Edwin Braakhuis - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Uploads
Papers by Edwin Braakhuis
Acta Mesoamericana, 2023
The youthful God H of the Dresden and Madrid codices is often identified as the Postclassic form ... more The youthful God H of the Dresden and Madrid codices is often identified as the Postclassic form of the Ik’ deity, a Classic Maya flower deity associated with wind, breath and music. The evidence for this identification is shown to be shaky. It is proposed instead that God H may have evolved from a Classic flower deity similar to Xochipilli, namely the Tonsured Maize God. Detailed analyses of God H's exterior aspect, portrait glyphs, and connections to other deities support this proposal. The Tonsured Maize God hypothesis also allows a new interpretation of the four successive ‘baptism’ scenes of the Madrid Codex in terms of a ritual for the promotion of crop growth. In addition, a mythological reading is suggested for several scenes including God H or his look-alikes, and a mythological rationale provided for Quetzalcoatl’s designation as ‘God H’.
Itinerarios 34, 2021
En el artículo se examinan varias ilustraciones pertenecientes a los días Flor y Mono en los códi... more En el artículo se examinan varias ilustraciones pertenecientes a los días Flor y Mono en los códices Borgia y Vaticano B. Se argumenta que los dioses patronos de estos días, Xochiquetzal y Xochipilli, están conectados mitológicamente con las figuras de las escenas acompañantes, a saber una anciana moliendo maíz y un noble cogiendo peces. Tras una revisión crítica de interpretaciones vigentes, la atención se centra en la mitología del maíz de los nahuas clásicos y de los pueblos contemporáneos del Golfo de México. Destacan los roles del héroe del maíz, su madre, y su abuela (o, en ciertas versiones, madre adoptiva). En el caso del día Flor, el rol específico de la abuela permite una conexión directa con la imagen; en el caso del día Mono, la conexión mitológica se establece principalmente a través del motivo de la pesca.
Acta Mesoamericana 29, 2019, Dec 2019
After a critical look at the prevalent concept of a ‘Watery Underworld’, with its implied focus o... more After a critical look at the prevalent concept of a ‘Watery Underworld’, with its implied focus on Hun-Hunahpu, the case is made for the concept of a Mayan ‘Tlalocan’ inhabited by the dead and intimately connected to the maize god as a culture hero. The aquatic dead are likely to have included the king as well as the officials and priests involved in the water management of the kingdom. Ethnographic sources show the presence of the dead, and particularly of dead rainmakers, in the terrestrial waters. Aquatic iconography is more in keeping with the idea of a Mayan ‘Tlalocan’ inhabited by the dead than with that of a ‘Watery Underworld’. Further, the Tonsured Maize God functioned as a prototype of the king in exercizing power within this aquatic realm.
Wayeb Notes 46, 2014
The dancing maize deity of San Bartolo’s west wall mural is explained by an episode common to con... more The dancing maize deity of San Bartolo’s west wall mural is explained by an episode common to contemporary Zoque-Popoluca, Tepehua and Totonac maize mythology describing the hero’s institution of ritual music, his challenging and manipulating of the pluvial deities with ritual music, and his gathering of the maize from the latter’s realm. The scene appears to commemorate a decisive step in the defeat of the pluvial deities that resulted in the origin of agriculture and civilized life. The fact that the scene is framed by two kings seated on accession platforms suggests that the new balance in the world created by the hero was henceforward to be sustained by the king. The Classic turtle carapace emergence is viewed as the narrative continuation of the San Bartolo turtle cave event and as an emblem for the maize hero’s triumph over the pluvial deities. The article discusses several possible corollaries of the turtle cave icon in contemporary Gulf Coast oral tradition.
Acta Mesoamericana 20, 2009
Anthropos 100.2005: 173-191
Anthropos 96.2001: 391-409
The Mesoamerican deer hunt serves as a metaphor for war. It is here argued that it equally repres... more The Mesoamerican deer hunt serves as a metaphor for war. It is here argued that it equally represents alliance. The quarry is viewed by the hunter as a wife and by the hunter's wife as a male partner. The Owner of the Game corresponds to a father-in-law for whom the hunter performs bridal service (e.g., the sexual regeneration of the deer bones). The ensuing idea of antagonistic sexual exchanges between the hunter and the game informs Mayan deer dances and Kekchi Mayan Hummingbird myth. Vase scenes from the Classic Period of the Mayas demonstrate the antiquity of the above concepts.
Zeitschrift für Ethnologie Band 112 Heft 2 (1987): 237-260
Books by Edwin Braakhuis
Ph.D. Thesis, Leiden University, 2010
Chapters: (1) Introduction to the Q'eqchi' Sun and Moon Myth (2)The Early Life of Sun and His Br... more Chapters: (1) Introduction to the Q'eqchi' Sun and Moon Myth (2)The Early Life of Sun and His Brother (3) Sixteenth-century Sacrificial and Cannibalistic Motifs in the Adoption Episode (4) Hummingbird as a War Lord and Mountain Mover (5) Hummingbird as a Marriage Candidate (6) Transformations of Woman: Game, Fowl, and Honey Bees (7) Transformations of Woman: Harmful Animals (8) Transformations of Woman: Maize Seeds (9) Transformations of Woman: The Immutable Wife (10) The Older Brother as a Renouncer of Woman (11) Moon's Love Affairs.
Conference Presentations by Edwin Braakhuis
Presentation at the 26th European Maya Conference, Bratislava, 2021
It has been noted that during the Late Classic period, Maya queen consorts often wear an adaptati... more It has been noted that during the Late Classic period, Maya queen consorts often wear an adaptation of the dress of the Tonsured Maize God (TMG). Nonetheless, scholarly description has varied, from "Maize God" to "Moon Goddess" to "lunar-associated Maize Goddess," with the wavering gender ascription influenced in part by a speculative theory concerning "mixed gender." In agreement with some scholars, it is here assumed that the queen with the netted dress is meant to represent the TMG, and that the rationale of her impersonation is to be sought in her marrying into another kingdom. Specifically, I contend that rather than referring to a particular mythological episode, the Maize Queen replicates the generic role of the TMG vis-à-vis mankind, namely bringing agricultural abundance to the realm of her husband. I call attention to various traditional Maya narratives supporting this view. These involve a powerful rain or mountain deity; his marriageable daughter embodying the maize and its power of germination; and a human marriage candidate who is often a foreign war chief. This mythological configuration is analogous to the historical configuration of which the Classic Maize Queen is a part.
Presentation at the 22nd European Maya Conference, Malmö, 2017
A comparative analysis of the codical God H's appearance, portrait glyphs, and connections to oth... more A comparative analysis of the codical God H's appearance, portrait glyphs, and connections to other deities makes it appear likely that God H developed from the Classic Tonsured Maize God rather than from the Classic deity of the number Three (the "Ik' deity"). (This proposal is further elaborated in my 2023 article, 'God H's Ancestry' .)
Book Reviews by Edwin Braakhuis
Acta Mesoamericana, 2023
The youthful God H of the Dresden and Madrid codices is often identified as the Postclassic form ... more The youthful God H of the Dresden and Madrid codices is often identified as the Postclassic form of the Ik’ deity, a Classic Maya flower deity associated with wind, breath and music. The evidence for this identification is shown to be shaky. It is proposed instead that God H may have evolved from a Classic flower deity similar to Xochipilli, namely the Tonsured Maize God. Detailed analyses of God H's exterior aspect, portrait glyphs, and connections to other deities support this proposal. The Tonsured Maize God hypothesis also allows a new interpretation of the four successive ‘baptism’ scenes of the Madrid Codex in terms of a ritual for the promotion of crop growth. In addition, a mythological reading is suggested for several scenes including God H or his look-alikes, and a mythological rationale provided for Quetzalcoatl’s designation as ‘God H’.
Itinerarios 34, 2021
En el artículo se examinan varias ilustraciones pertenecientes a los días Flor y Mono en los códi... more En el artículo se examinan varias ilustraciones pertenecientes a los días Flor y Mono en los códices Borgia y Vaticano B. Se argumenta que los dioses patronos de estos días, Xochiquetzal y Xochipilli, están conectados mitológicamente con las figuras de las escenas acompañantes, a saber una anciana moliendo maíz y un noble cogiendo peces. Tras una revisión crítica de interpretaciones vigentes, la atención se centra en la mitología del maíz de los nahuas clásicos y de los pueblos contemporáneos del Golfo de México. Destacan los roles del héroe del maíz, su madre, y su abuela (o, en ciertas versiones, madre adoptiva). En el caso del día Flor, el rol específico de la abuela permite una conexión directa con la imagen; en el caso del día Mono, la conexión mitológica se establece principalmente a través del motivo de la pesca.
Acta Mesoamericana 29, 2019, Dec 2019
After a critical look at the prevalent concept of a ‘Watery Underworld’, with its implied focus o... more After a critical look at the prevalent concept of a ‘Watery Underworld’, with its implied focus on Hun-Hunahpu, the case is made for the concept of a Mayan ‘Tlalocan’ inhabited by the dead and intimately connected to the maize god as a culture hero. The aquatic dead are likely to have included the king as well as the officials and priests involved in the water management of the kingdom. Ethnographic sources show the presence of the dead, and particularly of dead rainmakers, in the terrestrial waters. Aquatic iconography is more in keeping with the idea of a Mayan ‘Tlalocan’ inhabited by the dead than with that of a ‘Watery Underworld’. Further, the Tonsured Maize God functioned as a prototype of the king in exercizing power within this aquatic realm.
Wayeb Notes 46, 2014
The dancing maize deity of San Bartolo’s west wall mural is explained by an episode common to con... more The dancing maize deity of San Bartolo’s west wall mural is explained by an episode common to contemporary Zoque-Popoluca, Tepehua and Totonac maize mythology describing the hero’s institution of ritual music, his challenging and manipulating of the pluvial deities with ritual music, and his gathering of the maize from the latter’s realm. The scene appears to commemorate a decisive step in the defeat of the pluvial deities that resulted in the origin of agriculture and civilized life. The fact that the scene is framed by two kings seated on accession platforms suggests that the new balance in the world created by the hero was henceforward to be sustained by the king. The Classic turtle carapace emergence is viewed as the narrative continuation of the San Bartolo turtle cave event and as an emblem for the maize hero’s triumph over the pluvial deities. The article discusses several possible corollaries of the turtle cave icon in contemporary Gulf Coast oral tradition.
Acta Mesoamericana 20, 2009
Anthropos 100.2005: 173-191
Anthropos 96.2001: 391-409
The Mesoamerican deer hunt serves as a metaphor for war. It is here argued that it equally repres... more The Mesoamerican deer hunt serves as a metaphor for war. It is here argued that it equally represents alliance. The quarry is viewed by the hunter as a wife and by the hunter's wife as a male partner. The Owner of the Game corresponds to a father-in-law for whom the hunter performs bridal service (e.g., the sexual regeneration of the deer bones). The ensuing idea of antagonistic sexual exchanges between the hunter and the game informs Mayan deer dances and Kekchi Mayan Hummingbird myth. Vase scenes from the Classic Period of the Mayas demonstrate the antiquity of the above concepts.
Zeitschrift für Ethnologie Band 112 Heft 2 (1987): 237-260
Ph.D. Thesis, Leiden University, 2010
Chapters: (1) Introduction to the Q'eqchi' Sun and Moon Myth (2)The Early Life of Sun and His Br... more Chapters: (1) Introduction to the Q'eqchi' Sun and Moon Myth (2)The Early Life of Sun and His Brother (3) Sixteenth-century Sacrificial and Cannibalistic Motifs in the Adoption Episode (4) Hummingbird as a War Lord and Mountain Mover (5) Hummingbird as a Marriage Candidate (6) Transformations of Woman: Game, Fowl, and Honey Bees (7) Transformations of Woman: Harmful Animals (8) Transformations of Woman: Maize Seeds (9) Transformations of Woman: The Immutable Wife (10) The Older Brother as a Renouncer of Woman (11) Moon's Love Affairs.
Presentation at the 26th European Maya Conference, Bratislava, 2021
It has been noted that during the Late Classic period, Maya queen consorts often wear an adaptati... more It has been noted that during the Late Classic period, Maya queen consorts often wear an adaptation of the dress of the Tonsured Maize God (TMG). Nonetheless, scholarly description has varied, from "Maize God" to "Moon Goddess" to "lunar-associated Maize Goddess," with the wavering gender ascription influenced in part by a speculative theory concerning "mixed gender." In agreement with some scholars, it is here assumed that the queen with the netted dress is meant to represent the TMG, and that the rationale of her impersonation is to be sought in her marrying into another kingdom. Specifically, I contend that rather than referring to a particular mythological episode, the Maize Queen replicates the generic role of the TMG vis-à-vis mankind, namely bringing agricultural abundance to the realm of her husband. I call attention to various traditional Maya narratives supporting this view. These involve a powerful rain or mountain deity; his marriageable daughter embodying the maize and its power of germination; and a human marriage candidate who is often a foreign war chief. This mythological configuration is analogous to the historical configuration of which the Classic Maize Queen is a part.
Presentation at the 22nd European Maya Conference, Malmö, 2017
A comparative analysis of the codical God H's appearance, portrait glyphs, and connections to oth... more A comparative analysis of the codical God H's appearance, portrait glyphs, and connections to other deities makes it appear likely that God H developed from the Classic Tonsured Maize God rather than from the Classic deity of the number Three (the "Ik' deity"). (This proposal is further elaborated in my 2023 article, 'God H's Ancestry' .)