Maya creation myths : words and worlds of the Chilam Balam / Timothy W. Knowlton.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Knowlton, Timothy W.

Series:

Mesoamerican worlds.

Mesoamerican worlds : from the Olmecs to the Danzantes

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Chilam Balam de Chumayel (Manuscript).

Maya mythology.

Maya cosmology.

Creation.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (248 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Boulder, CO : University Press of Colorado, c2010.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

There is no Classical Yucatecan Maya word for "myth." But around the close of the seventeenth century, an anonymous Maya scribe penned what he called u kahlay cab tu kinil, "the world history of the era, " before Christianity came to the Peten. He collected numerous accounts of the cyclical destruction and reestablishment of the cosmos; the origins of gods, human beings, and the rituals and activities upon which their relationship depends; and finally the dawn of the sun and the sacred calendar Maya diviners still use today to make sense of humanity's place in the otherwise inscrutable march of time. These creation myths eventually became part of the documents known today as the Books of Chilam Balam. Maya Creation Myths provides not only new and outstanding translations of these myths but also an interpretive journey through these often misunderstood texts, providing insight into Maya cosmology and how Maya intellectuals met the challenge of the European clergy's attempts to eradicate their worldviews. Unlike many scholars who focus primarily on traces of pre-Hispanic culture or Christian influence within the Books of Chilam Balam, Knowlton emphasizes the diversity of Maya mythic traditions and the uniquely Maya discursive strategies that emerged in the Colonial period. This book will be of significant interest to Maya scholars, folklorists, and historians, as well as students and scholars of religion, cosmology, and anthropology.

Contents:

Aspects of ancient Maya intellectual culture

Clandestine compilations and the colonial dialogue

Creation and apocalypse : the Katun 11 Ahau myth

Theogony, cosmology, and language in the ritual of the angels

The creation of the first people and the origin of suffering

The calendar and the catechism

"In whatever way it is chronicled".

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781607320210

1607320215

OCLC:

692327524