Maya civilization
A Mayan Glossary
- Ahau
- The Maya word for "god" and for "high king".
- Ah kin
- A high priest.
- Atl-atl
- Spear-throwing device.
- Bacab
- A class of important gods.
- Balam (pl. Balamob)
- Jaguar spirit. There are traditionally four of these, which watch to
keep evil away from Maya villages and householders, even today. The balamob
were benevolent but feared, and acted as guardians of the corn fields.
- Balché
- A strong wine.
- Cenote
- A natural waterhole. Cenote is a corruption by the Spanish
of the Maya word dzonot, a large circular sink-hole created by
the collapse of limestone caves. The water in cenotes is filtered through
limestone and constituted one of the primary sources of drinking water
for the Maya. Patterns of settlement among the early Maya often followed
the location of cenotes.
- Chicle
- The juice of the sapodilla tree, used in the making of chewing gum.
- Chilan
- A soothsayer or medium.
- Chultun (pl. Chultunob)
- A bottle-shaped cistern constructed underground by the Maya. The entrances
to these were surrounded by plastered aprons which directed rainwater into
the chultunob during the rainy seasons.
- Corte
- Indian woman's traditional full-length skirt.
- Haab
- One of the three Maya calendars, and the one which corresponds most
closely to ours in length. The haab is also known as the "Vague
Year" by archaeologists, since it is 365 days in length, or about
a quarter day short of the actual solar year.
- Halach Uinic
- Literally, "the chief of men" - a leader or king.
- Huipel
- A traditional Maya wraparound, woven cotton dress, worn leaving the
shoulders bare.
- Lacandón
- A region of rain forest between the Petén and the eastern slopes
of the Chiapas highlands. Also refers to the
Maya people who inhabit this region.
- K'awil
- Sustenance or alms, used as an offering to the gods. It could be any
precious substance, such as blood, semen, sap, maize, dough, gum from trees,
rubber, and so on. The god of sustenance is named
K'awil.
- Ladino
- A person of mixed Maya-Spanish race.
- Manta
- A square of cloth, used as a cloak or blanket; still worn by the Maya
today.
- Maya
- The Maya originated around 2600 B.C. and rose to prominence around
A.D. 250 in present-day Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador.
Inheriting the inventions and ideas of earlier civilizations, the Maya
developed astronomy, calendrical systems, hieroglyphic writing, ceremonial
architecture, and masonry without metal tools. Maya civilization started
to decline around A.D. 900, although some peripheral centres continued
to thrive until the Spanish conquest in the early sixteenth century.
- Mayan
- The language group of the Maya peoples, composed of 31 mutually unintelligible
languages. (The term should be reserved for Mayan languages.
The word "Maya" should be used for the name of the people, either
as a noun or an adjective.)
-
- Mesoamerica
- An ethno-geographical area in Central America, which included Guatemala,
Belize, the northwestern edges of Honduras and El Salvador, and the Mexican
provinces of Yucatán, Quintana Roo, Campeche and part of Tabasco.
- Milpa
- A cornfield.
- Nacom
- A Maya military commander.
- Olmec
- A highly elaborate Mesoamerican culture on the Mexican gulf coast which
was at its height from 1200 to 600 B.C. The Olmec influenced the rise and
development of the other great civilizations of Mesoamerica, such as the
Maya, and were probably the first to develop large religious and ceremonial
centres with temple mounds, monumental sculptures, massive altars, and
sophisticated systems of drains and lagoons. The Olmec were probably also
the first Mesoamericans to devise glyph writing and the 260-day calendar.
- Petén
- The northern portion of Guatemala. Covered for the most part by rain
forest, Petén was the centre of Classic Maya civilization until
its collapse, after which the area was largely abandoned.
- Pok-a-tok
- A Maya ball game.
- Pom
- The resin of the copal tree, used by the Maya for rubber, chewing gum
and incense.
- Quetzal
- A rare Central American bird. It was prized by the Maya kings for its
brilliant blue-green feathers. The male bird has a tail close to 60 cm.
long. Today this bird is nearing extinction.
- Sacbe
- Literally, "white road"; a Maya stone causeway linking Maya
buildings and settlements.
- Tecomates
- Thin-walled neckless jars used by archaeologists to date Maya sites.
- Toltec
- The Toltecs ruled much of Maya central Mexico from the tenth to twelfth
centuries A.D. The Toltecs were the last dominant Mesoamerican culture
before the Aztecs, and inherited much from Maya civilization. The Toltec
capital was at Tula, 80 kilometres north of Mexico City. The most impressive
Toltec ruins, however, are at Chichén Itzá in Yucatán,
where a branch of Toltec culture survived beyond the civilization's fall
in central Mexico.
- Tzolkin
- The 260-day Maya calendar, also known as the "Sacred Round".
- Uayeb
- The five unlucky days in the 365-day haab calendar of the
Maya.
- Witz
- The first mountain in the Maya creation story. Temples are representations
of Witz.
- Xibalbá
- The Maya underworld where people go when they die.
- Yucatán
- The homeland of the first Maya; from here, they spread to Guatemala,
Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, and other provinces of Mexico. Yucatán
was called the "Land of Turkey and Deer" by the Maya, because
of the abundance of edible wildlife found there.
The Maya Pantheon First
Mother and First FatherThe First Mother and First Father are the
Creator Couple described in the Popol Vuh. All the other gods who
subsequently came into being were the offspring of this couple. The First
Mother, the Moon Goddess, was born six years before the First Father, Hun
Nal Ye. Also known as the Maize God and the Plumed or Feathered Serpent,
the First Father was responsible for overseeing the new creation of the
cosmos. Hunahpu and XbalanqueThese Hero Twins overcame
the forces of death, paving the way for the conception of humans. They are
usually shown wearing red and white cloth headbands, a symbol of Maya rulership.
The face of Hunahpu serves as a glyph for the day name ahau, meaning
king. The Patrons of WritingThe Hero Twins had two older
brothers who were jealous of the twins and did everything they could to
make their younger brothers' lives difficult. The Hero Twins changed their
brothers into monkeys and they became the patron gods of scribes. The Maize GodLike the Sun God, the Maize
God is associated with life and death. He follows the path across the sky,
descends into the Underworld, is reborn, and returns to the Sky World. The
flattened and elongated forehead of this deity is often accentuated by a
partly shaven head and eyebrows, leaving patches of hair on the top of his
head, which resembles a ripened ear of corn. The Maya elite practised changing
the shape of their offsprings' skulls to resemble the Maize God's elongated
head by tying two boards front and back against the infant's head.
Itzam-Yeh: the Celestial Bird
Also known as the Serpent Bird and Seven-Macaw, Itzam-Yeh is associated
with the four corners of the world. He also marked the four corners of the
temple, thereby establishing the sacred mountain's summit. Itzamná:
Lord of the HeavensItzamná, or "Lizard House",
is a high-ranking god who was the first shaman and diviner; the word itz
can mean shaman, a person who could open the portals to the spirit world.
The Maya elite considered him an ancient form of the omnipotent, supreme
deity. Kings and shamans contacted Itzamná to plead with him to open
the way so sacred nourishment would flow into the world to sustain humanity.
He is also the inventor of writing and the patron of learning and the sciences.
K'awil: the god of sustenanceK'awil
is associated with royal power, which originates with the gods. He often
appears on sceptres clasped by rulers during ritual ceremonies and when
they ascend to the throne. The Jaguar Sun GodAlmighty God
the Sun dwells in the highest levels of heaven. When he traces the path
of the sun across the sky in the daytime, his name is Kinich Ahau. When
the sun falls into the West Door and enters the Underworld, he becomes the
fearsome Jaguar God. Ix Chel: Lady RainbowWife
to the high god Itzamná, she oversees weaving, medicine, and childbirth.
Like the First Mother, she is a moon goddess, who is depicted sitting in
a moon sign holding a rabbit. Chac: the Rain
God and Cosmic MonsterChac is a dragon-like monster with a crocodilian
head and deer ears. Since he exists on the perimeter of the cosmos, this
cosmic monster marks the path between the natural and supernatural worlds.
In the creation story, Chacs were placed at the four corners of the world.
They bring the rains by shedding their blood; they create thunderbolts by
hurling down their stone axes. Chac was also the name given to
Maya elders who assisted at ceremonies and sacrifices. The Lords
of DeathMany Maya gods dwell in the Underworld. The Lords of Death
are depicted as skeleton people or ugly bloated beings wearing ornaments
such as disembodied eyes taken from the dead. The
Witz monsterThe Witz monster is the symbol of the living mountain.
Images of this creature were placed on temples to transform them into sacred,
living mountains. He is depicted with a zoomorphic face, a huge gaping mouth,
and a stepped cleft in the centre of his forehead. The open mouth became
the entry into the mountain. Other
Maya gods and spirits
Created: June 7, 1995. Last
update: April 22, 1997