The Yucatecan Books of Chilam Balam, which comprise the Chumayel, Tizimin, Mani and others, are notoriously difficult to translate and interpret because of archaic or obsolete words in the Mayan language, esoteric references – the meanings of which are now lost, and the sometimes unintelligible (to us at least) mixture of Spanish and Latin words scattered throughout the Mayan […]
Continue ReadingThe Books of Chilam Balam are indigenous Maya chronicles written in northern Yucatan during the century or so following the Spanish Conquest. The surviving texts we have are copies of the originals to which religious and historical material has probably been added. There are ten or twelve, some in a fragmentary state, others apparently complete. Among the […]
Continue ReadingIt is generally assumed that the idea of other universes is the unique product of “post-modern” thinking based on the Theory of Relativity and quantum mechanics. But the ancient Aztecs and Maya probably got there first. In Part One, we looked at the concept of previous Ages or Worlds in various civilizations around the globe, […]
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The tribute payable is: 2 strings of beads of jadeite, a green semi-precious stone a total of 4,000 handfuls of colored feathers 160 skins of the bird with a blue plumage 2 labrets (lip piercings) of amber encased in gold 40 skins of jaguar 200 loads of cacao beans, the main ingredient of chocolate 800 tecomates (cups […]
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In Historia de la Literature Nahuatl (Mexico, D.F. 1971), the late Mexican scholar A. Garibay included a chapter entitled “Poesía Épica” (Epic Poetry) in which he gave a list of texts in Nahuatl (Classical Aztec) that he believed represented authentic Mesoamerican epic poetry and saga. Garibay was attacked on the grounds that he attempted to make the […]
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How do we really know what happened in ancient Mexico before the arrival of the Spaniards and the introduction of writing? Many articles and books have been written on the history of ancient Mexico from Prescott’s popular but biased Conquest of Mexico in 1521, to innumerable studies of the Aztecs, the Maya, and other indigenous folk in scholarly […]
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I collect old books. There’s no more fun for me than to forage through secondhand bookstores, digging up the weird and wonderful, ’50s crime pulp and science fiction, 19th century poetry tomes, books on travel and adventure. In some of those cities where I’ve lived or spent time – Amsterdam, London, Melbourne, Stockholm, Tel Aviv […]
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Will the world really end in 2012? Is the ancient Maya prophecy true? What exactly is supposed to occur on December 21, 2012? Does the Maya calendar really predict a cataclysmic event on that date? People are talking about it, books have been written about it, and some folks — believing it — have contemplated […]
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Located in the southwestern portion of the Yucatán Peninsula along the Gulf of Mexico, the State of Campeche was named after the ancient Maya Kingdom of Ah Kin Pech (Canpech). Campeche is bounded on the north and northeast by the State of Yucatán, on the east by the State of Quintana Roo, on the southeast […]
Continue ReadingThe most extensive documentation for the native historical tradition in Mesoamerica comes from the Valley of Mexico and surrounding area. This is hardly surprising, for the main thrust of the Spanish Conquest was aimed at the Aztec empire and its capital of Mexico-Tenochtitlán. Other conquests followed in the Petén and Guatemala, but the spectacular Conquest […]
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