Ancient Texts
The Americas: Ancient texts
Ancient Texts pages that draw on The Americas, each with the sources shown. Start with Legend of the Suns, Maya Long Count, Popol Vuh.
Texts · The AmericasLegend of the SunsThe Aztec account says four earlier worlds ended in jaguars, wind, fiery rain and flood, and the people turned into monkeys, turkeys or fish. To make us, Quetzalcoatl fetched the old humans' bones from the underworld, the bones were ground like maize, and the gods bled on the meal. Why did the Fifth Sun get such an ending?Objects · The AmericasMaya Long CountThe Maya counted days from a start date placed in 3114 BCE, and on December 21, 2012 the count rolled over a big cycle. Only one known inscription mentions that date, and it predicts no doom. Yet one stela reportedly pushes the numbers far beyond the age of the universe. How big can a calendar get?Texts · The AmericasPopol VuhIn the K'iche' Maya book of creation, the gods tried mud, then wood, before making four men from maize dough. These first people could see everything, near and far. So, the text says, the gods fogged their eyes on purpose, as if breath on a mirror. Why would a maker weaken his own creation?
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