A MAYA ACCOUNT OF THE CREATION

Abstract

AS creation myths are always of more than ordinary interest I wish to draw attention to the following account of the creation of the world according to the conception of the Maya Indians of Yucatan. It is found on plates 6o, 61 and 62 of the Book of Chilam Balam of Chumayel (University of Pennsylvania. The Museum. Anthropological Publications, vol. v). This book dates only from the latter half of the eighteenth century but it is a compilation of extracts from earlier Maya books which were also probably known as Books of Chilam Balam. It contains several historical accounts of the periods both before and after the Spanish conquest of Yucatan, a great many prophecies and a number of mythological stories. Three of these historical accounts and several of the prophecies together with translations appear in Brinton's Maya Chronicles and a number of the prophecies are to be found in various histories of Yucatan, but only one of the mythological stories has been published and translated as far as I know. This is the contribution of D. Juan Martinez y Hernandez to the International Congress of Americanists of 1912 and is entitled La Creaci6n del Mundo segun los mayas. Paiginas ineditas del M.S. de Chumayel. In this paper he has translated a passage from the manuscript which is to be found on plates 42, 43 and 44 of the University of the Pennsylvania reproduction and although, as the title indicates, this is a creation story, it does not resemble the one which follows. Christian influence has affected the form of the following account to some extent but not the content and the most interesting feature is the apparent reference to the event pictured on page 74 of the Dresden Codex. It would seem certain that sooner or later some parallel passages must be found to occur in the Books of Chilam Balam and the Maya picture manuscripts. 360