Baktun 0 (=13). Baktun of star planting. 3113-2718 B.C. 13.0.0.0.0
Entry of Earth into Galactic Synchronization Beam. Planting of "star-transmissions" of the galactic league among peoples across the planet. Consolidation of upper and lower Egypt, 3100 B.C. Expansion of Sumeria, 3000 B.C. Construction of Stonehenge begun, 2800 B.C.

Baktun 1. Baktun of the Pyramid. 2718-2324 B.C. 1.0.0.0.0
Construction/activation of Great Pyramid at Giza, Egypt, 2700-2600 B.C., marks anchoring of planet light body. Spread of Sumerian civilization, Akkad and Ur, and development of bronze. Beginning of Harappa, Indus civilization. Beginning of settled agricultural life, China, Mesoamerica, Andes.

Baktun 2. Baktun of the Wheel. 2324-1930 B.C. 2.0.0.0.0
Full establishment of wheel, initiation of transport technology and cyclical thought, written codes of law, and metallurgical technology in Mesopotamia. Sargon and first Babylonian empire. Beginnings of chariot warfare, territorial imperialism. Era of legendary emperors, China. Establishment of Minoan civilization, Crete.

Baktun 3. Baktun of the Sacred Mountain. 1930-1536 B.C. 3.0.0.0.0
Middle and New Kingdom in Egypt; relocation of center to Sacred Mountain of the West, Valley of the Kings, marks decision of Egyptians to perpetuate dynastic rule, consolidates pattern of territorialism as norm for civilized life. Waves of invaders- Hittites, Aryans; destruction of Minoan, Indus civilization.

Baktun 4. Baktun of the House of Shang. 1536-1141 B.C. 4.0.0.0.0
Establishment of Shang Dynasty, China, enunciation of yin/yang doctrine, advanced bronze metallurgy and pattern of Chinese civilization. Beginnings of Vedic Civilization, India. Emergence of Chavin civilization, Andes, and Olmecs, Mesoamerica. Akhenaton, Egypt; Abraham and Moses, Israel; Hittite consolidation, Mesopotamia.

Baktun 5. Baktun of Imperial Seal. 1141-747 B.C. 5.0.0.0.0
Babylonian-Assyrian empires. Iron weaponry and war machines. Rise of Mycenean Greeks in Mediterranean, sack of Troy. Chou Dynasty, China, emergence of I-Ching. Spread of Olmec culture throughout Mesoamerica. Horse used for warfare, pattern of militaristic imperial rule and dynastic succession established as norm for civilized life on planet.

Baktun 6. Baktun of the Mind Teachings. 747-353 B.C. 6.0.0.0.0
Period of first wave of galactic Mayans in Mesoamerica. Persian Empire. Rise of philosophical individualistic thought supplanting earlier collective forms. Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle in Greece; six schools of Vedic thought, Mahavira and Buddha, India; Lao Tzu, Confucius, Chuang Tzu in China. Construction of Monte Alban, Mexico, beginnings of Mayan Calendar System.

Baktun 7. Baktun of the Anointed One. 353 B.C.- A.D. 41. 7.0.0.0.0
Hellenistic civilization, Alexander the Great; Rise of Rome, beginning of Roman Empire; Celts in Europe, advanced iron technology; Warring States' consolidation of china by Ch'in Huang Ti, beginnings of Han Dynasty, Great Wall of China; spread of Buddhism as cosmopolitan religion from India to Central Asia. Jesus Christ, gnostic religions of Middle East; diffusion of Olmecs and beginning of Teotihuacan.

Baktun 8. Baktun of the Lords of Red and Black. A.D. 41-435 8.0.0.0.0
Completion of Pyramid Center of Teotihuacan, consolidation of Mesoamerican cultural regime, Lords of Red and Black, first teachings of Quetzalcoatl; Moche, Nazca, and Tiahuanaco in Andes; Easter Island; emergence of West African kingdoms; expansion and collapse of Roman Empire, rise of Christianity; collapse of Han Dynasty, spread of Buddhism in China, Southeast Asia

Baktun 9. Baktun of the Maya. A.D. 435-830. 9.0.0.0.0
Second galactic Mayan Visitation, Pacal Votan of Palenque and flourishing of Mayan cultural regime; Muhammed and rise of Islam; Roman Christian Western Europe and Byzantine Orthodox Christian Eastern Europe; rise of Hinduism, India; spread of Buddhism to Tibet, Korea, Japan; T'ang Dynasty, China; rise of kingdoms in Southeast Asia, Indonesia (Borobadur, Java); ascendency of Tiahuanaco, Andes; Polynesian civilization, Oceania; early flourishing of Nigerian civilization.

Baktun 10. Baktun of the Holy Wars. A.D. 830-1224. 10.0.0.0.0
Collapse of Classic Maya and Central Mexican civilization, 1 Reed Quetzalcoatl and rise of Toltecs; Chan Chan and Chimu civilization Andes; rise of I'fe in Nigeria; flourishing and spread of Islam and confrontation with Christian civilization-The Crusades; rise of Tibetan Civilization; Sung Dynasty, China, printing press, gunpowder; Khmer Dynasty, Southeast Asia. Great Zimbabwe, East Africa.

Baktun 11. Baktun of the Hidden Seed. A.D. 1224-1618. 11.0.0.0.0
Expansion of Islam to India, Central and Southeast Asia, West Africa; seclusion of Tibet; rise of Turks, Mongols, conquest of China; seclusion of Japan; rise of Zimbabwe, East Africa, I'fe and Benin, West Africa; peak of Christian civilization, East Europe; Reformation and split of Christian Church; spread and triumph of European civilization in conquest of Inca and Aztec empires; beginning of European colonization, decline of sacred world view (hidden seed).

Baktun 12. Baktun of Transformation of Matter. A.D. 1618-2012. 12.0.0.0.0
Rise and triumph of scientific materialism, European world conquest, Industrial Revolution, Democratic revolutions of America, Europe; colonialism of Africa, Latin America, Asia; industrialization of Japan; Karl Marx and rise of communism; communist revolutions of Russia, China; World Wars I and II; atomic bomb and nuclear era; rise of Third World powers, Islam, Mexico, India; global terrorism and collapse of technological civilization; Earth purification and final era of global regeneration; information age and crystal solar technology; Galactic Synchronization.

What we witness in this summary review of the character and chief activity of the thirteen baktun cycles is an acceleration and expansion of activity, building up in a great wave formation reaching its climax in the thirteenth cycle, Baktun 12, the Baktun of Transformation of Matter. The name of the final baktun, as well as the initial one, the Baktun of Star Planting, gives the clues. What appears as a process of history-The Great Cycle- is actually a planetary process, a stage of growth in the conscious growth of Earth, the crafting of Earth's light body.

In this total planetary endeavor, humans are the sensitive atmospheric instruments galactically utilized in a process whose objective is the transformation of the "material field" of the planet. The end of this transformation is the raise of the overall planetary field to a higher, more harmonic level of resonant frequency. In this way, the planet light body, the consciously articulated etheric sheath of Earth, is constructed. This is something of what is meant in the reference to the Great Cycle as the 5,125-year diameter of a Glalactic Synchronization Beam.

(Taken from The Mayan Factor by Jose Argüelles)