The emergence and cultural development of the so-called classical Maya period spanned approximately from 250 to 900 AD. The most complete and exhaustive source for knowledge of its mythology is the Popol Vuh (Book of Community or Council), the bible of the Maya-Quiches (from qui, 'many' and che, 'tree':'land of many trees' ', from the year 1550. Another source is the Chilam Balam, written in Mayan from Yucatan at the time of the conquest, and the Relação das Coisas de Yucatan, from 1566, composed by the Spaniard Diego de Landa, which includes interesting data on the life of the Mayans in the century XVI.
The Mayan gods had an anthropomorphic, phytomorphic, zoomorphic and astral nature. The most important figure in the Mayan pantheon is Itzamná, creator god, lord of fire and heart. It represents the death and rebirth of life in nature. Itzamná is linked to the Sun god Kinich Ahau and the Moon goddess Ixchel, represented as a demonic old woman. Some researchers believe that his name derives from the words with which he supposedly defined himself before men:"Itz en Caan, itz en muyal" ("I am the dew of the sky, I am the dew of the clouds"). However, it also seems to mean 'House of the Iguana'.
According to this idea, there would be four Itzamnás, corresponding to the four directions of the Universe. Four genies or deities, the Bacabs, on the other hand, appear supporting the sky, identified with the four cardinal points, which in turn are associated with four symbolic colors (East, red; North, white; West, black; South, yellow). ), a tree (the sacred sap) and a bird. According to the version of some Mayan peoples, he would be the son of Hunab Ku, a supreme and all-powerful being.
Chac, who stood out for his long nose, took the place of god of rain and used to appear multiplied in chacs, deities who produce rain by emptying their gourds and throwing stone axes. The uo (frogs) are his companions and act announcing the rain. The young corn god Ah Mun was related to vegetation and staple food; he often quarreled with the god of death, Ah Puch, Lord of the ninth hell. Other deities associated with darkness and death are Ek Chuah, dark god of war, merchants and cocoa plantations, and also Ixtab, goddess of suicides.
The similarity and contacts between the Mayan and Aztec cultures explain the appearance among the Mayans of the Feathered Serpent (Quetzalcoatl), which is named after Kukulcan in Yucatan and Gucumatz in the highlands of Guatemala.
Mayan Civilization
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