Lunar Periods and the Quest of Rebirth in the Mayan Hieroglyphic Inscriptions

Resumen

The decipherment of the hieroglyphic script of the classic Maya society is hampered by our almost complete ignorance of their mythological-religious beliefs, of their thoughts on the after-life, on the underworld journey and fate of the deceased. Most of the inscriptions are based on a frame of historical (sometimes mythical) dates, usually life-cycle and period-ending dates (Proskouriakoff 1960). In the present paper and two companion ones (Dütting 1984 and n.d.) I explored whether accession dates of Maya lords and dates of other historical events were linked with similar dates of the past, with important dates in the life of parents and forefathers, by full multiples of time-periods with astronomical significance. It turned out that the Moon and the planet Venus played a particular role in the timing of such events. The corresponding deites are the divinities most deeply involved in the resurrection process, aspects of which are discussed.