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