Popol+Vuh

Popol Vuh is an ancient book of the Mayans, also called 'Book of the Community' or the 'Council Book', written in Santa Cruz around 1550-1555. It is written in a language known as the 'Classical Quiche', and in this language, tells mythological narratives and family trees of the rulers. The first section of the book begins with the Mayan's belief of the creation myth. After the creation myth, there is a mythological story about the Heroic twins, by the name of Huhnapu and Xbalanque. In the second part of this book is a detailed history of the Quiche kingdom, associating the royal family with the legendary gods- a way to justify the ruling of the royal family through divinity. Though the book is written in Latin alphabet, it is thought to have originally written in the Mayan codex, a Mayan heiroglyphic script. The original copy has been lost, but a second copy was handwritten by Friar Francisco Ximenez in the early 18th century. The importance of this book is great, because it is one of the few books of the Mayan (it is a mythological text) that is still in existance (many were burned in fires due to the Spanish priests and conquistadors of 1562) and is considered one of the most important books, if not the most important book in Mesoamercian literature.

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Created by Rachel Mitchell on 8/31/08.

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