Ah Tzul Ahaw

Image of Venus created with a computer. NASA/JPL.

Ah Tzul Ahaw is a phrase used as a name for a god or a monster connected to Venus as well as several other things. It may also be a title. (You may see the name spelled without the "ah," or as tsul ahaw -- or tsul ahau.) Translated, it becomes Spine/Dog Lord. (Another name you might see is Ant Lord.) Keep reading to discover more on the ideas surrounding this phrase.


Name Glyph Use

The phrase "Ah Tzul Ahaw" could be a name for the Evening Star -- that is, Venus during the part of its orbit when it is visible at night. It's possible that the Evening Star was somehow Ah Tzul Ahaw too.

Other than Venus, the glyph for "Ah Tzul Ahaw" is connected to both a certain part of Venus's orbit and kings. You see, it looks like the glyph was used in writings that talked about a new ruler taking the place of the last ruler in a dynasty. But the glyph also was used in connection to when Venus was at its greatest elongation. (In astronomy, elongation is the angle between the sun and a planet, as seen from our sky. The wider the angle, the greater the elongation.)

Possible Connections: Death God and Eclipse Monster

On page 53a of the Dresden Codex, there's picture of a god that looks like skeleton, which Star Gods of the Ancient Maya calls "the Death God." The glyphs near this figure include "ah tzul ahaw," coming before the god's name. One of the Death God's purposes may have been to be an eclipse monster -- a creature that caused eclipses -- and "ah tzul ahaw" may be a title connected to that purpose. (On a related note, a 2007 thesis for a master's degree by William Beck describes Ah Tzul Ahaw as an eclipse monster that was a cannibal.)

A copy of the Dresden Codex's page 53a. From Cyrus Thomas's Aids to the Study of the Maya Codices.

Yet Another Possible Venus Connections

Later along, on page 58b of the Dresden Codex, there is an image of a diving figure with a Lamat glyph for its head. (The lamat glyph is a glyph you might recognize being part of the Tzolkin -- it's used as one of the days' names.) Above his left foot (from our perspective) there is an glyph thought to mean a solar eclipse. Above his right foot there is a glyph thought to mean a lunar eclipse. This might be a drawing of Ah Tzul Ahaw.

Part of a copy of page 58 of the Dresden Codex
showing the diving figure with Lamat for a head.
From Aids to the Study of the Maya Codices.

For comparison, here are two depictions of the glyph Lamat from An Introduction to the Study of the Maya Hieroglyphs by Sylvanus Griswold Morley:

Both this page and the page shown in the Name section are part of a series of pages (51 through 58) in the codex that deals with eclipses. This is further possible evidence for the theory that the ancient Maya thought that Venus caused eclipses. (There are accounts called ethnographic accounts that may show there was a connection between Venus and eclipses as well). 

References:

Google Books: "Recreating Primordial Time: Foundation Rituals and Mythology in the Postclassic Maya Codices"; Gabrielle Vail, Christine Hernandez; 2013

University of Florida STARS: Electronic Theses and Dissertations: "Maya Eclipses: Modern Data, The Triple Tritos And The Double Tzolkin"; William Earl Beck; 2007

Google Books: "Star Gods of the Maya: Astronomy in Art, Folklore, and Calendars"; Susan Milbrath; 1999

"Journal for the History of Astronomy, Archaeoastronomy Supplement" volume 26: "Essay Review: The Sky in Mayan Literature"; Anthony F. Aveni (editor); 1995

The Maya Hieroglyphic Codices: Dresden Codex: 46d-50d Frame: 5

Astronomy Education at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Solar System Models Lab: Elongation

Image Credits:
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory: Photojournal: PIA00104: Venus - Computer Simulated Global View Centered at 180 Degrees East Longitude

Project Gutenberg: "Aids to the Study of the Maya Codices"; Cyrus Thomas; (First published in "Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution 1884-’85" by J.W. Powell in 1888)

Project Gutenberg: "An Introduction to the Study of the Maya Hieroglyphs, by Sylvanus Griswold Morley"; Sylvanus Griswold Morley; 1915 

Ceiba: A Sacred Tree

From the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/Department
of Commerce. Taken by Maxfield Weiss, NOAA NMFS IA.

Two kinds of ceiba live where the Maya lived and live: Ceiba aesculifolia and Ceiba pentandra. Of the two, the species scientifically known as Ceiba pentandra is the one that it seems archaeologists think the ancient Maya held as a sacred tree. Let's look at the tree itself and what the ancient Maya may have believed about it.

Names
This tree has a lot of names. For example, it has two other scientific names: Bombax pentandrum, Ceiba pentandra, and Eriodendron anfractuosum. And as for common names, it is also known as the white silk-cotton tree, bonga, ceibo, kapoctree, kapok tree, bongo and silk cotton tree.

Then there's the ancient Mayan name for the ceiba. It may be yáaxche' or ya'axche -- the first means "first tree," while the second one is "green/blue-green/blue tree." The common opinion, from the sources thus far found, seems to prefer the second name. (You may also see sources give the name/spelling of yaxche' or yaxte' as the ancient Mayan name for this tree.)

One way to draw what's thought to be the
ancient Maya name for ceiba. 

Botany
Ceibas rise around 65.6 and 131 feet to 164 feet tall -- some are even 200 feet tall! The tree has gray bark and has buttresses -- wedges around its base that help the tree keep from falling over. Its leaves are made up of stalks off of which smaller leaves grow -- the tree looses these leaves every year, starting in January and going until March.

Though not every year, when its loosing its leaves, the ceiba grows night-blooming flowers that are pollinated by creatures including bats and -- in the morning -- birds like hummingbirds. The flowers' color range includes beige, an extremely pale pink and white.

Another notable feature is inside the seed pods. There is a type of soft fiber in them -- which is called kapok silk -- in which are seeds. Kapok silk is like cotton, though not easy to spin, because it doesn't naturally stick to itself as well as cotton. For ceiba trees, the point of the silk is to have something that floats the seeds away from itself, so that ceibas may grow in other places. But for people -- possibly including the ancient Maya -- the silk is useful in other ways, such as for batting in cushions. (A little more on this substance in the next section.)

These trees also have a surprising feature -- spines shaped like cones can grow right out of their trunks. It's believed that these spines keep away animals that eat plants. More often, you'll find it easier to see these spines for yourself by looking for ceibas that aren't very old.

Possible Ancient Maya Uses
There are different ideas that talk about possible uses the ancient Maya may have had for  the ceiba. One idea is that the ancient Maya may have used ceiba wood to make canoes.

Other ideas, focus on kapok silk. One idea wonders if the Maya used the fiber to stuff cushions for thrones. Another wonders if they spun it along with cotton to help compensate its inability to stick to itself like other fibers used to make cloth.

Ancient Maya Cultural Connection
The ancient Maya thought this tree was the World Tree. They believed that there was a ceiba that touched all three of the worlds that they thought existed: the upper world, the world of humans and the underworld, where the tree's roots were. The ancient Maya also thought the ceiba kept these worlds as the separate levels. (However, it must be noted that there are images of the World Tree as a different being, such as a crocodile.)

Ceiba Trees in Art/Writing
Some examples of ancient Maya representations of the ceiba tree can be found at the site of Palenque, where they liked to draw it kind of like a cross. (Why a cross? An explanation is that when ceiba trees aren't very old, that's what they kind of look like.) You may have seen one of these already: it's part of the coffin of the famous ruler, Pakal. Very noticeable among the coffin top's carvings is an image thought to be a ceiba.

If you look through the Maya codices, you can find pictures and sentences involving the ceiba. Using the search engine in the site The Maya Hieroglyphic Codices, it looks like drawings of as well as references to ceibas can be found in the Dresden Codex and the Madrid Codex. (The Paris Codex has, at least now, only references to ceibas, and the Grolier Codex didn't show up in the results.)

And there are even more artifacts. Some ancient Maya incense burners or incensarios as well as funerary urns may also be connected to the ceiba. Why? Because the artists who made them used spikes as part of the design, which may have been meant to look like ceiba spines.

References:
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service: Plants Databas: Plants Profile: Ceiba pentandra (kapoctree)

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute: Bocas del Toro: Species Database: Ceiba pentandra

University of California, Santa Barbara: Institute of Social, Behavioral and Economic Research (ISBER): MesoAmerican Research Center: Trails of El Pilar: Plants of El Pilar: Ceiba

Integrated Taxonomic Information System: ITIS Report Page: Ceiba pentandra

USDA Forest Products Labratory: Center for Wood Anatomy Research: Technology Transfer Fact Sheet: Ceiba pentandra

"Maya Sacred Geography and the Creator Deities"; Karen Bassie-Sweet; 2008

"Animals & Plants of the Ancient Maya: A Guide"; Victoria Schlesinger; 2001

"Space and Sculpture in the Classic Maya City"; Alexander Parmington; 2011

Google Books: "The Origins of Maya States"; Loa P. Traxler, Robert J. Sharer (editors); 2016

The Maya Hieroglyphic Codices: Search Results  (for ceiba)

"Beyond Kinship: Social and Material Reproduction in House Societies"; Rosemary A. Joyce, Susan D. Gillespie (editors); 2000

"Ancient Maya Commerce: Multidisciplinary Research at Chunchucmil"; Scott R. Hutson (editor); 2017

Florida State University: DigiNole: "Highland Maya Effigy Funerary Urns: A Study of Genre, Iconography, and Function"; Kathleen Garrett McCampbell; 2010

University ofAlbany SUNY: Institute for Mesoamerican Studies Occasional Publication No. 17"Postclassic Pottery Censers in the Lowlands: A Study of Form, Function and Symbolism"; Bradley W. Russell; 2017

Research Reports on Ancient Maya Writing No. 54: "The Idol-Makers in the Madrid Codex"; Mary A. Ciaramella; 2004

FAMSI: Maya Codices: The Dresden Codex (pages 60 to 74)

The Moon and the Ancient Maya

The moon had lots of meanings for the ancient Maya. This civilization's people studied its path. It was a part of their religious beliefs. They included their observations of its passage in the inscriptions of their monuments. The moon was even thought of as a deity. Let's learn more, shall we?

Tracking the Moon

To see the moon in the same phase twice, you need to wait about 29.53059 days -- or 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes and 3 seconds. This cycle is called the synodic month, and the ancient Maya studied it. (It's possible they also tracked how long it took for the moon to reach the same stars it had already passed -- this is called the sidereal cycle.) 

"Carved Door Lintel with Female in Moon Cartouche."
Made around 750 AD to 850 AD. Its country of origin is either
Mexico or Guatemala. From LACMA.

It seems that to get around having to use fractions, the Maya would calculate the synodic month using a cycle made of groups synodic months. Different places in the Maya area had their own way of tracking this cycle. For about 70 years though -- from 687 to 756 AD -- they tried to use the same method. (This period of time is called the Period of Uniformity, today.)

The first method is one you may see called the Palenque system. This cycle had 2392 days in it. When you divide 2392 by 81, you get an average of 29.53086 days for each synodic month. 

Time passed and the Maya started to use a new cycle, which looks like it started at Copán. The new cycle was made of 4,400 days. It had 149 synodic months. This makes about 29.5302 days for every synodic month -- even closer than the Palenque system.

Which phase of the moon did the ancient Maya see as being the beginning of the synodic month? It seems there was no standard starting point. One theory says it may have been the first night when they could see the moon again, which would have depended on a site's location.


Lunar Series

How did the ancient May use their knowledge of the moon? One way they used it was to help them calculate eclipses (which you can see in the Dresden Codex's pages 51 through 58). Another way they used their knowledge of the moon was to write the lunar series.

As you may know, there's been no evidence that the ancient Maya had a standalone lunar calendar. Starting in the Classic Period (around 250 AD/300 AD to 1000 AD), the Maya did start using a group of glyphs that people today call the lunar series. The Maya used the lunar series in the inscriptions on their monuments. In these inscriptions, the Maya tended to put the lunar series before the Haab' day of the date they were calculating.

The glyphs in the lunar series are known as glyph E, glyph D, glyph C, glyph B, glyph A and glyph X. Here's one view on what the glyphs mean:

•  The first two (glyph E and D) state the moon's phase from a starting point in the synodic month. When the moon was less than 20 days old, glyph D was used. When it was 20 days (or more) into its cycle, the Maya added glyph D to glyph E.

• The third (glyph C) is actually a cycle of numbered glyphs.  Each glyph C was a moon cycle, so altogether the cycle of glyph C lasted 177 days. Whether this cycle was used for a past or present moon depended on the site.

•  The fourth (glyph B) emphasizes what the sixth glyph (glyph X) said. One possible translation is "is its holy name." Another translation uses "youthful" instead of "holy."

•  The fifth (glyph A) says how long the particular "month" that the moon is in is (30 or 29 days.)

• The sixth (glyph X) is also a cycle of 6 glyphs. These glyphs might be names for whichever one of glyph C is being talked about in the inscription.

Buildings Connected to the Moon

The ancient Maya built different structures that were used to help them study the moon. Not all of the structures were built with exactly the same purpose -- here are some examples.

The Caracol.

One example of a structure made to study the moon is a pyramid at the site of Edzná, which you may see called La Vieja. La Vieja was (or at least possibly was) built as a marker for the farthest point the moon sets in its movement north within its cycle at Edzná.

A second example is a building (structure 10K-2) at the site of Xultun in Guatemala. It has murals on its walls, including glyphs that look like they were for charting the moon. These glyphs were made in the 800s AD.  It looks like the glyphs were for working on the math for the lunar series (specifically on glyph C.)

A third example is the structure known today as the Caracol (this is Spanish for "snail.") This structure might have been an observatory -- part of what the Maya may have used it for was to track the moon.

Moon Goddess

Detail of a Classic vase showing the moon
goddess and rabbit. From an image
in the gallery of LACMA.

Theories abound with figuring out the moon goddess of the ancient Maya. In the Classic Period, it looks like the Maya thought of the moon as a goddess (though there are also images of the moon as a man.) Symbols that she was connected with seem to be the moon and a hare or rabbit. However, it also looks like the Maya sort of blended the moon goddess and the corn god -- you can see images of the corn god with the symbols connected to the moon goddess.

Detail of a statue that
might be the moon goddess.
From an image in Yale's art gallery.

One view says the moon goddess in the Classic Period was also a goddess connected to corn as well as fertility -- and could turn into a rabbit. Another view says that the corn god and the moon goddess were seen as connected to each other.

In the Postclassic period, it looks like the moon is only shown as a goddess. Some sources say that two Postclassic beings, goddess I and goddess O, were moon goddesses. However, this theory has become questioned -- it may be that just goddess I was a moon goddess (or at least somehow connected to the moon, as well as fertility.) But it might also be that the only place that you can find evidence of the real moon goddess in the Postclassic Period so far is on page 49 of the Dresden Codex.

Consideration: Sun as the Moon?
The Maya believed in a god now called the Jaguar God of the Underworld (among other names) by archaeologists. This god may have been the sun at night or "night sun" or perhaps a fire god..

References:

University of Virginia: Astronomy 1210 (O'Connell): Introduction to Astonomy: Notes on the Maya

"Beyond the “Dresden Codex”: New Insights into the Evolution of Maya Eclipse Prediction"; Vincent H. Malmström

NASA: Eclipse and the Moon's Orbit

"The Role of Archaeoastronomy in the Maya World: the Case Study of the Island of Cozumel"; 2016

Archaeoastronomy and the Maya"; Gerardo Aldana y Villalobos, Edwin L. Barnhart (editors); 2014

"Cosmology, Calendars, and Horizon-Based Astronomy in Ancient Mesoamerica"; Anne S. Dowd, Susan Milbrath (editors); 2015

Foundation Rituals and Mythology in the Postclassic Maya Codices"; Gabrielle Vail, Christine Hernández"; 2013

Maya Decipherment: Ideas on Ancient Maya Writing and Iconography: "Heavenly Bodies"; Stephen Houston; July 16, 2012

History Dictionary of Mesoamerica"; Walter R. T. Witschey, Clifford T. Brown; 2012

"Breaking the Maya Code" third edition; Michael D. Coe; 2012

Mesoweb: "Unearthing the Heavens: Classic Maya Murals and Astonomical Tables at Xultun, Guatemala"; Marc Zender, Joel Skidmore; 2012

2010 The Rulers of Palenque. Fifth edition. Mesoweb: www.mesoweb.com/palenque/resources/rulers/PalenqueRulers-05.pdf.

"Daily Life in Maya Civilization" second edition; Robert J. Sharer; 2009

"Maya Eclipses: Modern Astronomical Data, The Triple Tritos and the Double-Tzolkin"; William E. Beck; 2007

Mesoweb: "Maya Creator Gods"; Karen Bassie; 2002

FAMSI: John Montgomery Dictionary of Maya Hieroglyphs: J

LACMA: Carved Door Lintel with Female in Moon Cartouche

Eclipses

Courtesy Nasa/SDO.

Eclipses are exciting events where either the moon passes between the earth -- creating a solar eclipse -- and the sun or the earth passes between the sun and the moon -- creating a lunar eclipse.  Let's take some time to explore the ancient Maya perspective on it.

Eclipse Names

Solar eclipse glyph on the left,lunar 
eclipse glyph on the right. 
In the Dresden Codex, the lunar glyph 
is never without the solar one

Archaeologists think they've found various ways the Maya wrote "eclipse," at least for in the Postclassic Period. For the most popular of these, two "wings" (one mostly dark and one light) go on either side of a smaller sun glyph for "solar eclipse" or moon glyph for "lunar eclipse." The picture on the right shows two examples (from a drawing in Cyrus Thomas's Aids to the Study of the Maya Codices.)

"Pa' k'in" from the Dresden Codex's page 54.
(You may see people call it pa'al k'in.)

The ancient Maya of this period also had phrases they used sometimes to mean an eclipse. Though they could be used to mean real ones, these phrases were more popular when they wanted to say a certain era/length of time had ended. One of the known phrases was "pa' k'in" (thought to be a short form for "pa'al k'in"), which means "broken sun." 

What The Maya Knew About Eclipses

Copy of the Dresden
Codex's page 51. 

There are points in the earth's and moon's orbits where either the sun or the moon go through an eclipse -- these points are called nodes. Eclipses run in a cycle (called the saros cycle that begins again after about 18 years, 11 days, 8 hours. Did the ancient Maya know about these important parts of eclipse math? So far it looks like the answer is no. But they did know how to get close to predicting eclipses.

This glyph may describe
darkness during a solar eclipse.

They'd figured out that about 177/178 days (which makes 6 lunar months) or 148 days (5 lunar months) after an eclipse -- lunar or solar -- an eclipse of the same type as before might happen. You can find examples of these numbers various places. One is the site of Xultun, which has them written on the inside of a building. Another example is the Dresden Codex. 

The Dresden Codex has eight pages (pages 51 through 58) on eclipses. (Which kind of eclipse hasn't been decided for sure.) Archaeologists have found both number 177 and 148 in these pages. There are years' worth of eclipses written down there -- either ones people had seen or ones that had been predicted -- a length of time lasting 11,960 days. People still wonder if it was a chart that could only be used one time, or if the Maya were somehow able to use it again and again, adjusting it when they had to do so.

Depiction of a solar eclipse.
From the Dresden Codex's
eclipse pages.

So if the ancient Maya were able to sort of predict eclipses, did they realize that they were watching planets and their shadows? It seems they didn't. Instead, it looks like they thought solar eclipses (and maybe lunar ones too) happened because a creature was biting the sun. Various old accounts after contact with the Spanish say the Maya -- depending on the community -- thought the creature was an ant, some kind of cat, or Venus. In the codices, there are images of serpent figures that look like they're trying to eat the sun. These serpents may actually be Venus.

How They Observed Eclipses
The ancient Maya may have used a y-shaped stick to help them look at the sky's objects. They May have used mirrors (made from stone they'd polished) to watch eclipses. Bowls filled with water may have been another eclipse watching tool.

What They Meant
The ancient Maya, from what archaeologists can tell, may have thought that eclipses, lunar and solar, were dangerous. It's also possible that they thought a solar eclipse could be the start of the end of the current world. (The Maya believed there had been worlds before this one.) However, it looks like eclipses weren't always seen as dangerous -- it's possible that eclipses were dangerous during certain "dangerous" times. 

To keep the sun from being swallowed, the ancient Maya thought they could stop an eclipse if they made lots of noise -- doing things like making their dogs howl and by beating drums. The noise was supposed to scare off the creature causing the eclipse.

Terminal Classic Record of An Eclipse 
Unless calculations are mistaken, on July 16, 790, the ancient Maya recorded a solar eclipse. The evidence is Stela 3 from the site of Santa Elena Poco Uinic or just Poco Uinic, a site in the highlands of the Mexican state of Chiapas. The eclipse would have happened not long after noon there.

References:
"Totality: The Great American Eclipses of 2017 and 2024"; Mark Littmann & Fred Espenak; 2017

"Cosmology, Calendars, and Horizon-Based Astronomy in Ancient Mesoamerica"; Anne S. Dowd, Susan Milbrath (editors); 2015

"Beyond the “Dresden Codex”: New Insights into the Evolution of Maya Eclipse Prediction"; Vincent H. Malmström

"Daily Life in Maya Civilization" 2nd Edition; Robert J. Sharer; 2009

ASTRONOMY 1210 (O'Connell): INTRODUCTION TO THE SKY AND THE SOLAR SYSTEMMaya Astr 341 Class: Notes on the Maya

Arqueología Mexicana: El símbolo maya para eclipse

NASA: Glossary of Solar Eclipse Terms

Mesoweb: The PARI Journal 13(2), 2012, pp. 3-16: "Exploring the 584286 Correlation between the Maya and European Calendars"; Simon Martin, Joel Skidmore

"Star Gods of the Maya: Astronomy in Art, Folklore, and Calendars'"; Susan Milbrath; 1999

Project Gutenberg: Project Gutenberg's Aids to the Study of the Maya Codices, by Cyrus Thomas

University of Victoria Astronomy: Arif Babul: WELCOME TO MY ASTROCOURSE WEBPAGES: Physics 303: The Mayan Civilization

God L -- A God of Xibalbá

Author's note: To go to the overview post on the ancient Maya gods and goddesses, go here.

God L was a god connected to trade and the underworld, Xibalbá,  (and was was one of the Lords of Death that the Hero Twins defeated.)Another merchant god (God M, known as Ek Chuah or Ek Chuwah) may have become more popular than God L as time passed.


Appearance
Often drawn with a black colored body, God L is an old-looking god who has square eyes and a big nose. He wears a black cape and in his mouth is a cylinder -- described in books as a cigar. At times he is drawn with a merchant's pack and a walking stick.

Another distinctive part of God L's appearance is headdress with a wide brim that has a bird with black tipped feathers on it (thought to be a screech owl, sometimes called a muan-bird). At times this headdress is drawn with a jaguar ear, making it look like the ear is attatched to it.

The material of God L's clothing varies somewhat, it seems. The depiction of God L on both the Temple of the Sun and the Temple of the Cross includes his cape being a jaguar pelt. In the Vase of Seven Gods, God L wears a jaguar kilt and his throne is a jaguar (describe alternately as jaguar skin) throne.

Function
God L was the patron of merchants (The Ancient Maya states he was also the god of tribute). He was connected to jaguars, wealth and power. Depending on the source he is either a one of the gods in Xibalbá (such as Trees of Paradise and Pillars of the World: The Serial Stelae Cycle of "18-Rabbit-God K," King of Copan) or the ruling god of Xibalbá (such as The Ancient Maya).

It's possible that God L was more than this. According to Dr. John F. Chuchiak IV's site, God L wasn't just a merchant god, but was also a creator god.

Possible Function
According to Star Gods of the Maya: Astronomy in Art, Folklore, and Calendars by Susan Milbrath, in the Dresden Codex's "Venus pages", God L is shown as the dry-season Morning Star (connected to war). This may connect him to war. The book states a man named Michael Closs says that God L could be an aspect of Venus.


Consideration
There is a site known as Cacaxtla ("place of the merchant pack") that has colorful murals. In these murals, one of the figures depicted holds a pack containing jaguar pelts, cacao and quetzal feathers. This figure could be God L, and he may be the referent in Cacaxtla's name.


References:

"Handbook to life in the Ancient Maya World"; Lynn V. Foster; 2005

"The Ancient Maya"; Robert J. Sharer, Loa P. Traxler; 2006

"Star Gods of the Maya: Astronomy in Art, Folklore, and Calendars"; Susan Milbrath; 2000

"Icons of Power: Feline Symbolism in the Americas"; N. Saunders; 1998

Precolumbian Art and Art history: Cacaxtla

"Archaeology of Ancient Mexico and Central America: An Encyclopedia"; Susan Evans; 2000

"Trees of Paradise and Pillars of the World: The Serial Stelae Cycle of "18-Rabbit-God K," King of Copan "; Elizabeth A. Newsome; 2001

"Chocolate: Pathway to the Gods"; Meredith L. Dreiss, Sharon Edgar Greenhill; 2008

Missouri State University: MAYA GODS AND GODDESSES

Sak Nik (God H)

Author's note: to see the overview post on Maya gods and goddesses, go here.

God H -- Sak Nik (literally "white flower" a term used for the soul) -- is a god who may the god of a diversity of things. He used to be confused with another god (either termed God CH or God J), a god now understood to be the Hero Twin Xbalanque (Yax Balam). 

Appearance
The appearance of Sak Nik is of a young man. In the codices, he has a headband with flowers on it.

Function
Sak Nik could be a god of music,  the soul and/or the wind -- he is thought to be connected to the day Ik (meaning "wind"). Sak Nik may also be the god depicted in the "head glyph" variant for the number three (numbers could be written several ways, including with heads of gods). Another thing he may have been connected to is the Water-lily serpent -- a creature with a bird's head and snake's body with a headdress made of a lily and lily pad.

Beyond these things it is possible that Sak Nik was also god of music. In scenes found in the codicies in which the gods are making music, one of the most common gods in those scenes is Sak Nik.

Consideration
In the codices, Sak Nik is possibly connected somehow with Itzamná (God D). Examples used as evidence include sections 12c and 15c of the Dresden Codex.


References: 

"Star Gods of the Maya: Astronomy in Art, Folklore, and Calendars"; Susan Milbrath; 2000

"Prehistoric Mesoamerica"; Richard E.W. Adams; 2005 

"The Maya and Teotihuacan: Reinterpreting Early Classic Interaction"; Geoffrey E. Braswell; 2004

"Of Macaws and Men: Late Preclassic Cosmology and Political Ideology in Izapan-Style Monuments"; Julia Guernsey Kappelman; 1997

"To Be Like Gods: Dance in Ancient Maya Civilization"; Matthew G. Looper; 2009

"The Ancient Maya: New Perspectives"; Heather Irene McKillop; 2004

Kinich Ahau (God G)

God G was the sun god of the ancient Maya. In the Classic period and the Postclassic period, he was referred to either as Ahau Kin (Ahaw K'in) or Kinich Ahau (K'inich Ahau, K'inich Ajaw). One of the most famous pieces of jade found in the ancient Maya land is a jade head bearing his appearance, from Altun Ha. His head has also been used to decorate temples.

Appearance
There are variances in how Kinich Ahau was drawn. In Mesoamerican Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs of f Mexico and Central America he is described as having several distinguishing features: a hooked nose (a spiral often heading out from it in profile drawings); eyes that looked like crosses in full view but with an eye that looked like a square in profile; and sometimes a beard that had sections curling at the corners of his mouth.

Star Gods of the Maya: Astronomy in Art, Folklore, and Calendars says some similar things but also says some different things. It uses examples of Kinich Ahau found in the codices: in the Madrid Codex he is depicted as a aged being with crooked teeth; but in the Dresden Codex he is depicted to be around middle age, though on a table concerning eclipses he is drawn with a beard. The book also says that during the Postclassic period, Kinich Ahau was drawn with the glyph for the day Kin on his head or body. Sometimes, he was drawn with fangs or with one tooth.

Function
Kinich Ahau was the sun, and was believed to turn into a jaguar as he went through Xibalbá each night. He was the patron of the day Muluc (also spelled Muluk), and was associated with Maya rulers and warriors as well as jaguars.

Change of Kinich Ahau's Patronage of Kings
The association of Kinich Ahau with kings changed over time. In the Classic period it was very common for a ruler to say he had a connection with the god. However this changed to become less common in the Postclassic period, as did the prominence of Kinich Ahau.

A God or an Aspect?
Kinich Ahau might not actually be a god by himself. There is a possibility that he is only an aspect of Itzamná (God D), a creator god (Itzamná has been identified as having an aspect named Kinich Ahau Itzamná).


References:

"The Ancient Maya: New Perspectives"; Heather Irene McKillop; 2004

"The Ancient Maya"; Robert. J Sharer, Loa P. Traxler; 2006

"Prehistoric Mesoamerica"; Richard E. W. Adams; 1991

"Star Gods of the Maya: Astronomy in Art, Folklore, and Calendars"; Susan Milbrath; 2000

"Mesoamerican Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs of f Mexico and Central America"; Kay Almere Read, Jason J. Gonzalez; 2002

Maya Gods and Goddesses

Author's note: after I wrote this post I have found conflicting sources on the current Schellhas list of gods.

The ancient Maya gods are not well understood -- in colonial and later writings, 250 names have been written down as names of various gods. Classifying them is difficult due to the fact that the gods seem to have various 'aspects', depending on the situation, and in in the case of some gods are several beings at once. Also, regional differences in religion complicates figuring out which god was which. Because of this only a few gods have been classified by archaeologists.

Schellhas Classification System
Currently, a system is in place to help identify the gods. This system is called the Schellhas system. In 1904 a man named Paul Schellhas looked at the Maya codicies -- Postclassic Yucatan folding books --, and focused on what the gods looked like, what they were wearing and what they were holding. When he thought he had identified a god from the rest, he gave each different god he identified a letter of the alphabet. He also did the same with mythical animals he saw in the codices. While in some Maya writings there are gods referred to by name, archaeologists still use the Schelhaus classification system.

A List of Schellhas Gods
-- God A (called Cizin or Kisin) was a death god whose name is translated as flatulent one.

-- God B was Chac, most commonly known as the god of rain. God C is k'uhul, a god that represents sacredness.

-- God D is the god Itzamná, a creator god.

-- God E is the maize god who has at least two aspects, the "Tonsured Maize God" and the "Foliated Maize God".

-- God G is K'inich Ahau, the sun god.

-- God I is the moon goddess Ix Chel in her young form.

-- God K is K'awil -- who may also be Bolon Tz'akab and the mannikin scepter god -- who is associated with rulership, lightning and fire.

-- God L is a merchant god, who may have been worshipped during the Classic period.

-- God M is a merchant god, Ek Chuwah, possibly worshipped in the Postclassic period.

-- God N is a term used for two ways: the Pauahtun a four-part god who held up the sky, or another god.

-- God O is the moon goddess in her old form.

-- The identity of God P, whose form only appears in the Madrid Codex, has several theories concerning its identity.

-- God S is found in the Dresden Codex and may be a Hero Twin.

-- God U is found in Almanac 8 and Almanac 43 of the Dresden Codex, and is possibly related to God K.

-- God Y -- whose name may be Ek' Zip or Ah Uuk Yol Xip -- is a deer god.

-- God Z, found in the Madrid Codex, is a scorpion god whose name may be Ah Tzul.

Reforming the Schellhas Classifications
Since he created his lists, some of the gods that Schelhaus classified have been reclassified (and the list of mythical animals has been expanded upon). A god called god F is now understood to be three different gods: god A' (possibly a violent death god); god R whose name may be Buluk Kab (a god possibly connected with floods); and god Q, whose name could possibly be Lahun P'el (a god possibly connected to the idea of "termination").

What Schellhas understood to be one god -- god H -- is now known to be two gods: god CH and God H. God H might be a god of wind.

Other Gods
There are also other seeming gods, as the Hero Twins are depicted as gods. In some images there are two paddlers depicted as gods that are  called by archaeologists "The Paddler Gods". One paddler, named by  Mayanists as Old Jaguar Paddler, at the font and Old Stingray Paddler,  another recently given name, at the back. Thought to represent day and  night, respectively, Certain creation stories involve the Paddler Gods as setting up the Cosmic Hearth (Jaguar Throne Stone) in a place referred to as Five-First-Sky.

References:

"Handbook To Life In The Ancient Maya World"; Lynn V. Foster; 2005

"Mesoamerican Mythology"; Graham Faiella; 2006

Missouri State University; MAYA GODS AND GODDESSES

Dresden Codex

The most well known Mayan codex (accordion-folded book) is the Dresden Codex (also known as the Codex Dresensis). Lost and found again, this codex is a major source of information on Maya astronomy and the calendar system.

Origin

Archaeologists think the Dresden Codex hails from the Yucatan region of the Mayan world. They also think it’s the oldest of the four known codices, and was crafted sometime between the 1200s and the 1300s AD. Thompson says it was made in 1200 AD to 1250 AD, while Satterthwaite says it can’t be earlier than 1345 AD, but another man – Everson – says it was sometime in the 1200s.

Beyond its creation date, the truth about other aspects of the codex is also under consideration. It’s possible the codex was created by four scribes, and these scribes may’ve been copying an older book from around 755 AD.

Travel To Europe

At some point, someone took the codex from the Maya and it ended up in Europe. It’s not entirely clear how the codex made it there. One theory says that the Dresden Codex’s trip across the Atlantic occurred in 1519, when Hernán Cortés gave it to Emperor Charles V.

However it got to Europe, in 1739 a man named D. Johann Christian Goetze bought the codex while he was in Vienna. Goetze was the head of the Royal Library in Dresden (a city once part of Saxony, now part of modern Germany), and the codex became part of the library’s collection.

The codex remained a book in the Royal Library, where the upper left corners of its pages were damaged by water during World War II, during the bombing of Dresden. A man named Yuri Knorzov (a Russian soldier who became a famous scholar of the Maya) took the codex.

Dimensions

This codex possesses 39 “pages”, which are about 3.5 inches wide and about 8 inches tall. In total, when unfolded the Dresden Codex is about 11.5 feet long. It is possible that it had more pages that are now lost.

Contents

What does the Dresden Codex contain in its pages? That is still a matter of debate. Though archaeologists believe that it contains eclipse and other planetary cycle information, the details are not always clear. Things they think the codex contains include ritual calendars and divinations based on the sun, Venus and the moon. It is also possible that Mars' cycle is included in the Dresden Codex.

References:

“The Ancient Maya”; Robert J. Sharer, Loa P. Traxler; 2006

"Maya Eclipses: Modern Astronomical Data, the Triple Tritos and the Double-Ztolkin"; William E. Beck, University of Central Florida; 2007

University of Arizona Libraries: Mayan Codex Facsimiles
 
Library of Congress: Exploring the Early Americas: Dresden Codex