updated 12/20/2012 11:51:24 AM ET 2012-12-20T16:51:24    All
this despite the fact that the Mayan apocalypse is not going to
occur. The doomsday rumors arise from a misunderstanding of a
calendar used by the ancient Maya, whose civilization crumbled
in about A.D. 900. The date, Dec. 21, 2012, on the modern
calendar likely correlates to the final day of the 13th b'ak'tun
on the ancient Mayan calendar. B'ak'tuns are 144,000-day cycles
and one of the units of time that the Maya used to keep track of
the days since their mythological creation date. Thirteen of
these b'ak'tuns would have been seen as one full cycle of
creation.  However, there were no doomsday prophecies associated
with this day. Only two carvings have been found that refer to
the date; one brags that an ancient Maya king will still be
praised that far into the future, while another refers to the
return of a god associated with calendar changes. [ End of the
World? Top 10 Doomsday Fears ]  Nevertheless, modern-day
cultures have brought their own m