Kinich Ahau
Kinich Ahau or K'inich Ajaw , (God G; Kin or K'in = sun, Ahau = lord or prince, German : Lord of the Sun ) was in the mythology of the Maya the sun god . He shares characteristics with Itzamná and sometimes merges with him.
Kinich Ahau was venerated by the Maya until they were subjugated and Christianized by the Spaniards . Kinich Ahau has had a ritual significance among the Lacandons in recent times (20th century). He was one of the most important sky gods and was also named and depicted in the Codex Dresdensis .
His characteristic recognition attributes, which recur throughout the iconography , are the aged figure, the stubble beard, the hieroglyph kin on various parts of the body (eyes, back, legs, etc.) as well as often large, "angular" eyes, a distinctive nose ( eagle nose ), squinting and sharpened incisors .
Like K'awiil , Kinich Ahau was a god who legitimized rule. Many Mayan princes therefore also used the name Kin or Kinich . He was also a god of war and sacrifice .
Kinich Ahau stood for the path of the sun across the daytime sky. After sunset he crossed the underworld as Balam . He was married to the moon goddess Ix Chel . His worship was widespread. In the Temple of the Cross in Palenque, for example, his mythical date of birth is engraved in a long count . In room 3, building 1 by Bonampak , a mural depicts a ritual blood sacrifice dance around a portrait of Kinich Ahaus. An identical dance is described on the sculpture by K'inich Yax K'uk 'Mo' († 435/37) in Temple 16 of Copán . Diego de Landa describes, underlining the continuity of continuous worship, for the 16th century in the Yucatán New Year ceremonies in honor of Kinich Ahaus with war dances and blood sacrifices.
Mayan hieroglyph Kin for the day of the same name in the Mayan calendar , stylized
Mayan hieroglyph Yax k'in for the month of the same name in the Mayan calendar, stylized
Maya hieroglyph Kin in Codex Dresdensis , p. 61, stylized
Kinich Ahau, ceramics, classical period
Kinich Ahau, urn , classical period
See also
literature
- Nikolai Grube : Maya, god kings in the rainforest. Potsdam 2012, pp. 275-276, 433
- David M. Jones and Brain L. Molyneaux: Mythology of the New World: An Encyclopedia of Myths in North, Meso and South America , Reichelsheim 2002, p. 120
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Paul Schellhas : The gods of the Maya manuscripts: A mythological cultural image from ancient America , Dresden 1897.
- ↑ Diego de Landa : Relaciones de Yucatán , 1898.