Maya maize god
Encyclopedia
Like other Mesoamerica
n peoples, the traditional Mayas
recognize in their staple crop, the maize
, a vital force with which they strongly identify. This is clearly shown by their mythological traditions. According to the 16th-century Popol Vuh
, the Hero Twins have maize plants for alter egos and man himself is created from maize. The discovery and opening of the Maize Mountain - the place where the corn seeds are hidden - is still one of the most popular of Mayan tales. In the Classic period (200-900 AD), the maize deity shows aspects of a culture hero
.
), its cobs being shaped like the deity's head. Whereas the Foliated Maize God is a one-dimensional vegetative spirit, the Tonsured Maize God's functions are much more diverse. On stelas, the ritual representative of the Tonsured Maize God tends to be a queen rather than a king. The queen thus appears to have become a maize goddess, in accordance with the Mayan narrative traditions mentioned above. A male maize deity representing the foliated type and labeled god E is present in the three extant Maya books of undisputed authenticity; the codical god H has been claimed to represent the Tonsured Maize God.
Many Classic Maya paintings, particularly on vases, testify to the existence of a rich mythology centered on the Tonsured Maize God. The Late-Preclassic murals of San Bartolo
demonstrate its great antiquity. Several theories, with varying degrees of ethnographic support, have been formulated to account for episodes such as the maize deity's resurrection from a turtle, his canoe voyage, and his transformation into a cacao tree.
, many scholars (such as Michael D. Coe
) believe that the resurrected Tonsured Maize God of the Classic Period corresponds to the father of the Hero Twins in the Popol Vuh
, Hun-Hunahpu
. This generally accepted identification has recently been contested.
's emphasis on creation has led to a series of interconnected hypotheses all involving the cosmological centrality of the Tonsured Maize God (or 'First Father'), to wit: his establishment of the so-called 'three-stone hearth' (assumed to represent a constellation); his raising of the World Tree; his 'dance of creation'; and his stance as an acrobat, which (more or less coinciding with representations of a crocodile tree) seems to evoke the central World Tree. The maize god's presence in the San Bartolo
arrangement of five world trees has been interpreted as his establishment of the world.
, focuses on the Tonsured Maize God's interaction with an aged jaguar deity of trade, god L
. This interaction is related to the hero's transformation into a cacao tree conceived as a 'trophy tree' and to the cacao trade. God L is assumed to have presided over the dry season dedicated to long-distance trade, warfare, and the cacao harvest, and the Tonsured Maize God over the wet season and the growth of the maize. The onset of the two seasons is thought to be symbolized by the defeat of the maize deity and of god L, respectively.
s) inhabiting Mexico's Gulf Coast. The fact that this myth focuses on a male, rather than a female maize deity, while at the same time establishing an intimate connection between the maize god and the turtle, is adduced in support of the idea that the Classic Mayas once formed part of the same narrative tradition. More in particular, it is argued that the Preclassic San Bartolo
Maya maize deity dancing with a turtle drum amidst aquatic deities can be explained by a Zoque
(Popoluca
) version of the Gulf Coast myth.
The appearance of the Tonsured Maize God is connected to the base date of the Long Count, 4 Ahau 8 Cumku. Calendrically, the maize is associated with the day Q'an 'Ripe(ness)'; the head of the Foliated Maize God serves to denote the number Eight. The Tonsured Maize God is sometimes found associated with the lunar crescent and may therefore have played a role in the divisions of the lunar count; his head seems to occur in glyph C of the Lunar Series (see also Maya moon goddess
).
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica is a region and culture area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, within which a number of pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and...
n peoples, the traditional Mayas
Maya civilization
The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period The Maya is a Mesoamerican...
recognize in their staple crop, the maize
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
, a vital force with which they strongly identify. This is clearly shown by their mythological traditions. According to the 16th-century Popol Vuh
Popol Vuh
Popol Vuh is a corpus of mytho-historical narratives of the Post Classic Quiché kingdom in Guatemala's western highlands. The title translates as "Book of the Community," "Book of Counsel," or more literally as "Book of the People."...
, the Hero Twins have maize plants for alter egos and man himself is created from maize. The discovery and opening of the Maize Mountain - the place where the corn seeds are hidden - is still one of the most popular of Mayan tales. In the Classic period (200-900 AD), the maize deity shows aspects of a culture hero
Culture hero
A culture hero is a mythological hero specific to some group who changes the world through invention or discovery...
.
Female and male maize deities
In Maya oral tradition, the maize is usually personified as a woman - not unlike the rice in Southeast Asia, or the wheat in ancient Greece and Rome. The acquisition of this woman through bridal capture or bridal service constitutes one of the basic Maya myths. In contrast to this, the pre-Spanish Mayan aristocracy appears to have primarily conceived the maize as male. The Classic period distinguished two male forms: a Foliated and a Tonsured Maize God. The Foliated Maize God is present in the so-called Maize Tree (Temple of the Foliated Cross, PalenquePalenque
Palenque was a Maya city state in southern Mexico that flourished in the 7th century. The Palenque ruins date back to 100 BC to its fall around 800 AD...
), its cobs being shaped like the deity's head. Whereas the Foliated Maize God is a one-dimensional vegetative spirit, the Tonsured Maize God's functions are much more diverse. On stelas, the ritual representative of the Tonsured Maize God tends to be a queen rather than a king. The queen thus appears to have become a maize goddess, in accordance with the Mayan narrative traditions mentioned above. A male maize deity representing the foliated type and labeled god E is present in the three extant Maya books of undisputed authenticity; the codical god H has been claimed to represent the Tonsured Maize God.
Functions of the Tonsured Maize God
Iconographically, various functions can be discerned:- The Tonsured Maize God personifies precious substances: maize, jade, and also cacao. The Popol Vuh has XquicXquicXquic is a mythological figure known from the 16th century Quiché Maya manuscript Popol Vuh. She was the daughter of Cuchumaquic, one of the lords of Xibalba, the Maya Underworld...
imploring a 'Cacao Woman', but the Classical Mayas preferred to depict the cacao god as a male. The Tonsured Maize God doubles as a Tonsured Cacao God, with cacao pods growing from his body. More directly, the Tonsured Cacao God's body can be shown as a tree, with his head representing the cacao pod growing on its stem. A Classical Mayan vase in the Popol Vuh Museum seems to show a trophy head suspended in such a personified cacao tree. - In addition to being the deity of maize and cacao, the Tonsured Maize God is also a patron of dancing and feasting. As a ceremonial dancer, he often carries a specific 'totemic' animal in his backrack.
- Along with the Howler Monkey GodsHowler Monkey GodsThe howler monkey god was a major deity of the arts - including music - and a patron of the artisans among the Classic Mayas, especially of the scribes and sculptors. As such, his sphere of influence overlapped with that of the Tonsured Maize God...
, he is a patron of the scribal arts (see fig. 1). In this, as in some other respects, the Tonsured Maize God is a juvenile form of the upper god, God D (ItzamnaItzamnaIn Yucatec Maya mythology, Itzamna was the name of an upper god and creator deity thought to be residing in the sky. Little is known about him, but scattered references are present in early-colonial Spanish reports and dictionaries. Twentieth-century Lacandon lore includes tales about a creator...
). - In his life as in his death and resurrection, the Tonsured Maize God serves as a model for the king.
- In the San BartoloSan BartoloSan Bartolo is the Spanish name for Saint Bartholomew. In Spanish speaking countries it is often used as a part of placenames.It may for example refer to:* San Bartolo, Totonicapán, in Guatemala* San Bartolo near Tikal in Guatemala...
murals, the Maize God is connected to a fifth world tree probably representing the central tree of life; in Palenque, a maize tree serves as such a tree of life.
Late-Preclassic and Classic Maya maize mythology
San Bartolo (Maya site)
San Bartolo is a small pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site located in the Department of Petén in northern Guatemala, northeast of Tikal and roughly fifty miles from the nearest settlement...
demonstrate its great antiquity. Several theories, with varying degrees of ethnographic support, have been formulated to account for episodes such as the maize deity's resurrection from a turtle, his canoe voyage, and his transformation into a cacao tree.
Popol Vuh Twin myth extension
The Tonsured Maize God is often accompanied by the Hero Twins. Following Karl TaubeKarl Taube
Karl Andreas Taube is an American Mesoamericanist, archaeologist, epigrapher and ethnohistorian, known for his publications and research into the pre-Columbian cultures of Mesoamerica and the American Southwest. he holds a position as Professor of Anthropology at the College of Humanities,...
, many scholars (such as Michael D. Coe
Michael D. Coe
Michael D. Coe is an American archaeologist, anthropologist, epigrapher and author. Primarily known for his research in the field of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican studies , Coe has also made extensive investigations across a variety...
) believe that the resurrected Tonsured Maize God of the Classic Period corresponds to the father of the Hero Twins in the Popol Vuh
Popol Vuh
Popol Vuh is a corpus of mytho-historical narratives of the Post Classic Quiché kingdom in Guatemala's western highlands. The title translates as "Book of the Community," "Book of Counsel," or more literally as "Book of the People."...
, Hun-Hunahpu
Hun-Hunahpu
According to the Popol Vuh, Hun-Hunahpu 'One-Hunahpu' is the father of the Maya hero twins, Hunahpu and Xbalanque. As their shared calendrical day name suggests, Hun-Hunahpu is first and foremost the father of Hunahpu...
. This generally accepted identification has recently been contested.
Cosmological creation myth
Linda ScheleLinda Schele
Linda Schele was an expert in the field of Maya epigraphy and iconography. She played an invaluable role in the decipherment of much of the Maya hieroglyphics. She produced a massive volume of drawings of stelae and inscriptions, which, following her wishes, are free for use to scholars...
's emphasis on creation has led to a series of interconnected hypotheses all involving the cosmological centrality of the Tonsured Maize God (or 'First Father'), to wit: his establishment of the so-called 'three-stone hearth' (assumed to represent a constellation); his raising of the World Tree; his 'dance of creation'; and his stance as an acrobat, which (more or less coinciding with representations of a crocodile tree) seems to evoke the central World Tree. The maize god's presence in the San Bartolo
San Bartolo
San Bartolo is the Spanish name for Saint Bartholomew. In Spanish speaking countries it is often used as a part of placenames.It may for example refer to:* San Bartolo, Totonicapán, in Guatemala* San Bartolo near Tikal in Guatemala...
arrangement of five world trees has been interpreted as his establishment of the world.
Seasonal myth
Another theory, formulated by Simon MartinSimon Martin
Simon Martin is an artist living and working in London.Martin attended the Slade School of Fine Art, University College London, between 1985-89. He has shown at White Columns, New York, The Powerplant, Toronto and the Tate Triennial 2006, at Tate Britain.-External links:* - Simon Martins own...
, focuses on the Tonsured Maize God's interaction with an aged jaguar deity of trade, god L
God L
God L of the Schellhas-Zimmermann-Taube classification of codical gods is one of the major pre-Spanish Maya deities, specifically associated with trade. He is characterized by high age, jaguar traits , a broad feathery hat topped by an owl, and by a jaguar mantle or a cape with a pattern somewhat...
. This interaction is related to the hero's transformation into a cacao tree conceived as a 'trophy tree' and to the cacao trade. God L is assumed to have presided over the dry season dedicated to long-distance trade, warfare, and the cacao harvest, and the Tonsured Maize God over the wet season and the growth of the maize. The onset of the two seasons is thought to be symbolized by the defeat of the maize deity and of god L, respectively.
Gulf Coast maize myth
In many scenes, an aquatic environment strongly comes to the fore (see fig. 2), most famously in the maize deity's resurrection from the carapace of a turtle that is floating on the waters. Braakhuis pointed out that such an environment also characterizes an important maize myth shared by many ethnic groups (such as Huaxtecs, Totonacs, Nahuas and ZoqueZoque
The Zoque are an indigenous people of Mexico; they speak variants of the Zoque languages.This group consists of 41,609 people, according to the 2000 census...
s) inhabiting Mexico's Gulf Coast. The fact that this myth focuses on a male, rather than a female maize deity, while at the same time establishing an intimate connection between the maize god and the turtle, is adduced in support of the idea that the Classic Mayas once formed part of the same narrative tradition. More in particular, it is argued that the Preclassic San Bartolo
San Bartolo
San Bartolo is the Spanish name for Saint Bartholomew. In Spanish speaking countries it is often used as a part of placenames.It may for example refer to:* San Bartolo, Totonicapán, in Guatemala* San Bartolo near Tikal in Guatemala...
Maya maize deity dancing with a turtle drum amidst aquatic deities can be explained by a Zoque
Zoque
The Zoque are an indigenous people of Mexico; they speak variants of the Zoque languages.This group consists of 41,609 people, according to the 2000 census...
(Popoluca
Popoluca
Popoluca is a Nahuatl term for various indigenous peoples of southeastern Veracruz and Oaxaca. Many of them speak languages of the Mixe–Zoque family...
) version of the Gulf Coast myth.
Names and calendrical functions
Several designations for the pre-Spanish maize god occur in the Book of Chilam Balam of Chumayel. They include ah mun 'tender green shoot' and zac uac nal 'white-six-new corn' (or uac chuaac nal 'six-tall-new corn'). In the wake of Schele, the Tonsured Maize God (equated with Hun-Hunahpu) has often been nicknamed 'First Father'. The Classic name of the Tonsured Maize God (which usually includes the numeral 'One') is not known, although various suggestions have been made ('Hun-Nal-Ye', 'Ixim').The appearance of the Tonsured Maize God is connected to the base date of the Long Count, 4 Ahau 8 Cumku. Calendrically, the maize is associated with the day Q'an 'Ripe(ness)'; the head of the Foliated Maize God serves to denote the number Eight. The Tonsured Maize God is sometimes found associated with the lunar crescent and may therefore have played a role in the divisions of the lunar count; his head seems to occur in glyph C of the Lunar Series (see also Maya moon goddess
Maya moon goddess
The traditional Mayas generally assume the moon to be female, and the moon's phases are accordingly conceived as the stages of a woman's life. The Maya moon goddess wields great influence in many areas. Being in the image of a woman, she is naturally associated with sexuality and procreation,...
).