Chilam Balam

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Chilam Balam Ixil, on display in Mexico City

Chilam (~ "Prophet") Balam (~ "Jaguar") is the superordinate name of a series of texts that were written in the Mayathan language spoken in Yucatán from the 16th to the 19th century . They are related collections of indigenous traditions as well as translations and adaptations of texts from the Spanish and Christian traditions. It is estimated that around two thirds of the texts are based on ancient world originals and only one third originate from the Maya culture . In addition to medical and astronomical texts (mostly based on European almanacs ), some books consist to a considerable extent of chronological and prophetic sections. They are therefore an important source for the culture and history of the Maya .

Text corpus

The most famous Chilam-Balam books, mostly named after the places where they were written, are those of:

  • Chan Kan ( 128 pages ), in the library of the National Museum of Anthropology , Mexico City .
  • Chumayel ( 107 pages ), held in the Princeton University Library, Princeton , New Jersey . The prophecies and chronicles are particularly important.
  • Ixil ( 88 pages ), in the library of the National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City. The book contains a particularly large number of medical texts.
  • Káua ( 282 pages ), kept in the Princeton University Library, Princeton, New Jersey.
  • Maní (contained as a copy in the Codex Pérez written by Juan Pío Pérez ), kept in the library of the National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City.
  • Nah ( 64 pages ), in the Princeton University Library, Princeton, New Jersey.
  • Tekax ( 37 pages ), whereabouts unknown.
  • Tizimín ( 54 pages ), kept in the library of the National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City.
  • Tusik ( 58 pages ), current location unknown, there are copies and photographic reproductions.

Naming

According to a text in the Chilam Balam book of Maní, several prophets (Ah Xupan Nauat, Ah Napuc Tun, Nahau Pech and Ah Kauil Chel) gathered in the house of Chilam Balam, and received a revelation which marked the arrival of Christianity and thus the predicted the Spanish conquest of the Yucatan . In the middle of the 19th century the name "Chilam Balam" was transferred to the entire group of related texts.

Aftermath

The Chilam-Balam prophecies - which actually only make up a small part of the approximately 1000-page corpus of text - were passed down not only in writing but also orally. In the first half of the 19th century they were so popular in Yucatan that contemporary observers even blamed them for the outbreak of the bloody caste war .

literature

  • Eugene R. Craine, Reginald C. Reindorp (eds.): Codex Perez and the Book of Chilam Balam of Mani ( The Civilization of the American Indian Series 150), 1979
  • Antje Gunsenheimer : Historical tradition in the Yucatec Chilam Balam books ( PDF ; 5.4 MB)
  • Helga-Maria Miram: The Role of the Books of Chilam Balam in Deciphering Maya Hieroglyphs. In: VM Fields (Ed.), Seventh Palenque Round Table, 1989, pp. 211-216. San Francisco: Pre-Columbian Art Research Institute, 1994.
  • Ralph L. Roys : The Book of Chilam Balam of Chuyamel . Washington DC, Carnegie Institution 1933 ( PDF ; 3.2 MB)
  • Merideth Paxton: Chilam Balam, Books of. In: Davíd Carrasco (Ed.): The Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican Cultures. The Civilizations of Mexico and Central America. Volume 1: Acat - Gulf. Oxford University Press, Oxford et al. 2001, ISBN 0-19-514255-1 , pp. 190-195.

Web links

Commons : Chilam Balam  - collection of images, videos and audio files