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The Books of Chilam Balam () are handwritten, chiefly 17th and 18th-centuries
Maya Maya may refer to: Civilizations * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (Ethiopia), a popul ...
miscellanies A miscellany is a collection of various pieces of writing by different authors. Meaning a mixture, medley, or assortment, a wikt:miscellany, miscellany can include pieces on many subjects and in a variety of different Literary genre, forms. In c ...
, named after the small
Yucatec Yucatec Maya (; referred to by its speakers simply as Maya or as , is one of the 32 Mayan languages of the Mayan language family. Yucatec Maya is spoken in the Yucatán Peninsula and northern Belize. There is also a significant diasporic commu ...
towns where they were originally kept, and preserving important
traditional knowledge Traditional knowledge (TK), indigenous knowledge (IK) and local knowledge generally refer to knowledge systems embedded in the cultural traditions of regional, indigenous, or local communities. According to the World Intellectual Property Or ...
in which indigenous Maya and early Spanish traditions have coalesced. They compile knowledge on history, prophecy, religion, ritual, literature, the calendar, astronomy, and medicine. Written in the
Yucatec Maya language Yucatec Maya (; referred to by its speakers simply as Maya or as , is one of the 32 Mayan languages of the Mayan language family. Yucatec Maya is spoken in the Yucatán Peninsula and northern Belize. There is also a significant diasporic com ...
and using the
Latin alphabet The Latin alphabet or Roman alphabet is the collection of letters originally used by the ancient Romans to write the Latin language. Largely unaltered with the exception of extensions (such as diacritics), it used to write English and the ...
, the manuscripts are attributed to a legendary author called Chilam Balam, a ''chilam'' being a priest who gives prophecies and ''balam'' a common surname meaning ʼ
jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...
ʼ. Some of the texts actually contain prophecies about the coming of the Spaniards to Yucatán while mentioning a ''chilam'' Balam as their first author. Nine Books of Chilam Balam are known, most importantly those from Chumayel,
Mani Mani may refer to: Geography * Maní, Casanare, a town and municipality in Casanare Department, Colombia * Mani, Chad, a town and sub-prefecture in Chad * Mani, Evros, a village in northeastern Greece * Mani, Karnataka, a village in Dakshina ...
, and Tizimin, but more have existed. Both language and content show that parts of the books date back to the time of the Spanish conquest of the Yucatec kingdoms (1527–1546). In some cases, where the language is particularly terse, the books appear to render hieroglyphic script, and thus to hark back to the pre-conquest period.


Contents

Taken together, the Books of Chilam Balam give the fullness of 18th-century Yucatec-Maya spiritual life. Whereas the medical texts and chronicles are quite matter-of-fact, the riddles and prognostications make abundant use of traditional Mayan metaphors. This holds even more true of the mythological and ritualistic texts, which, cast in abstruse language, plainly belong to
esoteric Western esotericism, also known as esotericism, esoterism, and sometimes the Western mystery tradition, is a term scholars use to categorise a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas ...
lore. The historical texts derive part of their importance from the fact that they have been cast in the framework of the native
Maya calendar The Maya calendar is a system of calendars used in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica and in many modern communities in the Guatemalan highlands, Veracruz, Oaxaca and Chiapas, Mexico. The essentials of the Maya calendar are based upon a system which had ...
, partly adapted to the European calendrical system. Reconstructing Postclassic Yucatec history from these data has proven to be an arduous task. The following is an overview of the sorts of texts—partly of
Mesoamerican Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica. Withi ...
, and partly of Spanish derivation—found in the Chilam Balam books. 1. History *''Histories'', cast in the mold of the indigenous calendar: migration legends; narratives concerning certain lords of the indigenous kingdoms; and chronicles up to and including the Spanish conquest. *''Prognostication'', cast in the framework of the succession of '' haab''s (years), ''
tun TUN or tun may refer to: Biology * Tun shells, large sea snails of the family '' Tonnidae'' * Tun, a tardigrade in its cryptobiotic state * Tun or Toon, common name for trees of the genus '' Toona'' Places * Tun, Sweden, a locality in Västra ...
''s (360-day periods) and ''
kʼatun A ''kʼatun'' (, ) is a unit of time in the Maya calendar equal to 20 ''tuns'' or 7200 days, equivalent to 19.713 tropical years. It is the second digit on the normal Maya long count date. For example, in the Maya Long Count date 12.19.13.15.12 (D ...
''s (20X360-day periods). *''Prophecy'', ascribed to famous early 16th-century oracular priests. 2. Formularies with metaphors *''Collections of riddles'', used for the confirmation of local lords into their offices (the so-called ' language of Zuyua'). 3. Myth and mysticism *''Myth'', particularly the destruction and re-creation of the world as connected to the start of
kʼatun A ''kʼatun'' (, ) is a unit of time in the Maya calendar equal to 20 ''tuns'' or 7200 days, equivalent to 19.713 tropical years. It is the second digit on the normal Maya long count date. For example, in the Maya Long Count date 12.19.13.15.12 (D ...
11 Ahau. *''Ritualistic mysticism'', particularly concerning the creation of the twenty named days ('' uinal''); the ritual of the 'Four Burners' (''ahtoc''); and the birth of the maize, or 'divine grace' (the so-called 'Ritual of the Angels'). 4. Practical calendars and classifications *''Classifications according to the twenty named days'' (correlating birds of tiding, plants and trees, human characters, and professional activities). *''Treatises on astrology, meteorology, and the Catholic liturgical calendar'' (the so-called ''reportorios de los tiempos''). The astrology is Ptolemaic and includes the European zodiac. *''Agricultural
almanac An almanac (also spelled ''almanack'' and ''almanach'') is an annual publication listing a set of current information about one or multiple subjects. It includes information like weather forecasts, farmers' planting dates, tide tables, and othe ...
s''. 5. Medical recipes *''Herbal medicine'': The Chilam Balam books contain the sort of medical prescriptions that derive from Greek and Arab traditions, rather than the Mayan 'incantation approach', as represented by the
Ritual of the Bacabs ''Ritual of the Bacabs'' is the name given to a manuscript from the Yucatán containing shamanistic incantations written in the Yucatec Maya language. The manuscript was given its name by Mayanist William E. Gates due to the frequent mentioning o ...
. 6. Spanish traditions *''Roman Catholic instruction'': feast days of the saints, tracts, and prayers. *''Spanish
romance Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings * Romance languages, ...
'', such as the tale of the ' Maiden Theodora'.


Scholarship

Since many texts recur in various books of Chilam Balam, establishing a concordance and studying substitution patterns is fundamental to scholarship. The archaic Yucatec idiom and the allusive, metaphorical nature of many texts present a formidable challenge to translators. The outcome of the translation process is sometimes heavily influenced by external assumptions about the texts' purpose. As a result of these factors, the quality of existing translations varies greatly. The Spanish-language synoptic translation of Barrera Vásquez and Rendón (1948) is still useful. To date (2012), complete English translations are available for the following Books of Chilam Balam: *Chumayel (authoritative edition: Roys 1933
967 Year 967 ( CMLXVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Spring – Emperor Otto I (the Great) calls for a council at Rome, to present the ne ...
compare with Edmonson 1986) *Mani (embedded in the Pérez Codex: Craine and Reindorp 1979, an adaptation of the 1949 Mexican translation of Solís Alcalá) *Tizimin (Edmonson 1982) *Na (Gubler and Bolles 2000) *Kaua (Bricker and Miram 2002) An excellent overview and discussion of the
syncretism Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, thu ...
involved is to be found in the introduction to the Bricker and Miram edition of the Book of Chilam Balam of Kaua. A detailed analysis and interpretation of the main mythological and ritualistic texts with a view to their syncretic origins is given by Knowlton (2010).


In popular culture

The Books of Chilam Balam are referenced in '' The Falling Woman'' by Pat Murphy as source material for the description of sacrifices at Chichén Itzá. A poem from the Chilam Balam is prominently featured in a short story by the U.S.-born writer Lucia Berlin, who spent many years living and traveling in Latin America, including Chile and Mexico. The poem gives Berlin's story its title. Here is the poem: "Toda Luna, todo año,/ Todo día, todo viento/ Camina y pasa también./ También toda sangre llega/ Al lugar de su quietud." The Spanish is probably a translation from the Mayan. The story's heroine translates the poem as follows: "Every moon, every year/ Every day, every breeze/ Goes along, and passes away./ And thus all blood arrives/ To its own quiet place."Lucia Berlin, ''A Manual for Cleaning Women: Selected Stories''. Ed. Stephen Emerson. New York: Farrar, Straus Giroux, 2015. p. 110


See also

* Index of Mexico-related articles *
Maya civilization The Maya civilization () of the Mesoamerican people is known by its ancient temples and glyphs. Its Maya script is the most sophisticated and highly developed writing system in the pre-Columbian Americas. It is also noted for its art, ...
* Cultural significance of the jaguar in Central and North America * Songs of Dzitbalche


Notes


Bibliography

* and (translators), ''El Libro de los Libros de Chilam Balam. Traducción de sus textos paralelos.'' Mexico: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 1948. (Many later editions.) * * * * * * * * * (translator), ''The (Chilam Balam) Book of Chumayel; The Counsel Book of the Yucatec Maya.'' California: Aegean Park Press, 1995. * (translator), "The Book of the Chilam Balam of Tizimin." California: Aegean Park Press, 2010. * , ''Concordance of the Chilam Balames''. Hamburg: Toro, 1988. * * * , ''Maya Conquistador.'' Boston: Beacon Press, 1998. * (translator), ''The Book of Chilam Balam of Chumayel''. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1967
933 Year 933 ( CMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Spring – Hugh of Provence, king of Italy, launches an expedition to Rome to remo ...
* (translator), ''The Destruction of the Jaguar: Poems from the Books of Chilam Balam''. San Francisco: City Lights, 1987


External links


Antje Gunsenheimer: Geschichtstradierung in den yukatekischen Chilam Balam-Büchern
('The Transmission of History in the Yucatec Books of Chilam Balam', German) {{Maya Astrological texts Mayan literature Maya mythology and religion Maya calendars