Creation mythologies, Greek, Roman, and even, as it seems, Mayan, have at their core nature an over encumbering attraction; an inescapable grasp on the audience’s intrigue for supernatural accounts and fantastical storytelling. In the creation story of the Maya, the tale of the hero twins did just that and captured my interest for the Maya.
In Michael D. Coe and Stephen Houston’s textbook The Maya, an illustration of a stela of the hero twins depicts their “... gesture towards the Principal Bird Deity (Wuqub Kaquix) as he descends to the fruit tree.” I believe this gesture of the hero twins relates well to the impact the creation mythology had on the social life of the Maya in the late Preclassic. At a time of divine kingship, and in a religion
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The original creation mythology for the Maya may have differed from the one we account for today, but the original story is about the same. The story of the Popol Vuh, in K’iché Mayan which translates to The Book of Councils, accounts for the creation mythology. In the beginning of time, two gods named Xmucane and Xpiyacoc, created a series of displeasing universes inhabited by various beings who had proved themselves unsatisfactory; in not praising the gods sufficiently and correctly, they had failed in their religious obligations. The consequences of this failure led to Wuqub Kaquix proclaiming himself the new sun and moon in the god’s …show more content…
The presence of art depicting anything supernatural, with ties to that specific ruler, upholds piety and obedience of that ruler’s domain: Love and Kaplan state, “Such monumental imagery must have reverberated across ritual precincts with fundamental concepts of kingly authority and social order.” Politically, this use of imagery, representing stories from the creation mythologies, helped maintain order and authority to the ruler who commissioned the art. As well as political implications, evidence of high quality goods consumed by societal elites and rulers implies a direct link between trade and religious authority. Goods such as conch shells and Jade were used by such individuals as a means of economic control; as Love and kaplan described, “these emblems of rulership, which grew out of a well-established Middle Preclassic iconography of authority, were polyvalent, communicating broad notions of political authority, supernatural control, and economic clout.”An economy dependant on the trade of high quality goods, because of ties to religious ideology, helped maintain the authority of divine kingship. As more of these items became present, and as more monuments and stelae were constructed, the greater the power of that divine authority
The Jemez people have a famous creation story that they tell their children. There creation story is this “Long ago, Pueblo people lived far away up north. At first they lived underground, in a holy place called Sipapu. Then people climbed up through a hole in the earth into the sunlight. God guided them for many years as they wandered. People suffered many bad things like tornadoes and drought and bad magicians, before they got to a good land where they could settle down”.
The Popol Vuh is a collection of historical mythos of the K’iche’ Maya, a group that still lives in the Guatemalan highlands. Popol Vuh translates as either, “Book of Council” or in proper K’iche’ “Book of Events” or “Book of the People”, and tells the creation mythos of the K’iche’ peoples, an epic tale of Hero Twins Hunahp and Xbalanqué, along with a series of genealogies. Popol Vuh takes on a large number of subjects, including creation, history, destiny and cosmology. Popular editions of Popol Vuh all use basically the same method of breaking the text up into related pieces, but for clarity’s sake the edition that will be described here takes the organizational structure put forth by Brasseur de Bourbourg (Introduction, Pts 1-4). Part one includes the creation myth, and the epics of Hunahp and Xblanqué.
The Mayan hunters pursued large game like jaguars, wild boars, and snow leopards as well as small game like hares, rabbits, and squirrels. The three animals that seem to be the most prevalent in Mayan writings are the deer, iguana, and the quetzal bird. This has led archeologists to believe that these animals must have been more than just a food source. It is believed that the quetzal bird was not killed but only captured. While it was captured, they would pluck the feathers from it because they were considered very valuable. The Maya viewed hunting as more than just a food source, similar to the other native peoples we have studied. They had certain rituals t...
Carlsen, Robert. The War for the Heart & Soul of a Highland Maya Town. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1997.
The very roots of Maya civilization are obscure at best. However as our understanding of new and old discoveries increases, we're more able to paint a vague picture of their early beginnings. By around 2000 BC, the southern Maya area had already been occupied by early speakers of Mayan languages. We know that this area was occupied by archaic Maya groups prior
Creation stories have profound effects on humans. Those associated with ancient cultures/civilizations aim to ensure the successful survival or well-being of themselves and that particular culture/civilization of their association, but not all are beneficial, prosperous, or fortunate. Mesopotamia’s “The Gilgamesh Epic”, Egypt’s “Hymn to the Nile-Documents”, and Mesoamerica’s Mayan and Aztec creation stories/religion are influential to establishing significant relationships within society, whether that is between humans and nature or humans and their “god(s).”
Every ancient society and civilization has creation myths that were passed down and keep alive throughout the passing of time by word of mouth. These myths are the world’s oldest stories and are vital to these cultures because they explain their beginnings and give purpose to their existence. By analyzing and interpreting different creation myths it becomes easier to understand different cultures and their connections and relationships with heir beliefs and god(s).
In the Central America, most notably the Yucatan Peninsula, are the Maya, a group of people whose polytheistic religion and advanced civilization once flourished (Houston, 43). The Maya reached their peak during the Classic Period from around CE 250 to the ninth century CE when the civilization fell and dispersed (Sharer, 1). Although much has been lost, the gods and goddesses and the religious practices of the Classic Maya give insight into their lives and reveal what was important to this society. The major Mayan gods and goddesses all have common characteristics and, according to “features which they share in large part with the gods of neighboring people of Middle America” (Thompson, 198). One of these characteristics is that Mayan gods and goddesses have “features which they share in large part with the gods of neighboring people of Middle America” (Thompson, 198).
When a sports team is created, during its season, it will encounter significant events such as its first score in a game, an incredible pass or trick, and the trophy at the end for beating a team. These can be categorized by the most remarkable to least remarkable. In this situation, that sport team will be the Maya, only a thousand years ago. The Maya had thrived during the classic period of 250 to 900 CE, in Mesoamerica which is now present-day Central America. They had expanded their land and used a system called slash-and-burn agriculture, raising crops such as corn, beans, and squash. The Maya had also used their own complex calendar, which was used to predict moon eclipses and also to mark when their religious ceremonies were going to take place. Their rituals consisted of human sacrifice to please the gods. The Mayan's city-states were as statuesque as can be, and were also used only by human labour with no beasts of burden. They had also set up about 150 trading ports along the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula to trade foreign goods to expand the variety of their inventory. The...
Through studies such as comparative mythology, researchers and philosophers have discover hundreds of parallels between the myths that make up every culture, including their creation myths. As most are deeply rooted in religion, comparisons based on geographic area, themes, and similar story lines emerge as religions form and migrate. Campbell recognized these similarities an...
The Mayans lived in Southern Mexico and Central America in their capital, Tikal, which is in present day Guatemala. The Mayans were known for their engineering, one structure they were famous for is their pyramid temple in Tikal (Document 1). This pyramid was the tallest structure in the Americas up until the 20th century and is still standing today. The government must have been strong and well organized in order to carry out such a large task. The Mayan religion had multiple gods and this pyramid was most likely devoted to one or used as a place for sacrifices. Another accomplishment of the Mayans was the creation of their calendar. An extra document that would be useful is one that explains how the calendar was created. The Mayans must have studied astronomy and math to a great length. Similar to the Ancient Egyptians, they wrote with symbols and pictures known as glyphs that were used in the calendar. These glyphs were gods, such as Zotz (Document 2). The use of glyphs is an acknowledgement of a writing system, which is another accomplishment.
The European and Mayan civilizations had inverse experiences during the Classical era, but they were similar in some aspects. While the Mayans were basking in their glorious success as a civilization, the Europeans stood in their shadow. However, after the Renaissance Era, it was as if the Mayans stood in the shadow of the European revival. These two societies have a definite inverse relationship, in that while one was succeeding, the other was squandering. For example, the forward thinking of the Mayans and their knowledge of arithmetic and science was overshadowed by the revolutionary ideas created by European scientists, the fact that the Mayans had created a complex, and accurate calendar wasn’t nearly as celebrated as a European man who got hit by an apple.
Unlike “The Song of Creation” from the Rig Veda, the Popol Vuh thought the earth and humanity were birthed from spiritual gods. The Mayans believed in several higher powers and lionized them all. Both cultures had their individual views on how the earth was formed, who were the first humans, and who created them. This contradiction builds on the many aspects of today’s reality and how did it all begin.
Thompson, john. The Rise and Fall of Maya Civilization. 2 edition . Univ of Oklahoma, 1973. 335. Print.
Maya civilization was based mainly on agriculture and religion. Maya every day life revolved around an innumerable number of earth Gods. The most important God was chief, ruler of all Gods. The Mayans prayed to these God’s particularly about their crops. For example, they prayed to the Rain God to nourish their crops. They practiced their religion during ceremonies conducted by priests. They also practiced confession and even fasted before important ceremonies (Gann and Thompson 1931 118-138). The Mayans also b...