2012: Science & Prophecy of the Ancient Maya

Explore the world of the Maya. Understand the predictions of the end of their world—and ours—for the year 2012.


Examine the cultural clues they left in their art and writings, as your expert guide, Mayanist Dr. Mark Van Stone, accompanied by 14 other learned scholars, show you interactive and 3-D versions of ancient hieroglyphs, masks, monuments, vases, plates and books, then tell what they meant to the Maya, and what they should mean to us.


Rich details come to life in this expedition to another place and time. Meet the rulers, artisans and astronomers of the Maya and their neighboring cultures. Get a glimpse of the gods at the center of the many Creation stories celebrated by the Maya. See how they believed it all began, how they lived (with war, natural disasters, and plagues), and how they viewed the ending of the Creations.


Understand reading, writing and arithmetic as the Maya understood, and calculate time by their calendar and the movements of the sun. Begin to read the hieroglyphs that the author, and the many scholars who speak throughout the video components of this interactive book, probe and analyze to see the world through the eyes of the Maya.


Content includes:


•An exclusive video featuring 13 Maya scholars about what's going to happen on Dec. 21, 2012


• The Rio Azul Mask No. 1 in 3-D


• The Rio Azul Mask No. 2 in 3-D


•Pakal's Sarcophagus Lid in 3-D


•The Aztec Calendar Stone in 3-D


•More than 200 photos and illustrations of Maya artifacts


•53 videos—almost 130 minutes—of 15 of the world's best-known Maya scholars


•Exclusive video of Dr. John Hoopes tracing the Maya prophecies back to Christopher Columbus' discovery of the New World


•Exclusive video of Dr. Jaime Awe talking about the mysterious Maya burial cave Actun Tunichil Muknal in Belize


•Archeoastronomic demonstrations of the E-Group structures at Waxakun/Uaxactun, Guatemala


•An interactive showing precession of the winter solstice from 683 AD-4000 AD


•An interactive showing the position of the sun from Dec. 18-30, 2012


•An interactive map showing the diversity of the living languages of Mesoamerica


•An interactive timeline of the dominant cultures of Mesoamerican eras


•An interactive map highlighting the showing progression of the primary Mesoamerican cultures from 1500 BC-1521AD


•An interactive highlighting the different Creation stories on the Aztec Calendar Stone


•An interactive puzzle of Tortuguero Monument 6's right panel


•New interpretations of Maya glyphs by Dr. Barb MacLeod of Austin, TX


•An interactive showing the relationship between a regular and rollout photo of the Snake-Lady Vase by Justin Kerr


•A photo gallery of the Teocalli de la Guerra Sagrada carved stone chair/miniature temple


•An interactive revealing the calendric glyphs of Yaxchilan Lintel 21


•An exclusive video of Tulane's Dr. Marc Zender explaining how to read a Maya inscription


•An exclusive video of Dr. Barb MacLeod reading new interpretations of Tortuguero Monument 6


•Prophecy Panel with exclusive interpretations by Dr. Barb MacLeod & Dr. Mark Van Stone


•Extensive glossary of Maya terms and images


And so much more...