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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 Maya Civilization in Guatemala . OVERVIEW The book begins with the Maya Civilization 's Creation Myth followed by the stories of the Maya Hero Twins Hunahpu (''Junajpu'') and Xbalanque (''Xb‘alanke'') who are prominent figures of Maya Mythology . The book continues with details of the foundation and history of the Quiché kingdom, tying in the royal family with the legendary gods in order to assert rule by Divine Right . Here are the opening lines of the book, in modernized spelling and punctuation (from Sam Colop 's edition): Are uxe‘ ojer tzij : ''waral K‘iche‘ ub‘i‘.'' Waral : ''xchiqatz‘ib‘aj wi'' : ''xchiqatikib‘a‘ wi ojer tzij,'' utikarib‘al uxe‘nab‘al puch rnojel xb‘an pa : ''tinamit K‘iche‘'' : ''ramaq‘ K‘iche‘ winaq.'' :"This is the root of the ancient word : of this place called Quiché. :Here : we shall write, : we shall plant the ancient word, :the origin :the beginning of all what has been done in the : Quiché Nation : country of the Quiché people." Here is the opening of the creation story: Are utzijoxik wa‘e k‘a katz‘ininoq, k‘a kachamamoq, : ''katz‘inonik,'' k‘a kasilanik, k‘a kalolinik, : ''katolona puch upa kaj.'' :"This is the account of how :all was in suspense, :all calm, : in silence; :all motionless, :all pulsating, : and empty was the expanse of the sky." CREATION MYTH The book begins with the creation myth of the Maya, which credits the creation of humans to the three water dwelling feathered serpents: :There was only immobility and silence in the darkness, in the night. Only the Creator, the Maker, Tepeu, Gucumatz, the Forefathers, were in the water surrounded with light. They were hidden under green and blue feathers, and were therefore called Gucumatz... and to the three other dieties, collectively called "Heart of Heaven": :Then while they meditated, it became clear to them that when dawn would break, man must appear. Then they planned the creation, and the growth of the trees and the thickets and the birth of life and the creation of man. Thus it was arranged in the darkness and in the night by the Heart of Heaven who is called Huracán. The first is called Caculhá Huracán. The second is ChipiCaculhá. The third is Raxa-Caculhá. And these three are the Heart of Heaven. who together attempted to create human beings to keep him company. Their first attempts proved unsuccessful, and in one case they created wooden creatures that could speak but had no soul or blood and quickly forgot him. Angered over the flaws in his creation, they destroyed them with floods, a method reminiscent of the Epic Of Gilgamesh and the Biblical story of Noah's Ark . In his final attempt, the “True People” were constructed with Maize . The following is an excerpt of this myth: :They came together in darkness to think and reflect. This is how they came to decide on the right material for the creation of man. ... Then our Makers Tepew and Q'uk'umatz began discussing the creation of our first mother and father. Their flesh was made of white and yellow corn. The arms and legs of the four men were made of corn meal. HISTORY OF THE BOOK The best known and most complete manuscript of the ''Popul Vuh'' is in the Quiché Maya language. After the Spanish conquest of Guatemala , the usage of Maya script was forbidden and Latin Alphabet was taught instead. However, some Maya priests and clerks clandestinely made copies of older Hieroglyphic books, but using Latin letters, painting them on deerskin or fig bark and hiding them in the mountains. One of these was discovered about 1702 by a priest named Francisco Ximénez in the Guatemalan town of Chichicastenango , and rather than burning it Father Ximénez made a copy of it, and added a translation into Spanish. This copy found its way into a neglected corner of the Universidad De San Carlos library in Guatemala City , where it was discovered by Abbé Brasseur De Bourbourg and Carl Scherzer in 1854 . They published French and Spanish translations a few years later, the first of many translations that have kept the ''Popul Vuh'' in print ever since. The text of the Ximénez manuscript contains what some scholars believe are mistakes based on exact transliteration of an earlier hieroglyphic text, a proof that the ''Popol Vuh'' is based on a copy of a much earlier text. However, there were clearly additions and modifications to the text in Spanish Colonial times, most notably the Spanish governors of Guatemala are mentioned as the successors of earlier Maya rulers. The manuscript is now in the Newberry Library in Chicago . TODAY The Popol Vuh continues to be an important part in the belief system of many Quiché. Although most are now Catholic, they continue to blend Christian and indigenous beliefs. The original text is seen as difficult to understand, and a simplified version, ''Popol Vuh: A Sacred Book of the Maya'', has now been published in English and Spanish , targeted towards adult and children who are unfamiliar with the Maya. OTHER SOURCES Pre-Columbian Maya Funeral Pottery often contains sections of text from the ''Popul Vuh'' in Hieroglyph s, and illustrations of scenes from the legends. Some stories from the ''Popul Vuh'' continued to be told by modern Maya as folk legends; some stories recorded by Anthropologist s in the 20th Century may preserve portions of the ancient tales in greater detail than the Ximénez manuscript. REFERENCES
EXTERNAL LINKS
An In-Depth Examination of the Popol Vuh
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