﻿<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><!--RSS Genrated: Sun, 15 Mar 2026 19:48:46 GMT--><rss xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title>Multiverse</title><link>https://multiverse.ssl.berkeley.edu/Default.aspx?TabId=747&amp;ctl=rss&amp;mid=2196&amp;galleryid=101&amp;language=en-US</link><atom:link href="https%3a%2f%2fmultiverse.ssl.berkeley.edu%2fDefault.aspx%3fTabId%3d747%26ctl%3drss%26mid%3d2196%26galleryid%3d101%26language%3den-US" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /><description>RSS document</description><item><title><![CDATA[]]></title><link>https://multiverse.ssl.berkeley.edu/Calendar-in-the-Sky/Images/Photos/Places/Dzibilchaltun/The-Sun-Temple/emodule/2196/eitem/743</link><enclosure type="image/jpg" url="https://multiverse.ssl.berkeley.edu/Portals/0/EasyGalleryImages/26/101/1300a_suntemple.JPG" length="1627838"></enclosure><description><![CDATA[The Temple of the Seven Dolls, built around 700 A.D., received its name from seven small ceramic figurines found inside the temple. These figurines now reside in a museum in Mexico City.This Late Classic building functioned as an observatory by marking the equinoxes, as well as the summer and winter solstices. On the spring and fall equinox, the Sun will rise between the central doorway of this temple, creating a spectacular event that bears witness to the Mayan knowledge of astronomy. On the summer and winter solstice, the Sun shines through the northern and southern entrances respectively, creating a patch of light on the temple's window jambs. (Image Credit: Jim Spadaccini, Ideum) ]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 29 Jun 2018 18:37:25 GMT</pubDate><guid>https://multiverse.ssl.berkeley.edu/Calendar-in-the-Sky/Images/Photos/Places/Dzibilchaltun/The-Sun-Temple/emodule/2196/eitem/743</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[]]></title><link>https://multiverse.ssl.berkeley.edu/Calendar-in-the-Sky/Images/Photos/Places/Dzibilchaltun/The-Sun-Temple/emodule/2196/eitem/744</link><enclosure type="image/jpg" url="https://multiverse.ssl.berkeley.edu/Portals/0/EasyGalleryImages/26/101/1300b_suntemple.JPG" length="1469891"></enclosure><description><![CDATA[Flowers bloom in November near the Temple of the Seven Dolls. Note on the lower right the remains of a pyramid which at one time encased this entire temple before it was dug out again. (Image Credit: Jim Spadaccini, Ideum) ]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 29 Jun 2018 18:37:25 GMT</pubDate><guid>https://multiverse.ssl.berkeley.edu/Calendar-in-the-Sky/Images/Photos/Places/Dzibilchaltun/The-Sun-Temple/emodule/2196/eitem/744</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[]]></title><link>https://multiverse.ssl.berkeley.edu/Calendar-in-the-Sky/Images/Photos/Places/Dzibilchaltun/The-Sun-Temple/emodule/2196/eitem/745</link><enclosure type="image/jpg" url="https://multiverse.ssl.berkeley.edu/Portals/0/EasyGalleryImages/26/101/1300c_suntemple.JPG" length="2120840"></enclosure><description><![CDATA[]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 29 Jun 2018 18:37:26 GMT</pubDate><guid>https://multiverse.ssl.berkeley.edu/Calendar-in-the-Sky/Images/Photos/Places/Dzibilchaltun/The-Sun-Temple/emodule/2196/eitem/745</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[]]></title><link>https://multiverse.ssl.berkeley.edu/Calendar-in-the-Sky/Images/Photos/Places/Dzibilchaltun/The-Sun-Temple/emodule/2196/eitem/746</link><enclosure type="image/jpg" url="https://multiverse.ssl.berkeley.edu/Portals/0/EasyGalleryImages/26/101/1300d_suntemple.JPG" length="1670984"></enclosure><description><![CDATA[The sun rises! Approximately 6:22 am in early February, nearly six weeks before the equinox will be registered here at the Temple of the Seven Dolls, or Sun Temple, in Dzibilchaltun. (Image Credit: Jim Spadaccini, Ideum) ]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 29 Jun 2018 18:37:27 GMT</pubDate><guid>https://multiverse.ssl.berkeley.edu/Calendar-in-the-Sky/Images/Photos/Places/Dzibilchaltun/The-Sun-Temple/emodule/2196/eitem/746</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[Equinox Sunrise at the House of the Seven Dolls]]></title><link>https://multiverse.ssl.berkeley.edu/Calendar-in-the-Sky/Images/Photos/Places/Dzibilchaltun/The-Sun-Temple/emodule/2196/eitem/747</link><enclosure type="image/jpg" url="https://multiverse.ssl.berkeley.edu/Portals/0/EasyGalleryImages/26/101/3300a_equinox.jpg" length="3489283"></enclosure><description><![CDATA[The House of the Seven Dolls, also known as the Sun Temple, is extremely important to Mayan archaeoastronomers because of its function in charting the sun&#39;s movement. Dzibilchaltun&#39;s urban core is aligned along an east-west running sacbe, or ancient road, which effectively dedicates the city as a marker of the sun&#39;s range and movement, back and forth each solar cycle. 

The Sun Temple sits at the far east end of the site, and from this temple, a high priest would chart the sun&#39;s passage, particularly when nearing the time of the equinox. The priest, during this time, would await the sunrise from inside the temple, where he alone was first privy to the birth of the fiery sun, while the masses waited in the plaza below for his announcement. They would not see the sun until it rose above the temple&#39;s door jamb and actually shone through the temple.

The sun is, at this moment, just rising behind the doorway of the temple. It is the spring equinox, when the day has equal hours of light and dark, and the temple is aligned so that its doorways will frame the sun on this day. (Image Credit: Jim Spadaccini, Ideum) ]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 29 Jun 2018 18:37:27 GMT</pubDate><guid>https://multiverse.ssl.berkeley.edu/Calendar-in-the-Sky/Images/Photos/Places/Dzibilchaltun/The-Sun-Temple/emodule/2196/eitem/747</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[]]></title><link>https://multiverse.ssl.berkeley.edu/Calendar-in-the-Sky/Images/Photos/Places/Dzibilchaltun/The-Sun-Temple/emodule/2196/eitem/748</link><enclosure type="image/jpg" url="https://multiverse.ssl.berkeley.edu/Portals/0/EasyGalleryImages/26/101/3300b_equinox.jpg" length="3327758"></enclosure><description><![CDATA[The sun rises on the spring equinox. The Temple of the Sun at Dzibilchaltun is aligned so that its doorways and windows serve to mark the passage of the sun throughout the solar year, and would have been used by priests to predict equinoxes and solstices. (Image Credit: Jim Spadaccini, Ideum) ]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 29 Jun 2018 18:37:28 GMT</pubDate><guid>https://multiverse.ssl.berkeley.edu/Calendar-in-the-Sky/Images/Photos/Places/Dzibilchaltun/The-Sun-Temple/emodule/2196/eitem/748</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Equinox sun risen above the House of the Seven Dolls]]></title><link>https://multiverse.ssl.berkeley.edu/Calendar-in-the-Sky/Images/Photos/Places/Dzibilchaltun/The-Sun-Temple/emodule/2196/eitem/749</link><enclosure type="image/jpg" url="https://multiverse.ssl.berkeley.edu/Portals/0/EasyGalleryImages/26/101/3300c_equinox.jpg" length="2282372"></enclosure><description><![CDATA[The sun has risen on the spring equinox. On this day the Temple of the Sun frames exactly the rising sun. At other times of the year the sun will appear to one side or the other, slightly on the days close to the equinox, and will deviate the furthest from the path we see here on the solstices. (Image Credit: Jim Spadaccini, Ideum) ]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 29 Jun 2018 18:37:28 GMT</pubDate><guid>https://multiverse.ssl.berkeley.edu/Calendar-in-the-Sky/Images/Photos/Places/Dzibilchaltun/The-Sun-Temple/emodule/2196/eitem/749</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Temple of the Sun at Equinox]]></title><link>https://multiverse.ssl.berkeley.edu/Calendar-in-the-Sky/Images/Photos/Places/Dzibilchaltun/The-Sun-Temple/emodule/2196/eitem/750</link><enclosure type="image/jpg" url="https://multiverse.ssl.berkeley.edu/Portals/0/EasyGalleryImages/26/101/3301a_equinox.jpg" length="3562623"></enclosure><description><![CDATA[The Temple of the Sun is aligned so that on the equinnoxes, the sun will project itself through both door jambs, eastern and western facing, and shine through to the population that would have been awaiting this event, along with an announcement from the priest, from the plaza below. On the other calendrical extremes, the solstices, the sun, when shining through the south/north facing doorways respectively, casts a shadow on the frame of the west/east facing windows. By charting the sun&#39;s movement through the architecture of the building, priests were able to keep track of the solar cycle, predicting equinoxes and solstices, and thus orienting the people to an agricultural and sacred calendar. (Image Credit: Jim Spadaccini, Ideum) ]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 29 Jun 2018 18:37:29 GMT</pubDate><guid>https://multiverse.ssl.berkeley.edu/Calendar-in-the-Sky/Images/Photos/Places/Dzibilchaltun/The-Sun-Temple/emodule/2196/eitem/750</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[]]></title><link>https://multiverse.ssl.berkeley.edu/Calendar-in-the-Sky/Images/Photos/Places/Dzibilchaltun/The-Sun-Temple/emodule/2196/eitem/751</link><enclosure type="image/jpg" url="https://multiverse.ssl.berkeley.edu/Portals/0/EasyGalleryImages/26/101/3301b_equinox.jpg" length="3710100"></enclosure><description><![CDATA[The sun shines through the eastern window on the spring equinox. The temple of the Sun serves as an instrument for marking the passage of the sun throughout the solar year. Note the upper niche visible in this western wall and the light spot from the corresponding niche in the eastern wall--- these would have been left when the wooden beams (similar to those visible in the vaulting here) that enabled construction of the roof were removed. The square windows and door jambs, however, were built deliberately so as to demarcate of the sun at various positions throughout the year. (Image Credit: Jim Spadaccini, Ideum) ]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 29 Jun 2018 18:37:30 GMT</pubDate><guid>https://multiverse.ssl.berkeley.edu/Calendar-in-the-Sky/Images/Photos/Places/Dzibilchaltun/The-Sun-Temple/emodule/2196/eitem/751</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[]]></title><link>https://multiverse.ssl.berkeley.edu/Calendar-in-the-Sky/Images/Photos/Places/Dzibilchaltun/The-Sun-Temple/emodule/2196/eitem/752</link><enclosure type="image/jpg" url="https://multiverse.ssl.berkeley.edu/Portals/0/EasyGalleryImages/26/101/3301c_equinox.jpg" length="3303201"></enclosure><description><![CDATA[A close-up of the sun shining through a corresponding window to this one on the opposite wall, spring equinox, 2005. The sacbe that leads to the rest of the city, and a platform construction, are visible through the window. (Image Credit: Jim Spadaccini, Ideum) ]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 29 Jun 2018 18:37:30 GMT</pubDate><guid>https://multiverse.ssl.berkeley.edu/Calendar-in-the-Sky/Images/Photos/Places/Dzibilchaltun/The-Sun-Temple/emodule/2196/eitem/752</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[]]></title><link>https://multiverse.ssl.berkeley.edu/Calendar-in-the-Sky/Images/Photos/Places/Dzibilchaltun/The-Sun-Temple/emodule/2196/eitem/753</link><enclosure type="image/jpg" url="https://multiverse.ssl.berkeley.edu/Portals/0/EasyGalleryImages/26/101/3301d_equinox.jpg" length="3696221"></enclosure><description><![CDATA[]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 29 Jun 2018 18:37:31 GMT</pubDate><guid>https://multiverse.ssl.berkeley.edu/Calendar-in-the-Sky/Images/Photos/Places/Dzibilchaltun/The-Sun-Temple/emodule/2196/eitem/753</guid></item></channel></rss>