The Museo Popol Vuh (Popol Vuh Museum) is home to one of the major
collections of Maya art in the world. It is located on the campus of the
Universidad Francisco Marroquín in Zone 10, Guatemala City and is known for
its extensive collection of pre-Columbian and colonial art of the Maya
culture.
The Popol Vuh Museum is a private, nonprofit, scientific institution supported
by its own funds and external donations. The museum is operated by a Board of
Directors of citizens of Guatemala interested in the preservation and public
display of the exhibits. One of its missions is to provide an educational
focus for people who want to see and learn about the pre-Columbian past of
Guatemala with the preservation, research, and diffusion of information.
Although the museum is well known for its funerary ceramic art, the collection
includes a variety of portable stone sculptures, especially from the
Preclassic period, and from the coast and adjacent highlands. The section on
Maya pottery includes some of the best preserved Maya vases and bowls.
|
Exterior entrance to the museum.
|
|
Interior entrance to the museum.
|
|
Sculpture of Camazotz.
In the Late Post-Classic Maya mythology of the Popol Vuh, Camazotz
(alternate spellings Cama-Zotz, Sotz, Zotz) is a bat spirit at the
service of the lords of the underworld. Camazotz means "death bat" in
the Kʼicheʼ language. In Mesoamerica generally, the bat is often
associated with night, death, and sacrifice.
-
In the Popol Vuh, Camazotz are the bat-like spirits encountered by the
Maya Hero Twins Hunahpu and Xbalanque during their trials in the
underworld of Xibalba.
-
The twins had to spend the night in the House of Bats, where they
squeezed themselves into their own blowguns in order to defend
themselves from the circling bats.
-
Hunahpu stuck his head out of his blowgun to see if the sun had risen
and Camazotz immediately snatched off his head and carried it to the
ballcourt to be hung up as the ball to be used by the gods in their
next ballgame.
-
See more at
Camazotz - Wikipedia.
|
|
Mushroom with Human Figure.
It is believed that these sculptures were used in rituals where
hallucinogenic mushrooms were consumed to contact the gods. Many times
they take the forms of humans and animals, including monkeys, birds, and
others.
-
The consumption of hallucinogenic mushrooms in ritual ceremonies was
popular among Mesoamerican cultures. Religious practices with sacred
mushrooms extend from the Valley of Mexico to the rest of Central
America, and they are thought to be at least 3500 years old. The Maya
consumed k’aizalaj okox, otherwise known as
teonanàcatl to the Aztecs which is a psychedelic mushroom that
has been used in Mesoamerican cultures.[6] The fungus contains two
separate entheogenic compounds, psilocybin and psilocin that cause the
user to experience visual hallucinations.
-
Archaeological evidence, in the form of the artifacts known as
'mushroom stones' points to consumption by the Maya of psychedelic
mushrooms. These stones are often decorated with figures and were
believed to have been used in an ancient hallucinogenic mushroom cult.
After cataloging the stones by type and provenience, archaeologists
dated their earliest appearance to approximately 1000 BC.
-
Mushroom stones were also believed to be associated with human
decapitation, a trophy head cult, warfare and the Mesoamerican
ballgame. Archaeological evidence provides another example of the
consumption of hallucinogenic mushrooms, the Tepantitla mural in
Teotihuacàn dates to 500 CE, which shows the Toltec rain god Tlaloc,
with religious-like figures bearing hallucinogenic mushrooms springing
up where his raindrops fall. Ancient Mayan Codices show mushrooms in
Maya scenes of human sacrifice.
-
See more at
Entheogenics and the Maya - Wikipedia.
|
|
Mayan civilization map.
The Maya civilization developed in the Maya Region, an area that today
comprises southeastern Mexico, all of Guatemala and Belize, and the
western portions of Honduras and El Salvador. It includes the northern
lowlands of the Yucatán Peninsula and the highlands of the Sierra Madre,
the Mexican state of Chiapas, southern Guatemala, El Salvador, and the
southern lowlands of the Pacific littoral plain.
-
Today, their descendants, known collectively as the Maya, number well
over 6 million individuals, speak more than twenty-eight surviving
Mayan languages, and reside in nearly the same area as their
ancestors.
-
See more at
Maya civilization - Wikipedia.
|
|
Jaguar with corn cob.
The jaguar with a corn cob on its head is a frequent subject in Late
Preclassic upright pedestal sculptures.
-
Dimensions: height 92.5 cm (36 in); thickness 12 cm (5 in); width 17
cm (7 in).
- Origin: South Coast or Altiplano.
|
|
Jaguar Statue.
The representation of jaguars in Mesoamerican cultures has a long
history, with iconographic examples dating back to at least the
mid-Formative period of Mesoamerican chronology.
-
Integration of the jaguar into the sacred and secular realms of the
Maya peoples is proven in the archaeological record. Often depicted on
artifacts are the gods the Maya revered and it is no coincidence that
these gods often have jaguar attributes.
-
The jaguar is said to have the ability to cross between worlds, and
for the Maya daytime and nighttime represented two different worlds.
The living and the earth are associated with the day, and the spirit
world and the ancestors are associated with the night. As the jaguar
is quite at home in the nighttime, the jaguar is believed to be part
of the underworld; thus, "Maya gods with jaguar attributes or garments
are underworld gods".
-
One such god is Xbalanque, one of the Maya Hero Twins who descended to
the underworld, and whose entire body is covered with patches of
jaguar skin. Another is God L, who is "the primary lord of the
underworld" and often is shown with a jaguar ear or jaguar attire, and
atop a jaguar throne.
-
Not only is the underworld associated with the ancestors, but it also
is understood as, where plants originate. In addition, the Maya's
source of fresh water comes from underground pools in the porous
limestone that makes up the Yucatán, called cenotes. These
associations with water and plants further reinforce the notion of the
jaguar as a god of fertility. The jaguar is further associated with
vegetation and fertility by the Maya with what is known as the
Waterlily jaguar, which is depicted as having water lilies sprouting
from its head.
-
No doubt, the jaguar's brilliant coat made it quite desirable,
however, not all were allowed to don the jaguar pelt as it became the
identification of the ruling class for the Maya. Not only did Maya
kings wear jaguar pelts, but they also adopted the jaguar as part of
their ruling name, as a symbol of their might and authority. One such
ruling family to incorporate the jaguar into their name is known as,
Jaguar Paw, who ruled the Maya city of Tikal in the fourth century.
Jaguar Paw I was ousted by central Mexicans from Teotihuacán, and it
was not until late in the fifth century that the Jaguar Paw family
returned to power (Coe 1999: 90). Other Maya rulers to incorporate the
jaguar name include, Scroll Jaguar, Bird Jaguar, and Moon Jaguar, just
to name a few.
-
In addition to the ruling class, the jaguar also was associated with
warriors and hunters. Those who excelled in hunting and warfare often
adorned themselves with jaguar pelts, teeth, or claws and were
"regarded as possessing feline souls".
-
See more at
Jaguars in Mesoamerican cultures - Wikipedia.
|
|
Stone mask.
Monumental stone head, from Kaminaljuyu or thereabouts.
-
Kaminaljuyu, "The Hill of the Dead", is a Pre-Columbian site of the
Maya civilization located in Guatemala City. Primarily occupied from
1500 BC to 1200 AD, it has been described as one of the greatest
archaeological sites in the New World, although the extant remains are
distinctly unimpressive.
-
Kaminaljuyu, when first mapped scientifically, comprised some 200
platforms and pyramidal mounds. The site was largely swallowed up by
real estate developments.
|
|
The Murals of San Bartolo.
Blandine Gautier explains the meaning of the Murals of San Bartolo. The
scene shows four babies, with their umbilical cords still attached,
surrounding a calabash, which has now split up and from which a fifth,
and fully clothed male emerges. A large deity figure watches the scene.
-
The murals on the northern and western walls of the chamber in the
base of the temple pyramid epict elements of Maya creation mythology
reminiscent of the Popol Vuh as well as of Yucatec cosmological
traditions.
-
See more at
San Bartolo (Maya site) - Wikipedia.
|
|
Model of a Mayan temple.
Grupo A, Rio Azul (AD 250-600).
-
Río Azul is an archaeological site of the Pre-Columbian Maya
civilization. It is the most important site in the Río Azul National
Park in the Petén Department of northern Guatemala, close to the
borders of Mexico and Belize. Río Azul is situated to the southeast of
the Azul river and its apogee dates to the Early Classic period (c. AD
250–600).
-
Structure A-3 was a large temple. Three inscribed altars dating to the
Early Classic were found buried under it; they depicted scenes of
human sacrifice. The temple was built during Río Azul's apogee between
390 and 530.
-
See more at
Río Azul - Wikipedia.
|
|
Mayan box.
Box with the representation of an individual at the bottom of the box.
The box lid is against the box on the left side. The box and lid are
covered with spouts.
|
|
Qaaw’a Sotz’.
Qaaw'a Sotz', "sir bat" in the Q'eqchi' language, was the name given to
this sculpture on the farms in the Polochic river valley, Izabal, where
it had been located since at least the 1950s.
-
It represents a mythological being with a human body, face and bat
wings.
- He is dressed in a loincloth that hangs down to his feet.
-
He wears a wide necklace with a large pendant, in the shape of the SAK
sign, which represents the color white in the Mayan script.
-
On the top and back of his head is a band of hieroglyphic signs.
-
The back of the sculpture is simply smoothed, and does not show any
detail. This suggests that despite its three-dimensional appearance,
the sculpture was created to be viewed from the front only. Under the
feet of the bat there is a short spike, which was probably used to
insert it into a building.
|
|
Ax with Mythological Being.
Ax with the representation of a human face in the mouth of a
mythological animal, possibly a bird. At the top is a dismembered human
arm.
-
Dimensions: height: 28.5 cm (11 in); thickness: 4 cm (1.6 in); width:
23.5 cm (9.3 in).
- Origin: South Coast. Period: Late Classic (600 AD – 900 AD).
|
|
Cocoa Goddess.
On the South Coast, one of the most important cocoa-growing regions,
worship was given to goddesses and gods who personify the cocoa tree,
laden with abundant fruits. Some take the shape of human heads or
bodies, alluding to the relationship of cocoa with human sacrifice.
-
Dimensions: height: 29 cm (11 in); thickness: 12 cm (4.7 in); width:
15.5 cm (6.1 in).
- Origin: South Coast. Period: Late Classic (600 AD – 900 AD).
|
|
Warriors.
Rectangular or round shields, masses or axes, and masks give this
warriors a fearsome stance.
- Origin: Tierras Bajas. Period: Late Classic (600 AD – 900 AD).
|
|
Replica of the Dresden Codex.
Blandine Gautier explains the meaning of the Dresden Codex.
-
The Dresden Codex is a Maya book, which was believed to be the oldest
surviving book written in the Americas, dating to the 11th or 12th
century.
-
The codex contains information relating to astronomical and
astrological tables, religious references, seasons of the earth, and
illness and medicine. It also includes information about conjunctions
of planets and moons.
-
See more at
Dresden Codex - Wikipedia.
|
|
Sculptural set.
Sculptural set with two figures from the post-classic period.
|
See also
Source
Location
