{"id":2313,"date":"2013-01-08T14:36:00","date_gmt":"2013-01-08T19:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/umaine.edu\/hudsonmuseum\/?page_id=2313"},"modified":"2025-06-27T13:23:54","modified_gmt":"2025-06-27T17:23:54","slug":"ballgame","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/hudsonmuseum\/maya\/ballgame\/","title":{"rendered":"Popol Vuh"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Much of Maya culture revolved around the text of the Popol Vuh, or Book of Counsel. The text recalls the creation of humans by the Heart of Sky and the Sovereign Plumed Serpent in a series of attempts, using materials such as clay, wood, and finally maize. The most important gods included Itzmna, lord of life; Ali Kin, the sun god; Ah Puch, god of death; Chac, god of water and rain; Yumkax, the corn god; and Ixchel, goddess of the moon, pregnancy, and of abundance. The Maya believed there were a total of 13 heavens above earth and 9 underworlds beneath it. A god ruled each of these skies and lower worlds. The Maya honored these many gods discussed in the Popol Vuh with sacrificial ceremonies in which food, pottery, animals, and even humans were offered.<\/p>\n\n\n<style>.kt-sc2313_b5a252-f1 .kt-sc-imgcol, .kt-sc2313_b5a252-f1 .kt-sc-textcol{min-height:450px;}.kt-sc2313_b5a252-f1 .kt-split-content-img{max-height:450px;}.kt-sc2313_b5a252-f1 .kt-sc-textcol{padding-top:24px;padding-right:24px;padding-bottom:24px;padding-left:24px;margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;}@media all and (max-width: 767px){.kt-sc2313_b5a252-f1 .kt-sc-imgcol, .kt-sc2313_b5a252-f1 .kt-sc-textcol{min-height:450px;}}<\/style>\n<div class=\"aligncenter kt-sc2313_b5a252-f1 wp-block-kadence-splitcontent\"><div class=\"kt-split-content-wrap kt-sc-media-side-left\" style=\"grid-template-columns:50% auto\"><div class=\"kt-sc-imgcol kt-sc-imgcol-bg-contain kt-sc-img-side-left\"><figure class=\"kt-split-content-media-image wp-image-container-2661\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/hudsonmuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/275\/2013\/01\/hm12001.jpg\" alt=\"Ceramic bowl with incised and painted design of a monkey.\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"kt-split-content-img wp-image-2661\" srcset=\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/hudsonmuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/275\/2013\/01\/hm12001.jpg 640w, https:\/\/umaine.edu\/hudsonmuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/275\/2013\/01\/hm12001-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/umaine.edu\/hudsonmuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/275\/2013\/01\/hm12001-105x79.jpg 105w, https:\/\/umaine.edu\/hudsonmuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/275\/2013\/01\/hm12001-317x238.jpg 317w, https:\/\/umaine.edu\/hudsonmuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/275\/2013\/01\/hm12001-423x317.jpg 423w, https:\/\/umaine.edu\/hudsonmuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/275\/2013\/01\/hm12001-634x476.jpg 634w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 320px) 85vw, (max-width: 768px) 67vw, (max-width: 1024px) 62vw,640px\" \/><\/figure><\/div><div class=\"kt-sc-textcol kt-sc-text-valign-center kt-sc-text-halign-center\"><div class=\"kt-sc-innter-col\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has--font-size\"><strong>Maya Ceramic Bowl<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>AD 600 &#8211; 900<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Popul Vuh describes failed attempts to create humans from clay and wood &#8211; the result of these attempts were monkeys, such as those depicted on this bowl.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>William P Palmer, III Collection<br><a href=\"https:\/\/hudsonmuseum.catalogaccess.com\/objects\/848\">HM1200<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<style>.wp-block-kadence-spacer.kt-block-spacer-2313_365b4e-b8 .kt-block-spacer{height:20px;}.wp-block-kadence-spacer.kt-block-spacer-2313_365b4e-b8 .kt-divider{border-top-width:1px;height:1px;border-top-color:#eee;width:80%;border-top-style:solid;}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-spacer aligncenter kt-block-spacer-2313_365b4e-b8\"><div class=\"kt-block-spacer kt-block-spacer-halign-center\"><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<style>.kt-sc2313_552770-45 .kt-sc-imgcol, .kt-sc2313_552770-45 .kt-sc-textcol{min-height:450px;}.kt-sc2313_552770-45 .kt-split-content-img{max-height:450px;}.kt-sc2313_552770-45 .kt-sc-textcol{padding-top:24px;padding-right:24px;padding-bottom:24px;padding-left:24px;margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;}@media all and (max-width: 767px){.kt-sc2313_552770-45 .kt-sc-imgcol, .kt-sc2313_552770-45 .kt-sc-textcol{min-height:450px;}}<\/style>\n<div class=\"aligncenter kt-sc2313_552770-45 wp-block-kadence-splitcontent\"><div class=\"kt-split-content-wrap kt-sc-media-side-left\" style=\"grid-template-columns:50% auto\"><div class=\"kt-sc-imgcol kt-sc-imgcol-bg-contain kt-sc-img-side-left\"><figure class=\"kt-split-content-media-image wp-image-container-11451\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/hudsonmuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/275\/2013\/04\/hm537.jpg\" alt=\"Covered ceramic container. Body supported on three small feet. Cover made with a masked figure sitting cross-legged on top.\" width=\"360\" height=\"480\" class=\"kt-split-content-img wp-image-11451\" srcset=\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/hudsonmuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/275\/2013\/04\/hm537.jpg 360w, https:\/\/umaine.edu\/hudsonmuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/275\/2013\/04\/hm537-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/umaine.edu\/hudsonmuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/275\/2013\/04\/hm537-105x140.jpg 105w, https:\/\/umaine.edu\/hudsonmuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/275\/2013\/04\/hm537-317x423.jpg 317w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 320px) 85vw, (max-width: 768px) 67vw, (max-width: 1024px) 62vw,360px\" \/><\/figure><\/div><div class=\"kt-sc-textcol kt-sc-text-valign-center kt-sc-text-halign-center\"><div class=\"kt-sc-innter-col\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has--font-size\"><strong>Maya Ceramic Urn<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>AD 600 &#8211; 900<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The seated figure has been made with features characteristic of Chac, god of water and rain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>William P Palmer, III Collection<br><a href=\"https:\/\/hudsonmuseum.catalogaccess.com\/objects\/5512\">HM537<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Much of Maya culture revolved around the text of the Popol Vuh, or Book of Counsel. The text recalls the creation of humans by the Heart of Sky and the Sovereign Plumed Serpent in a series of attempts, using materials such as clay, wood, and finally maize. The most important gods included Itzmna, lord of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":559,"featured_media":0,"parent":1526,"menu_order":4,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"templates\/page-withsidebar.php","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2313","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Popol Vuh - Hudson Museum - University of Maine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/hudsonmuseum\/maya\/ballgame\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Popol Vuh - Hudson Museum - University of Maine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Much of Maya culture revolved around the text of the Popol Vuh, or Book of Counsel. 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