![]() ![]() Diego de Landa, afterward bishop of Yucatan, burned twenty-seven hieroglyphic manuscripts at the famous auto de fe in Mani in 1562, and although many of the Spaniards severely criticized him for this, there is little doubt that other missionaries followed his example whenever they had the opportunity. This should be the easier, since the knowledge of hieroglyphic writing was confined to the priesthood and certain members of the nobility. The Indians had a great reverence for their hieroglyphic writing which was permeated with the symbols of their old religion, and the friars felt that if they could wipe out this knowledge and substitute for it the European system of writing, it would be an effective means for the complete Christianization of the native population. Although at first they rather admired the Maya for having a graphic system of their own, they were determined to destroy the old manuscripts and eradicate all knowledge of the glyphs from the minds of their converts. The ability of the Maya to write their own language in European script was due to the educational policy of the Spanish missionaries. In two of these books we even find part of a Spanish romance translated into Maya. Mixture of the old faith with Christianity, but there are also translations into Maya of Spanish religious tracts and astrological treatises, as well as notes of events which occurred during the colonial period. In some of the books not only do we find the ritual of a religion which is a As time went on, more and more European material was added to the native Maya lore. Many such passages were no doubt originally transcribed from older hieroglyphic manuscripts, some of which were still in existence in northern Yucatan as late as the close of the Seventeenth Century 2. ![]() Besides the prophecies we find brief chronicles, fragmentary historical narratives, rituals, native catechisms, mythological accounts of the creation of the world, almanacs and medical treatises. Each book is a small library in itself and contains a considerable variety of subject material. The Books of Chilam Balam were written in the Maya language but in the European script which the early missionaries adapted to express such sounds as were not found in Spanish. Inasmuch as prophecies were the most prominent feature of many of the older books of this sort, it was natural to name them after the famous soothsayer. ![]() The prompt fulfilment of this prediction so enhanced his reputation as a seer that in later times he was considered the authority for many other prophecies which had been uttered long before his time. This Prophet Balam lived during the last decades of the Fifteenth Century and probably the first of the Sixteenth Century 1 and foretold the coming of strangers from the east who would establish a new religion. Thus the Book of Chilam Balam of Chumayel is named for a village in the District of Tekax, a short distance northwest of the well-known town of Teabo. Balam means jaguar, but it is also a common family name in Yucatan, so the title of the present work could well be translated as the Book of the Prophet Balam.ĭuring a large part of the colonial period, and even down into the Nineteenth Century, many of the towns and villages of northern Yucatan possessed Books of Chilam Balam, and this designation was supplemented by the name of the town to which the book belonged. Chilam, or chilan, was his title which means that he was the mouth-piece or interpreter of the gods. The Books of Chilam Balam are the sacred books of the Maya of Yucatan and were named after their last and greatest prophet. 3 THE BOOK OF CHILAM BALAM OF CHUMAYEL INTRODUCTION Chilam Balam: Introduction Sacred Texts Native American Maya Index Previous Next ![]()
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