ThePARIJournal A quarterly publication of the Ancient Cultures Institute Volume XXI, No. 1, 2020 Pus, Pustules, and Ancient MayaGods: NotesontheNamesofGodSandHunahpu In This Issue: OSWALDO CHINCHILLA MAZARIEGOS Yale University Pus, Pustules, In memory of Michael D. Coe which modern scholars have interpreted and Ancient Maya The young heroes, Hunahpu and the name. I trace the relationship between Gods: Notes on the 2 Xbalanque, are key characters in the Hunahpu and the ancient Maya God S, Names of God S and and highlight the significance of the black Hunahpu mythical sagas of the sixteenth-century K’iche’, as recorded in the Popol Vuh. They spots that blemish God S’s body in ancient by defeated the nasty creatures that prevailed Maya art, which I interpret as pustules. Oswaldo Chinchilla in a previous creation, triumphed over the I summarize the significance of pus and Mazariegos deathly lords who had killed their father, pustules in Mesoamerican solar myths PAGES 1-13 and rose to the sky as the sun and the and offer a reading for a name tag of God S as “One Pus.” Finally, I suggest that the • moon. Their significance goes beyond the study of early colonial K’iche’ religion. name of Hunahpu may have a similar A Short Note on Students have repeatedly pointed out their origin, and comment on related glosses in Winte’ Nah as links with other Mesoamerican heroes in the K’iche’an languages. “House of Darts” colonial and modern myths (Braakhuis by 1990; Foster 1945:194-196; Girard 1966:226; Ximénez’s Translation Péter Bíró Graulich 1987; Ichon 1973:86-91) and debated their correspondences with the Ximénez analyzed the name of Hunahpu PAGES 14-16 gods that were depicted in Lowland Maya as consisting of the numeral one (spelled art or mentioned in the hieroglyphic in- hun in his manuscript, and jun in modern scriptions (Bassie-Sweet 2008; Chinchilla K’iche’ orthography) combined with ahpu, Marc Zender which would correspond to “blowgun Editor Mazariegos 2011, 2017; Coe 1973, 1978,
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