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Maya mythology - Quiz
Maya mythology
  • 1. What is the primary source used to reconstruct pre-Spanish Mayan mythology?
A) Oral traditions recorded during the Preclassic period
B) Extensive collections of surviving Mayan books
C) Depictions on temple walls, stelae, and movable objects
D) Complete hieroglyphic mythological narratives
  • 2. Why is it difficult to define what constitutes a mythological scene in Mayan depictions?
A) They may represent rituals, metaphors, mundane life, or history
B) The hieroglyphs are too damaged to translate
C) Ancient Mayans did not use imagery for mythology
D) Most scenes are strictly historical events
  • 3. What major event in the 1970s helped scholars identify mythological actors on Maya vases?
A) The collapse of the Maya civilization
B) The invention of new linguistic translation software
C) An enormous increase in the number of available vases
D) The discovery of a new codex
  • 4. Which scholar identified Hunahpu and Xbalanque on Maya ceramics?
A) Linda Schele
B) Karl Taube
C) Oswaldo Chinchilla Mazariegos
D) Michael D. Coe
  • 5. Who equated the 'tonsured maize god' with Hun-Hunahpu?
A) Michael D. Coe
B) Oswaldo Chinchilla Mazariegos
C) Karl Taube
D) Linda Schele
  • 6. According to the myth composed by Linda Schele, what did the First Father raise?
A) The Wakah-Chan, or World Tree
B) The sky of eight partitions
C) The constellations
D) The crocodile Itzam Cab Ain
  • 7. What is the primary theme of the cosmogony myth mentioned regarding the crocodile?
A) Defeat of the Great Crocodile
B) The birth of the Hero Twins
C) Creation of the maize god
D) The building of the eight-partition house
  • 8. What does the crocodile Itzam Cab Ain symbolize in the Yucatec fire ritual?
A) The deluge and the earth
B) The underworld and fire
C) The sky and the sun
D) The maize god and rain
  • 9. Where is the celestial dragon that causes a deluge depicted?
A) The murals of San Bartolo
B) Page 74 of the Dresden Codex
C) Temple XIX at Palenque
D) The Paris Codex
  • 10. How was the crocodile in the Yucatec flood myth defeated?
A) By the raising of the World Tree
B) By having its throat cut
C) By being bound in a mural
D) By the dance of the constellations
  • 11. Which scholar expanded iconographic interpretation by considering various tales beyond the Popol Vuh?
A) Michael D. Coe
B) Linda Schele
C) Karl Taube
D) Oswaldo Chinchilla Mazariegos
  • 12. What is the main nature of the surviving Mayan books?
A) Ritual and historical
B) Mythological and epic
C) Scientific and agricultural
D) Legal and political
  • 13. Which text describes the creation of the earth by a group of creator deities?
A) The Chilam Balam of the North
B) The Book of the Dead
C) Apologética Historia Sumaria
D) Popol Vuh
  • 14. How many efforts at creating humankind are described in the Popol Vuh?
A) Eight
B) Four
C) Six
D) Two
  • 15. What material was used to create the first human ancestors in the final attempt mentioned in the Popol Vuh?
A) River sand
B) Maize dough
C) Hardened wood
D) Wet clay
  • 16. Who does the Verapaz myth assign the creation of humankind to?
A) Artisan gods
B) The Lightning deities
C) The Earth God
D) The Hero Twins
  • 17. What mountain is opened by the Lightning deities to conclude the creation of humanity?
A) Maize Mountain
B) Sun Mountain
C) Rain Mountain
D) Thunder Mountain
  • 18. In the marriage with the Earth myth, what bird does the hero change into to woo the daughter of an Earth God?
A) Eagle
B) Owl
C) Hummingbird
D) Parrot
  • 19. What do the Elder Brethren in the Popol Vuh twin myth transform into?
A) Snakes
B) Jaguar cubs
C) Bees
D) Monkeys
  • 20. Which bird demon is defeated by the hero brothers in an episode found across Mesoamerica?
A) The Turtle Deity
B) The Maize Hero
C) Vucub Caquix
D) Hun-Batz
  • 21. Where are the murals that may show Hunahpu bringing the first sacrifices in the four quarters of the world?
A) The turtle abode
B) San Bartolo west wall
C) Late-Preclassic Izapa
D) Copan ball court
  • 22. Besides a maize deity, what other celestial role does the Tonsured Maize God function as?
A) Moon god
B) Bird demon
C) Sun god
D) Rain god
  • 23. Where are the monumental inscriptions that refer to the bound captive with jaguar god attributes?
A) Copan
B) Palenque
C) Naranjo
D) Tikal
  • 24. The Classic Jaguar Slayer theme is connected to which enigmatic figure?
A) The Moon Goddess
B) The Maize God
C) The Hummingbird Suitor
D) The Jaguar Baby
  • 25. On what object is a bird perched while observing a young woman weaving?
A) A ceramic vase
B) A tree branch
C) A loom
D) A stone altar
  • 26. Who is the patron deity of the deer?
A) Itzamna
B) The Maize God
C) The Jaguar God
D) Sip
  • 27. In the reconstructed abduction myth, what animal does one of the Twins change into?
A) A jaguar
B) A deer
C) A hummingbird
D) A peccary
  • 28. Who does the aged god Huk Si'p ask to bring back his wife?
A) The Jaguar Slayer
B) Itzamnaaj
C) The Hummingbird
D) The Maize-Deer God
  • 29. What animal does Itzamnaaj ride to save himself from the Twins?
A) A turtle
B) A deer
C) A peccary
D) A jaguar
  • 30. What is the alternative role proposed for the Maize-Deer God in the abduction myth?
A) The presumed abductor
B) The rescuer of the wife
C) The protector of the village
D) The judge of the gods
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