Miguel León-Portilla, well known for his publications on Nahuatl culture, now explores a highly interesting theme concerning the mother-culture of the Mayas. In his introduction he poses a suggestive question: What significance did time have for Mayan consciousness in the context of their mythology, their thought, and the whole world outlook developed by their culture? He attempts to answer this question in a didactic explanation which fills five chapters: I. The Chronological Concerns of the Mayas. II. Mayan Expressions and Symbols of Time. III. Time as an Attribute of the Gods. IV. Time and Space. V. The Mayan in the Universe of the Kinh.

Throughout the book the author confirms the conclusions of Sylvanus G. Morley. The Mayas achieved such perfection in computing time that they could determine the duration of the year perhaps more accurately than the Gregorian calendar; they could fix any date in their chronology with such precision that it would not be repeated for 374,440 years. León-Portilla also supports J. Eric S. Thompson’s position that “no other people in history has taken such an absorbing interest in time” and that “no other culture has ever developed a philosophy embracing such an unusual subject.”

The philosophy of time to which Thompson referred undoubtedly went beyond mere mathematical skill and systematic computation of chronology. It comprised a whole philosophical conception of the world and of life, an eternal state of becoming, ruled by the supreme deity of Time—the kinh of unity within plurality, a Cronus more real than that of the Greeks and more logical than that of Hegel— whose multiform face develops and articulates the facets of sensible space in a rhythmic succession of cycles without beginning or end.

We must remember that the Mayan sages did not resign themselves to remaining within a chronology which limited their conception of time to a 52-year cycle, at the end of which the rhythm of life might be broken by a cataclysm like those which had destroyed the four suns or earlier ages. They took one further, truly masterly step in their mathematical speculations and developed the formula of the stupendous “Long Count,” with which they could fix any date with the above-described precision. Then they advanced to the concept of infinite time, without beginning or end, which made possible calculations in the past without any need of ever reaching a point of departure (such as the computations of 90 and 400 million years— 1 ahau, 13 yaxkin and 7 ahau, 3 pop respectively—of the famous stelae of Quiriguá).

The great feat of the Long Count destroyed the traditional frontiers of time and freed the Mayas from mental limitations to their concept of the world and of life. Indeed, it made possible for the Mayan world a series of unimaginable conquests for the mentality of a people hitherto restricted within the short count of 52 years—ideas about the immutability of becoming, the stability of the cosmic life, the permanence of humanity, the gods, and the social order, the eternity of time, and a new philosophy of existence. These new conceptions produced positive cultural advances in all orders of Mayan life. From this point they reached the perfection of their chronological system, evolved their astronomy, and developed their hieroglyphic writing and the splendor of their monumental sculpture. In admirable, close correlation with these new conceptions, the Mayan community evolved a type of society whose general conduct was wisely regulated by mythical teachings based on the concepts of time and space. Thus León-Portilla can say: “The entire life of the Mayas is oriented by a cultural standard manifested in a complex of institutions, related essentially with time. The religious cult prospered as a function of time and with it symbolism, art, science—in a word, life and the great and small actions of every day. Thus the obsession with time came to be a unifying factor in this culture” (p. 107).

Mayan art and Mayan science of measuring time form together a cultural standard on which were based all institutions and the development of humane, social, and cultural life. This is the author’s reply to the question posed as the theme of the book. León-Portilla recognizes that his effort represents only a preliminary answer to the suggestive and profound questions which may be asked about the Mayan philosophical conception of time. The theme is fascinating, made up of many complicated facets. Little or no attention has been devoted to these and other important themes concerning pre-Columbian cultures. This fact enhances the value and novelty of León-Portilla’s book, which is smoothly written and logically organized, in addition to being well illustrated with sketches from the Mayan codices. An appendix contains an interesting study by Alfonso Villa Rojas: “Los conceptos de Tiempo y Espacio entre los grupos mayenses contemporáneos.”