The sacred book of the Mayans

Created by Mayan stories of the world, religion, history, astronomy, myths, the book Popol Vuh attracted the attention of scholars throughout the planet.

Popol Vuh (meaning "The book of the community", "The book of the people" ) includes a story about the world, religion, mysterious phenomena, history, astronomy, traditions and legends of Mayan people.

Popol Vuh provides many valuable data on culture, religion and many other areas of the Maya. For example, in part one, the Mayans describe the birth of the animal world on the planet. According to them, nature creates animals before humans appear.

"Back then people, animals, birds, fish, crabs, trees, rocks, caves, ravines, forests had not yet appeared. The sky was the only thing that existed. The ground was not formed yet. "dominate the world" , a paragraph in the book describes the time before animals and humans appeared.

A CD containing the contents of the book Popol Vuh.

Legend has it that the first people were made up of soil and mud. They vanish after contact with water. The gods use wood to create the second generation, but they do not have the soul and the ability to think. Therefore, after a while the gods decided to remove them. Finally, 4 men with bones and flesh appeared. They have language, soul and wisdom. The gods created women while four men slept.

The origin of Popol Vuh is a mystery to this day, although it has been translated into many languages. Historians believe that converts to Christianity rewrote it for the first time in Quiche, one of the 36 languages ​​spoken by the Mayan people in different regions, in the middle of the 16th century. Of course, no one knows the author of the original book.

In 1701, Francisco Ximenez, a Spanish priest, translated the book into Spanish. The manuscript of the translated book is being preserved in the Newberry library in Chicago, Illinois, USA.

Today Popol Vuh books are an important part of the belief system of Queche speakers. The descendants of the Maya still maintain the habit of telling the legends in the book. On August 22, 2012, the Guatemala Ministry of Culture declared Popol Vuh as the country's intangible cultural heritage. Western writers and film producers are also interested in Popol Vuh. Some legends in the book have appeared in Western literary and cinematic works.