Like other Mesoamerican peoples, the traditional Mayas recognize in the maize a vital force with which they strongly identify. This is reflected in their mythological traditions. According to the Popol Vuh, man himself was created from maize. The discovery and opening of the Maize Mountain, the place where the corn seeds were hidden, is one of the most popular of Mayan tales. The cultural areas of Mesoamerica Mesoamerica or Meso-America (Spanish: Mesoamérica) was a geographical culture area extending from central Honduras and northwestern Costa Rica on the south, and, in Mexico, from the Soto la Marina River in Tamaulipas and the Rio Fuerte in Sinaloa on the north. ... 74. ... “Corn” redirects here. ... The Popol Vuh (Quiché for Council Book or Book of the Community; Popol Wuj in modern spelling) is the book of scripture of the Quiché, a kingdom of the post classic Maya civilization in highland Guatemala. ...

Female and Male Maize Deities

In 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. A male maize deity (labeled God E) is present in the three extant Maya books of undisputed authenticity. The Classic period distinguished two male forms: A Foliated and a Tonsured Maize God (K. Taube). The Foliated Maize God is present in the so-called Maize Tree (Temple of the Foliated Cross, Palenque), its cobs being shaped like the deity's head. Often, the Tonsured Maize God is shown as a ceremonial dancer carrying a specific 'totemic' animal in his backrack. Paradoxically, the ritual representative of the Tonsured Maize God on stelas 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. The Palace, Ruins of Palenque Palenque is a Maya archeological site near the Usumacinta River in the Mexican state of Chiapas, located at about 130 km south of Ciudad del Carmen (see map). ...

The Tonsured Cacao God

The Tonsured Maize God personified precious substances: maize, jade, and also cacao. Although the Popol Vuh has Xquic imploring a 'Cacao Woman', in Classical Mayan iconography the Tonsured Maize God doubles as a male Tonsured Cacao God, with cacao pods growing from his body. More directly, his body can be shown as a tree, with his head then representing the cacao pod growing on its stem. A Classical Mayan vase shows a trophy head suspended in such a personified cacao tree, perhaps to foster the tree's productivity. Binomial name Theobroma cacao L. Cacao (Theobroma cacao) is a small (4–8 m tall) evergreen tree in the family Sterculiaceae (alternatively Malvaceae), native to tropical Mexico, but now cultivated throughout the tropics. ...

Classic Maya Maize Mythology

Many Classic Maya vase paintings testify to the existence of a rich maize mythology centered on the Tonsured Maize God, including his resurrection from the carapace of a turtle (the 'tomb' of the earth). The murals of San Bartolo demonstrate the great antiquity of this tradition. An influential theory makes the resurrected Tonsured Maize God of the Classic Period correspond to the father of the Hero Twins in the Popol Vuh, Hun-Hunahpu. Whatever the truth of this, it must be assumed that, together with the Maya Hero Twins (and also, in certain traditions, the Howler Monkey Gods), the maize deity helped to give the world its present appearance. Such a transformative process is described in an important maize myth shared by many ethnic groups (such as Huaxtecs, Nahuas and Totonacs) inhabiting Mexico's Gulf Coast. Especially the fact that the myth establishes an intimate connection between maize deity and turtle suggests that the Classical Mayas participated in this narrative tradition. San Bartolo is a site of the ancient Maya civilization. ... Maya mythology refers to the pre-Columbian Maya civilizations extensive polytheistic religious beliefs. ... The Hero Twins feature prominently in Maya mythology. ... The howler monkey god was a major deity of the arts and the patron of the artisans among the Classic Mayas, especially of the scribes and sculptors. ...

Names and Calendrical Functions

As to the hieroglyphical name of the Tonsured Maize God, various suggestions have been made, of which 'Hun-Nal-Ye' is probably the most popular one. In a speculative context, the Tonsured Maize God (again equated with Hun-Hunahpu) is often nicknamed 'First Father'. The work of the Tonsured Maize God as a culture hero 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). The traditional Mayas generally assume the moon to be female, and the moons phases are accordingly conceived as the stages of a womans life. ...

References

• Bierhorst, John (2002). The Mythology of Mexico and Central America. Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 0-195-14621-2. 

• Chinchilla Mazariegos, Oswaldo (2003). Los dioses del Popol Vuh en el arte maya clásico = Gods of the Popol Vuh in classic Maya art. Guatemala: Museo Popol Vuh, Universidad Francisco Marroquín. 

• Miller, Mary; and Karl Taube (1993). The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya. London: Thames and Hudson. ISBN 0-500-05068-6. 

• Quenon, Michel; and Genevieve Le Fort (1997). "Rebirth and Resurrection in Maize God Iconography", in in Justin Kerr (ed.): The Maya Vase Book Vol. 5: A Corpus of Rollout Photographs of Maya Vases. New York: Kerr and Associates, pp.884-902. ISBN 0-962-42084-0. 

• Taube, Karl (1985). "The Classic Maya Maize God: A Reappraisal" (PDF). Virginia M. Fields (volume ed.), Merle Greene Robertson (general ed.) Fifth Palenque Round Table, 1983, Online publication:November 2003, Monterey, CA: Pre-Columbian Art Research Institute. Retrieved on 2007-01-11. 

• Taube, Karl [1993] (1997). Aztec and Maya Myths (The Legendary Past). Austin: University of Texas Press. ISBN 0-292-78130-X. 

• Tedlock, Dennis (trans.) (1985). Popol Vuh: the Definitive Edition of the Mayan Book of the Dawn of Life and the Glories of Gods and Kings. New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0-671-45241-X.