to return to the same position in the sky relative to the Sun.
The formula's total duration corresponds to five synodic cycles of Venus, or 2,920 days. The most probable astronomical reference date inscribed in Text 19 is November 7, AD 781 (Julian calendar).
Ritual Calendar260
Solar Calendar365
Venus Synodic Cycle584
Mars Synodic Cycle
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