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Pok-Ta-Pok Mythology: The Hero Twins and Xibalba The historic Mayan book Popol Vuh begins with an Earthly Gall-Game Ceremony which disturbs the Maya Underworld Xibalba Lords and Gods. The Xibalba gods and lords annoyed by the Mayan Hero Twin’s traipses challenge them to descend into Xibalba for a ball-game; they accept the invitation only to be overcome by the Xibalba gods and lords' trickery and the dangers found in the Mayan Underworld.
In Mayan mythology, the Hero Twins, Hun Hunahpu and Vucub Hunahpu, were the eldest sons of the original humans and creator gods. The Xibalba lords finally sacrifice the brothers and Hun Huangpu’s severed head was placed in a calabash tree, from here he impregnates a Xibalban female goddess by spitting into her hand and she gave birth to a second pair of twin sons Hunahpu and Xbalanque, also referred as Hero Twins. This second pair of Hero Twins grew to avenge their father's defeat by the Xibalba gods; they displayed their prowess in the ball-court and at the end the Hero Twins establish the supremacy of the living world over the underworld. This ballgame story of light conquering darkness, and life prevailing over death, is a vital element of ancient Mayan mythology and Creation. The Hero Twins mythological story and ancient Mayan archaeological findings show us that to ancient Maya the ballgame or Pok-Ta-Pok ceremony is intimately related to sacrifice and confrontations between opposing supernatural powers.
Court Designs and Carvings
Ancient Mayan ball-court typical design generally takes the form of an I-shaped field with very tall side walls with stone rings set about 20 feet high and a playing alley. The Maya ballgame courts are normally found within ancient ceremonial cities in archeological sites. Chichen Itza’s which has a well preserve Grant Ball Game Court, the largest found in Mesoamerica, decorated with stone carvings depicting game- players, Kukulkan or feathered serpent, and human sacrifice scenes. Mayan ball players represented in these carvings are shown wearing elaborated headpieces as well as arm and knee guards. The player’s gear varied in quality and elaborateness to show the status of the wearer. Maya ballgame players frequently are depicted as wearing palmas, elongated decorative pieces that may have served as protection for the player’s belly; some stone carvings show players wearing helmets similar to today’s modern day fencers.
It is believed now that Maya people of ancient times also played the ballgame in a sporting context, not always as a cosmic ritual. The rules of the ballgame are currently unknown but Maya scholars do know, through observation of Mayan sculptures and frescos, that ancient Mayan ball players did not touch the ball with their hands but struck the rubber hard ball with their hips, elbows and heads, although some versions allowed the use of forearms, rackets, bats, or hand-stones. The bouncing ball was made of solid rubber from native trees and weighed almost 4 kg (9 lbs) sized to approximate the central hole of the two stone rings held on the side wall; players score by getting the ball through the narrow space within the stone rings.
Mayan Astronomy and the Ball Game Ancient Mayan Ball Game represents the Cosmological Duality and struggle between life and death, light and darkness, day and night. The Maya Ball Game Courts were ceremonial portals intimately related to astronomy and vital life forces where the underworld played a central ceremonial power over Cosmic order, the regeneration of life in the Universe, Mayan religious beliefs and social-political powers. The rubber ball used in this ritualistic game represented the Sun and the stone scoring rings on the east and west walls are believed to signify the Sun’s rise, sunset and equinox paths.
© Pok-Ta-Pok Human Sacrifice Scene
KNOWLEDGE
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