End of the First Great Mayan Cycle. In practice, the 13th baktun ends; according to some Mayan writings, it is an “important” period. The baktun is a cycle of 144,000 days (a little more than 394 years). The first baktun began on August 11, 3114 BC. The Mayan calendar is base 20: 7,200 days is a katun, and 20 katuns are a baktun, and 20 baktuns are a piktun. So don’t worry: after the thirteenth baktun, the world doesn’t end. The Maya believed that the world continued, even after the first piktun. For example, a 7th-century BC writing by King Pacal of Palenque predicts an important commemoration of the anniversary of his accession to the throne for October 15, 4772.
