Book-of-Chilam-Balam-the-of-Chumayel.pdf

THE BOOK OF CHILAM BALAM OF CHUMAYEL

BY RALPH L. ROYS

Washington D.C.; Carnegie Institution

[1933]

Footnotes excluded

Scanned at sacred-texts.com, June 2003. J.B. Hare, redactor. This text is in the public domain because it was not

renewed at the US Copyright Office in a timely manner. These files may be used for any non-commercial purpose

provided this notice of attribution is left intact.

PREFACE

Among the various avenues of approach to the investigation of Maya civilization, the study of

the native literature of Yucatan is, next to the actual archæological exploration of the remains,

one of the most promising, for it contains much of what the Indians remembered of their old

culture after the Spanish Conquest. The Books of Chilam Balam form the most important part

of this native Maya literature. Written in the Maya language, they reflect more closely the

thought of these Indians than any other records that have come down to us. Not only do they

contain a wealth of historical and ethnological information invaluable to the student of the

pre-Columbian career of the Maya, but they also furnish a record of the reactions of the native

mind to the European culture and of the manner in which the latter was adapted to suit its new

environment. It is hardly necessary to dwell upon the value of these old texts to the linguistic

student.

The translation of the Book of Chilam Balam of Chumayel depends primarily upon the

reading given to the badly punctuated and often misspelled Maya text, and such a reading is

based upon an extensive comparison with other similar texts. The difficulties of translation

are not to be underestimated, but they can be greatly lessened by such a comparison. That I

have been able to avail myself of the assistance afforded by the manuscripts of the Berendt

Linguistic Collection, so often referred to in these pages, is due to the collaboration of the

Museum of the University of Pennsylvania and to the kindness of Dr. Horace H. F. Jayne,

Director, who has supplied me with the necessary photostats. Professor Alfred M. Tozzer,

whose previous extensive survey of Maya literature was the indispensable preliminary to the

present work, has given cordial assistance; both he and the Peabody Museum of American

Archæology and Ethnology have cooperated generously with the loan of material necessary to

the work. Mr. Frans Blom, Director, and the Department of Middle American Research of the

Tulane University of Louisiana have kindly loaned photographs of Sixteenth Century Maya

documents in their collection, which have proved most valuable in the study of the present

text.

Dr. Sylvanus G. Morley has spent much time and thought in going over my manuscript and

has offered many valuable suggestions as well as searching out and obtaining related material

in Mexico and Yucatan. Mr. Thomas R. Johnson has undertaken the tedious task of copying

the drawings in the Chumayel manuscript. Mr. Juan Martínez Hernández has again, as in the

past, come to my aid in the elucidation of obscure phrases and badly written passages in the

Maya text. Linguistic data furnished by Dr. Manuel J. Andrade and ethnological analogies

suggested by Dr. Robert Redfield will be found acknowledged elsewhere in this book. The

manner of editing the Maya text is that suggested by Professor Otis J. Todd, who has assisted

me in adapting the methods of classical scholars to this newer field of endeavor. For a number

of the text-figures, Alice P. Roys has made copies from photographs and other reproductions.

To Librarian John Ridington and Assistant Librarian Dorothy Jefferd, I am indebted for the

many facilities afforded by the Library of the University of British Columbia. Throughout the

preparation of this work, Dr. Alfred V. Kidder has given generously of his time and attention

to the practical problems involved in the task. To all these I wish to make grateful

acknowledgment at this time.

RALPH L. ROYS

March 30, 1932

CONTENTS

Preface

Introduction

Translation

Chapter I. The ritual of the four world-quarters

Chapter II The rise of Hunac Ceel to power

Chapter III. A prophecy for Katun 11 Ahau

Chapter IV. The building of the mounds

Chapter V. Memoranda concerning the history of Yucatan

Chapter VI. Notes on the calendar

Chapter VII. The armorial bearings of Yucatan

Chapter VIII. Notes on astronomy

Chapter IX. The interrogation of the chiefs

Chapter X. The creation of the world

Chapter X1. The rituals of the angels

Chapter XII. A song of the Itzá

Chapter XIII. The creation of the uinal

Chapter XIV. A history of the Spanish Conquest

Chapter XV. The prophecy of Chilam Balam and the story of Antonio Martinez 65

Chapter XVI. A chapter of questions and answers

Chapter XVII. An incantation

Chapter XVIII. A series of katun-prophecies

Chapter XIX. The first chronicle

Chapter XX. The second chronicle

Chapter XXI. The third chronicle

Chapter XXII. A book of katun-prophecies

1. Frontispiece

2. Historical introduction to the katun-prophecies

3. The katun-prophecies

Chapter XXIII. The last judgment

Chapter XXIV. Prophecies of a new religion

Appendix A. The four world-quarters

Appendix B. The sacrificial cenote at Chichen Itzá

100

Appendix C. The Hunac Ceel episode

103

Appendix D. The Maya prophecies

107

Appendix E. Traditions of caste and chieftainship among the Maya

113

Appendix F. Toltec military orders in Yucatan

119

Appendix G. The Americanization of Christianity

123

Appendix H. Chronological summary

126

Bibliography

130

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