THE MAYAN < 1 \ I 1.1/ \ I'loN 93 



Bed with [tzamna. According to Spanish writers 

 [tzamna was regarded by the Mayas as the creator and 

 father of all, the inventor of writ ing, the founder of the 

 Mayan civilization, and the god of lighl and life. This 



Zeus of the Mayas is represented in the form of an old 

 man with a high forehead, a strongly aquiline nose, and 

 a distended month, toothless or with a single enlarged 

 tootli in front. On the ancient monuments he is fre- 

 quently seen in the months of the Ceremonial Bar and 

 also in association with the sun, moon, and the planet 

 Venus. In the codices he is shown as a protector of the 

 Maize God and in other acts beneficial to man. There 

 is. however, a malevolent aspect of this god or possibly 

 another being who imitates his features but not his 

 qualities. This being may be an old woman goddess 

 who wears a serpent headdress and who is associated 

 with destructive floods, the very opposite of life-giving 

 sunshine. 



Of almost equal importance to the Roman-nosed god 

 is a god whose face is a more or less humanized serpent. 

 This god has been identified with Kukulcan, the Plumed 

 Serpent, and the Mayan equivalent of the Aztecan 

 Quetzalcoatl. On the early monuments this god is 

 shown in connection with the Ceremonial Bar. He also 

 appears at a somewhat later date as the Manikin 

 Scepter, an object in the form of a manikin that is held 

 out by a leg modified into a serpent's body. Since a 

 celt is usually worn in the forehead of the manikin it has 

 been suggested that this curious object represents a 

 ceremonial battle-ax. The face of the Long-nosed god 

 is frequently worn by high priests and rulers either as a 

 headdress or. more rarely, as a mask. It is possible that 

 this divinity was regarded as primarily a war god but in 

 the codices he is evidently a universal deity of varied 

 powers. Especially he i- shown in connection with 



