Popol Vuh and the Mayan language
The mysterious Mayan civilization was an advanced society that thrived between 1500BC and 900AD with its height around 250BC. Study of Mayan civilization remained untouched until the 1830s until we started discovering and deciphering glyphs from temples and other sites.
The Popol Vuh, the Ancient Mayan world creation myth, states that the very first words spoken were: "This is the account of when all is still silent and placid. All is silent and calm. Hushed and empty is the womb of sky. These, then, are the first words, the first speech. There is not yet one person, one animal, bird, fish, crab, tree, rock, hallow, canyon, meadow, or forest. All alone exists the sky. There is not yet anything gathered together." (see page 66-72 especially)
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| Popol Vuh manuscript |
This creation myth was taught orally to the Mayan people through the priests. The Mayan culture was highly religious and as a result the priests were held to high esteems among the people. The priests were intelligent, literate and leaders. The high priests were major advisors to the rulers and the nobility. A prospective priest had to go through extensive training from other priests. The learned writing, history, medicine and the calendar systems. These were then taught orally to the people. Additionally they taught character training, including self-restraint, moderation, cooperative team work and other social behavior trainings.
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| priest and noble |
There are only a few primary sources similar to the Popol Vuh (The Grolier Codex, The Paris Codex, The Dresden Codex and the The Madrid Codex) that survive the Spanish conquest of Mesoamerica in the late 1600s. The Spanish priests ordered the destruction of all Mayan writings. As a result much of the mayan history in Guatamala is oral.
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| The Grolier Codex |
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| The Paris Codex |
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| The Dresden Codex |
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| The Madrid Codex |
After reading the introduction to the I learned that even in modern history almost all of the mayan dialects today are still communicated only orally. The translator of the Popol Vuh I found on Google books name Allen J. Christenson tells an account of his while he was working on gathering sources in Guatemala. He says he
began reading from a manuscript he had of Popol Vuh and the man was astonished at how Christenson was able to "cause to bring to life" the words of his ancient fathers. All of the history this man was used to was oral and had not encountered any other form before.
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| pyramid in Itza |
I actually have heard Quiché (the most popular Mayan dialect and the language used by Christenson and the native man) being spoken many times on my mission, in Los Angeles. There are still millions of speakers of languages derived from Maya today. The population density of the major Mayan city of Itza reached around 2,000 people per square mile, compared to 7,544.6 people per square mile in Los Angeles today and around 2,500 people per square mile in the 80s. This high population density served as a cultural breeding spot as well as a place for oral communication and history to develop and flourish. Large metropolises still serve similar purposes in modern culture. Additionally, today in the Yucatan peninsula, the government is working on preserving the Mayan languages. This weaves a complex culture reminiscent of the Ancient Maya civilization begging an analysis of the mysterious culture so advanced yet so mysterious.
It is interesting how you mentioned that the priest class was basically in charge of educating the masses orally. I guess a lot of civilizations have been like that. They had the learned class who was in charge of orally communication to the common people what they knew by reading or learning etc. Actually we continue this practice today. In the university (although we mix the technique with books and reading) we are basically taught orally by professors who are supposed experts on the subject.
ReplyDeleteAh, we return to the black robes of the apostate priesthood in heathen temples of learning...
ReplyDeleteNo I agree with Michael the educational system is mostly based on oral transmission. We sit in a lecture hall and have someone pontificate at us for an hour and hopefully retain the knowledge well enough to pass it on. I think the European school system is an even better example because all of their really important exams are oral. The information is imparted to the orally.
I would also like to draw attention to the fact that not all members of privileged classes were the ones imparting knowledge. A good example is that during the dark ages the priests were the guardians of knowledge. Many lords and knights could not read and had to be educated by the ecumenical institution. In this way the class that controlled learning had a very tight control over what was learned and preserved in the culture. I wonder if this was also true of the Mayans.
It would be interesting to take each of our classes and examine which ones use more oral learning and which ones rely more upon books. I wonder if there would be significant correlation within certain disciplines, or if it is more of a personal preference of the professor in question.
ReplyDeleteIt was also very interesting to me that you mentioned that about the high population density being important for the cultural growth of the area. It is interesting how large a role demographics like that play in intellectual and cultural development.
Like what Alicia and Lauren touched on, I think it's interesting that today our culture mainly uses oral communication as a way of teaching as well. We still use books and other sources, but we connect as humans together and share our personal knowledge in a more intimate way than just reading.
ReplyDeleteHmmm. Thinking off what Lauren mentioned. Maybe through the internet we have overcome the need for population density to reach a critical mass for new ideas to form. Modern technology facilitates discussion and idea exchange in such a way that our communities with who we share knowledge are geographically diverse.
ReplyDeleteGood thought Lauren. I like it.
The destruction of the majority of the Mayan writings is an interesting connection to Alicia's post on the Khmer. How cultures are forced from the written systems back to the oral ones by dominating societies is a theme in probably every repression of one people by another. It must have helped though that only one class of people were the literate instructors, (the priests) that knew how to teach it all orally anyway to the masses. Hopefully, so not as much was lost in the destruction of the written record.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I love oral instruction and hearing what I have to know, but I think that may just be my learning style. Educational systems definitely employ a variety of methods in their institutions for instruction, but I am glad that oral pontificating is one of them.