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BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



I BILL. 57 



FiG.o. EkAhau, 

 the Black Cap- 

 tain, war deity 

 (note his name 

 glyph, below). 



with a spear or an ax. It was said of him that he was a very great 

 and very cruel warrior, who commanded a band of seven black- 

 amoors like himself. He is characterized by his black color, his 

 drooping lower li}), and the two curved Imes at the right of his eye. 

 His hieroglyph is a black eye (fig. 5). 



Contrasted with these gods of death, violence, and de- 

 struction was the Maize God, Yum Kaax, Lord of the 

 Harvest Fields Cfig. 6). Here we have one of the most 

 important figures m the whole Maya pantheon, the god 

 of husbandry and the fruits of the earth, of fertility and 

 l^rosperity, of growth and plenty. The Maize God was 

 as well disposed toward mankind as Ahpuch and his 

 companions were unpropitious. In many of the pic- 

 ture-writmgs Yum Kaax is represented as engaged in 

 agricultural pursuits. He is portrayed as having for 

 his head-dress a sprouting ear of corn surrounded by 

 leaves, symbolic of growth, for which he stands. Even 

 the hieroglyph of this deity (fig. 6) embodies the same 

 idea, the god's head merging into the conventionalized ear of corn 

 surrounded by leaves. 



Another important deity about whom little or nothing is known 

 was Xaman Ek, the North Star. He is spoken of as the "guide of 

 the merchants," and in keeping with that character is associated in 

 the picture-writings with symbols of peace and plenty. 

 His one characteristic seems to be his curious head, 

 which also serves as his name hieroglyph (fig. 7). 



Other Maya deities were: Ixchel, the Rainbow, 

 consort of Itzamna and goddess of childbirth and 

 medicine; Ixtab, patroness of hunting and hanging; 

 Ixtubtun, protectress of jade cutters; Ixchebelyax, 

 the inventress of painting and color designing as ap- 

 plied to fabrics. 



Although the deities above described represent only 

 a small fraction of the Maya pantheon, they mclude, 

 beyond all doubt, its most important members, the 

 truly great, who held the powers of life and death, 

 peace and war, plenty and famine — who were, in short, the arbiters 

 of human destiny. 



The Maya conceived the earth to be a cube, which supported the 

 celestial vase resting on its four legs, the four cardinal points. Out 

 of this grew the Tree of Life, the flowers of which were the immortal 

 principle of man, the soul. Above himg heavy clouds, the fructi- 

 fying waters upon which all growth and life depend. Tlie religion 

 was dualistic in spirit, a constant struggle between the powers of 



Fig. 6. Yum Kaax, 

 Lord of the Har- 

 vest ( note his name 

 glyph, below). 



