The Principal Bird Deity

This is a censer stand from Guatemala 250 AD to 450 AD.
The face on it is the Principle Bird Deity's. From LACMA.

You can find it on the sarcophagus lid of Pakal, in the San Bartolo murals (on the West Wall) and other places. The Principal (or Principle) Bird Deity (or just the PBD) was a major god for a time in the ancient Maya civilization. Its heyday was the Preclassic Period and the Early Classic part of the Classic Period. The Maya connected this being with valuable things -- like jade -- as well as other things.

Features

Artists in the Classic Period tended to draw the Principal Bird Deity's face like this: its eyes (and its pupils) were square-shaped. Its face also has a "beak-snout." (Another description I came across says that the being has an upper lip that's long.) It was also popular to draw it with a beard that had jewels in it. (The Classic Period way of drawing this being's face is the same as the way that Classic Period Maya drew the face of a being called Ux Yop Huun -- also known as the Jester God. The ancient Maya saw a connection between these two beings, but archaeologists don't quite know what it was yet.)

Part of an image in the Met's

collection. The artifact dates 

to the 400s AD or to between 

350 AD and 550 AD. It has a two-

headed snake in its mouth. The 
two sources I found don't agree: only
one says it is the Principal Bird Deity.

As for its wings, sometimes the Maya drew things into them. One of these things was either snakes heads (from the side) or snake figures -- these are two separate descriptions, each from a different source. It may sound unusual to put snakes on wings, but the word for snake and sky are the same in Mayan writing, so it's possible that the snakes could actually represent the sky, in a way. Speaking of snakes, artists also liked to draw it having a snake in its mouth.

There are a number of important features that are related to its forehead and the top of its head. Its forehead has a mirror, and it may also have what's called an "ak'bal medallion." On top of its head, it may also have a shell ornament that's been carved -- it may have this and the medallion or just have either one. There are times where it wears a "ak'bal flower headdress," a headdress that Itzamná is commonly drawn wearing. 

There's a theory that this bird's appearance may have been based off of a real species of bird called the laughing falcon or guaco (Herpetotheres cachinnans.)

What It Was God Of

This jade figure (dated to the 200s AD to
500s AD) comes from Honduras is either of: 
a person impersonating the PBD, or a 
humanized version of the god. From the 
Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The ancient Maya thought of the Principal Bird Deity as connected with the valuable things that the earth had to offer -- two examples are quetzal feathers and either maize or maize fields (I've seen both mentioned.) 

However, the strongest connection the ancient Maya made with the Principal Bird Deity was jade: they thought it was a living version of the mineral. (Another valuable thing the ancient Maya connected with this being was water, including rain -- this was because the ancient Maya's connections with jade included water.)

Rulers

Another association this god had was with rulers. By connecting themselves with the god, rulers were connecting themselves with control of valuable items -- as well as control of the economy.

Detail from a rectangular, ceramic
box that comes from Guatemala
and dates to between 450 AD and
550 AD. From LACMA.

The Principal Bird Deity was one of the gods that rulers would impersonate with the intention of being possessed. The point was to talk with the Principal Bird Deity, to get it to do things for the people. (Speaking of rulers and the Principal Bird Deity, artifacts depicting this deity were popular as grave goods for rulers.) 

Rulers are also shown wearing a headdress made of the Principal Bird Deity. This headdress was worn as part of them taking the throne -- and was a tradition that lasted from the Preclassic Period to the Early Classic.

And, on a related note, from what's been seen of ancient Maya art, rulers liked to include quetzal feathers in their headdresses. Used this way, it's possible the feathers were meant to be a symbol of the Principal Bird Deity.

The Sun
The ancient Maya in the Preclassic Period tended to connect the Principal Bird Deity with the sun more so than the ancient Maya in the periods that came after. (There's also a view that says this only may been what happened.) 


Itzamná 
The ancient Maya thought the Principal Bird Deity was a form of Itzamná. (No one knows for sure if the connection between the Principal Bird Deity and Itzamná started in the Classic Period. There's an idea that wonders if the belief that it was a form of Itzamná replaced the belief that it was connected with the sun. ) 

Archaeologists have found evidence that there were times where the Principal Bird Deity delivered messages for Itzamná. The name for the Principal Bird Deity as a messenger could be Muut Itzamnaaj. This phrase means "Itzamnaaj Bird."

There are some artifacts that say the Principal Bird Deity's name is Itzam Yej. This name is seen as evidence that connects the Principal Bird Deity with Itzamná. 

There's a possibility that Itzamná (god D) is actually a mix of yet another god, Pauahtun (god N,) and the Principal Bird Deity.

Creation Story
Another myth about the Principal Bird Deity has him being punished, and that his punishment was part of what happened before the creation of people. The Tablet of the Cross (at the site of Palenque) has a version of this creation myth. The tablet says that Hun Ajaw, one of the Hero Twins, was the one who punished the Principal Bird Deity -- who was self-centered enough to think it was bright enough to be a sun. After it was punished it used the World Tree to get to the sky. After all this, the real sun was able to rise.

If you've read about the Popol Vuh, then you probably are reminded of Seven Macaw (Wuqub Kaqix or Vucub Caquix.) Sometimes you may come across descriptions of the Principal Bird Deity that say this god is Seven Macaw. However, there is also a view that these beings were not the same, on account of how much of time that had passed.

Consideration
The name Principal Bird Deity is also a term used for other bird beings. Not a lot is known about these beings.


References:
Google Books: "Art and Myth of the Ancient Maya"; Oswaldo Chinchilla Mazariegos"; 2017

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

Hampshire College: “Birds and Environmental Change in the Maya Area”; Peter Stuart; May 2015
(Automatically downloads  to your computer)

Google Books: "Maya Imagery, Architecture, and Activity: Space and Spatial Analysis in Art History"; Maline D. Werness-Rude, Kaylee R. Spencer (editors); 2015

LaGrange College: "Donning the Mask: Mayan Belief, Christianity and the Power of Syncretism"; Blakeley Coull; 2014

Leiden University: Leiden Repository "The Maya Ceramic Book of Creation: The Trials of the Popol Vuh Hero Twins Displayed on Classic Maya Polychrome Painted Pottery"; Laura Beukers; June 17, 2013

Mesoweb: Maya Archaeology Articles: "The Name of Paper: The Mythology of Crowning and Royal Nomenclature on Palenque’s Palace Tablet"; David Stuart; 2012

Google Books: "Spirit Possession and Exorcism: History, Psychology, and Neurobiology" volume 1 "Mental States and the Phenomenon of Possession"; Patrick McNamara; 2011

UC Riverside Electronic Theses and Dissertations: "A Study of Classic Maya Rulership"; Mark Alan Wright; January 1, 2011

MAYA VASE: "At the Court of Itzam Nah Yax Kokaj Mut: Preliminary Iconographic and Epigraphic Analysis of a Late Classic Vessel"; Erik Boot; October 30, 2008 

Google Books: "Ritual & Power in Stone: The Performance of Rulership in Mesoamerican Izapan Style Art"; Julia Guernsey; 2006

Google Books: "The Ancient Maya: New Perspectives"; Heather McKillop; 2004

Metropolitan Museum of Art: Deity Figure

Metropolitan Museum of Art: Deity Face Pendant

Mesoweb: Lords of Creation: Supernatural Patrons

Image Credits:
LACMA: Censer Stand Depicting Principal Bird Deity

Metropolitan Museum of Art: Double Chambered Vessel

Metropolitan Museum of Art: Deity Figure

LACMA: Carved Box with Deities

Scribes

This image of a Classic Period vessel (specifically dated to between
600 AD and 900 AD) shows a scribe holding a container of paint. It comes from the
Mexican state of Campeche. From Yale University Art Gallery.

Ah tz'ib (also spelled ah tz'ib and ah ts'ib) -- a translation of this is "he who writes or paints." It is one of the terms the ancient Maya used for scribes. Scribes worked different kinds of materials to make images as well as inscriptions. They used their artistic skills to express information, including the activities of their rulers.

Job as a Scribe

A page from the Madrid Codex.
From An Introduction to the Study
of the Maya Hieroglyphs.

Scribes made messages and pictures with materials like limestone and stucco as well as in codices. Scribes got to be kind of artistic when it came to which version of glyphs to pick. (Archaeologists have found artifacts that scribes put their names on -- signing them. There are also artifacts where the scribes put in their family history too!) 

A page from the Dresden Codex.
From An Introduction to the Study
of the Maya Hieroglyphs.

Part of being a scribe meant learning a lot of different things . Scribes learned the calendar system, social rituals, different kinds of art, math, scientific information, and history as well as religious rituals and myths. They learned the language used by elites: and this was the language they wrote in -- though there are times when they slip into other ancient Maya languages. (These slips are thought to have been slips into the scribes' native languages.)

In the Late Classic, archaeologists know there were ranks for scribes. (And scribes could even have more than one title.) One title with a lot of status was aj kuju'un (spelled other ways, including ah k'u hun.) One translation of this term is "he of the holy books" and could mean something like "royal librarian." Only really good scribes were given this title. Scribes who had this title may have had a lot of responsibility -- they may have done things like make treaties, train other scribes, keep track of tribute, watch over rituals, and do marriage negotiations. They may also have been astronomers.  (Another of the titles in the Late Classic was itz'at, ("sage," "wiseman.") It was title that gave a scribe a lot of status.)

In the Classic Period, scribes had another job too, which they shared with other royalty: the job of warrior.

Tools
Ancient Maya scribes made their ink wells out of conch shells, which they cut in half. As for what they drew with, they used pens made of quills for thin lines, and brushes for thicker lines. For stone, scribes, of course, used chisels, themselves made of stone. 

Appearance
In ancient Maya art, there are certain features that you can search for to see if a person in the image you're looking at is a scribe. One is if there is stylized "paper" with spots that go out from under their arm. (An example of this "paper" can be seen in the image at the top of the post.) Another is if they're holding an ink well.

When drawn, an aj kuju'un has certain clothing. One is a sarong that is tied around the waist. The other was a headdress that these images wore. This headdress has a "stick bundle" set in a knot that is tied at the forehead; one of two items would be set into the headdress: a waterlily or a tool used for writing. (You may see a description of this headdress given to scribes in general.)

Consideration: Place in Society
There's some disagreement about whether or not scribes belonged to the elite -- they either may have been or were part of the elite. One view says that their families were royal: if you were a son of a ruler, but you weren't the "crown prince," then you would be a scribe. (However, there were also rulers who were scribes.)

Speaking of society, you may be wondering: were there female scribes?  This seems to depend somewhat. There isn't strong evidence for it, goes one line of thought. Another says that, among the scribes who were rulers, there were female scribe-rulers.

Gods Connected to Scribes

This vessel dates from around 700 AD to 800 AD, and was
made in Mexico. This side shows a monkey scribe god. (The
other shows K'awiil, who you may see called god K. From Yale
University Art Gallery.

Scribes -- and other ancient Maya who had jobs connected to art -- had monkey gods who were patron gods. These gods were believed in in both the Classic Period as well as -- at least in the northern lowlands -- the Postclassic Period.

Other than the monkey gods, the young aspect of the Maize God is thought to have been a patron god of scribes. Itzamná (god D)  A scribe himself, he was connected to lots of things, including scribes -- and may be a patron god of scribes. 

Other gods connected to scribes were the Paddler Gods and Pauahutun (god N.) A god known as the Fox God may have been a patron of scribes as well, though it may be he was really a patron of sculptors.

References:
Google Books: "World Prehistory and Archaeology: Pathways Through"; Michael Chazan; 2018

Google Books: "Philosophy of the Ancient Maya: Lords of Time"; Alexus McLeod; 2018

Google Books: "Art and Myth of the Ancient Maya"; Oswaldo Chinchilla Mazariegos; 2017

University of Texas at Austin: SALSA: "The Scribe’s Hand Betrays His Tongue: Diglossia Among the Ancient Maya"; Mary Kate Kelly

Google Books: "Encyclopedia of the ancient Maya"; Walter R.T. Witschey (editor); 2016

Mesoweb: Ancient Cultures Institute: The PARI Journal 16, Volume 2; 2015; "The Maya Goddess of Painting, Writing, and Decorated Textiles"; Timothy W. Knowlton

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

Google Books: "The Technology of Maya Civilization: Political Economy and Beyond in Lithic Studies"; Zachary X Hruby, Geoffrey E. Brasswell, Oswaldo Chinchilla Mazariegos (editors); 2011

Digital Collections at Texas State University: "Maya Scribes who would be Kings: Shamanism, the Underworld, and Artistic Production in the Late Classic Period "; Barry B. Kidder; December 2009

Google Books: "Maya Calendar Origins: Monuments, Mythistory, and the Materialization of Time"; Prudence M. Rice; 2007

Google Books: "The Ancient Maya" sixth edition; Robert J. Sharer, Loa P. Traxler; 2006

University of Florida: "Mayan Writing"; Andrea M. Ranada
(Power Point that downloads.)

University of Maine Hudson Museum: The Underworld

Yale University Art Gallery: Vessel with Scribes

Image Credits:
Yale University Art Gallery: Vessel with Scribes

Yale University Art Gallery: Bowl with a Monkey Scribe and K’awiil, God of Lightning

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

Hematite

A sample of hematite. Credit goes to the Brigham Young University Geology
Department and Andrew Silver, the photographer.

An important iron ore, hematite (Fe2O3) is a mineral that is mostly metal and comes in more than one form (one of which is specularite/specular hematite.) For the ancient Maya, this mineral was useful as a coloring for different things, including in burials.

A sample of specular hematite. Courtesy US 
Geological Survey/photo by Scott Horvath.

Processing It
The ancient Maya turned hematite into powder -- then to paint with it, they added powder. Turning hematite into powder was not easy. Because it wasn't easy to make, hematite powder wasn't cheap, so it was easier to get if you were an elite Maya.

Uses
Hematite was one of the things that the ancient Maya inserted into their teeth as a fashion statement. (Another mineral they inserted into their teeth was jade.)

The ancient Maya used it as one of several pigments for coloring people's bodies or the cloth used as their shroud after those people had passed on. (The other was cinnabar, which is less easily found than hematite -- it's more dangerous as well, because part of its makeup is mercury. Sometimes the Maya used both.) How this was specifically done depended somewhat on the site. Elites were the ones who did had their bodies colored red most often. This was because they were able to afford it.

Other than for bodies of the dead, the ancient Maya used hematite to color things. They used it as paint for ceramics, murals, and cloth. They also used it as a red body paint for living people -- a known example of body painting is images where elites are painted different colors. (On a related note, at Joya de Cerén, a site in El Salvador, it was found that all the houses had a container of hematite pigment -- some had more than one.)

Hematite was also a material that the ancient Maya would use to make mirrors. (Based on what's been found in burials, the Maya in the highlands made mirrors more than the ones in the lowlands.)

Meaning
There's a theory that the ancient Maya thought of hematite as having a symbolic meaning. They may have thought of it as being like blood.

References:
Google Books: "cosntructing Power & Place in Mesoamerica: Pre-Hispanic Paintings from Three Regions"; Merideth Paxton, Leticia Staines Cicero (editors); 2017

Google Books: "Mortuary Landscapes of the Classic Maya: Rituals of Body and Soul"; Andrew K. Scherer; 2015

Google Books: "The Ancient Maya Marketplace: The Archaeology of Transient Space"; Eleanor M. King (editor); 2015

Google Books: "Death and the Classic Maya Kings"; James L. Fitzsimmons; 2009

Google Books: "Field Guide to Rocks & minerals of Southern Africa"; Bruce Cairncross; 2004

Image Credits:
USGS: ScienceBase - Catalog: Hematite

USGS: Specularite; Scott Horvath

The Milky Way

A composite of an image from the CIA World Factbook
and an image by Lian Law from the Joshua Tree National Park's Flickr.

The Milky Way Galaxy or the Milky Way for short, is our galaxy -- a "barred spiral" galaxy to be specific. When the night sky is dark enough, you see part of the Milky Way as a band of light, which people also call the Milky Way. To the ancient Maya, what was this band of light? So far it looks like it was a variety of things, from a supernatural road, symbol of the World Tree, and a crocodile-deer creature, to an aspect of the god Itzamná. Let's learn more.

The Starry Deer Crocodile
One of the "composite" beings that the ancient Maya would carve and draw was a being that you may see called the Starry Deer Crocodile. Among its notable features, this being was a crocodile except for its feet, which were deer hooves, and its ear, which was a deer ear. (Another one of its notable features was that its eyes had Venus/star signs.)

This being has connections to different things, including the Milky Way. There are a few ideas out there on the Starry Deer Crocodile -- one is that it was an aspect of another being called (among other names) the Cosmic Monster and was the Milky Way at night. 

Connection to the World Tree

There was a belief among the ancient Maya that the "World Tree" -- the tree that was the center of everything -- was a ceiba. (It went through all three levels of reality. It grew out of the underworld, Xibalbá, and up into the upperworld.) But in the ancient Maya's minds, they connected the World Tree with the Milky Way and used it as a symbol of the tree. 

Supernatural Road

It's possible that the ancient Maya thought that the Milky Way was a path on which people who had died traveled. This same theory thinks that the ancient Maya may have even had a travel-related term for death: och bih, which means "entering the road." However, it's still not clear.

There's a theory that the south and north sky-eagles represent the sky at night -- maybe the Milky Way too or some kind of path at night. A tomb that might be evidence that this theory is right is Tomb 12 at the site of Rio Azul. The tomb has four walls, and on every wall there is one of the four direction glyphs (north, west, south, and east.) The "south" sky-eagle has a star sign (ek') as part of it. The "north" sky-eagle has the sign for moon as part of it. The two of them might be referencing a path in the sky at night.

On a related note, the Popol Vuh, a religious text of the Quiché (also spelled K'iche',) one of the various groups of Maya today, says that a dark part of the Milky Way is the road to the underworld, Xibalbá. 

As an Aspect of Itzamná (God D)
To the ancient Maya, Itzamná (God D) was a god of different things, including foretelling the future and scribes, and was also a creator god. One of his aspects of the Milky Way.

References:
Google Books: "Philosophy of the Ancient Maya: Lords of Time"; Alexus McLeod; 2018

Google Books: "Astronomy in the Ancient World: Early and Modern Views on Celestial Events"; Alexus McLeod, Butler Burton (series editor); 2016

Google Books: "Mortuary Landscapes of the Classic Maya: Rituals of Body and Soul"; Andrew K. Scherer; 2015

Google Books: "Cosmology, Calendars, and Horizon Based Astronomy in Ancient Mesoamerica"; Anne S. Dowd, Susan Milbrath (editor); 2015

Google Books: "Astrology in Time and Place: Cross-Cultural Questions in the History of Astrology"; Nicholas Campion, Dorian Gieseler Greenbaum (editors); 2015

The University of Texas at Austin: Texas Scholar Works: University of Texas Libraries: "Sacrificing the Jaguar Baby : understanding a classic Maya myth on codex-style pottery"; Penny Steinbach; May 2015 (Click on the PDF icon for it to download.)

Google Books: "The Ashgate Research Companion to Monsters and the Monstrous"; Asa Simon Mittman, Peter J. Dendle (editors); 2013

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

The Free Dictionary: Bicephalic

The Free Dictionary: Milky Way

NASA: Imagine The Universe!: The Milky Way Galaxy

Image Credits:
CIA World Factbook: Mexico (image 12)

Flickr: Joshua Tree National Park: Night Sky InstaMeet 5.23.15; Lian Law

Codex-Style Vessels

The scene in this vessel shows different gods. Two of them are a god of rain and the god of corn -- the god of rain has broken part of a building, and this is letting the god of corn become alive again. From the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Codex-style vessels are ceramic vessels that come in different shapes and were painted in the same style as the four known ancient Maya codices, which were made in the Postclassic Period. (The term "codex-style" for the vessels comes from Michael D. Coe.) The vessels were made in the part of the Classic Period called the Late Classic. So far, most of the codex-style vessels archaeologists have found come from Guatemala’s Petén region, in the north-central part of it.

History

The gods that were painted on this codex-style
may be images of K'awiil (god K.) From the
Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Within the Late Classic, codex-style vessels were made around the start of the 700s AD – between 672 AD and 731 AD or 670 AD and 740 AD. They weren’t made for very long though – possibly around 50 years. They were made mostly or entirely in the Mirador Basin. The vessels may even have been made only at one site, Nakbé-- though there is another view that they were made in the area in and around Calakmul.

How many codex-style vessels have archaeologists come across? This seems to depend on the source. In her 2015 dissertation, Sacrificing the Jaguar Baby: Understanding a Classic Maya Myth on Codex-style Pottery, Penny Steinbach says that 350 to 400 of vessels with no missing parts have been found. This seems to be backed up by the site MayaVase, a site that shows, among other things, photographs of ancient Maya pottery. The site gives over 50 pages of results for codex-style pottery. (Archaeologists have found a lot of shards of codex-style vessels as well.)

This codex-style vessel has
a fluted outside. From LACMA.

There is something to consider when it comes to codex-style vessels: a lot of them are unprovenanced. The term “unprovenanced” means that they were not found at a site. Because these vessels pass through sellers, it is common for the paint to have been touched up (or even modified) – done in the hope they will be easier to sell.

General Design

Normally, codex-style vessels have glyphs and images painted in black on a cream, yellow, or beige background with a red line around the edge of the base and a red line around the rim. Thin gray paint was used to add shading. The painters liked to use a lot of curves for the images and glyphs they painted -- you may see their painting style described as being a type of calligraphy.

What the Maya Painted on the Vessels

A variety of images and glyphs were drawn on codex-style vessels. For example, one scene the Maya would paint is a scene of magic being used to make an old, male god appear. Another scene they would paint shows a sacrifice of a supernatural being called the Baby Jaguar. (There’s a theory that scenes on these vessels together make one myth. It’s also been theorized that some vessels show parts of the story also found in the Popol Vuh.)

Other than different kinds of images with glyphs, the ancient Maya who made codex-style vessels would paint large inscriptions about a line of rulers.

The scene painted here shows the scene of the Baby Jaguar being sacrificed. The right shows the death god (god A) or a death spirit, and the left shows either the or a rain god. From the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Consideration: The Glyphs

Speaking of glyphs, inscriptions on codex-style vessels have some strange features. It is common for glyphs on codex-style vessels to be “pseudo-glyphs,” which are glyphs that don’t mean anything. And when there is real writing, it’s only in the passive tense. (A comparison of passive and active in English: I threw the ball (active.) The ball was thrown by me (passive.)) Also, some less common glyphs are used.

Then, the dates. They don't make sense with the Maya calendar system. There are theories that try to explain this. One theory says that it’s because the dates are meant to be set in mythological times. Another says that a lot of codex-style vessels are probably just fakes.

Use

There are a number of theories about what codex-style vessels were used for. One theory says that they were tools for teaching ancient Maya boys about to become adults. Another of the theories says that they were political gifts sent from the ruler Calakmul – they were sent to less powerful rulers as part of making them loyal to Calakmul.

But what archaeologists have found for sure is that codex-style cylinder vessels were put in burials. They, like other types of pottery put in burials, may have been used before they were buried.

References:

The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History: "Ancient Maya Painted Ceramics";  James Doyle; April 2017

Maya Decipherment: Ideas on Ancient Maya Writing and Iconography: "The Universe in a Maya Plate"; James Doyle;  March 4, 2017

Google Books: "Encyclopedia of the Ancient Maya"; Walter R.T. Witschey; 2016

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

Google Books: "Mortuary Landscapes of the Classic Maya: Rituals of Body and Soul"; Andrew K. Scherer; 2015

The University of Texas at Austin: Texas Scholar Works: University of Texas Libraries: "Sacrificing the Jaguar Baby : understanding a classic Maya myth on codex-style pottery"; Penny Steinbach; May 2015 (Click on the PDF icon for it to download.)

Google Books: "Faking Ancient Mesoamerica"; Nancy L. Kelker, Karen O. Bruhns; 2010

The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Cylindrical Vessel

Image Credits:

The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Codex-Style Vase with Mythological Scene

The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Cylindrical Vessel

LACMA: Fluted Cylinder Vessel

The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Vessel, Mythological Scene

Constellations and the Ancient Maya

A photo taken at Arches
National Park.

Did the ancient Maya have constellations? It is believed they did – and the constellations may have been on the ecliptic, the route the sun "takes" annually. However, archaeologists still haven’t been able to figure out what ancient Maya constellations were exactly.

Constellation Evidence

One example of evidence that the ancient Maya had constellations is in their structures. Archaeologists have found that the Maya would build structures so that they lined up with a constellation during its cycle through the sky. For example, at Utatlan, they have found buildings that are lined up with Orion when it is “setting.” But evidence for ancient Maya constellations also seems to show up in ancient Maya art as well.

One example of what’s thought to be evidence for ancient Maya constellations is in the codices. For example, in the Paris codex, page 23 and 24 have drawings of animals, each biting an eclipse glyph. These are possible constellations. Each drawing has the number 168 next to it. ("168" might mean 168 days.) And it’s not just in the codices – images of groups of animals thought to be drawings of constellations have been found in buildings.

Examples of structures where you can find images groups of animals thought to represent constellations include the East Wing of the Nunnery at Chichen Itza, the Governor’s Palace at Uxmal, and at Acanceh’s Palace of the Stuccoes.

These groups of animals don’t all show the same animals, or the same number of animals. And, at least with the Paris Codex, there is some disagreement about which animals the ancient Maya were drawing.

Possible Identities

Two people who study ancient Maya astronomy, Victoria and Harvey Bricker, created a list of possible constellations, using the list in the Paris Codex’s animals. In this list they thought the constellations the ancient Maya may have had were:

• The Pleiades, drawn as a rattlesnake
• Aries, drawn as an ocelot
• Gemini, drawn as a bird they called a cox bird or bird 2
• Pisces, drawn as a skeleton
• Scorpio, drawn as a scorpion
• Aquarius, drawn as a bat
• Libra, drawn as an animal they called bird 1
• Sagittarius, drawn as a fish-snake
• Capricorn, drawn as an animal they called bird 3
• Virgo, drawn as an animal they couldn’t identify
• Orion, drawn as a turtle
• Leo:
• eastern stars: a peccary
• western stars: a frog

Outside this list, you'll find sources that say the ancient Maya saw the stars of Orion’s belt as a constellation. It seems there was more than one idea about this group of stars. It looks like one idea they had – at least at Quirigua and Palenque -- was that it was a group of hearthstones connected to creation. (They called it the “three-stone place.) Another idea was that it was a turtle.

Speaking of turtles, there’s another view about what constellation the ancient Maya saw in Gemini: a turtle. And that’s not the only other view: there’s another idea that says when the ancient Maya looked at Gemini, they saw a peccary.

As for the Pleiades, you may see it theorized that a rattlesnake's rattle was a symbol of the these stars. (On a related note, Diego de Landa's writings say that that's what the Maya he spoke with saw in the Pleiades. He also says that along with Gemini, the Pleiades was a constellation that the Maya he spoke with liked to keep track of the most.)

Zodiac

The ancient Maya may have had a zodiac as well as constellations. One theory says the Maya had a zodiac that had 13 constellations. This theory also says that each constellation was connected to a period of 28 days.

References:
Google Books: "Encyclopedia of the Ancient Maya"; Walter R.T. Witschey (editor); 2016

Mesoweb: "The PARI Journal" Volume XV; Winter 2015

Google Books: "Oxford Dictionary of Astronomy", second edition; Ian Ridpath; 2012

Google Books: "Exploring Ancient Skies: A Survey of Ancient and Cultural Astronomy" second edition; David H. Kelley, Eugene F. Milone; 2011

Google Books: "2000 Years of Mayan Literature"; Dennis Tedlock; 2010

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

Google Books: "The Ancient Maya" sixth edition; Robert J. Sharer, Loa P. Traxler; 2006

Google Books: "The Ancient Maya: New Perspectives"; Heather McKillop; 2004

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

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

Vail, Gabrielle, and Christine Hernández 

2018   The Maya Codices Database, Version 5.0.

(Link goes to what the site calls: Paris Codex: 23-24 Frame: 1)

Image Credits:
NPS/William Pedro

Atole -- Ancient Maya Drinks

The glyphs for ul ("u" and "lu.") A picture glyph for ul
hasn't been found yet.

Atole (ah-TOE-lay) is one of the varieties of drinks that we know the ancient Maya (and the Maya today) drank.) The two ingredients you absolutely need to make it are cooked corn that's been ground up and water – but other ingredients can also be put into it. (The True History of Chocolate says it is made with corn that is "young.") You may see it called gruel.

The Basic Name

Our name for the drink, “atole,” does not come from any Mayan language. Atole (ah-TOH-lay) comes from an Nahuatl (the language of the Aztecs) word ātolli (which is an altered form of ātl, which means “water.”) This is the word that the Spanish used when they saw the ancient Maya's versions of corn drinks.

What did the Maya, or at least the elite Maya, call atole? Well, there are vessels that were used for atole, and from these archaeologists have found two words: ul (which you may see spelled ‘ul, with a glottal stop) and sa’. One theory thinks it’s possible that sa’ was a word for all types of atole. It’s also possible that ul was a word used for the special kinds of atole that elites drank for special times.

On something of a related note, atole shows up on the captioned murals at Calakmul’s North Plaza. A woman pouring a cup of atole for a customer has a caption: aj ul. This phrase has been translated as “atole person” and seems to be a title for an atole seller.

Types

The glyphs for sakha'.

One type of atole that has been found is kakawal ul, a translation of which is “chocolatey atole.” Some other types that have been found include k'an atole or "ripe atole" and ch'aj ul or "bitter atole." Ch'aj ul may be a drink where parched corn that's been powdered has been mixed with water. There’s also sa’al kakaw, which may be a cacao drink that some basic atole mixed into it or a cacao drink that had a texture like atole – or both. 

Yet another of the different types of atole the ancient Maya had was used for religious purposes. This type of atole had the name sak ha’ (also spelled sakha,) which means “white water.” According to The True History of Chocolate, the ancient Maya made it by mixing together water and fully ripe corn that had been cooked and ground -- but hadn't been treated with the mineral lime. (The treatment is called nixtamalization.) 

Consideration: Atole Vessels

Archaeologists have found a lot of bowls that have inscriptions that include the ul word for atole. These bowls are not deep, and they have walls that are first straight then lean outwards a little bit higher up. This isn’t the only type of atole vessel, but it is a common one.

References:

Google Books: The True History of Chocolate"; Sophie D. Coe, Michael D. Coe; 2013

Google Books: "Pre-Columbian Foodways: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Food, Culture, and Markets in Ancient Mesoamerica"; John Staller, Michael Carrasco (editors); 2010

The Free Dictionary: Atole

Image Credits:

Author's drawings based off of:

Mesoweb: Maya Archaeology Reports: "Hieroglyphs from the Painted Pyramid: The EpigraphyofChiikNahb StructureSub1-4,Calakmul,Mexico"; Simon Martin; 2012 (for "atole")

Google Books: "Pre-Columbian Foodways: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Food, Culture, and Markets in Ancient Mesoamerica"; John Staller, Michael Carrasco (editors); 2010 (for "sak ha'")