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MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA 



water and maize and it seems likely that his principal 

 function was to cause life-giving rain. A malevolent 

 variant of the Long-nosed god has a bare bone for the 

 lower jaw, a sun symbol on his forehead, and a head- 

 dress consisting of three other symbols. This head 

 is associated with the Two-headed Dragon possibly 

 as a god of death-dealing drought. 



Fig. 34. Gods in the Dresden Codex: God B, the Long-Nosed 

 God of Rain; God A, the Death God; God G, the Sun God. 



Ahpuch, the Lord of Death, was the principal malevo- 

 lent god. His body as figured in the codices is a strange 

 compound of skeletal and full-fleshed parts. His head 

 is a skull except for the normal ears. His spinal column 

 is usually bare and sometimes the ribs as well, but the 

 arms and legs are often covered with flesh. As added 

 symbols black spots and dotted lines are sometimes 

 drawn upon his body and a curious device like a per- 

 centage sign upon his cheek. The Death God in com- 

 plete form is rarely shown in the earlier sculptures, 

 although grinning skulls and interlacing bones occur as 

 temple decorations. As has already been pointed out, 

 Mayan religion was strongly dualistic and the evil 



