Only 1100 days (or so) to go!
Head for the hills! If there are any left!
What do
YOU think?
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Originally Posted by Markus Eberl (Tulane University, New Orleans, USA) and
Christian Prager (University of Bonn, Germany)
Bolon Yokte K’u: Maya conceptions of war, conflict, and the underworld.
The deity Bolon Yokte K’u is shown here to have had a consistent association
with underworld, conflict, and war from the beginning of the Classic period
into Colonial times. Bolon Yokte K’u provides not only an insight into the
Maya conceptions of conflict but is also helpful to see how the conceptions
were implemented by the elite. The authors demonstrate that the deity is a
recurrent theme in Classic period inscriptions, Postclassic codices and the
Books of Chilam Balam from the Colonial period. The variety of documents
allows them to apply a diachronic perspective that heightens the
understanding of the deity and that evinces variation over time. The
concomitant appearance of Bolon Yokte K’u in art and writing enables the
authors to identify the iconographic attributes of the deity. Several
monuments can be shown to depict elite persons dressed up as Bolon Yokte
K’u. The identification of Bolon Yokte K’u on the "Vase of the Seven Gods"
(K2796) underscores its importance as one of the gods that were present
during the creation of the present world.
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Kawil
Here's a quick translation of the final passage of
Tortuguero Monument 6, recording the 2012 Bak'tun ending:
Tzuhtz-(a)j-oom u(y)-uxlajuun pik(ta) Chan Ajaw ux(-te') Uniiw. Uht-oom ?
Y-em(al)?? Bolon Yookte' K'uh ta ?.
"The Thirteenth 'Bak'tun" will be finished (on) Four Ajaw, the Third of Uniiw (K'ank'in). ? will occur.
(It will be) the descent(??) of the Nine Support? God(s) to the ?."
This is it. The term following uht-oom is the main puzzle, and largely effaced. The "descent" reference is highly tentative, too. The enigmatic deity Bolon Yookte' K'uh has been known for some time from many sources, and I suspect that he (or they) has some tangential relationship to the Principal Bird Deity, as well as war associations.
Interestingly, he is a protagonist in the deep time mythology of Palenque, as recorded on Palenaue's Temple XIV tablet. A long-lasting character who's still around somewhere waiting, I suppose.
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