Maya Creation Myths: Words and Worlds of the Chilam Balam

4: Creation and Apocalypse: The Katun 11 Ahau Myth

53 This chapter examines the first creation myth contained in this Chumayel mythography, a kahlay ‘history’ of the destruction and re-creation of the world in Katun 11 Ahau. This myth is particularly interesting because it is attested to by redactions in two other Books of Chilam Balam, that of the town of Tizimín, and that of the town of Maní (contained in the Códice Pérez). By interrogating the similarities and differences that exist between the surviving examples of this creation narrative, we can gain insight into the history of its composition. Then, by examining the main characters and themes of the narrative itself, we can explore both the Postclassic world view in which it is rooted and the process by which Maya scribes engaged pre-Hispanic mythic themes in dialogue with their experiences living in a colonial world. CoMParative aNalysis of the extaNt reDaCtioNs Alternate redactions of this myth of the destruction and subsequent recreation of the world in Katun 11 Ahau appear in three extant texts: Creation and Apocalypse: The Katun 11 Ahau Myth C h a P t e r f o u r Creation and Apocalypse: The Katun 11 Ahau Myth 54 1. Book of Chilam Balam of Chumayel: page 42, line 22, through page 48, line 8. 2. Book of Chilam Balam of Tizimín: folio 14v, line 26, through folio 15v, line 23. 3. The Códice Pérez (sometimes referred to as the Chilam Balam of Maní): page 117, line 16, through page 120, line 10. All three versions are closely related, but they are not identical in length, content, or artistic elaboration, indicating a history of editorial redaction. Upon constructing a line-by-line cross-reference of all material shared by two or more of these texts (the appendix), a few aspects of the history of the myth’s composition emerge. Comparison of all three extant versions of this cosmogony reveals that they derive from at least two previously existing texts, texts no longer extant independent of their daughter texts. I will call the first of these hypothetical sources u kahlay hay cabal ‘History of the Destruction of the World’ (contained in C42.23–43.28 / T14v.26–15r.16 / P117.16–118.17). The “History of the Destruction of the World” details the defeat of Oxlahun Ti Ku by Bolon Ti Ku, the birth of Lady Quetzal–Lady Lovely Cotinga, the theft of maize by Bolon Dzacab into the heavens, the subsequent destruction of the world in a flood, and finally the establishment of world trees and their respective bird deities in the five cardinal directions by the Bacabs. The second text I will refer to as u cuch nicte ahau ‘The Burden of the Flower King,’ based on a phrase that occurs in line C46.11 / T15r.28–29 / P119.4. The extant versions of this narrative are contained in C45.21–47.2 / T15r.17–15v.5 / P118.18–119.19. This text details the descent of Bolon Dzacab for his ca put sihil ‘second birth’ ceremony and the sprouting of a multitude of personified flowers, indicative of both the active fertility and ephemeral beauty of the world. Together, these two source texts compose the bulk of what material is shared among all three redactions of the extant Katun 11 Ahau creation myth. Although the Tizimín and Pérez are the versions most similar to each other, each redaction diverges from the other in ways that suggest none is a direct copy of any other. Rather, all three appear to be drawing on yet another earlier source or sources no longer extant. Although extant Chilam Balam manuscripts date from the eighteenth or early nineteenth century, they are the results of copying, redacting, and recopying of manuscripts that date much earlier. In the case of the Katun 11 Ahau creation myth, there is both philological evidence internal to the Classical Yucatecan texts themselves and supplemental evidence about Maya myth traditions from Spanish sources that suggest that the alphabetic source text of this myth was in existence by the sixteenth century.1 Creation and Apocalypse: The Katun 11 Ahau Myth 55 Although only speculation, several lines of evidence converge that suggest that an educated son of Maya nobility, Gaspar Antonio Chi, was a source for the flood narrative of the “History of the Destruction of the World” that appears in the Books of Chilam Balam...