'Batman' has appeared in ancient Mayan legends and is served as a god

In 2500 BC, before DC Comics invented Batman, the ancient Mayans worshiped Batman "Camazotz", a human-like bat god with a bat head and pointed ears. .

Camazotz , meaning "death bat" in the Mayan language Kʼiche, is a creature of ancient origins in Mesoamerican mythology . According to the Mayan description, this is a deity with a humanoid body, a bat head and a nose like a stone blade.

Notably, like other monsters such as: Lizard, Goat, Carmazotz are often called by the Mayans with the phrase "Batman (Batman) instead of" God of Bat "(Batgod) , to refer to this as the species Mysterious, scary creatures that often harm humans.

Legendary image of Camazotz Batman in the imagination of the artist.

In Maya tradition, "Camazotz" is portrayed as a powerful monster / spirit, dwelling in the Xibalba hell, linked to night, death, and sacrifice. The fear and cult of the American population towards Camazotz explains why the image of this creature often appears in popular Maya art and literature.

According to Popol Vuh, a myth of the ancient Mayans, Camazotz hid in a cave called Zotzilaha (bat's house) . It hears orders from the King of Hell to kill those who stray unknowingly disturb the sleep of the gods of the Underworld. In addition, Camazotz is also one of the four magic beasts responsible for wiping out mankind in the age of the first sun.

Clash of ancient Mayan with giant bat.

However, in the eyes of modern science, a number of scholars studying the Maya civilization believe that the image of Camazotz is actually inspired by the common big bat. Other researchers, meanwhile, argue that the creature originated from the fossil of the blood-sucking giant bat, which was extinct during the Pleistocene or Holocene epoch, tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of years ago. A.D.

In fact, the popularity of the Camazotz giant Batman legend has led many archaeologists to suggest that the ancient Mayan hypothesis actually had encounters with large bat creatures. In 1988, fossils of demon bats (Desmodus Draculae) were discovered in Venezuela's Mongas province.

Over the next 12 years, another fossil bat was found in Honduras, which showed the shape of a giant bat 30% larger than the regular Desmodus Draculae. The bat of the Desmodus Draculae species usually has an average wingspan of about 50 cm but the Honduras giant bat fossils have wingspan up to nearly 80cm. Scientists have named this species the giant demon bat .

Camazotz image of Hellboy.

The image of the giant Devil Bat itself is also found in many sites and documents on the Yucatan Peninsula, Belize, northern Brazil, Guatemala, Honduras and Venezuela. These are areas that were once territories of the ancient Maya empire.

In 2000, a tooth of the giant Devil Bat was found in Argentina. With big teeth, this bat is completely capable of killing people with a single bite in the neck. Giant Devil Bats lived until the Pleistocene or the late Holocene. Most likely, ancient humans in the Americas once encountered them. Their fear of this creature created the image of Camazotz, a giant scary bat in legend.

1. The truth about Batman's ability to fly
2. Video: Terrified vampire bat sucking blood