The document discusses the history and origins of the belief that the world will end in 2012, as purported by the ancient Mayan calendar. It traces this belief to the discovery of Monument 6 by archaeologists in Mexico, which referenced the year 2012 but did not explicitly predict an apocalypse. Subsequent analysis found the Mayan lifestyle and beliefs showed no concern about the end of the world. The document also examines depictions of the apocalypse in Western civilization and how the fall of the Aztec civilization influenced modern apocalyptic thoughts. It concludes that popular culture and a lack of understanding of history perpetuate the belief in 2012, and apocalyptic impulses are ingrained in our civilization.

1. 2012 and the End of the World
Phillip Tran

2. The History of the End of the World
The Maya Prediction
• A factory in Tabasco, Mexico
and remnants of a city
recognized by archaeologists
today called El Tortuguero.
Stoned carvings were found
in the rubble.
Archaeologists found one
stone in particular and
called it “Monument 6.”
They transcribed the glyphs
and found out the date
warns about something
happening, perhaps
apocalyptic. The date was
December 21, 2012. This
monument ignited the 2012
phenomenon.

3. They Deserve Better
The Maya Evidence
• The monument actually
doesn’t tell us that the
world will end on that date.
When looking at the other
monuments and putting
them in context, it is no
longer of great significance.
The Mayan lifestyle and
beliefs, as showed by the
author in his 6 concerns,
show that the Mayans did
not have any
preoccupations about the
end of the world.

4. God Is Angry
The Millenarian Mother Lode
• The end of the world
apocalypse was also
seen in Western
Civilization in the bible.
Albrecht Durer engraved
fifteen images to biblical
texts. He made a series
of “Apocalypse with
Pictures.” One of the
images is “Horsemen of
the Apocalypse,” which
is one of the Western
Civilization’s most
famous depiction of the
end of the world.

5. The Moctezuma Factor
The End of the World Comes to Mexico
• The Aztec civilization fell
due to Montezuma’s
beliefs. He believed the
Aztec god, Quetzalcoatl,
will return to the land
and take it back. Cortes
came and Quetzalcoatl
believed that Cortes was
the God. This led to a
rapid fall of the Aztec
Civilization, as only a few
hundred Spanish were
there.

6. Apocalypto
The Millennium Comes to the Maya
• Diego de Landa set out
on a mission to assist a
massive Catholic
conversion of the
indigenous of the
Americas. He led an
inquisition against the
Mayan people as
punishment for the few
men who wanted to
preserve traditional
Mayan practices. He was
seen as an evil torturer.

7. We Are Almost There
Why People Believe
• Restall and Solari discuss about
why people still believe in
2012, even after all these years.
One of the big reasons is
because of ignorance. People
lack understanding and
education about the Mayan
calendar or the history of
millenarianism in the West.
There is also a lot of popular
movies and books focusing on
the end of the world. They
state at the end that it doesn’t
matter about the date,
apocalyptic impulses lie deep
within our civilization.