# Mexican Archæology/Chapter 9

Table of Contents
CHAPTER IX—THE MAYA: RELIGION AND MYTH
AS among the Mexicans, so too among the Maya, any attempt to reconstruct their civilization must start with a general survey of their religious beliefs. The task of dealing shortly and clearly with this subject is by no means easy; from the one point of view indeed it is simpler, since the amount of information at the disposal of students is relatively small; but on the other hand, as far as the builders of the ruins are concerned, we are dealing with a people who had had their day at the time of the conquest, and the meaning of the scenes sculptured on the monuments must be inferred from the religious practices of a people who, though no doubt ethnically and culturally their descendants, had been exposed to influences emanating from Mexico, and had declined in civilization. The different sources of information, moreover, must be kept distinctly apart; such authorities as Landa and Cogolludo deal only with the Maya of Yucatan as they found them; the native traditions called the "Books of Chilan Balam" give a few mythical details relating to one Yucatec tribe, and that not the earliest of the Maya immigrants; while other native chroniclers, the Popol Vuh and Annals of Xahila, relate to the Quiche and Kakchiquel respectively, also comparatively late immigrants, who had fallen under Mexican influence. The native codices give a large number of portraits of beings which, it is safe to conclude, were gods, and these, especially the manuscript known as Troano-Cortesianus, constitute a most important link between the ​early Maya sculptures and the accounts of the Yucatec by Landa and Cogolludo; but the identification of the different deities is to a large extent a conjectural matter, impossible of short treatment since it involves the production of much detailed evidence. The following account does not pretend to be more than the result of a careful consideration of most of the sources, and for the evidence itself the reader must be referred elsewhere. It cannot be denied that many of the conclusions here set forth are controversial, but it may be claimed that there do exist in all cases certain definite points of evidence in their favour. Mayan religion shows a close fundamental similarity to that of the Mexicans, so much so in fact that it is fair to argue from what we know of the latter to the former, always with proper precautions. Care is necessary, since the migration legends of the Quiché, Kakchiquel and books of Chilan Balam all mention Tulan as a resting-place or starting-point, and there is always the possibility that the myths contained in them may have been influenced by "Toltec" beliefs. I hope to show later, however, that the basis of the Toltec culture was in fact Mayan, and I therefore think it fair to claim that many, though certainly not all, of the similarities between the two religions are due to a common Mayan element. This is especially true of what we are able to conjecture concerning the beliefs of the builders of the ruins in Honduras, Guatemala and Chiapas.
As among the Mexicans, tribal gods, under whose leadership migrations took place, are found also among the Maya. In Yucatan we hear of a god Itzamna, supposed to have come from the east, whose attributes are much the same as those of Tonacatecutli. Connected with the sites of Chichen Itza and Mayapan was the god Kukulkan, of whose name "Quetzalcoatl" is a literal translation, and who was supposed to have come
| A. | The Moan bird. |
| B. | The wind-god (God K). |
| C. | Unknown goddess. |
| D. | The maize-god (God E). |
| E. | The rain- and thunder-god (God B) |
| F. | The war-god (God F). |
| (Dresden MS.) ||
| A. | A water-goddess (Goddess I). |
| B. | The sun-god (God G). |
| C. | The god of the north star (God C). |
| D. | The sky-god (God D). |
| B: | The death-god (God A). |
| F. | The goddess of suicides. |
| (Dresden MS.) ||
We come now to the elemental gods, who seem for the most part to have been rather vague personalities, crystallized here and there (and rather robbed of dignity in the process into more sharply defined tribal protectors. These are the deities whom, I believe, the builders of the monuments chiefly worshipped, and whose portraits or symbols may be identified among the carvings which decorate the ruins. Among these, the most ​difficult to treat satisfactorily is Kukulkan, the Quiche Gukumatz. The name, as stated before in connection with Quetzalcoatl, means "Feathered serpent," and the conception of such a divinity is not peculiar to the Maya region, since a feathered snake, the "Mother of waters," is worshipped by the Pueblo Indians far to the north. But Gukumatz - Kukulkan is not a mere water-god, and I think that his real nature is apparent from the Tzental description of Kukulkan, "the feathered snake that goes in the waters."
MAYA Stela 14; Piedras Negras, Guatemala
the manuscripts (Schellhas' God E, Fig. 46, d), and on the monuments. But his position is peculiar ; even in the earlier times the rain-gods represented the active ​principle of fertility, the maize-god being merely passive, and typifying the spirit of the maize, befriended by the beneficent powers and persecuted by the lord of the underworld and the various animals which plunder the growing crop. On the monuments he is distinguished by a foliated ornament, representing the corncob, which forms his head-dress, and he appears most conspicuously in the so-called "foliated cross" at Palenque (Fig. 49), which in reality represents a maize-plant like the Mexican Tree of the West, shown in Fig. 10; p. 79. In the manuscripts he wears a similar head-dress, but is usually shown also with a vertical line running down his face passing across his eye, just as Cinteotl is depicted in the manuscripts of Mexico.
The lords of the underworld held an important position in Maya mythology. The Yucatec recognized two destinations for departed spirits; one was a sort of paradise, where the souls of the dead rested in the shade of the mythical Yaxché tree, the other was called Mitnal, and corresponded to the Aztec Mictlan. Here presided a god called Hunahau or Uac Mitun Ahau, whose attributes are exactly similar to those of Mictlantecutli. He is usually, though not invariably, shown as a skeleton, and skulls and cross-bones, bell-like pendants and sometimes a feather ruff are his chief insignia (Schellhas' God A, Fig. 47, e). He is very frequently depicted in the manuscripts, and appears on the monuments chiefly in the form of a skull. The Kakchiquel spoke of him as Mictan Ahau, and associated with him two subordinate deities, Tatan Holon and Tatan Bak ("Father Bones and Father Skull). The Quiché termed the underworld Xibalba, a word which was also used with the same connotation by the Maya and Kakchiguel. The story of the demi-gods Hunahpu and Xbalanque gives a detailed description of Xibalba. The road to it lies downwards beneath the earth, and ​its rulers are Hun Camé and Vukub Camé (terms in which we can recognize the Maya word cimi, the name of the day-sign corresponding to miquiztli, symbolized by a skull), whose messengers are the owls. It is expressly stated in the Popol Vuh, however, that the inhabitants of Xibalba are not gods, but beings of a supernatural character who delight in bringing evil. upon men and stirring up strife between nations. There are many points about the "harrying" of Xibalba by the two heroes mentioned above which seem to suggest that the original Xibalba was situated in a region at that time inhabited by the Kakchiquel. One of the principal powers there is the Camazotz, a supernatural bat, who nearly compasses the destruction of the heroes in the Zotziha or "bat-house," and, as has been stated, the principal deity of the Kakchiquel was a god in bat-form called Zotziha Chimalcam. Moreover the owl messengers of Xibalba bear the title of Ahpop Ahchi, a title which also appears at the Kakchiquel court. Connected with the gods of the underworld was the Maya goddess Ixtab, who received the souls of those who committed suicide (by hanging). A figure which probably represents her appears once 1n the Dresden codex, in the form of a woman with her head in a noose (Fig. 47, f). She was associated however rather with the paradise than with Mitnal, since individuals who hung themselves were considered to be assured of future happiness. A few more gods might be mentioned, but as practically nothing is known of them save their names, and they do not appear on the monuments as far as can be traced at present, they are omitted. But a word must be said concerning certain mythological animals which figure in the sculptures. Chief of these is a monster resembling a dragon, which is furnished with a head at either end of the body (Fig. 50). The head proper is distinguished by an inordinately long upper jaw, and exhibits otherwise certain ​characteristics usually associated with the serpent in Maya art. The mouth is invariably shown wide open, with the head of a god, usually the sun-god (though sometimes God B), emerging. The reverse head, often shown upside-down, is portrayed with a fleshless jaw and other symbols of death, but is also associated with the sun in so far as it bears upon the forehead the kin-glyph, over which are certain ornaments, notably a flame-like "plume," which are attributes of the sun. Now the head proper, with the elongated upper jaw, bears a distinct resemblance to the Mexican cipactli animal, from which the earth was created, and in a very
confused creation-myth given in one of the books of Chilan Balam we find a monster, Itzamkab-ain, who at the creation is impregnated by a god of fecundity, Ah-uuk-chek-nale. Further the earth in Mexican symbolic art is invariably represented by a monster with gaping jaws, which is often shown as swallowing Tonatiuh or Tlaloc. I think that it is perfectly just to conclude that the so-called "double-headed dragon" of Maya art is the earth-monster. As we have seen, the god who is usually shown in his jaws is the sun-god, and the occasional substitution of God B is paralleled in the Mexican manuscripts which sometimes show Tlaloc in the jaws of the earth-monster. The head with the attributes of death and the sun combined, which appears at the other end of the animal (sometimes, as I have said, upside-down), is, on this explanation, the sun ​in the underworld, i.e. the sun after its setting. The presence of the sun-attributes is necessitated by the fact that without them the death-face would be indistinguishable from that of the death-god, whereas the head of the other god requires no special identification marks, There are a good many additional points which support this view, but I will mention two only. The magnificent carved lintel from Tikal, now at Basle, shows a figure with all the attributes of the death-god beneath a particularly elaborate example of the double-headed monster. The position of the monster here 1s unusual, since it is usually shown as a support rather than as a canopy, but I think that in this case 1t emphasizes the fact that the home of the death-god 1s below the earth. The other point is the following: in the relief at Palenque, known as the cross, the conventional tree (for such it is in reality), springs from the head with the combined death-and sun-symbols (Fig. §1). In this case the part is taken for the whole, the head represents the earth-monster, and the whole scene is an exact parallel to the Borgia codex, in which the trees of the world-directions are shown rooted in the body of the monstrous earth-goddess (Fig. 10; p. 79). The Vaticanus B codex is an even closer parallel, since the trees representing the quarters are there depicted as springing from a cipactli head, and it will be remembered that the Mexicans believed the earth to have been created from a monstrous cipactli (p. §9). It is true that the "foliated cross" is supported by a head of another type, but there is a particular reason for this; the "foliated cross" is in reality a maize-plant, the head is that of a rain-or water-god (of whom parallels are found at Chichen Itza and other places), and the combination symbolizes the dependence of the maize-crop upon the water-supply. The finest example of the double-headed earth-monster is the remarkable monolith, designated P, at Quirigua (Pl. XXVI, 1; p. ​338.) The illustration shows the principal head of the animal with widely-distended jaws enclosing the figure of a deity.
The earth-monster is not however the only two-headed animal in Maya art. Many of the stelæ, particularly
MAYA Stela H.; Copan, Honduras
case be clearly seen projecting from the forehead of the small figure. At Palenque this blade is replaced by a foliated ornament, which may represent an elaborate blade of copper, or, possibly, a bunch of feathers.
| a. | Tzendales. | c. | Cuirigua. | e. | Menché. |
| b. | Palenque. | d. | Palenque. | | |
Of other mythological animals, mention may be made of the moan-bird, a bird of the falcon variety, associated with the sky and clouds, and possessing rather sinister characteristics (Fig. 46, a). "Also of the lightning animal, sometimes pictured as a dog, sometimes as a hoofed creature with a snout resembling a pig's, and usually shown descending from the sky. When the horse first made its appearance among the Maya it was ​associated}} with this animal, and one of Cortés' sick horses which he left among the natives was installed in a temple and worshipped as such. Unfortunately the poor animal did not long survive its deification, being unable to adapt itself to a diet of chickens and flowers, the offerings made to it in all good faith by the natives.
Like the Aztec, the Maya and cognate tribes believed that more than one creation had taken place, and we find the tradition of a great deluge which put an end to the age immediately preceding this. In the Quiché legend, Hunahpu, Gukumatz and Hurakan are the creating-gods; "Earth," said they, and immediately the earth was formed. 'Then the animals were created, and various functions were distributed among them, but the gods were not satisfied, because the animals were speechless and could not praise them. So man was made from clay, but he was without intelligence and the gods destroyed him. 'Then came the third creation; after consultation with Xpiyakok and Xmukane, the creators made men from wooden images, but these too were without intelligence and paid no worship to the divine powers; so the majority were destroyed by a great flood, while many perished at the hands of the animals and domestic utensils which revolted against them, the few survivors becoming monkeys. At this point the Popol Vuh relates the story of the two heroes Hunahpu (not the Hunahpu mentioned as the creator) and Xbalanque. They are first introduced as the slayers of a kind of Titan, Vukub Kakix, and his two sons, Kabrakan and Zipakna. It is said that the eyes of Vukub Kakix were of silver, his body of precious metals, and his teeth inlaid with gems, and he became so haughty that he usurped the power of the sun. The two heroes robbed the tree, whence he was accustomed to obtain his food, of its fruit, and when he ascended into the branches, blew at him through a magical blow-gun, which dealt destruction without ammunition, and he fell and broke ​his jaw. The heroes however did not escape scot-free, for Vukub Kakix tore off Hunahpu's arm, which he hung up above his hearth in order to inflict torments upon its former possessor by sympathetic magic. Hunahpu enlisted the help of two magicians, probably Xpiyakok and» Xmukane in disguise, who, under pretence of curing Vukub Kakix's jaw, extracted his teeth, so that his power departed from him and he died, and the arm was recovered. Zipakna and Kabrakan seem to have been earthquake deities; the former was the "creator of mountains," the latter the "destroyer of mountains," and they too incurred the enmity of Hunahpu and Xbalanque. Zipakna had been persuaded by certain four hundred young men to dig for them the hole in which to erect the main post of a house, and they intended to bury him alive while thus engaged; but he constructed a side-tunnel in which he hid, and cut off his hair and nails which he gave to the ants to carry to the surface so that the four hundred might believe him to be dead. Finally emerging from his hiding-place when the young men were making merry over his supposed decease, he pulled the house down over them and killed them all. In revenge for this he was destroyed by Hunahpu and Xbalanque by means of a stratagem, and his brother Zipakna perished in a similar manner. The next act of the two brothers was to avenge the death of their father and uncle at the hands of the inhabitants of Xibalba. Xpiyakok and Xmukane had two sons, Hun Hunahpu and Vukub Hunahpu, who one day while playing the ball-game tlaxtli attracted the notice of the lords of the underworld. "Who are these," they said, "who make so much noise and cause the earth to shake over our heads?" So they sent their messengers, the owls, to challenge them to a game. Hun Hunahpu and Vukub Hunahpu take up the challenge, and start off for Xibalba, passing down a steep descent, and across several rivers, one of ​which is full of gourds, another of blood, and come to four cross-roads, coloured yellow, red, white and black, the colours associated with the four cardinal points. They take the last and arrive at Xibalba, where they are received by the rulers Hun Camé and Vukub Camé. The court at Xibalba seems to have been conducted on the principle of a secret society with a definite form of initiation, for the new-comers are forthwith submitted to various tests at all of which they fail, and they are finally sacrificed by having their hearts torn out before being allowed to engage in the game for which they had come. Hun Hunahpu's head is suspended in a tree which immediately becomes covered with calabashes so that the head is indistinguishable from the fruit. The head however retains its vital properties, since when Xquik, daughter of one of the high officials of Xibalba, is standing near the tree, it spits into her hand, causing her to conceive. When her condition is discovered, she is delivered over to the owl messengers to be killed, but escapes to the upper world where she seeks out the dwelling of Xmukané and gives birth to Hunahpu and Xbalanque mentioned above. With Xmukané are living Hun Batz and Hun Chuen, also sons of Hun Hunahpu, who are accomplished musicians, dancers and artisans. These two persecute their half-brothers, who take their revenge as follows: The four start out to hunt, and Hun Batz and Hun Chuen are persuaded to climb into the trees to drive the birds. Hunahpu and Xbalanque cause the trees to start growing, so that their half-brothers cannot come down, and persuade them, when they complain, to loosen their girdles so that their movements may be the less restricted. The loosened girdles immediately become tails, and Hun Batz and Hun Chuen are transformed into monkeys. After a series of events Hunahpu and Xbalanque, by the aid of a rat, discover the existence of a set of implements and ornaments, used in the ball-game, which had formerly ​belonged to their father and uncle. They start to play, and again the noise of the game attracts the notice of the lords of Xibalba, who again send a challenge which is accepted. But this time affairs proceed on different lines. When they arrive at the cross-roads they send on a small insect, called xan, created from a hair of Hunahpu's leg, to act as a spy. The xan finds the lords of Xibalba sitting with their councillors among certain wooden figures, and by biting them one by one discovers their names, so that when Hunahpu and Xbalanque arrive they salute each one by his title, and do not, as their father and uncle, give greeting to the wooden figures; they also avoid the hot stone which is offered them as a seat, and pass the later tests with success. One of these consisted in being shut up for the night in the "House of Gloom," with torches and cigars which must be kept burning all night and produced intact in the morning. This feat the heroes achieve by fixing red feathers to the torches and fireflies to the cigars. Eventually disaster falls upon them in the "House of the Bats," the Zotziha. The point of this test seems to be that the heroes must pass the night sleepless, erect and motionless, but Hunahpu moves his head just as the dawn is appearing, and is immediately decapitated by the Camazotz, the bat of the underworld, who leaps upon him from above. The head is suspended in the ball-court, but the tortoise affixes himself to Hunahpu's body in its place. Xbalanque then goes out alone to face the Xibalbans in the ballgame; he hits the ball close to the ring, and the rabbit which is hidden near it leaps out and runs away. The Xibalbans give chase, thinking that the rabbit is the ball, and Xbalanque exchanges the tortoise for the head, and Hunahpu is revived. The heroes then immolate themselves, but return after five days in the disguise of travelling conjurers, performing many miracles, including the sacrifice and resurrection of a man. Hun ​Camé and Vukub Camé desire to have this trick performed upon them, but the heroes after sacrificing them naturally do not revive them. Xibalba is thus conquered, and sentence is pronounced by the heroes upon its people, "Your blood shall endure for a little, but your ball shall not roll again in the ball-game," and the only occupations which they are allowed to retain are the making of pots and the keeping of bees. Following this, honours are paid to Hun Hunahpu and Vukub Hunahpu, who become the sun and moon respectively, while the four hundred slain by Zipakna are resuscitated and become stars. Certain similarities with Mexican mythology are apparent in this legend, notably the miraculous conception of Hunahpu and Xbalanque by a virgin, recalling the birth of Uitzilopochtli, and the transformation of the four hundred into stars, which is reminiscent of the legend of the Centzon Uitznaua (Four hundred Southerners) who also became stars. In this connection it is interesting to note that a legend is found in San Salvador, according to which four hundred youths disappeared into a certain lake and were transformed into fishes.
Such in brief is the myth of Hunahpu and Xbalanque as given in the Popol Vuh, but there are many extremely interesting details which lack of space compels me to omit, but which can be found in the translations, French or Spanish, or the English abridgment, of the original Quiché text.
The story of the fourth and final creation again shows a similarity with one of the Mexican legends given above. The creators decide to make man of maize, but the maize cannot be found. It is eventually discovered at Paxil, the Maya equivalent of Tonacatepetl, through the agency of the fox, coyote, parrot and crow. It is ground, and from the meal the body of man is formed, while Xpiyakok and Xmukané make from it nine different kinds of drink which give vigour to created man. ​At this time the ancestors of the Quiché are created, and from this point the "historical" portion of the Popol Vuh begins. 'The Kakchiquel had a similar myth relative to the discovery of maize by the animals, and they believed that man, as finally created, was formed of maize and blood, the men of a former creation having been unable to speak or walk and feeding on wood and leaves. In Yucatan the first men were said to have been made of earth and straw, their bodies of the former and their hair of the latter.