In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

3 Creation and the Ritual of the Bacabs Linda Schele (edited by Barbara MacLeod and Andrea Stone)1 The Ritual of the Bacabs is a collection of curing chants for the treatment of disease. Since the publication of its translation by Roys (1965), the Ritual of the Bacabs has received sporadic attention from scholars studying Classic Maya cultural traditions (Freidel and Schele 1988a), perhaps because the reference system in the Bacabs is so obscure as to appear unintelligible to a person not raised in the tradition. This state began to change when David Freidel and I were preparing our study of the creation myths of the Classic Maya period for Maya Cosmos (Freidel et al. 1993). In a study of the Milky Way in Maya myth by Peter Dunham (1980), we came across a passage in the Ritual of the Bacabs that referred to the Pleiades. In reading this passage, we realized that it described not only the Pleiades but also the entire area of the sky the ancient Maya saw as one of the two celestial nexus of creation. Eventually we were forced to remove that section of information from our book for editorial reasons, but the importance of the passage stayed with me waiting for a moment in which I could focus on the problem. In preparing this paper, I enlisted the help of Barbara MacLeod to aid me in generating a new translation. I am not an expert in Yucatec, especially of metaphorical conventions so important to the Ritual of the Bacabs, but I believe that the Classic Maya story of creation informs our understanding of the Ritual of the Bacabs in ways that were previously unexpected. Any translator faces the problem of choosing one of many meanings to translate into the second language. Roys’s knowledge of Yucatec ethnohistorical sources was encyclopedic, but he did not have the Classic period texts to help him in his work. In this study, I will present alternatives, based heavily on his translations, but choosing meanings that make sense in light of the Classic period texts. In my view, the chants in Ritual of the Bacabs attack disease within the context of Maya creation. The version of creation in the Bacabs is close, if not identical, to the versions recorded in Classic period texts and perhaps earlier. Most passages begin with a description of the moment of creation that establishes time and place. Thereafter, the text recounts the genealogy, place, and context of the birth of the disease. By knowing the parentage and origin of the disease, the h-men gained control over it. This paper offers translations of a few particularly relevant sections and suggests ways in which they re®ect the Classic period version of creation. Manuscript Pages 4–5 (Roys 1965:3–4): The Incantation for Jaguar-Macaw Seizure Hun ahaw2 hunuk kan ahaw One Ahaw now and forever 4 Ahaw One Ahaw, the everlasting (recurring) 4 Ahaw Roys suggested that Hun Ahaw was a god of death known to the Yucatecs, but according to the Tablet of the Cross at Palenque, Hun Ahaw was the day on which the Hun Ye Nal, the First Father (also the Maize God), was born. Hunuk means “perpetual and the only.” Roys translated it as “unique”; but the purpose is to mark this 4 Ahaw as the day of creation—4 Ahaw 8 Kumk’u. kan ahaw b’in ch’ab’ 4 Ahaw it is said, was creation 4 Ahaw was the creation kan ahaw b’in ak’ab’ 4 Ahaw it is said, was darkness 4 Ahaw was the darkness This section is a formulaic couplet identifying 4 Ahaw as the day of creation and darkness. Classic period scenes of creation show the 4 Ahaw 8 Kumk’u event against a black background because the sky was not raised to give room for the light to appear until 542 days after 4 Ahaw. ka sih ech when born you When you were born 22 linda schele mak ech tah ch’ab’ who you lord creation Who was the lord of your creation? mak ech tah ak’ab’ who you lord darkness Who was the lord of your darkness? u ch’ab’ ech k’in chak ahaw kolop u wich k’in he created you sun great lord snatcher of the eye of the sun3 The Great Sun Lord, Snatcher of the Eye of the Sun, created you This passage has the ¤rst question about the conditions of birth for...

Share