Mayan Religion
The Maya had a highly advanced culture, which means this included a hieroglyphic language. The Mayan hieroglyphics were carved into stone statues they also included items such as pieces of bone, painted on pottery, and written on books of bark paper.
Mayan texts describe topics such as the religious rituals they would practice, astronomy/anything related to space, and divination. These were the most crucial sources of information on the ancient civilization. Many of the texts were in fact, destroyed by the Spanish because of their pagan religious content. In Present time, only three main texts have survived. These texts are named for the cities in which they are now kept. These texts are also known as the Dresden, Madrid, and Paris texts. The Dresden text contains very precise tables of Venus and the moon and describes a method of predicting solar eclipses. |
Mayan Hieroglyphic Documentation |
Other important texts are those written by natives who wrote down or paraphrased Mayan hieroglyphic documentations into Latin script. One of these texts is called the Books of Chilam Balam, which is written in Yucatec Maya and consists of historical records that are a mixed collection of myth, divination, and prophecy. Another text, is called The Ritual of the Bacabs, which covers religious symbolism, medical incantations (healing prayers) , and similar matters.
Out of the collection of these texts, Popol Vuh, has recognition as one of the most famous pieces of texts in the Mayan Religion.which was written in Quiché, a highland Maya language, and translated into Spanish by a priest. The story consists of the mythology and cosmology of the Postclassic Guatemalan Maya, and it displays central Mexican influences.
These Mayan texts were not regarded as sacred or commanding in themselves , but rather as important records of religious rituals and knowledge.
Out of the collection of these texts, Popol Vuh, has recognition as one of the most famous pieces of texts in the Mayan Religion.which was written in Quiché, a highland Maya language, and translated into Spanish by a priest. The story consists of the mythology and cosmology of the Postclassic Guatemalan Maya, and it displays central Mexican influences.
These Mayan texts were not regarded as sacred or commanding in themselves , but rather as important records of religious rituals and knowledge.