Did the ancients know the big bang theory?

Answer 1

The Incas and especially the Mayans probably knew about it. The Mayans were a very advanced culture. They had their own calender, (that predicted many things that would happen, including 9:11.) a number system, an alphabet, and a language. They were very good at predicting things by looking at celestial signs.

There is not one shred of evidence that any ancient culture was even vaguely aware that our Universe came into existence about 13.7 billion years ago, or that the distance between distant galaxies has been expanding over time. The starting point for the Mayan Calendar, for example, is about 3114 BCE (Western Calendar), meaning the Mayan had no idea there was even an Earth prior to about a few thousand years ago. The astronomy of the Incas was not even as good as that of the Europeans when the two cultures met -- the latter could predict eclipses, the former could not.

There is also no evidence that anyone was aware of galaxies outside the Milky Way prior to about 1925.

Answer 2

No, the Big Bang theory was formulated in the 20th century by scientists based on observational evidence. It describes the rapid expansion of the universe from a hot, dense state around 13.8 billion years ago. The concept was not known to ancient civilizations.