Author: Hrothsige Frithowulf

The principle of double effect is a principle applied in bioethics to assess the moral dimension of an action with dual (positive and negative) effects.

General Characteristics

This principle is associated with the teachings of the Catholic Church, which profess moral absolutism, forbidding the commission of evil regardless of how much good the evil act might bring. Sometimes, however, an action produces both a good effect, intended by the actor, and an evil effect that is not desired.

Beauchamp and Childress, in their Principles of Biomedical Ethics, formulate the following conditions for the permissibility of the analyzed action:

• The action in question must be inherently good (Tadeusz Biesaga formulates this differently, stating that an action can be undertaken if its natural consequence is good, but it cannot be undertaken if it is bad).
• The intention of the actor committing the act must also be good; thus, the actor must directly desire the good outcome of the action, while he may only indirectly allow and tolerate the bad outcome, but he cannot intend to commit it.
• The bad effect cannot be the means of achieving the good.
• The good effect must at least outweigh the bad, or even surpass it; that is, the good and bad effects caused by the action must be proportional.

There is still one more condition:

• There are no other ways to achieve the good effect.

Biesaga also notes that according to this principle, the actor committing the act is responsible for its natural consequences, if known. However, regarding a consequence that was not known at the time of performing the action but was discovered by science later, the responsibility for its occurrence does not lie with the actor.

Abortion

An example of applying moral absolutism to the issue of the permissibility of abortion is provided by Father Jacek Woroniecki. He writes in his Catholic Educational Ethics that in a situation where the life of a pregnant woman can only be saved by sacrificing the life of the fetus, it is not permissible to do so, even if the fetus is destined to die shortly afterward. In such a situation, both should be allowed to die.

On the other hand, the application of the principle of double effect allows for the termination of pregnancy under certain conditions. For example, it justifies a salpingectomy along with an ectopic pregnancy if the termination of the pregnancy is only a foreseeable but not desired outcome of the surgery. A debatable case is when, instead of salpingectomy, a small resection of the fallopian tube is performed, involving only the site of implantation, or when the embryo itself is removed (salpingostomy or salpingotomy). Here, the death of the embryo becomes, according to some, a means to achieve the desired outcome, while for others, it is an unavoidable but incidental effect of its removal. The proportionality of such actions and their necessity are also questioned, especially if a larger resection can be performed. A similar issue arises with the pharmacotherapy of ectopic pregnancy using methotrexate, often negatively evaluated from the perspective of the principle of double effect, although it is also subject to debate.

Another example of a situation where the unintended consequence of an action aimed at saving the mother’s life is the death of the child is the treatment of cancer with chemotherapy. Although such chemotherapy leads to the death of the fetus, its aim is to combat the tumor. Therefore, it is a permissible method of treating a pregnant woman with cancer. Some ethicists also accept the induction of labor at an early stage when the fetus cannot survive outside the mother’s body.

Analgesia

The relief of pain accompanying illness is approved by both medical and church authorities. It is the duty of medical personnel, and a patient can only waive this right through an informed decision. Typically, a pain ladder is used to combat pain, starting with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and ending with strong opioids if necessary. However, sometimes, especially in the case of terminally ill cancer patients, even the usually administered doses of strong opioids prove insufficient because the patient becomes accustomed to the medication, which gradually loses its effectiveness. As a result, pain relief is achieved only by administering lethal doses, i.e., doses that cause death in some patients and may also cause death in the patient.

Administering a lethal dose carries the risk of being accused of euthanasia, which is illegal in many countries. This accusation is refuted using the principle of double effect. The administration of a lethal dose of an analgesic allows for the fulfillment of the following conditions:

• Alleviating the patient’s suffering is inherently good and demonstrates concern for the patient. Refusing analgesia would result in immense suffering for the dying patient.
• The intention of administering the medication must be good – the person must intend to alleviate the patient’s suffering. They cannot desire the death of the patient, although they should be aware of the possibility.
• However, death cannot be the means. This means that actions aiming to eliminate pain by killing the patient (as in euthanasia) are not acceptable. Death cannot serve the desired outcome; it cannot lead to it.
  
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  It can only be an unintended but tolerated or foreseeable consequence.
• The desired effect, in the form of pain relief, must be proportional to the threat posed to the patient. In cancer, severe, all-encompassing pain often occurs, affecting not only physical but also spiritual and psychological suffering. Such pain has no moral value in itself and does not fulfill its biological function. Alleviating the patient’s suffering in such cases is considered a proportionate effect compared to the threat associated with their relief.

Such high doses of strong opioids are only used when weaker analgesics and smaller doses are ineffective.

This reasoning is subject to criticism. Firstly, it is difficult to distinguish between intended and foreseeable consequences.

However, in ethics, there is usually no certainty. Critics of the above argument point out that there is no moral difference between gradually increasing opioid doses to meet the last of the aforementioned conditions (ineffectiveness of smaller doses) and administering a one-time lethal dose, which is not approved by the principle of double effect.

Others argue that previous attempts to use smaller doses increase the patient’s suffering and that their treatment should immediately begin with effective opioid doses. However, a positive aspect of applying this principle to the analgesia of terminally ill patients is reducing the fear of medical personnel of being accused of euthanasia, which often leads to their administration of too small, ineffective opioid doses.

However, there are doubts about various laws. Some lawyers regard actions consistent with the principle of double effect as acts prohibited with eventual intent. Thus, the Penal Code of many countries would reject the principle of double effect. For instance, however, the Medical Code of Ethics, in Article 29, mandates the alleviation of a patient’s suffering until the end of their life in Poland. There is also a view that, in a situation of uncertainty regarding the threat to life, a doctor is exempt from liability for administering opioids, unlike the administration of a dose that will certainly cause the patient’s death. However, this view is based on erroneous premises, assuming that properly conducted analgesia does not include the administration of lethal doses. Such views reinforce, within the medical community, the fear of criminal liability for conducting effective analgesia and for inappropriate therapy of dying patients – with doses that do not affect them. Administering effective doses is defended here, invoking a state of higher necessity, the concept of primary legality of actions, and counter-type (in this case, extra-legal, but resulting from the Medical Code of Ethics, the Act on Healthcare Facilities, and the Act on the Profession of Physician and Dentist).

Transplantology

The principle of double effect is also sought to be applied in transplantology. The issue revolves around maintaining the dead donor rule in the case of donors with non-beating hearts.

The cessation of circulation is not a reliable predictor of brain death or, thus, of a person’s death.

Consequently, allowing such donors, motivated by the shortage of organs for transplantation, may lead to transforming the doctor-patient relationship into a doctor-source of organs relationship.

Veatch repels such a threat precisely through the principle of double effect. However, Szewczyk criticizes this approach, considering the last of the aforementioned criteria of the principle of double effect unmet, citing living donors and donors diagnosed with brain death.

However, even the retrieval of organs from a living donor, which indeed worsens their physical health, is justified by the principle of double effect, although the principle of totality is also applied here. The physical suffering of the donor caused by the procedure is offset by a spiritual benefit. Such an approach was supported by Pope Pius XII during his speech at the International Neuro-Pharmacological Colloquium.

The lesser evil, or the lesser of two evils, is an ethical principle that justifies choosing one evil in order to avoid a greater evil. The condition of the principle is that of a strictly binary dilemma, meaning that there is no possibility of a third option (tertium non datur); for example, the option offered may be between the action​ that implies one evil and the omission​ that implies another different evil (which requires evaluating which of the two evils is lesser).

The impossibility of choosing between two equally attractive options is the paradox called “Buridan’s ass” (which would die of hunger and thirst if placed equidistant from food and water, unable to move in any direction). Examples of ethical dilemmas are Carneades’ table (where a castaway saves himself at the expense of causing another to drown) and the trolley problem (where one must choose to save a greater number of people at the cost of the lives of a smaller number, or vice versa).

Scylla and Charybdis

The myth of Scylla and Charybdis presents the choice between two evils that Ulysses had to face; by choosing to approach Scylla, he lost six companions, but if he had sailed alongside Charybdis, they all would have perished.

Therein dwells Scylla, yelping terribly. Her voice is indeed but as the voice of a new-born whelp, but she herself is an evil monster, nor would anyone be glad at sight of her, no, not though it were a god that met her. Verily she has twelve feet, all misshapen, and six necks, exceeding long, and on each one an awful head, and therein three rows of teeth, thick and close, and full of black death. Up to her middle she is hidden in the hollow cave, but she holds her head out beyond the dread chasm, and fishes there, eagerly searching around the rock for dolphins and sea-dogs and whatever greater beast she may haply catch, such creatures as deep-moaning Amphitrite rears in multitudes past counting. By her no sailors yet may boast that they have fled unscathed in their ship, for with each head she carries off a man, snatching him from the dark-prowed ship. “‘But the other cliff, thou wilt note, Odysseus, is lower—they are close to each other; thou couldst even shoot an arrow across—and on it is a great fig tree with rich foliage, but beneath this divine Charybdis sucks down the black water. Thrice a day she belches it forth, and thrice she sucks it down terribly. Mayest thou not be there when she sucks it down, for no one could save thee from ruin, no, not the Earth-shaker. Nay, draw very close to Scylla’s cliff, and drive thy ship past quickly; for it is better far to mourn six comrades in thy ship than all together.’

Homer, Odyssey, book XII. The words are spoken by Circe.​

The Latin phrase incidit in Scyllam cupiens vitare Charybdim (fell into Scylla while wanting to avoid Charybdis) became proverbial, with a similar meaning to expressions like “out of the frying pan into the fire,”​ “escape the fire only to fall into the coals,”​ or “between a rock and a hard place.”​ Erasmus includes it as an ancient proverb in Adages,​ although its earliest appearance is in Alexandreis, a 12th-century Latin epic poem by Gautier de Châtillon.​

History of philosophy and law

The principle of lesser evil apparently contradicts other ethical principles that would seem to indicate that it is never permissible to commit any evil, such as those posed about injustice (αδικία adikía) by Plato, in the mouth of Socrates, in the dialogues Gorgias (it is preferable to suffer injustice than to commit it), and Crito (injustice should not be committed even to avoid a greater injustice). In contrast, the principle is clearly defended by Aristotle in Book II of his Ethics, whose Latin version spread in the 13th century in Western Europe and was also adopted by Thomas à Kempis: De duobus malis, minor est semper eligendum (of two evils, the lesser must always be chosen).​

Aristotle defined virtue as a mean between two vices; proposing that it is advisable to fall into the less erroneous vice rather than the more erroneous one when one cannot hit the virtue (ta elachista lepteon ton kakon -“one must take the lesser of two evils”-).​ Cicero, in De officiis, gives as an example of choosing the lesser evil (minima de malis) not an easy way out but an example of heroism: the physical suffering that Marcus Atilius Regulus chose to endure in order to avoid breaking his oath.​

In the Middle Ages, the principle is reflected in Ivo of Chartres and in the Decree of Gratian, which is supported by texts such as this one from the Eighth Council of Toledo: si periculi necessitas unum ex his temperare compulerit, id debemus resoluere quod minori nexu noscitur obligari (“if an inexcusable danger compels us to perpetrate one of two evils, we must choose the one that makes us less guilty”); with that wording, it is evident that, although there is a moral obligation to inflict the lesser evil, the fact that there is an obligation to do so does not exempt from guilt or responsibility, since it is still an evil. As for the way to distinguish which of the two evils is lesser, there is an inconsistency among the manuscripts that contain the text of the Council: in one it says purae rationis acumene (“by the sharpness [clearness] of pure reason”) and in another orationis acumene (“by the sharpness [clearness] of prayer”).​

Electoral systems and psychological techniques

In political elections, especially in two-party systems, the options offered to the voter can both be seen as bad, so casting a vote usually does not mean identifying with a candidate considered optimal, but rather avoiding the candidate considered worse.​ In such contexts, expressions like “strategic voting” or “holding one’s nose while voting” are used.​​

There are theories and psychological techniques used in marketing and political campaigns (decision theory, neuroeconomics, and neuropolitics) that seek to guide consumer or voter preference by presenting comparative advantages or disadvantages. When not only the possibility of choosing between two options is posed, presenting a third instrumental option, closer to one option than to another, ensures that the preference leans in the desired direction. ​

Bioethics and medical ethics

The amputation of a foot to avoid greater harm (losing the entire leg or life) is a lesser evil assumed in medical practice, which is even expressed in a topic applicable to any other circumstance: “cutting out the unhealthy part.”
An important question is the possibility of applying the principle or criterion of the lesser evil in bioethical decision-making and medical ethics.​

To admit techniques like amputation, even for those who refuse to justify the principle of the lesser evil, a resort is made to differentiate between “physical evils” and “moral evils.”  According to moral rigorists, only physical evils could be subjected to a weighing of which evil is lesser, something impossible between two moral evils (absolute evils), while between a physical evil and a moral evil, the physical evil should always be preferred.

Justification of War as the Lesser Evil

While some aspects of ancient civilizations manifest a consideration of war as a good in itself or an honorable activity, others show it as an evil to be avoided as much as possible, but one must be aware that it cannot always be avoided (si vis pacem, para bellum). This is the case in the Greco-Roman world: according to Titus Livius, the Roman king Tullus Hostilius, despite his warlike nature, “calls the gods to witness that the calamities of this conflict [against the Albanians] will fall upon the people who first refused to listen to the demands of the ambassadors.” Cicero condemned the formalism that the rules of the ius fetiale imposed regarding the justification of the causes of war, proposing defense and revenge as the only just causes;​ although in some cases, he also proposes that war can be undertaken to “enlarge the boundaries of peace, order, and justice.”​

Illa injusta bella sunt quae sunt sine causa suscepta, nam extra ulciscendi aut propulsandorum hostium causam bellum geri justum nullum potest (“wars undertaken without reason are unjust, for no war can be waged justly unless for the purpose of repelling or avenging an enemy”).

Cicero, De Republica, III, XXIII.​

… if the iniquity of the opposing party is what leads the wise to uphold a just war, this iniquity should cause regret, since it is characteristic of human hearts to sympathize… So anyone who considers with pain these calamities so great, so horrendous, so inhuman, must confess to misery; and whoever suffers them, or considers them without feeling in his soul, is erroneously and miserably deemed blessed, for he has erased from his heart all human sentiment.

Augustine of Hippo, City of God, XIX.​

Christianity went from proposing radical pacifism in the time of persecutions to justifying wars when the Roman Empire was Christianized in the 4th century. From then on, the causes of just war (bellum iustum) were theorized, always to restore peace and repair the injustice received: thus in Augustine of Hippo (just wars avenge injustices) or Isidore of Seville (“to recover lost goods or repel and punish enemies for the unjust war initiated by madness or without legitimate cause”), whose ideas were collected in the Decree of Gratian.​ Other medieval authors who theorized about just war were Acursius, the decretists and decretalists, and Thomas Aquinas. For the latter, three requirements are necessary: legitimate authority (auctoritas principes), just cause, and right intention (intentio recta) to promote good and avoid evil. Thomism developed in a new context (that of humanism and the nation-states of the Modern Age) notably with the School of Salamanca (Francisco de Vitoria). With these Catholic thinkers, and with Protestants like Hugo Grotius and Alberico Gentili, the ius ad bellum (to wage war, there must be a just cause) was added to the ius in bello (in war, damage should be limited only to combatants, and there should be proportionality between the lives destroyed and those saved).​

President Harry Truman justified the use of atomic bombs on Japan based on a calculation of lives, according to which they saved more lives than they cost, assuming that any other option to end the war would have meant a greater number of casualties on both sides, although such calculations and motivations are disputed.​

… the truth is very simple: to survive, we often must fight, and to do so, we must get our hands dirty. War is evil, and sometimes it is the lesser evil.

George Orwell, Homage to Catalonia.​

How can you say that a good cause sanctifies even a war? I tell you: the good war sanctifies every cause!

Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, 1883-1885.

Collaborationism as the Lesser Evil

Those who denounce the moral fallacy of this argument are generally accused of aseptic moralism unrelated to political circumstances, of not wanting to dirty their hands; and it must be admitted that it is not so much political or moral philosophy (with the sole exception of Kant, who is usually accused of moral rigorism), but religious thought that has most unequivocally rejected all compromises with lesser evils. Thus, for example, the Talmud argues…: If they ask you to sacrifice a man for the security of the whole community, do not give him up; if they ask you to let a woman be raped for the sake of all women, do not let her be raped. … John XXIII … “never to act in collusion with evil in the hope that, by so doing, they can be of use to anyone.”

Politically speaking, the weakness of the argument has always been that those who choose the lesser evil quickly forget that they are choosing evil. … the extermination of the Jews was preceded by a very gradual series of anti-Jewish measures, each of which was accepted with the argument that refusing to cooperate would make things worse, until a stage was reached where nothing worse could have happened.

Hannah Arendt, Personal Responsibility Under Dictatorship (1967).​

Tolerance as the Lesser Evil

For those who conceive of political power as a means to achieve the “maximum moral, both from religious perspectives (“to ordain good and forbid evil,” “heresy must be punished) and from secular totalitarianism, tolerance is a concession to evil since it allows its existence. In the context of the religious wars of 16th-century France, the politiques saw tolerance as the only way to achieve social peace, and Henry of Navarre agreed to convert to Catholicism to reign over a united country (“Paris is well worth a mass”), granting with the Edict of Nantes spaces of security for the Protestants. In the field of international relations, from the Peace of Westphalia (1648) onwards, the imposition of religion ceased to be a priority for European states as it had been in the previous century.

Realism in international politics requires tolerating moral differences with allies and enemies. The “balance of terror” of the mid-20th-century Cold War implied avoiding direct confrontations between superpowers if one wanted to avoid “mutual assured destruction,” forcing a peaceful coexistence with so-called realpolitik (renouncing the imposition of one’s own principles to achieve an understanding with the adversary). Even game theory was developed to weigh the logical consequences of the confrontation between adversaries with opposing interests (in the “prisoner’s dilemma,” the possibility of voluntarily assuming a punishment to avoid a greater one by collaborating with an adversary facing the same perspective).

United with the principle of lesser evil, and as a consequence of it, we can state the principle of tolerance. This has great relevance due to the pluralistic environment of our society. In a certain sense, we can understand it as “not preventing an evil, although capable of doing so, but without expressly approving it.” Consequently, regarding truth and opinion, the stance is one of respect, while in the face of evil and error, tolerance is appropriate. We can distinguish two types of tolerance: one is dogmatic, which permits everything, as for it, everything is equal. This position cannot be sustained… [but] it continues to be supported by many thinkers, for whom the relativistic view of tolerance (the dogmatic one), often presented as ethical pluralism or the neutrality of the State, is the condition for the possibility of peaceful democratic coexistence. The other type of tolerance is practical, allowing error without approving it. That is, it focuses on fundamental ethical values for coexistence: peace, freedom, and justice to legally guarantee the demands of human dignity. This second type, with some nuances, can be admitted. It is what has been called “negative permission of evil.” Tolerance, in the strict sense, that is, as a moral principle, can be defined as follows: “in some circumstances, it is morally permissible not to prevent an evil – although capable of preventing it – in consideration of a higher good or to avoid more serious disorders.”

Traditionally, the argument of the lesser evil has been applied in social ethics within the framework of the permission by public authorities of certain evils to avoid worse evils [But when one must choose between two dangers, in each of which there is an imminent peril, it is better to choose that one from which less evil follows. Thomas Aquinas, On Kingship, I, 6]. From the 16th century onwards, this notion has been extended to the distinction between the sphere of personal ethics and the sphere of legal order and governmental action. It is then when the contemporary concept of “tolerance” arises, understood as the attitude of States accepting the primacy of individual decisions over public authorities, in less relevant aspects of the common good, gradually opening a more marked dissociation between individual morality and public order, as in John Locke in his Letter Concerning Toleration (1689), or in Voltaire with his Treatise on Tolerance (1763). However, this gradual process has not ceased to reveal its contradictions. The sophistical uses of the argument of the lesser evil, and its use in a context unrelated to the perception of the absolute ethical demands of truth about the human person and their dignity, have been denounced by contemporary thought, especially since the Second World War. Hannah Arendt has made a sharp critique of the aberrant and ideological uses of the argument of the lesser evil in an attempt to numb moral consciousness during the National Socialist period in her book Personal Responsibility Under Dictatorship (1964): “The acceptance of the lesser evil was consciously used to accustom officials and the population to generally accept evil itself.”

Justification of Torture as the Lesser Evil

Since at least Jeremy Bentham,​ the use of torture has been purportedly justified as a lesser evil, with the so-called “ticking time bomb scenario” (TBS):​ authorities have caught a terrorist who has just placed a bomb, and he refuses to provide information about its location, so there is no way to prevent the death of many people unless he is forced to do so. Alan Dershowitz argues that both evils must be analyzed, and one must be willing to accept the consequences of the choice, concluding that torturing the detainee is the lesser evil. Michael Ignatieff agrees with the approach, warning that it could only be applied as a last resort if it were impossible to resolve the emergency with other methods; but he insists on pointing out the danger of turning it into a greater evil if it is disconnected from the assumptions of the scenario (real and immediate threat) and becomes a systematic recourse (applied to suspects or for potential events), as would have happened after the attacks of September 11, 2001.

A Morton’s Fork is a type of false dilemma where contradictory observations lead to the same conclusion. It’s said to have originated with tax collection by John Morton. The first known use of the term dates back to the mid-19th century, and the only earlier known mention is a claim by Francis Bacon about an existing tradition.

Dilemma

Under Henry VII, John Morton was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury in 1486 and Lord Chancellor in 1487. He raised tax funds for his king by arguing that someone living modestly must be saving money and therefore could afford to pay taxes, while someone living extravagantly obviously was wealthy and thus could also pay taxes. The Morton’s Fork might have been invented by another of Henry’s supporters, Richard Foxe.

In some cases, like Morton’s original use of the fallacy, one of the two observations may be likely valid, but the other is purely sophistic.

In other cases, it may be that neither observation can be trusted to properly support the conclusion.

For instance, asserting that a person suspected of a crime, if acting nervously, must have something to feel guilty about, while a person acting calmly and confidently must be either practical or skilled at hiding guilt. Thus, either observation has little or no probative value, as each could be evidence for the opposite conclusion.

A Morton’s Fork can lead a person not to make a choice at all, possibly with undesirable consequences. A more thorough consideration of the alternatives may sometimes reveal an additional option or show that one of the available options does produce a less unfavorable result than the other. Sometimes a Morton’s Fork can also be solved by finding an exception to the rule.

Other similar concepts to Morton’s Fork are between hammer and anvil or between Scylla and Charybdis; namely a choice between two or more equally undesirable alternatives. Morton’s Fork is the logical counterpart of Buridan’s Donkey (Buridan’s Ass).

Examples

The “Morton’s Fork coup” is a maneuver in the game of contract bridge that uses the principle of Morton’s Fork.

An episode of the television series Fargo is titled “Morton’s Fork,” referencing the dilemma.

It’s also mentioned in episode 16 of season 5 of NCIS Los Angeles, “Fish Out of Water.”

The Mosaic Map of Madaba (also known as the Madaba Mosaic or Madaba Map) is a fragmentarily preserved late antique to early Byzantine floor mosaic located in the modern Greek Orthodox Church of St. George in Madaba, Jordan. The Madaba Mosaic is the oldest surviving original cartographic depiction of Palestine on both sides of the Jordan River and Lower Egypt. It was created after 542, possibly during the reign of Emperor Justinian († 565).

The Madaba Map is renowned for its detailed representation of the city of Jerusalem, including walls, gates, main streets, and churches. Other cities, such as Ashkelon and Gaza, are similarly depicted in detail. The Madaba Map also contains some information about economic life: dates and balsam are cultivated in the Jericho area, and transport ships ply the waters of the Dead Sea. Pilgrimage tourism to Palestine was a significant economic factor in the 6th century, with the map featuring mostly biblical pilgrimage sites, supplemented by the stations of the overland roads that connected them.

A faithful stone copy of the Madaba Map is housed in the casting collection of the University of Göttingen. This article presents the details of the Madaba mosaic based on photos of this copy.

Discovery and Publication

Orthodox Arab Christians from al-Karak left their hometown in the 1880s due to a local conflict. They petitioned the Ottoman government in Istanbul to settle on the large tell of the Byzantine city of Madaba. The Ottoman authorities stipulated that churches could only be built where churches had stood centuries ago. Consequently, the late antique and Byzantine city of Madaba was specifically searched for the foundations of churches.

In 1884, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Nikodemos I, was informed about the discovery of the mosaic floor during the construction of the Church of St. George; reactions are not documented. In 1897, Cleopas M. Koikylides, the librarian of this patriarchate, saw the mosaic in the now completed church in Madaba and recognized its significance. His publication drew the attention of the academic world to the mosaic map. Koikylides published a schematic drawing of the mosaic map. Later visitors did the same. In 1901, the German Association for the Exploration of Palestine commissioned the Jerusalem architect Paul Palmer to make an accurate reproduction. Palmer completed the colored drawing in 1902, and the association’s chairman, Hermann Guthe, published it as a colored plate in 1906. This set a new standard of quality. Palmer’s drawing served as the basis for literature on the Madaba Map for decades. Even Michael Avi-Yonah relied on it for his 1954 publication on the Madaba Map.

After the restoration of the Madaba Map in 1965, Herbert Donner and Heinz Cüppers published a volume in 1977 documenting the mosaic map with photos. This included the peripheral areas that were covered with cement during Palmer’s time and therefore were not drawn by him. There is no photographic panoramic view of the mosaic instead of Palmer’s drawing. Whichever angle one chooses, parts of the mosaic are always hidden by modern pillars.

Description

The Greek Orthodox Church of St. George in Madaba, completed in 1896, was built on the foundations of an early Byzantine predecessor church. The current spatial arrangement largely corresponds, except for the pillar placement, to the predecessor church, which was, however, larger. The mosaic was a rectangular picture field in front of the sanctuary. It originally measured about 24 m × 6 m and spanned the entire width of the church nave.

The Madaba Map originally depicted an area from Lebanon in the north to the Nile Delta in the south and from the Mediterranean in the west to the Arabian Desert in the east. The viewer looks eastward, from an imaginary location high above the Mediterranean, over Jerusalem and the Jordan, towards the east bank where Madaba is located. The mosaic map is not oriented to the north but to the east, aligning with the orientation of the church space.

The macro-topography, which is not easily discernible in the current fragmentary state, likely adhered to late antique table work conventions: mountain ranges depicted in brown hues, along with rivers, lakes, and coastlines (blue), structured the landscape. Numerous individual pieces of information were inserted into this basic structure. All natural geographic units are labeled in Greek script, mostly referring to the Old Testament.

In a combination of oblique perspective and bird’s-eye view, approximately 150 cities and villages are depicted and named on the mosaic map. The topography became quite busy due to this wealth of detail. A number of large city vignettes counteract this and facilitate orientation, especially in Jerusalem, but also in Neapolis, Pelusium, Charachmoba, Ashkelon, and Gaza, which are highlighted as centers of urban life. The tradition of city vignettes originates from late-antique city boards (compare the depiction in the Notitia dignitatum). With few exceptions, churches are marked with red roofs, palaces and residential buildings have yellowish-gray roofs, and squares are recognizable by their brown color.

A contiguous fragment of approximately 15.70 m × 5.60 m is preserved; this corresponds to about 25 percent of the original map. In addition, there are two fragments in the northern side aisle:

• Fragment A shows a location with a church, likely identifiable with ʿAkbara in Upper Galilee, attested to by the inscription ΑΓΒΑΡѠ[Ν] Agbarō[n].
• Fragment B, measuring approximately 1.25 m × 0.5 m, was first described by Eugène Germer-Durand in 1897. At his time, a part of the Mediterranean with a ship was still visible. In 1965, the fragment was smaller, showing only mountain ranges, two unidentifiable incomplete place names, and the blessing over the tribe of Zebulun (Gen 49:13 in the Septuagint version). While historically, this tribal territory is to be sought in Lower Galilee, the Byzantine mosaicist extended it to modern-day Lebanon.

The following division of the mosaic map into ten panels is based on the approach taken by Paul Palmer.

Top row:

• Panel I: Jordan
• Panel II: Confluence of the Jordan into the Dead Sea
• Panel III: Central Dead Sea and East Jordanian Highlands with Charachmoba (al-Karak)
• Panel IV: Southern end of the Dead Sea
• Panel V: (only parts of inscriptions)

Bottom row:

• Panel VI: Neapolis (Nablus) and surroundings
• Panel VII: Jerusalem and surroundings
• Panel VIII: Judean Desert with Philippus, Zacharias, and Abraham sanctuaries; Ashkelon
• Panel IX: Gaza and surroundings
• Panel X: Lower Egypt

Jerusalem and Surroundings (Panel VII)

The largest and most detailed element of the topographic depiction is “the holy city of Jerusalem” (ancient Greek Η ΑΓΙΑ ΠΟΛΙϹ ΙΕΡΟΥϹΑ[ΛΗΜ] hē hagía pólis Ierousa[lḗm]) at the center of the map. The city vignette of Jerusalem lay on the axis of the church. The site of Madaba, not preserved on the fragment, lay on the extension of this axis and directly in front of the bema. Jerusalem, as the center of the world, is also the focal point of the Madaba Map. In Jerusalem, it was not the Church of the Holy Sepulchre but the base of the column at the Damascus Gate that was chosen as the central point of the map.

Walls and Gates

Jerusalem is depicted within its city walls as an oval. From a fictional location high in the west, the viewer looks “perspectivally” down on Jerusalem; he sees the western wall from the outside and the eastern wall from the inside. The late antique Byzantine city wall of Jerusalem is depicted. According to widespread dating, it was completed in the 440s under Empress Aelia Eudocia. In contrast to the present-day city wall of Jerusalem, built in 1517 under Sultan Suleiman I, the Byzantine city wall also enclosed the southwest hill (Mount Zion) and the southeast hill (with the Pool of Siloam at its foot). However, it is also held that Jerusalem remained an open city in late antiquity. In this case, the Jerusalem vignette provides a terminus ante quem for the construction of the Byzantine city wall, as this wall is depicted on the mosaic.

Within the city walls of Jerusalem, there are 19 towers and several city gates. According to ancient and medieval tradition, the northern city gate is particularly emphasized. The northern gate, today’s Damascus Gate, was called the Gate of Stephen in Byzantine times. On the city side of the gate square stood a column, probably dating from the time of Emperor Hadrian, which is now interpreted as the “symbol of the center of the world” and therefore forms the geographic reference point of the Madaba Map. Continuing clockwise from the Damascus Gate, two smaller gates can be seen in the city wall: the Lion’s Gate (in Byzantine times: Eastern Gate) and the Golden Gate. The southern part of the city wall is no longer included in the mosaic fragment. On the western side of Jerusalem, i.e., seen from the nave of the church, there is an inconspicuous gate that corresponds to the present-day Jaffa Gate and was called the Gate of David in Byzantine times.

Streets

The main streets of Byzantine Jerusalem are highlighted in white. The oval of the city is horizontally divided by the late antique Cardo Maximus (= Suq Chan ez-Zeit) with covered colonnades on both sides of the street. The stairs of the Constantinian Church of the Holy Sepulchre interrupt the colonnades on the west side.

From the column square at the Damascus Gate, the Cardo secundus (= Tariq al-Wad) branches off, running through the inner-city valley in the east of Jerusalem. It also has covered colonnades, but they are only depicted on the eastern (rear) side of the street. The street from the Cardo secundus to the Lion’s Gate is now known as the beginning of the Via Dolorosa, an inner-city pilgrimage route that did not exist in early Byzantine times.

The late antique Decumanus is depicted without colonnades. It starts from the Jaffa Gate and appears to end at the intersection with the Cardo Maximus on the Madaba Map, which does not correspond to reality and is probably due to the mosaicist’s lack of space.

Churches and Pilgrimage Sites

In the center of the city is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is seen from the nave of the church upside down. This resulted from the mosaicist wanting to depict the Cardo Maximus in all its splendor, and therefore with colonnades on both sides. The main street was, so to speak, “unfolded,” and the western colonnades are upside down. The staircase leading to the propylaeum of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre interrupts the western colonnades; therefore, the church is also upside down.

The most significant church in Christendom is depicted in detail. It features the characteristic arrangement of surrounding and overarching rooms typical of Constantinian church architecture. From the Cardo, the visitor entered the basilica through the propylaeum and atrium, depicted on the map with a roof and gable, and reached the Holy Sepulchre shrine in the center of the Constantinian Anastasis rotunda, depicted on the map with a yellow (gilded) dome.

On the southern side of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was a subsidiary building, poorly known from sources, interpreted as a baptistery. On the mosaic map, it appears as a house with a flat roof, two doors, and a window. West of it is a diamond-shaped square, perhaps the forum of the late antique city. North of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, three residential buildings near the Cardo Maximus are tentatively identified as the palace of the Jerusalem Patriarch, the house of the clerics, and the guesthouse of the Patriarchate.

Of the numerous churches and pilgrimage sites in Jerusalem, only the major and securely identified ones are mentioned below. They are located in the southern part of the city:

• The large basilica in the southeast, adjacent to the Cardo Maximus with its gable wall, is the Nea Theotokos Church, built under Emperor Justinian. It is distinguished by a yellow (gilded) double portal.
• The slightly smaller church next to it on the right, with a yellow (gilded) gable, is the Pilgrimage Church, which commemorated the healing of the man born blind by Jesus. In the courtyard in front of its entrance, the Pool of Siloam is depicted as a black, white-framed square. Along the long side of this pilgrimage church, the Pool of Siloam is followed by an outdoor facility. Max Küchler characterizes the entire complex in the 6th century as a “religious-secular healing spa.”
• The dominant church in the southwest of Jerusalem is the Basilica on Mount Zion. It bore the honorary title “Mother of all Churches” and, after the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, had the second-highest rank. This was because the upper room was located here, where, according to the Acts of the Apostles, the Pentecost event took place. On the Madaba Map, this large church is depicted with a yellow (gilded) double portal and gable field; to the south, it is followed (with a red roof) by the diaconicon, whose connection to the current pilgrimage sites of David’s Tomb and the Cenacle is unclear.

The Temple Mount in the southeast is depicted as disproportionately smaller, reflecting its lesser importance in the Byzantine city. A rectangle divided into three stripes at the southern end of the Cardo secundus on the Madaba Map is suggested by Herbert Donner as the great staircase that led from the south to the esplanade of the Temple Mount. Michael Avi-Yonah, on the other hand, considers this structure to be “the earliest preserved representation of the Western or Wailing Wall.”

Before the Gates of Jerusalem

Above the Jerusalem vignette, the Christian pilgrimage site of Gethsemane (ΓΗΘϹ[ΙΜΑΝΗ] Gēths[imanē]) is depicted as a small church building.

To the left of the Jerusalem vignette, the blessing over the tribe of Benjamin in Deuteronomy 33:12 is written in the Septuagint version. The Septuagint translator had not realized that “shoulders” in the Hebrew text was a poetic term for mountain slopes; the Madaba Map corrected the Septuagint to read: “Benjamin, God protects him, and he dwells between his mountains.”

As the only overland road, the road leading from the Damascus Gate to Neapolis (Nablus) is marked by white tesserae. Another road is recognizable by its milestones: Below (that is, west of) Jerusalem, the “fourth milestone” (ΤΟ ΤΕΤΑΡΤΟΝ tó tétarton) and the “ninth milestone” (ΤΟ ΕΝΝΑ tó enná) are listed, two stations (mansiones, mutationes) on the road from Jerusalem to Nikopolis and Diospolis (Lydda). Further south, also on this road, is the location of Bethoron (ΒΕΘѠΡΟΝ) with the “Ascent of Bethoron” mentioned multiple times in the Bible; this is perhaps indicated by the black tesserae beneath the place name.

East of Bethoron is “Modeïm (ΜѠΔΕΕΙΜ), now Moditha (ΜѠΔΙΘΑ), from where the Maccabees originated.” The formulation almost completely matches that of Eusebius of Caesarea’s Onomasticon. Then follows “Thamna (ΘΑΜΝΑ), where Judah sheared his sheep” (Genesis 38:12-13), and Akeldama (ΑΚΕΛΔΑΜΑ), the cemetery land purchased with the thirty pieces of silver by Judas Iscariot (Matthew 27:6-8), which, according to the Onomasticon of Eusebius, is located near Mount Zion.

Neapolis (Nablus) and Surroundings (Panel VI)

Between Jerusalem and Neapolis, there is a text field with red letters on a brown background as a montage of two blessings over the tribe of Joseph in the wording of the Septuagint:

• Genesis 49:25 (Jacob’s blessing): “Joseph, God has blessed you with the blessing of the earth, with the choicest gifts of the ancient mountains.”
• Deuteronomy 33:13 (Moses’ blessing): “And of Joseph he said: Blessed of the Lord is his land, with the precious things of heaven.”

Neapolis (ΝΕΑΠΟΛΙϹ) was marked by a large city vignette. It is damaged and discolored black from a fire. A segment of the city wall with several towers is preserved. From the East Gate, a colonnaded street leads to the West Gate and crosses the north-south road. To the left of the intersection of these two main axes stands a small building with an entrance flanked by columns, possibly a thermal bath, located roughly where the an-Naṣr Mosque stands today. An conspicuous semi-circular structure at the southern edge of the city was perhaps a nymphaeum. This interpretation is supported by the findings of modern excavations at ʿAin Qaryun. A large basilica may be the main church of the city, which was damaged in 484 during an attack by Samaritans.

The mountains of Gerizim and Ebal are depicted twice on the Madaba Map due to conflicting Jewish and Samaritan traditions. Eusebius followed the Jewish tradition in his Onomasticon and localized the two mountains east of Nablus, in the mountainous region northwest of Jericho. In the Madaba Map, they are entered as “Garizeim” (ΓΑΡΙΖΕΙΜ) and “Gebal” (ΓΕΒΑΛ). The mosaicist also considered the Samaritan local tradition: To the right of the city vignette of Neapolis is the “Mount Gobel” (ΤΟΥΡ ΓѠΒΗΛ tour Gōbēl) with Jacob’s Well at its foot, and the “Mount Garizin” (ΤΟΥΡ ΓΑΡΙΖΙΝ tour Garizin) a bit further west.

Jericho and the Jordan Valley (Panels I, II, VI)

A particularly well-preserved segment of the Madaba Map shows the lower Jordan Valley with the large oasis of Jericho (ΙΕΡΙΧϹ Ierichō) and several Christian pilgrimage sites. The depiction is interspersed with depictions of animals and plants. For example, on the eastern bank, there is a Nubian ibex being chased by a (made unrecognizable by iconoclasts) big cat, probably a leopard. Fish are swimming in the Jordan, one of which is swimming against the current to avoid entering the Dead Sea, where no fish can live due to the salt content.

Around Jericho, and occasionally at other locations, several date palms are depicted. On both sides of the Jordan, the mosaicist has depicted shrubs that, due to their egg-shaped leaflets, are tentatively identified as balsam (Commiphora gileadensis). Since ancient times, the production of dates and balsam has been the source of wealth in this region; balsam cultivation ended due to the decline of plantation agriculture in early Islamic times.

Jericho is not distinguished by a city vignette but is stylized as a medium-sized city with walls, five towers, and two gates; the roofs of three churches in the city center cannot be assigned to specific church buildings.

North of Jericho is a sanctuary of the Old Testament prophet Elisha (ΤΟ ΤΟΥ ΑΓΙΟΥ ΕΛΙϹΑΙΟΥ to tou hagiou Elisaiou). The Elisha Memorial Church is depicted as a dome-shaped building flanked by two towers.

In the northeast of Jericho, a biblical site is listed, which Eusebius’ Onomasticon designates as a pilgrimage site: “Gilgal (ΓΑΛΓΑΛΑ Galgala), also called Twelve Stones.” As known from the Onomasticon and pilgrimage reports, the twelve stones shown there were the ones set up by the Israelites according to the biblical account (Joshua 4:20) after crossing the Jordan; they are also included on the Madaba Map “in the form of a two-layered wall” in front of the basilica.

For easier crossing of the Jordan, a ferry service was established in the 6th century. On the Madaba Map, posts are driven into both banks and the middle of the river, connected by a rope. The small oarless boat is pulled across the Jordan by the ferryman on the rope. On the west bank, a military post on a watchtower with a ladder controls the ferry traffic.

At the confluence of the Jordan into the Dead Sea, since the beginning of pilgrimages in the 4th century, the site of the baptism of Jesus was located. Here, a baptism site on the east bank competed with one more conveniently accessible from Jerusalem and Bethlehem on the west bank. The Madaba Map shows that by the 6th century, the west bank tradition had largely prevailed. There, a church with red lettering is highlighted: “Bethabara (ΒΕΘΑΒΑΡΑ Bethabara), the (church) of the baptism of Saint John”. On the east bank, the mosaic indicates a cave or spring and the place Ainon (ΑΙΝѠΝ Ainōn) with the explanation “now there is the sycamore tree (Ο ϹΑΠϹΑΦΑϹ ho sapsaphãs).” This is an allusion to the Sapsas Monastery in the Wadi el-Ḥarrar, which preserved the memory of John the Baptist and the prophet Elijah. Monastic complexes are not depicted on the mosaic map.

Dead Sea (Panels II, III, IV)

On the preserved fragment of the Madaba Map, the Dead Sea vies with Jerusalem for prominence due to its size and central location. Its significance arises from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, which were localized here, and its proximity to the baptism site of Jesus. Its label is found on the eastern shore between the two “foot-like” gaps; it is entirely taken from Eusebius’ Onomasticon and reads: “Salt or Asphalt Sea, also Dead Sea.”

The Lisan Peninsula is not depicted on the Madaba Map, which is usually explained as an inaccuracy of the mosaicist. However, it is also possible that the shallow southern part of the Dead Sea dried up during a pronounced dry period in the 560s and the Lisan Peninsula became the southern shore of the inland sea.

The Madaba Map attests to shipping on the Dead Sea, which was also known from antiquity. Two boats equipped with oars and sails are depicted. The two crew members of each boat have been made unrecognizable by iconoclasts. Below the mast, the cargo being transported is visible; it is interpreted as salt or grain. However, in one of the boats, the sail is wrapped around the yardarm. This is an absurd depiction, as the sail would have become non-functional. The mosaicist’s ignorance is remarkable because boat depictions were part of the common visual repertoire. How the boat representation could have appeared without damage from the iconoclasts is shown by the mosaic from Haditha, which is approximately contemporary.

Charachmoba (al-Karak) and the Eastern Jordan Land (Panel III)

The Madaba Map (photo) shows on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea the “hot springs of Callirhoe (ΘΕΡΜΑ ΚΑΛΛΙΡΟΕϹ therma Kallirhoes),” a bathing resort known to Flavius Josephus. By the 6th century, there was certainly no longer any luxury from the Hellenistic and early Roman periods. The mosaicist depicted architecturally framed springs and streams under palm trees. Since archaeological findings do not confirm this facility, it is also possible that it is not an early Byzantine bathing resort but only a reminiscence of the once-famous hot springs.

At the southern end of the Dead Sea, the medium-sized city of Zoora (ΖΟΟΡΑ), a Byzantine administrative center and bishopric, is visible. In the mountainous region behind it, the Madaba Map records a memorial church of Saint Lot (ΤΟ ΤΟΥ ΑΓΙΟΥ ΛѠΤ to tou hagiou Lōt), which is not mentioned in other sources.

At the top of the preserved map fragment is the city vignette of Charachmoba ([ΧΑΡ]ΑΧΜѠΒ[Α] [Char]achmōb[a]), “Palisade of Moab.” This is the Byzantine name for al-Karak. The Madaba Map is the only source for the Byzantine city, which was also a bishopric. The mosaicist had local knowledge. He depicted Charachmoba as a heavily fortified city with walls and towers. In the south, there is a city gate flanked by two towers, and to the east of it, there is a church recognizable by its red roof. Two colonnaded main streets running north–south are visible. One of them leads to a large church, probably the cathedral.

Below, to the west of al-Karak, the Madaba Map shows a triple-dome structure with the inscription “Cult House, or also Maioumas (ΒΕΤΟΜΑΡϹΕΑ Η Κ(ΑΙ) ΜΑΙΟΥΜΑϹ Betomarsea hē k(aì) Maioumas).” The inclusion of such a pagan establishment, which could only have a niche existence in the Byzantine Empire, on the Madaba Map is subject to controversy.

Bethlehem and the Judean Highlands (Panels VII and VIII)

Next to Jerusalem, Bethlehem (ΒΗΘΛΕΕΜ Bēthleem) was the second most important Christian pilgrimage site, conveniently accessible from Jerusalem. Reflecting its importance, the place name appears in red. However, the depiction of the Nativity Church is not particularly prominent. After the Constantinian basilica possibly burned down following the earthquake of 510, the present-day representative church was built during the reign of Justinian. Perhaps the Madaba Map depicts the state before the completion of the Justinianic construction.

South of Bethlehem lies the place Socho (ϹѠΧѠ Sōchō), followed by Bethzachar (ΒΕΘΖΑΧΑΡ) with the striking memorial church of Saint Zacharias: “A red-covered narthex or portico is attached to a basilica with three windows or gates in the front, and to this, a semicircular courtyard surrounded by a colonnaded hall,” the actual memorial building. Various biblical traditions about Zacharias have merged in the saint venerated here: the author of the Book of Zechariah, the high priest Zechariah killed by King Joash (2 Chronicles 24:20-22), and Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist.

Above the Zacharias sanctuary, the large inscription ΙΟΥΔΑ marks the region as the territory of the tribe of Judah. A little further east, one of the few New Testament memorial sites is entered on the Madaba Map. Symbols for a basilica and a well are visible with the explanation: “the (place) of Saint Philip, where, as they say, the eunuch of Candace was baptized.” As in other Byzantine sources, the high court official of Queen Candace, whom Philip baptized (Acts 8:26-40), became a eunuch named Candaces. The mosaic map is the only source for this basilica. In 1918, Andreas Evaristus Mader described the ruin of a mosque built on Byzantine foundations at ʿēn eḏ-ḏirwe, which he identified with the Philippus Church of the Madaba Map.

South of the Philippus sanctuary, the Madaba Map records an Abraham’s Church and next to it the sacred grove of Mamre; this tree is referred to in the caption as both a terebinth and an oak. In Late Antiquity, Mamre (Ramet el-Chalil) was a holy site visited by Jews, Christians, and pagans. Emperor Constantine claimed Mamre exclusively for Christian worship with his (rather modest in size) church building, which can be seen on the map. Nevertheless, the multi-religious practice there continued unabated.

The building to the right of the Mamre sacred grove already belongs to the city of Hebron, whose name as well as other structures on the mosaic map have not been preserved.

Cities on the Mediterranean Coast (Panels VIII and IX)

The lower border of the mosaic map is the Mediterranean Sea; however, it is only recognizable in small fragments. From north to south, the following coastal cities are visible on the map: the port of Ashdod, Ashkelon, and Gaza.

The fragment of the port of Ashdod (“Ashdod by the Sea, ΑΖѠΤΟϹ ΠΑΡΑΛΟ[Ϲ] Azōtos paralo[s]”) on the Madaba Map does not reveal the significant harbor facility and only allows the observation that there were several churches here.

Ashkelon

The city vignette of Ashkelon (ΑϹΚΑΛѠ[Ν] Askalō[n]), on the other hand, stands out for its richness of detail. The city was walled; the eastern gate is two stories high and flanked by towers. In front of it is a city-side square from which two colonnaded streets extend as the east-west axes of the city. Where the left of these two main streets intersects with the similarly colonnaded north-south street, there is an arched structure laid with yellowish tesserae, which is more aptly referred to as a tetrapylon than a triumphal arch. The structures in the angle between the major east-west streets are not clearly identifiable; Donner suggests that they could be fountain installations for which Byzantine Ashkelon was famous. There is a continuity in the city layout of Ashkelon from Late Antiquity to the Crusader-period city, in which the prominent eastern gate bore the name Jerusalem Gate.

Gaza

Gaza ([Γ]ΑΖΑ [G]aza) was a bishopric and a significant urban center in Byzantine times. “The mosaicist has taken into account the city’s reputation on our map and accordingly indicated the architectural splendor of the city in its vignette.” Only the southern half of the city vignette is preserved; its interpretation is complicated by the fact that the Byzantine city of Gaza has been modernized and there are hardly any archaeological investigations. Like Jerusalem, Gaza is depicted as a walled oval. The colonnaded Cardo runs east-west and corresponds approximately to the modern as-Suq al-kabīr street. At the intersection of the Cardo and Decumanus is a large open square in the city center, which is presumed to be in the area of modern Ḫān az-Zēt.

In the southwestern part of Gaza, the mosaicist depicted two large churches. The rhetorician Chorikios of Gaza wrote detailed descriptions in the 6th century of the Church of St. Sergius and the Church of St. Stephen in his hometown. However, since the city vignette is only partially preserved, the identification of the two church buildings as the Sergius and Stephen churches remains uncertain.

In the southeastern area of the city, a theater stands out. Zeev Weiss suggests construction in the Roman imperial period, while it was later incorporated into the city wall. He interprets the yellowish semicircle in the middle as the orchestra, the white and pale red semicircles surrounding it as the divided cavea, and the dark red stripes dividing the outer cavea into segments as stairs (scalariae).

Surroundings of Gaza

Northwest of Gaza is the city’s port with the partially preserved inscription “Maioumas, also Neapolis (called)” ([ΜΑΙΟΥΜΑϹ Η] ΚΑΙ ΝΕΑ[ΠΟ]ΛΙϹ [Maioumas he] kaì Neápolis). Southwest of Gaza, the mosaicist depicted a Church of Saint Victor (<Τ>Ο ΤΟΥ ΑΓΙΟΥ ΒΙΚΤΟΡΟϹ ò toũ hagíou Viktoros) with a red-roofed portico. According to the Pilgrim of Piacenza, the tomb of Saint Victor was located within Maioumas and not, as on the Madaba Map, between Maioumas and Gaza. South of Gaza, a group of villages is recorded, some of whose names are only attested by the Madaba Map. Here, the mosaicist likely had personal knowledge of the locations.

All stations of the coastal road connecting Palestine with Egypt are recorded on the Madaba Map from Gaza: Thauatha, Raphia, Betylion, “the border between Egypt and Palestine,” Rhinokorura, Ostrakine, Kasin, Pentaschoinon, Aphnaion, and Pelusium. From Betylion onwards, one station follows another along the Mediterranean coast.

Lower Egypt (Panel X)

Pelusium (ΤΟ ΠΗΛΟΥϹΙΝ Tò Pēlousin) is designated with a city vignette according to its importance as the “Gateway of Egypt.” Within the city walls, three colonnaded streets running east-west and three churches are visible. Among the other buildings, one has a yellow (= gilded) gable. The depiction of Pelusium cannot be related to the sparse archaeological findings and “remains a mystery.”

The representation of Lower Egypt differs from the rest of the Madaba Map. The places in the Nile Delta do not receive biblical references, although these could easily have been added using the source commonly used elsewhere, Eusebius’ Onomastikon. While the mosaicist otherwise made only isolated geographical and topographical errors, they are found here in abundance. One major error stands out: While the real coastline south of Gaza turns westward, on the mosaic map, it turns eastward, and therefore, the Nile does not flow from south to north but from east to west. This may have practical reasons: The elongated rectangular shape of the map should not be departed from. A theological reason is also possible: The Nile is one of the four rivers of paradise; paradise was presumed to be in the east; therefore, the Nile had to have its source in the east as well. Herbert Donner suggests that the mosaicist did not use Eusebius’ Onomastikon for the representation of the Nile Delta nor did they use a late Roman-Byzantine road map. Instead, they apparently relied on Herodotus’ description of the Delta region and combined it with a contemporary itinerary similar to the Itinerarium Antonini. Without personal knowledge of the locations, they created a map of Lower Egypt based on this, which, despite numerous errors, exceeded the accuracy of later maps until the beginning of modern cartography.

According to Donner, the Madaba mosaic is an accurate rendition of the description that Herodotus (Histories 17.2.3–6) gives of the Nile Delta’s distributaries. According to him, the Nile divides into three main branches in the Delta region: the Pelusiac, the Canopic, and in between, the Sebennytic branch. From the latter, two secondary branches diverge: the Saitic and the Mendesian branches. Additionally, Herodotus mentions two canals: the Bolbitine and the Bucolic canal. The Mendesian branch is missing on the preserved fragment of the Madaba Map. The two canals were treated by the mosaicist as branches of the Nile, and instead of Bolbitine, they wrote Bulbytine. Like the Jordan, the Nile is teeming with fish. A ship sails on the middle Nile branch. During restoration work in 1965, a crocodile laid with dark green glass tesserae was uncovered in the Nile at the upper edge of the map fragment.

Creation of the Mosaic

The city vignette of Jerusalem shows the Nea Theotokos Church, consecrated on November 20, 542. This provides a terminus post quem for the mosaic map. The absence of certain structures known from pilgrim reports of the 7th century could have various reasons, such as a lack of space. Therefore, Herbert Donner does not commit to the latest possible date. Michael Avi-Yonah suggests a creation date between the consecration of the Nea Theotokos Church and the death of Justinian in 565.

The patron of the Madaba mosaic is unknown, probably a learned monk or bishop. Peter Thomsen speculated in 1929 that the mosaicist was a certain Salamanios, who was named on a mosaic of the Apostles’ Church of Madaba along with the three donors. The fact that he was able to mention his name here shows that he was a famous artist. However, this theory did not find agreement. Martin Noth deemed it pointless to attribute further mosaics to Salamanios. There were apparently other mosaicists in Madaba and its surroundings.

Herbert Donner estimates that three workers, under the direction of the mosaicist, would have taken about half a year to create the mosaic. Over a million tesserae made of stone and glass were laid in a bed of solid lime mortar. The tesserae, available in a wide range of colors, were not cubic but rod-shaped; with a maximum surface area of ​​two square centimeters, they were about 6 centimeters long. Smaller tesserae were used for humans, animals, plants, and intra-urban buildings. It is assumed that the lead mosaicist incised a preliminary drawing, and then structural lines were laid first, such as the Mediterranean coast, the shores of the Dead Sea, the Jordan River, the Nile with its branches, and the mountain ranges. Then the city vignettes and the longer inscriptions were laid, followed by the small towns with their inscriptions.

Sources of the Mosaicist

Among the written sources of the mosaicist, the Greek Bible takes first place. Old Testament quotations therefore follow the Septuagint. In addition, the Onomastikon of biblical place names by Eusebius of Caesarea was extensively used: of a total of 149 inscriptions on the preserved mosaic fragment, 61 inscriptions quote Eusebius more or less verbatim. Other literary sources, such as the works of Flavius Josephus or the Church Fathers, are not securely traceable. Contemporary maps and itineraries were certainly used. Finally, the mosaicist could draw on their own local knowledge to some extent. Yoram Tsafrir assumes that Byzantine pilgrimage literature was also equipped with parchment maps, which depicted the most important places in Palestine, the pilgrimage sites, and the connecting routes: “Such a map could well have been the primary source for the mosaicists and provided them with the majority of the information,” as some places were apparently only recorded because they were located on an important overland route.

Interpretations of the Mosaic

When the mosaic was completed, no pillars obstructed the viewer; it was visible from all sides. Herbert Donner assumes that there was a certain benefit for the residents of Madaba and its surroundings in that they could inform themselves in advance about pilgrimage destinations in the Holy Land that they might want to visit. However, the main purpose of the mosaic was to depict the Christian concept of salvation history in the form of a map. With Jerusalem as the center, numerous locations from the Old and New Testaments are represented. This corresponds to the liturgy, which is full of biblical references and also addresses salvation history in other ways. Worshipers could walk barefoot on the mosaic and thus move through the Holy Land.

Rainer Warland sees the Madaba mosaic map as a “testimony of a pilgrimage topography,” but one that is embedded in a broader overall concept. The centrally positioned blessing of Joseph points to the abundant fertility of the earth, a theme that can be found alongside river landscapes in other Byzantine churches (for example, in Tabgha). Because the flooding of the Nile was for antiquity the “embodiment of the life-giving principle.” Warland also ultimately sees liturgy as the frame of reference for such earthly images depicted on mosaic floors in churches.

Francesco Prontera, who treats the Madaba map in the context of ancient cartography, sees the captions to the place names, the numerous biblical quotations, and the special status of Jerusalem as indications of a “didactic objective of this chorography in the Ptolemaic sense of the word.”

It can be excluded that the Madaba map was intended to prepare long-distance pilgrims for visiting the Holy Land. Because if at all, they only came to the Transjordan at the end of their journey through Palestine. After the site of Jesus’ baptism had been moved from the east to the west bank of the Jordan, there was one less reason for them to cross the Jordan at all.

Damages and Conservation Measures

The preserved fragment of the mosaic map shows traces of damage and repair work. At an unknown time, the representations of people and animals as well as some inscriptions were made unrecognizable, but the areas were patched with the original tesserae. This may be related to the Iconoclasm during the reign of Yazid II (720–724), assuming that the church was used by the Christian community until the early Islamic period. Later, possibly in the context of the abandonment of Madaba in the mid-8th century, the church burned down, and the wooden roof collapsed. The tesserae of the mosaic map are therefore particularly discolored black in the area of Neapolis. Large gaps in the area of the Dead Sea and the loss of marginal areas may also be consequences of this church fire.

In the following centuries, the mosaic map suffered further losses. When graves, presumably children’s burials, were dug, the mosaic and its substrate were pierced. This created the “foot-like” gaps in the representation of the Dead Sea. Moles also caused damage. In an effort to secure the mosaic, the edges of the fragment were enclosed in dark cement during church construction work in the 1880s, and three larger gaps were filled with the same cement. In some cases, the cement covered several centimeters of the mosaic.

The fact that Madaba became a tourist destination led to additional damage to the mosaic map over the course of the 20th century. The floor mosaic had been covered with heavy wooden planks for protection, which rested on a wooden frame. For the tourists, these planks were then uncovered and re-laid each time. Over the years, the planks struck directly at the mosaic with their weight and destroyed many tesserae. For the sake of the tourists, the mosaic was sprinkled with water because it made the colors appear more vivid. Cooling and evaporation put the mosaic under tension, and because lateral expansion was not possible due to the enclosure with cement, the mosaic rippled, detached from the substrate, and threatened to crack.

In December 1964, the Volkswagen Foundation, at the initiative of the German Society for the Exploration of Palestine, finally provided 90,000 DM for the rescue of the mosaic. Under the direction of Heinz Cüppers, later director of the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier, and the Old Testament scholar Herbert Donner, urgently needed work to restore and conserve the remaining parts of the mosaic map was carried out from September 1965 to November 1965. The restorers removed the cement from the edges and gaps. It turned out that in the gap to the right above the city vignette of Jerusalem, the fine lime slurry in which the tesserae were embedded had been preserved; a negative impression of the lost tesserae could be taken with rubber.

Scientific Significance

The Madaba mosaic map is the oldest known geographical floor mosaic to date. It shows which Christian pilgrimage sites had been established in Palestine in the 6th century, thereby supplementing contemporary pilgrimage reports. Eusebius of Caesarea’s Onomasticon, which locates numerous biblical places, was known to the mosaicist; developments can be observed compared to this source from the 4th century. For example, the Madaba map shows that in the 6th century, the tradition of the site of Jesus’ baptism had shifted from the east to the west bank of the Jordan.

Time and again, the Madaba map proves useful in identifying late antique and early Byzantine buildings and roads. For example, in 1967, excavations in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem uncovered the remains of a monumental basilica that could be identified as the Nea-Theotokos Church with the help of the Madaba map. However, the example of Kallirhoë on the east bank of the Dead Sea shows that the representation on the Madaba map does not always harmonize with the archaeological evidence.

Göttingen Copy of the Madaba Map

A true-to-life copy of the Madaba mosaic map has been on permanent loan from the Seminar for Christian Archaeology and Byzantine Art History since 1977 in the casting collection of the Archaeological Institute of the University of Göttingen. This cast made of colored polyester resin was made by the restorers of the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier during the restoration work in Madaba in 1965. “The Göttingen cast is the only copy of the mosaic worldwide. … Due to the vertical installation, the mosaic in Göttingen can be viewed more comfortably than in Madaba itself, where it still adorns the floor of the church.”

Throughout the history of Western alchemy, natural philosophy, and Hermetic thought, no concept commanded greater reverence or sparked more intense laboratory experimentation than the prima materia, translating from Latin as the first matter. To the alchemists of Hellenistic Alexandria, the Islamic Golden Age, and Renaissance Europe, all physical substances in the cosmos were merely differentiated expressions of a single, formless, primordial substrate. Understanding and isolating this foundational matter was considered the essential prerequisite for creating the Philosopher’s Stone, accomplishing the transmutation of base metals into gold, and unlocking the universal elixir of life.

Aristotelian Roots and the Four Classical Elements

Although alchemists wrapped the prima materia in rich allegorical imagery, its theoretical framework originated directly in classical Greek metaphysics. In the sixth and fifth centuries BC, Pre Socratic thinkers such as Thales, Anaximander, and Empedocles sought to identify the arche, the single underlying substance from which all phenomena arise. It was Aristotle, however, in his Physics and Metaphysics, who provided the exact philosophical blueprint that alchemists later adopted into laboratory practice.

Aristotle proposed the doctrine of hylomorphism, arguing that every physical object in the world is a compound of two principles: hyle, which is pure, passive, undifferentiated matter, and morphe, the active substantial form or quality impressed upon that matter. In the terrestrial sphere, this prime matter never exists in a naked, isolated state; instead, it is immediately clothed in two pairs of primary qualities: hot or cold, and wet or dry. By combining these qualities upon the blank canvas of prime matter, nature produces the four classical elements of fire, air, water, and earth. Crucially for future alchemists, Aristotle taught that if you strip away the specific qualities of lead or copper and reduce the metal back to its underlying prime matter, you can impress the form and qualities of gold onto that exact same substrate.

Graeco Egyptian Alchemy and the Ouroboros

When Aristotelian natural philosophy merged with Egyptian metallurgy, goldsmithing, and Gnostic mysticism in Alexandria between the first and fourth centuries AD, theoretical metaphysics became practical alchemy. Early practitioners such as Zosimos of Panopolis and Maria the Jewess viewed the laboratory alembic and furnace as a microcosm of creation. Their guiding maxim was En to Pan, meaning One is the All, famously illustrated in ancient manuscripts like the Chrysopoeia of Cleopatra by the Ouroboros, a serpent devouring its own tail in an eternal cycle of dissolution and regeneration.

To obtain the prima materia in the vessel, alchemists believed a substance had to undergo a process of death and putrefaction known as nigredo, or blackening. By calcining, dissolving, and fermenting metals with corrosive acids, sulfur, and mercury, the practitioner destroyed the outward form of the vulgar metal until it turned into a uniform, pitch black mass called the massa confusa or the Raven’s Head. Only when matter was reduced to this chaotic, featureless blackness could it be washed, purified into albedo, and finally exalted into the red perfection of rubedo.

The Sulfur Mercury Theory and Secret Code Names

During the eighth through thirteenth centuries, scholars writing in Arabic, most notably Jabir ibn Hayyan and Muhammad ibn Zakariya al Razi, refined the quest for the first matter by introducing the sulfur mercury theory of metals. According to Jabir, all metals are formed deep within the womb of the Earth through the union of two primordial exhalations: philosophical Sulfur, representing the fiery, active, combustible principle, and philosophical Mercury, representing the volatile, metallic, fluid principle. To the medieval alchemist, philosophical Mercury was frequently identified as the closest physical manifestation of the prima materia itself.

Because alchemists guarded their laboratory processes from the uninitiated and feared persecution for counterfeiting currency, they masked the identity of their starting material behind hundreds of paradoxical decknamen, or code names. Across seventeenth century treatises such as the Theatrum Chemicum, the prima materia is variously called the Virgin’s Milk, the Green Lion, the Philosophical Egg, the Dew of May, the Blood of the Red Dragon, and the Stone that is not a stone. Alchemical texts delighted in telling readers that the prima materia was simultaneously the most precious substance on earth and the most vile, stepped on daily by beggars in the street, prized by kings, found everywhere, yet recognized by almost no one.

Carl Jung and the Psychological Projection of the Unconscious

As the Scientific Revolution of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries replaced Aristotelian elements with Robert Boyle’s corpuscular chemistry and Antoine Lavoisier’s table of atomic elements, the physical search for a chemical prima materia gave way to modern physics, which eventually discovered its own fundamental building blocks in subatomic quarks, leptons, and the primordial quark gluon plasma of the Big Bang. Yet in the twentieth century, the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung revealed why alchemical descriptions of the prima materia varied so wildly from one author to another.

Analyzing hundreds of medieval Latin and Greek treatises in his landmark work Psychology and Alchemy, Jung demonstrated that as alchemists stared into their dark distillation flasks, they were projecting the contents of their own collective unconscious onto unknown chemical reactions. In Jungian analytical psychology, the chaotic, dark prima materia represents the unintegrated human psyche at the beginning of therapy: a turbulent mixture of repressed shadow traits, raw instincts, and unrealized potential. By confronting this inner darkness rather than fleeing from it, the individual undergoes psychological individuation, transforming the raw lead of unconscious turmoil into the integrated gold of the mature Self.

Popol Vuh (K’iche’: Popol Wu’uj) is a historical-mythological text of the K’iche’ (in the old spelling: Quiché), a Maya people from Guatemala, which was transcribed into European script shortly after the Spanish conquest (mid-16th century). The document was presumably composed by members of the K’iche’ nobility to legitimize their own position in the emerging colonial society.

The first part of the Popul Vuh recounts the creation of the earth and humans. The creation of humans did not succeed at first: the first attempt resulted in the creation of animals; the first human made of clay was too weak; the second made of wood lacked intelligence and walked on all fours; only the human made of corn was perfect. He was too perfect, and his sight had to be clouded so that his wisdom was limited. He was not meant to be like the gods. During his sleep, his wife was created. Four pairs of humans, created from corn, were the ancestors of the K’iche’ Maya.

Before their history is further recounted, the myths surrounding the divine twins Hunahpu and Ixbalanqué are discussed: their victory over the proud Seven Macaw and his sons, their birth from the spit of Hun Hunahpu (One Hunter) and the disobedient maiden Ixquic. She desired to taste the forbidden fruits of the calabash tree. This tree bloomed after Hun Hunahpu’s body was placed within it. He had been defeated by the Lords of the Underworld, Xibalba. Hun Hunahpu already had two sons, who were turned into monkeys by the divine twins and driven into the forests. The twins returned to Xibalba and defeated the Lords of Death. Afterward, the brothers ascended as the sun and moon.

The migrations of the Maya tribes, described in the second part, led eastward from Tula (Tollan) to Santa Cruz del Quiché, while the book repeatedly states that the Maya originally came from the east, migrated to Tula, and that even Tula lay in the east. A catastrophe must have occurred as the Maya left their homeland and traversed the darkness, dressed only in hides, in the cold, and without food. They had to wade through the sea and wait for dawn until the sun finally dried the earth’s surface.

Three sons of the maize ancestors traveled ‘to the other side of the sea’ in the direction ‘where the sun is made [the east]: from there came our fathers.’ They received from King Nacxit (Topiltzin Ce Acatl Quetzalcoatl), ‘the lord of the sunrise,’ the signs of kingship and ‘the writing from Tula,’ in which their history was recorded, and returned home with it.

Manuscripts and Editions

The original manuscript of the Popol Vuh has been lost: all editions are based on a copy from the early 18th century, the Chichicastenango manuscript (Chuilá in K’iche’). This 112-page copy was made by the parish priest of Chuilá, the Dominican Francisco Ximénez (1666-1729), and presents the Mayan text and the Spanish translation in two columns. The modern editorial history of the Popol Vuh begins in 1861 with the publication of the original and its French translation by Brasseur de Bourbourg; since then, numerous new, annotated translations have appeared as research into traditional Mayan culture has progressed (with Schultze Jena, Recinos, Edmonson, Tedlock, and Christenson being the most prominent).

Content

Popol Vuh literally means ‘Book (vuh) of the Mat (popol)’, to be understood as ‘Book of the Council Meeting’. It is essentially a history of the origin of the K’iche’ kingdom of Q’umarkaj that reaches back into the distant mythological past. The structure of the text somewhat resembles that of the Bible (from Genesis to Kings and Chronicles). However, although Christianization was already underway, its influence on the text itself is minimal.

First Part

Creation

The narrative begins with the creation of the earth and the first, yet unsuccessful attempts to create humans. Especially in this section are the oldest prayer texts known from the Maya.

‘Once there was the resting universe. Not a sigh. Not a sound. The world is motionless and silent. And the space of the heavens was empty.’ Thus begins the story of creation. ‘In the water, illuminated by light’ were ‘Tzakól, the creator; Bitól, the shaper; the victor Tepëu and the green-feathered snake Gucumátz; Alóm also; and Caholóm, the progenitors.’ And there was Huracán, ‘the Heart of the sky called Cabavil, he-who-sees-in-the-dark. (..) His first appearance is the lightning, Cakulhá. His second, the thunder, was Chipi Cakulhá. His third is the lightning bolt, Raxa Cakulhá. These three form the heart of the sky.’ Tepëu and Gucumátz came together and discussed the ‘creation of man.’ They created the earth. The earth was formed by ‘the heart of the sky’ and ‘the heart of the earth’, which ‘first impregnated her’. Then the animals were created, ‘our first works, our first beings,’ but the progenitors Tzakól and Bitól were dissatisfied because the animals could not speak, praise, or worship the gods. ‘Therefore, we shall create others who are willing.’

A new attempt was made to create man. ‘From clay they made the flesh of man, but ‘it was too soft, it was without motion and without strength (..) it had no understanding’. It could not walk or multiply and was destroyed. The progenitors decided: ‘Let us say to Ixpiyacóc [Grandfather Daykeeper], Ixmucané [Grandmother Duskkeeper], to Hunahpú-Vuch and Hunahpú-Utiú: Try it again.’

Ixpiyacóc ‘cast lots’ with tsité beans and ‘people of wood’ were created. ‘From tsité was the flesh of man made, but the flesh of the woman (..) from reeds. ‘The wooden people ‘had no soul, no understanding (..) they walked on all fours. (..) Those were the first people; numerous of them lived on the face of the earth. ‘They too were destroyed, beaten with sticks and stones, pots and pans, torn apart by dogs, drowned in a flood. ‘And it is said that their descendants are the monkeys that now live in the forests. In the monkeys, one can recognize those from whom the creator and shaper made the flesh of wood. That is why the monkey resembles man, as a reminder of a creation of humans, of humans who were nothing but wooden dolls.’

The Divine Twins

Next, the deeds of the sons of Ixquic, the Heroic Twins Hunahpu and Ixbalanqué, are described: their neutralizing of the proud Seven Macaw, a bird demon, and his two sons, Zipacná (the Strong) and Cabracán (the Shaker, Two-Legged). Zipacná had killed ‘400 youths,’ who had first attempted to bury Zipacná in a pit with an enormous log. Zipacná is slain by the heroic twins through trickery. They made a crab and placed it in the water at the foot of a mountain. When Zipacná dove for it, the mountain slid onto his chest. Cabracán was incapacitated by feeding him a bird covered in white lime, causing him to lose all his strength and be buried in chains.

Only after the deaths of Seven Macaw and his sons is it told how the heroic twins were born. The brothers Hun Hunahpu and Vucub Hunahpu (One Hunter and Seven Hunter) lost their lives in the Underworld in battle with One Death and Seven Death, and the body of Hun Hunahpu was hung in a calabash tree, which then began to bloom beautifully. Ixquic, the daughter of one of the Lords of Xibalba, the Underworld, desired to taste the calabashes, spoke with the head of Hun Hunahpu, and received his saliva on her hand. After that, she became pregnant and was driven away by the Lords of Xibalba. She went to the house of Ixmucané, the mother of Hun Hunahpu and Vucub Hunahpu. Ixmucané cared for the two sons of Hun Hunahpu’s previous wife. Ixquic must prove that she truly carries the sons of Hun Hunahpu. The heroic twins are born.

Then follows the banishment of One Monkey and One Artisan, two jealous older brothers, to the forests, and especially the avenging of the father through the subjugation of the underworld, an adventure in which the Mesoamerican ballgame plays a significant role. Hunahpu and Ixbalanqué transform into the sun and the moon, respectively.

Completion of Creation

Finally comes the ‘completion of creation’: ‘They must appear, those who sustain us and feed us, the radiant sons of light.’ The’stuff of life’ was found: ‘from Pan Paxil and Pan Cayalá [a wonderfully beautiful land full of pleasant things] came the yellow and white corn cobs.’ There were four animals that brought the yellow and white corn: the wildcat, the coyote, the parrot, and the raven. Ixmucané ground the corn cobs and made nine drinks, which gave ‘strength and abundance’, from which ‘the strength and the power of man’ were created. From corn dough, the four ancestors of the K’iché were created: the Forest Jaguar, the Night Jaguar, the Lord of the Night, and the Moon Jaguar. They were created and formed; they were not born of a woman. ‘Only by a miracle, by sorcery, were they created and formed by Tzakól, Bitól, Alóm, Caholóm, Tepëu, and Gucumátz. (..) A reason was given to them. They looked inward and also looked into the distance; they came so far that they saw everything, knew everything that exists in the world (..) Their wisdom was great. (..) And whatever is great or small in the sky or on the earth, we see it. (..) Soon they knew everything.’ But the creator and shaper were not satisfied and said, ‘Should they also be gods? (..) Should they eventually be like us, who created them and can see very far, know everything, and see everything?’ Then Huracán ‘cast a veil over their eyes. And they became clouded: they could only see what was nearby. Thus, the wisdom and all knowledge of the four people of the origin and the beginning were destroyed.’

Then the spouses were created; they appeared ‘during sleep’: Skywater was the wife of the Forest Jaguar, Springwater of the Night Jaguar, Hummingbirdwater of the Lord of the Night, and Parrotwater of the Moon Jaguar. ‘They begot the people, the small and the large tribes. And they were the origin of us, of the K’iché tribe. (..) There were more than four, but four were the progenitors of our K’iché tribe. Different were the names of all when they multiplied there in the east, and numerous were the names of the tribes: Tepëu [Tepëu-Yaqui], Olomán [Olmecs], Cohá, Quenéch, and Aháu. Thus the tribes called themselves when they multiplied there in the east. Also, the origin of the Tamúb tribe and of the Ilocáb tribe is known; they came together from the east. Balam-Quitzé, Forest Jaguar, was the grandfather and father of the nine great Cavéc families. The Night Jaguar, Balám-Acáb, was the grandfather and father of the nine great Nimhaib families. Mahucutáh [Lord of the Night] is the grandfather and father of the four great Ahau-Quiché families. There were three family groups, but they did not forget the names of their grandfather and father, not those who spread and multiplied in the east. Also, the Tamub and Ilocáb arrived [in Tula], and thirteen subtribes, the thirteen of Tecpán [Pocomanes and Pocomchis]. And the Rabinals, the Cakchiquels, those of Tzikinahá, and those of Zacahá and Lamák, Cumatz, Tulhalhá, Uchabahá, those of Chumilahá, those of Quibahá, those of Batenabá, Acul-Uinák, Balamihá, the Canchahéles, and the Balám-Colób. (..) They multiplied there [in the darkness] in the east as well. (..) They all lived together and roamed in the east. (..) There were many dark and light-skinned people. (..) They had a single language.’ They observed the morning star Venus and awaited the (new) sun.

Second part

With the ‘creation of man from corn,’ the mythological primordial time transitions into a more legendary account of the deeds of the first ancestors, their wanderings, and wars, leading to the foundation and further fortunes of the K’iché kingdom.

Tula

The four patriarchs, Balam-Quitzé, Seawater was his wife, Balam-Acab, Springwater was his wife, Mahucutáh, Hummingbirdwater was his wife, and Ixqui-Balám, Parrotwater was his wife, of the ‘Ahau Quiché’s’ had heard about a city, Tula(n), Seven Caves (the Aztec Chicomoztoc, ‘seven caves’), Seven Gorge, where they journeyed through the ‘darkness of the night’ on a long wander. They desired the great star, the ‘sun bearer’, ‘sun bringer’, (Venus the Morning Star), the ‘birth of the sun’, to see. The Tamub and Ilocáb also went there. There they received their gods: Tohil (Quetzalcoatl), Avalix, Hacavitz, and Nicahtacáh. The three K’iché tribes united under their common god Tohil. Different tribes gathered in Tula: the Rabinal, Cakchiquels, those of Tzikinahá, and Yaqui. In Tula, their languages changed, so they could no longer understand each other because, in Tula, the tribes separated. The people were poor, wore only animal skins, had little food, and had no fire. Tohil gave them fire. Due to heavy rain and a hailstorm, the fire went out again, and the tribes asked the K’iché’s, who alone received fire for the second time from Tohil, for fire. ‘Are we not from one root, were we not created and formed on the same mountains?’ Tohil stipulated that the other tribes also united with him. The tribes were sacrificed, humiliated, and subjected to the K’iché’s. Then the K’iché’s ‘left the east behind,’ they ‘set out [from] the east.’

Hacavitz

The Quiché or Kʼicheʼ people gathered on the mountain ‘Place of the council’ and went through ‘the parting sea’. They called the place ‘Quicksand’. They sought out forests to hide the god statues of Tohil, Avilix, and Hacavitz, which they had been carrying in ‘nets of lianas’ since they had departed from the Tulan cave, there in the east. Hacavitz disappeared ‘into a naked mountain,’ and there they awaited the sunrise. Then ‘they brought out the incense that they had brought from the east for this moment.’ The sun appeared. ‘And immediately the sun dried the face of the earth. (..) immediately the earth’s surface dried.’ The god statues turned into stone. On Mount Hacavitz, ‘they thought with sorrow of the east, from where they had come. They had been their hills, from where they had departed (..) There were also fishermen there in the east, the victorious Olmecs, we did not stay with them.’

The gods appeared as ‘youths’ when incense was offered to them, ‘as nagual they emerged from the rock.’ The four patriarchs, the offering priests, disappeared into the forest, terrorized the tribes, tore people apart, and wanted to sacrifice tribes to the gods. They received from the gods Patzilib, a blood-soaked skin, a sign from Tula. The human hunt began, and tribes were slaughtered. The gods bathed as youths in the ‘Bathing place of Tohil,’ and the tribes wanted to seduce them with three girls: Ixtáh, Ixpúch, and Quibatzunáh. But the gods gave the girls gifts, supposedly as proof that they had given themselves to the gods: three mantles, with the jaguar, the eagle, and bees and wasps painted on them. The prince of the tribes put on the mantles, ‘paraded with his naked genitals before all eyes,’ and was then stung by bees and wasps from the third mantle. Thus, Tohil triumphed over the tribes. The tribes (‘more than 20,000 warriors’) rebelled and wanted to destroy the patriarchs, who had entrenched themselves with their families on the top of Mount Hacavitz. They wanted to worship Tohil but first ‘seize him.’ The attackers were first put to sleep, their weapons and jewelry were stolen from them, their eyebrows and beards were cut off. Then they marched to the top of the mountain. The patriarchs placed ‘insect hives’ in four large gourds at the corners of the palisade around their settlement, behind which wooden armed dolls were arranged. The warriors were defeated by the insects when the lids of the gourds were lifted, and slaughtered. All the tribes submitted. Hacavitz was the first settlement.

Balam-Quitzé had two sons: Co Caib and Co Cavib. Balam-Acab had two sons: Co Acul and Co Acuték. Mahucutáh had a son: Co Ahau and Iqui-Balám had no sons, ‘he was a true offering priest.’ The patriarchs left and left behind a ‘sign of the covenant,’ Pisom K’ak’al, a seamless scroll consisting of many cloths. ‘So the people descended from these lords. (..) the first people who came across the sea from the sunrise.’ Now, it was decided by Co Caib (of the Cavéc house), Co Acuték (of the Nihaib house), and Co Ahau (of the Ahau Quiché house) to journey to the east, ‘to the other side of the sea’. The three sons went to Nacxit (Topiltzin Ce Acatl Quetzalcoatl), the ‘lord of the sunrise.’ They received from him the signs of royal power and ‘they brought across the sea the scripture from Tula. They called it the Scripture, in which their history was recorded.’ The three sons returned, and after the four wives of the patriarchs had died, other mountains were sought to settle.

Santa Cruz

Chiquix became the new city, and on four hills, cities with the same name appeared. Then came the cities of Chiquix, Chicác, Humetahá, Kulbá, and Cavinál. The sons of the patriarchs died. The ‘elders and the fathers’ united in the hilly city of Chi Izmachi. There were three great families, from the Cavéc, Nihaib, and Ahau Quiché houses. The Ilocáb rebelled but were captured by King Co Tuhá. During that time, the custom of sacrificing people for the god statues began. Three generations ruled over the city of Izmachi. Then came the city of Cumarcaáh (the Aztec Utatlan, Santa Cruz del Quiché) under the kings Co Tuhá and Gucumátz, where the three houses were divided into nine families and the empire was divided into twenty-four subdivisions (and twenty-four ruling houses). Then Chichicastenango emerged. Driehert and Negenhond, the twelfth royal lineage of the Cavéc house, ruled when the Spanish conqueror Pedro de Alvarado arrived. They were hanged by the Spaniards. Don Christóbal was the ruler of the Nihaib house at the time of the Spaniards.

The end of the Popol Vuh reads: ‘There is nothing more to see. The old wisdom of the kings has been lost. Thus everything comes to an end in Quiché, which is called Santa Cruz.’

Background

The mythological part of the Popol Vuh has a great depth of time. Main characters such as the Heroic Twins, Howler Monkey gods, and underworld gods were already significant in the Classic Maya civilization (up to 900 AD) and were frequently depicted on painted pottery. One of the heroic twins, Hunahpu, had a direct connection with the then-kingship (see Ahau). The extent to which the adventures of the classic heroic twins coincided with those of the Quichean is a contentious issue.

Impact in the present

Charles Étienne Brasseur de Bourbourg already labeled the Popol Vuh as ‘the holy book’ in 1861. This implicit comparison with the holy books of Jews and Christians is not entirely accurate. First of all, the Popol Vuh as a whole does not have a universal edifying purpose, and secondly, the mythological part of the Popol Vuh, as far as is known, was not an inviolable, essentially unchangeable text like the Bible. However, in the struggle for their own cultural identity, the text has indeed become a kind of holy book for many modern Maya and a new, pan-Mayan life has begun. Translations into other Mayan languages than just K’iche’ have contributed to this. Although the Popol Vuh is considered national heritage by all Guatemalans, for these Maya and their organizations, it represents their quintessentially own.

History

The Popol Vuh, also known as the Book of the Council, is a book that treasures much of the wisdom and many of the traditions of Mayan culture, primarily established in what is now Guatemala. It is a comprehensive compendium of aspects of great importance such as religion, astrology, mythology, customs, history, and legends that recount the origin of the world and civilization, as well as the many phenomena that occur in nature.

The text of the Popol Vuh is preserved in a bilingual manuscript written by Friar Francisco Ximénez, who identifies himself as the transcriber (of the version in Quiché Maya) and translator of an ancient “book.” Based on this, the existence of a work written around the year 1550 by an indigenous person who, after learning to write with Latin characters, captured and wrote down the oral recitation of an elder, has been postulated. However, this hypothetical author “never reveals the source of his written work and instead invites the reader to believe whatever they want from the first recto folio,” where he affirms that the original book “is no longer seen” and uses the expression “painted” to describe it. If such a document existed, it would have remained hidden until the period 1701-1703, when Ximénez became the doctrinal curate of Santo Tomás Chichicastenango (Chuilá).

Friar Francisco Ximénez transcribed and translated the text into parallel columns of K’iche’ and Spanish. Later, he elaborated a prose version that occupies the first forty chapters of the first volume of his History of the Province of Santo Vicente de Chiapa and Guatemala, which he began writing in 1715.

Ximénez’s works remained archived in the Convent of Santo Domingo until 1830 when they were transferred to the Academy of Sciences of Guatemala. In 1854, they were found by the Austrian Karl Scherzer, who in 1857 published Ximénez’s first carving in Vienna under the original title The Stories of the Origin of the Indians of this Province of Guatemala.

Abbot Charles Étienne Brasseur de Bourbourg stole the original manuscript from the university, took it to Europe, and translated it into French. In 1861, he published a volume under the title Popol Vuh, le livre sacré et les mythes de l’antiquité américaine. It was he, therefore, who coined the name Popol Vuh.

Brasseur died in 1874 and left his collection to Alphonse Pinar. He showed little interest in the Central American area and sold the collection in 1883 to raise funds for other studies. The original manuscript by Ximénez was purchased by collector and businessman Edward E. Ayer, who resided in Chicago, United States. As a member of the board of directors of a private library in Chicago, he decided to donate his collection of seventeen thousand pieces to the Newberry Library, a process that lasted from 1897 to 1911. Three decades later, Guatemalan ambassador Adrián Recinos located the manuscript in the library and published the first modern edition in 1947. Today, a facsimile of the manuscript is available online thanks to a collaboration between the Newberry and the Library of Ohio State University, under the direction of Professor Carlos M. López.

The town of Santa Cruz del Quiché was founded by the Spanish to replace Q’umar Ka’aj, the ancient capital of the K’iche’ kingdom. Juan de Rojas and Juan Cortés are cited in the book as the last members of the generation of K’iche’ kings.

Origin of the Narratives

The first researchers assumed that the Popol Vuh had been written in the Mayan language with Latin characters, thus collecting the existing oral tradition in the 16th and 17th centuries. The mention in the genealogies of characters from the post-conquest period undoubtedly indicates that the work as it exists today is also posterior to the Hispanic presence in the area.

René Acuña, like other scholars, doubted that the content reflected in the Popol Vuh was truly Mayan because he points out that “the Popol Vuh is a book designed and executed with Western concepts. Its compositional unity is such that it allows us to postulate a single collector of the narratives, it does not seem that this was a spontaneous native autodidact who wrote down the memories of his nation.” This theory is based on certain transcription errors that Ximénez commits when translating the text, revealing his unfamiliarity with the K’iche’ language. For example, the analogies with the biblical book of Genesis, although mixed with purely Mesoamerican concepts, have raised suspicions both of clerical intervention in its composition and of the result of a process of acculturation.

Regarding this, Acuña points out: “If the fidelity with which Ximénez copied and translated the K’iche’ text were the criterion for establishing the authenticity of the Popol Vuh, it would immediately have to be declared false […] Enumerating in detail all the inaccuracies that Ximénez introduced could justify a work of pages whose number cannot be quantified […] Faced with the impossibility of carrying out here a detailed examination of the translations that Ximénez made of the Popol Vuh, I will have to limit myself to saying that they are unequal and very unfaithful and that the friar omitted translating a high percentage of the text. My assessment is based on the meticulous comparative analysis I have carried out of the first 1,180 lines of the Popol Vuh with Fray Francisco’s two Spanish versions. But my intention is not aimed at discrediting the linguistic competence of this religious, but rather at highlighting that, with the scarce knowledge of the K’iche’ language that he possessed, it is natural that he would have disfigured the work when copying it.”

By questioning Ximénez’s ability to handle the Mayan language, a logical doubt arises as to whether the Popol Vuh is an original Mayan text, since only the version of said religious text is currently available. In this same line of thought, John Woodruff, another critic, has come to the conclusion that “the extent of the interaction that Ximénez has with the text is not sufficiently established […] and without discussing what could constitute an authentic indigenous discourse, at least some of the ideas contained in the first recto folio can be identified as not entirely indigenous.” On his part, Canto López comments that it is possible to question the existence of an original book of pre-Hispanic origin, which would lead to the logical conclusion that it was written with the support of oral tradition.

However, some archaeologists have endeavored to find evidence of the narratives of the Popol Vuh in the Mayan hieroglyphs of the pre-Hispanic period.

Popol Vuh is a bilingual compilation of mythical, legendary, and historical narratives of the Maya K’iche’ or Quiché people, the indigenous people of present-day Guatemala with the largest population. This book, of great historical and spiritual value, has been called the Sacred Book of the Maya. In contemporary K’iche’ orthography, the book is called Popol Wuj, following the norms of the Academy of Mayan Languages of Guatemala.

Discovery of Popol Vuh Mural in El Mirador

During investigations carried out in the city of El Mirador, a team of archaeologists led by Richard D. Hansen from Idaho State University discovered a panel with one of the oldest representations of the creation beliefs according to the Mayans: the Popol Vuh. The sculpture dates back to approximately 200 BCE and depicts the mythical twin heroes Hunahpú and Ixbalanqué, swimming in the underworld to retrieve the decapitated head of their father. The sculpture dates from the same period as some of the oldest works related to the Popol Vuh: the murals in San Bartolo and the Nakbe stela, two nearby cities. Archaeologists installed a climate-controlled shed over the newly discovered area to prevent the structure from being damaged.

The sculpture adorns the wall of a canal intended to channel rainwater through the administrative area of the city; moreover, every roof and plaza in the city were designed to direct rainwater towards collection centers. This water collection system would have been one of the reasons why El Mirador became the first powerful Mayan kingdom and would represent one of the oldest examples of the myths described in the Popol Vuh.

Synopsis

The Popol Vuh encompasses a variety of themes including creation, ancestry, history, and cosmology. There are no content divisions in the Newberry Library’s holograph, but generally popular editions have adopted the organization introduced by Brasseur de Bourbourg in 1861 in order to facilitate comparative studies. Guatemalan writer Adrián Recinos explains that: “The original manuscript is not divided into parts or chapters, the text runs without interruption from beginning to end. In this translation, I have followed Brasseur de Bourbourg’s division into four parts and each part into chapters, because the arrangement seems logical and in accordance with the subject matter and meaning of the work. Since the version by the French abbot is the most well-known, this will facilitate the work of those readers who wish to make a comparative study of the different translations of the Popol Vuh.”

Creation

• The gods create the world.
• The gods create the animals, but since they do not praise them, they condemn them to eat each other.
• The gods create beings from clay, which are fragile and unstable and fail to praise them.
• The gods created the first humans from wood, these are imperfect and lacking in feelings.
• The first humans, who become monkeys, are destroyed.
• The twin heroes Hunahpú and Ixbalanqué try to kill the arrogant god Vucub Caquix, but fail.
• Hunahpú and Ixbalanqué kill Vucub Caquix.

Stories of Hunahpú and Ixbalanqué

• Ixpiyacoc and Ixmukané engender two dwarfs.
• Hun Hunahpú and Ixbakiyalo engender the twins Hunbatz and Hunchouén.
• The Lords of Xibalbá kill the brothers Hun Hunahpú and Vucub Hunahpú, hanging the head of the former (Hun Hunahpú) on a tree.
• Hun Hunahpú and Ixquic engender the twin heroes Hunahpú and Ixbalanqué.
• The twin heroes are born and live with their mother and paternal grandmother Ixmukané, competing with their half-brothers Hunbatz and Hunchouén.
• Hunbatz and Hunchouen turn into monkeys.
• Hunahpú and Ixbalanqué use magic to cut down trees.
• A rat speaks to Hunahpú and Ixbalanqué and tells them the story of their ancestors.
• The Lords of Xibalbá call Hunahpú and Ixbalanqué to the underworld.
• Hunahpú and Ixbalanqué survive the tests of the underworld.
• Hunahpú is killed by bats, but his brother resurrects him.
• The twin heroes commit suicide in the flames and their bones are left abandoned in a river.
• Hunahpú and Ixbalanqué come back to life and murder the Lords of the Underworld.
• Hun Hunahpú returns to life through his son.

Creation of the Corn Men

• The first four real men are created: Balam Quitzé, the second Balam Akab, the third Mahucutah, and the fourth Iqui Balam. They are made of corn.
• The first four women are created.
• They began to have children and raise their generation.

Waiting for Dawn and Stay in Hacauitz

• Venus rises, followed by the birth of the sun, causing great joy.
• The deities turn to stone (only the elf Zaquicoxol escapes).
• The four K’iche’ men remain hidden in the mountain.
• By order of Tohil, the patron god of the K’iche’, the kidnappings of other tribes begin to carry out human sacrifices to this deity.
• The other tribes, desperate due to the kidnappings, send four beautiful girls to seduce the men and achieve their defeat, but they are deceived by four magic mantles.
• The other tribes send an army to defeat the K’iche’ men hiding in the mountain, but before reaching it, they fall asleep induced by Tohil, and the four K’iche’ men steal their war instruments.
• Death and advice of Balam Quitze, Balam Akab, Mahucutah, Iqui Balam.
• Balam Quitze leaves his descendants, the K’iche’, the “Pizom Kakal,” or “Sacred Wrapper,” which will serve as a symbol of their power.

Migration Stories

• The children of the first K’iche’ parents return to Tula, where they receive the symbols of power from Nacxit. Upon their return to Mount Hacauitz, they are received with signs of joy.
• They embark on a migration in search of the mountain where they will finally settle and find a city. In Chi Quix, some groups split. They pass through Chi Chak, Humeta Ya, Qulba, Cauinal, and Chi Ixmachi.
• In Chi Ixmachi, the first war erupts, motivated by the deception of the Ilocab group to Istayul. Finally, the Ilocab are reduced to slavery.
• The power of the K’iche’ grows, causing fear among other peoples.
• The three main tinamit of the K’iche’ Confederation are formed: Cauiquib, Nihaib, and Ahau Quiché.

Foundation of Gumarcah and List of Generations

• They found the city of Gumarcah, near present-day Santa Cruz del Quiché, in the Quiché department.
• The 24 “Great Houses” are founded, becoming important units of sociopolitical organization.
• The conquests made by Quikab and Gukumatz, of prodigious nature, are narrated.
• The K’iche’ caueques expand their territory, conquering neighboring and distant peoples, who become tributaries.
• The different chinamit and “Great Houses,” as well as their main rulers until Juan de Rojas, who lived under Spanish rule, are named.

Main Characters

Tepeu-Gucumatz

Also called Tz’aqol-B’itol; Alom-K’ajolooom; Junajpu Wuch’-Junajpu Utiw; Saqinim Aq-Sis; Uk’ux Cho-Uk’ux Palo; Ajraxa Laq-Ajraxa Tzel. He is buried under quetzal feathers when Uk’ux Kaj comes to speak to him. He is what is before anything, amidst the darkness, pulsating. From him emerges the creative force, the first deity that then becomes increasingly distant. Seeks advice from other deities: Uk’ux Kaj and Xmukane, when it comes to creation, as he does not know how to do it. The creative impulse arises from this deity, which later in the narrative falls into oblivion.

Uk’ux Kaj-Uk’ux Ulew

Also represented as Jun Raqan; Kaqulja Jun Raqan; Ch’ipi Kaqulja; Raxa Kaqulja (and Nik’aj Taq’aj). In this sense, it is a triad, as the text says “It was of three essences, that of Uk’ux Kaj”. This deity is not present from the beginning, but “comes” to talk with Tepeu-Gucumatz, so it can be considered that it is posterior to Tepeu. Creation arises from the dialogue between the two. It remains active for a longer time than Tepeu, as later in the narrative it assists Junajpu and Ixb’alamke.

Xpiyakok, Xmukane

Also called Grandmother of the Day, Grandmother of Clarity, Rati’t q’ij, rati’t saq. According to Sam Colop, they were ajq’ijab’ (Mayan spiritual guides). They give advice on the creation of the stick men (the second failed creation). Later in the narrative, they are the grandparents of Jun Junajpu and Wuqub’ Junajpu. Although not mentioned directly, Xpiyakok contributes with Xmukane to the deception of Wuqub’ Kak’ix, saying they are doctors. They are wise but also naive. Their grandchildren deceive them to obtain the ball implements or when they turn their brothers into monkeys, for example. They do not show signs of being prodigious; rather, they are religious specialists who divine and burn incense when appropriate.

Wuqub’ Kak’ix-Chimalmat

Literally “Seven Macaw”. He became grand before creation. He claimed to be the sun and the moon, but it was not true; only his wealth shone: his silver eyes, his precious stones, the green gems of his feathers. It is not clear if he was a macaw or a man; he may have had characteristics of both, as he has a jaw, but at the same time, it is indicated that he “perches” (taqalik in the K’iche’ language) to eat the nances in the tree when he is shot down (like a bird) by the blowpipe of the boys. He behaved like a great lord, but only his riches gave him power, since when he is deceived, and these are taken from him, he dies. He could be a metaphor for those who are grand solely because of their material possessions, but he can also be (like his children) a representative of the error of pride alone.

Zipaqna

First son of Buqub’ Kak’ix, Zipaqna created mountains and volcanoes in one night. The text says that he literally played ball with the hills. He was a diviner, for he knew that the 400 boys wanted to kill him, whom he later murdered. He is defeated by Junajpu and Ixb’alamke, who bury him under what was his pride: a mountain.

Kabraqan

Literally “two feet” or “earthquake”, Kab’raqan knocked down mountains; with his feet, he made the earth tremble. He is deceived by the brothers Junajpu and Ixb’alamke with the promise of a mountain taller than all, which continues to grow. They give him a bird smeared with tizate (white earth), which weakens him, and so he is buried under the earth, under that which gave him pride.

Jun Junajpu, Wuqub’ Junajpu

The sons of Xmukane and Xpiyakok were apparently twins, although this is not explicitly mentioned in the text. Perhaps they were prodigious, but this is not clear since they do not perform any prodigy (except for the flowering of the morro tree in Xib’alb’a) and are easily deceived by those of Xib’alb’a. Jun Junajpu fathered two sons with Ixb’aqiyalo. Apparently, their only occupation was to play dice and ball. They held the title of rajpop achij. They were defeated in Xib’alb’a, in the House of Darkness, and their bodies were sacrificed and buried under the ballgame, except for Jun Junajpu’s head, which was placed on a tree that later sprouted and turned into a morro.

Jun B’atz, Jun Chowen

Sons of Jun Junajpu and Ixb’aqiyalo. They were flutists, artists, scribes, wise men, connoisseurs, blowgunners, sculptors, and goldsmiths. They were envious and mistreated their brothers Junajpu and Ixb’alamke, so they were deceived by them and turned into monkeys. In the narrative, it is mentioned that they were invoked by artists later as patron or protective deities.

Ixkik’

Daughter of Kuchuma Kik’, a lord of Xib’alb’a, she is a curious and impulsive maiden who approaches the forbidden tree by the lords of Xib’alb’a and speaks with the fruit-head of Jun Junajpu. She is also ingenious and brave when she finds a way to cheat her own death and ascends to the earth in search of her mother-in-law. There, she proves to be a good daughter-in-law, as she performs the impossible tasks her mother-in-law requests. Xkik’ and the prodigious pregnancy Xkik’ heard the tale of the tree fruit when it was told by her father Kuchumalkik’, the fruit of which was actually tasty, the one she heard about, so she walked alone and arrived at the foot of the tree planted in the ball court, Ixki’k wondered about the fruit, whether it was sweet, she thought she was not going to die or get lost, then she thought about cutting one. And then suddenly a skull among the branches of the tree spoke to her, it was the head of Jun Junajpu speaking to Xkik’, and asked her, don’t you want it? The head inquired, but the girl said she wanted it, the head asked her to extend her right hand so I can see it, said the head. Xkik’, convinced, extended her hand in front of the skull, so it squeezed and a bone saliva came out and went directly into the girl’s hand, and when she opened her hand there was no

bone saliva. The saliva carries her descent from Junajpu as a thinker, speaker, artist, ballplayer. When Xkik’ returned home, she carried Junajpu and Xb’alanke in her womb.

Junajpu, Xb’alamke

Sons of Jun Junajpu and Wuqub’ Junajpu, they are the main characters in the mythological section of the Popol Wuj. Their main characteristic is cunning and humility, for although they perform great feats, they never boast of them; on the contrary, they often perform them under the guise of simple blowgunners, poor people, or beggars. They carry out the wishes of Uk’ux Kaj, with whom they have constant communication. They are vengeful, as seen when they ceaselessly strive to defeat those from Xib’alb’a until they dismember them. They are prodigies by nature.

Jun Kame, Wuqub’ Kame

The two main lords of Xib’alb’a are wicked and deceitful. They and their kingdom are full of deception for anyone who descends into it, even if invited. They seek the destruction of Junajpu and Ixb’alamke, as they disturbed their rest with their ballgame. Apparently, they ruled over a large number of people, who were not necessarily dead, just as they themselves seemed to be alive, despite their macabre titles. This is proven when they are killed by the twins. They are proud and arrogant, which ultimately causes their downfall.

B’alam Ki’tze’, B’alam Aq’ab’, Majuk’utaj, Ik’i B’alam

The first created men set out for the mythical city of Tula, where they were given their respective deities. Except for Ik’i B’alam, they are the grandparents of the three great divisions, or amaq’, of the K’iche’: Kaweq, Nija’ib’, and Nima K’iche’. They are humble and obedient to the mandates of their respective deity, although often it is Tojil, the deity of the Kaweq, who speaks for all. They ensure the submission of other people by offering fire in exchange for their hearts. For this reason, they later kidnap the inhabitants of other villages to sacrifice them to their deities. Finally, they die leaving behind the Sacred Bundle to their descendants. They are faithful in fulfilling the wishes of their deities and ultimately die peacefully.

Tojil, Awilix, Jaqawitz, Nik’aj Taq’aj

Tojil is the tutelary deity who was given to B’alam Ki’tze’, the Ilokab’, Tamub’, and Rab’inaleb’ (under the name Jun Toj) in Tula. Awilix is the deity of B’alam Aq’ab’; Jaqawitz of Majuk’utaj; and Nik’aj Taq’aj of Ik’i B’alam. Nik’aj Taq’aj, like Ik’i B’alam, lacks protagonism and disappears in the later narrative. As for Awilix and Jaqawitz, although they are present throughout the story, they are often not mentioned, their names being replaced only by Tojil. They are vengeful deities, demanding the blood of people as tribute, and with it, they become more powerful and youthful. They guide the pilgrimage of the K’iche’ and direct them in their wars against other peoples.

As for their nature, perhaps they were animate beings before dawn, as with the rays of the sun, they became stone statues. If compared with Saqik’oxol, a similar deity who escaped petrification, it becomes clear that they were supernatural beings similar to those known as elves, with a physical presence but also immaterial, like the so-called owners of the current hills. In their stone state, however, these deities also manifested themselves as human beings. This is evident because it is mentioned that they went to bathe in the river, where they were seen by the villages, who tried to lose them through fornication, implying that they also had a physical nature.

K’oka’ib’, K’o’akutek, K’o’ajaw

Sons of the three first fathers, they set out eastward where Nacxit gives them the emblems of power and authority. They are the ones who move to and reign justly in Chi K’ik.

Q’ukumatz-K’otuja

Q’ukumatz was a character who reigned alongside K’otuja. According to the text, he belonged to the fourth generation of another character also known as Q’ukumatz. He is a portentous being, taking the form of a serpent, eagle, jaguar, and resting blood. He initiated a period of greatness for the K’iche’.

K’ikab’, Kawisamaj

They extended K’iche’s dominance by conquering the Kaqchikel and the Rab’inaleb’. They extended their domains to Mam territory as well, in Xe’laju and Saqulew. They made tributaries of the conquered peoples, brutally repressing those who refused their expansion. They razed cities and wiped out entire lineages. They also secured the villages they were conquering so that they could not be taken back. They were great warriors and consolidated the expansion and image of the K’iche’.

Fragments

Creation of the World and the First Attempts to Create Men

The Popol Vuh recounts the nonexistence of the world until the creator and former decided to generate life. The intention was for his own creations to be able to speak to him and thank him for life. First, the Earth was created, then the animals, and finally, men. These were initially made of clay, but as the attempt failed, the great creator and former decided to fashion them from wood. Once several families were established, the creator and former, fearing that his creatures might be tempted to supplant him in wisdom, diminished the sight and intelligence of the eight gods

The Creation

This is the account of how all was in suspense, all calm, silent; all still, silent, and the expanse of the sky empty.

This is the first relation, the first speech. There was not yet a man, bird, fish, crab, tree, stone, cave, cliff, herb, or forest: only the sky existed.

The face of the earth was not yet manifest. Only the sea was calm and the sky in all its extent. Nothing was together, making noise, or moving, or stirring in the sky. Nothing stood upright; only the water at rest, the calm sea, alone and tranquil. Nothing was endowed with existence.

There was only stillness and silence in the darkness, in the night. Only the Creator, the Former, Tepeu, Gucumatz, and the Progenitors were in the water surrounded by brightness. They were hidden under green and blue feathers.

Here then came the word, Tepeu and Gugumatz came together, in the darkness, in the night, and spoke to each other Tepeu and Gugumatz. They spoke, therefore, consulting with each other and meditating; they agreed, they joined their words and thoughts. Then it was clearly manifested, while they meditated, that when dawn came, man should appear. Then the creation and growth of the trees and vines and the birth of life and the clarity in action of man were arranged. Thus it was arranged in the darkness and in the night by the Heart of

the Sky, which is called Hurricane.

The first is called Caculhá Hurricane. The second is Chipi-Caculhá. The third is Raxa-Caculhá. And these three are the Heart of the Sky.

Then Tepeu and Gugumatz came together; then they conferred about life and clarity, how it will be done so that it clears and dawns, who will be the one who produces food and sustenance.

“Let it be so! Let the void be filled! Let this water retreat and clear the space, let the earth emerge and firm up! So they said. Let it clear, let it dawn in the sky and on earth! There will be no glory or greatness in our creation and formation until there exists the human creature, the formed man.” So they said.

Then the earth was created by them. Thus it truly was how the creation of the earth was done:

“Earth!” they said, and instantly it was made.

Like the mist, like the cloud, and like a dust cloud was the creation, when the mountains emerged from the water; and instantly the mountains grew.

Only by a miracle, only by magical art was the formation of the mountains and valleys accomplished; and instantly the cypress and pine forests sprang up on the surface.

And thus Gugumatz was filled with joy, saying:

“Good has been your coming, Heart of the Sky; you, Hurricane, and you, Chípi-Caculhá, Raxa-Caculhá!”

“Our work, our creation shall be completed,” they replied.

First, the earth, the mountains, and the valleys were formed; the waterways were divided, the streams flowed freely among the hills, and the waters were separated when the high mountains appeared.

Such was the creation of the earth, when it was formed by the Heart of the Sky, the Heart of the Earth, which are thus called those who first made it fertile, when the sky was in suspense and the earth was submerged within the water.

Thus the work was perfected when they executed it after thinking and meditating on its happy completion.

Then they made the small animals of the forest, the guardians of all the woods, the mountain geniuses, the deer, the birds, lions, tigers, snakes, serpents, and rattlesnakes (vipers), guardians of the vines.

And the Progenitors said:

“Shall there be only silence and stillness under the trees and vines? Henceforth, there should be those who guard them.”

Thus they spoke when they meditated and immediately spoke. At once, the deer and birds were created. Then the deer and birds were assigned their abodes:

“You, deer, will sleep in the meadows by the rivers and in the ravines. Here you will be among the underbrush, among the grasses; in the forest, you will multiply, on four legs you will walk and have yourselves. And as it was said, so it was done.”

Then they also designated their abode to the small birds and the larger birds:

“You, birds, will dwell on the trees and vines, there you will make your nests, there you will multiply, there you will shake yourselves on the branches of the trees and vines.” Thus it was told to the deer and birds so that they would do what they were supposed to do, and all took their dwellings and nests.

Thus the Progenitors gave their dwellings to the animals of the earth.

And when the creation of all the quadrupeds and birds was completed, they were told by the Creator and Former and the Progenitors:

“Speak, cry out, chirp, call, speak each one according to your species, according to the variety of each one.” Thus it was told to the deer, the birds, lions, tigers, and serpents.

“Say, then, our names, praise us, your mother, your father. Invoke, therefore, Hurricane, Chípi-Caculhá, Raxa-Caculhá, the Heart of the Sky, the Heart of the Earth, the Creator, the Former, the Progenitors; speak, invoke us, worship us!” they said to them.

But they could not be made to speak like men; they only squealed, clucked, and squawked; the form of their language was not manifested, and each one shouted differently.

When the Creator and the Former saw that it was not possible for them to speak, they said to each other:

“It has not been possible for them to say our name, the name of us, their creators and formers. This is not right,” the Progenitors said to each other. Then they said to them:

“You will be changed because it has not been achieved that you speak. We have changed our minds: your food, your pasture, your dwelling, and your nests you will have, they will be the ravines and the forests, because it has not been possible to achieve that you worship us or invoke us. There are still those who worship us, we will make other beings that are obedient. You, accept your fate: your flesh will be ground up. So it will be. This will be your fate.” Thus they said when they made known their will to the small and large animals that are on the face of the earth.

Thus, a new attempt had to be made to create and form man by the Creator, the Former, and the Progenitors.

“Let’s try again! Dawn and the dawn are approaching; let’s make the one who will sustain and feed us! How will we be invoked to be remembered on earth? We have already tried with our first works, our first creatures; but it was not possible to achieve that we were praised and venerated by them. Let’s try now to make beings obedient, respectful, who will sustain and feed us.” Thus they made the human beings who exist on earth.

The Twin Gods: Hunahpú and Ixbalanqué

The Popol Vuh also recounts the exploits of the twin gods: Hunahpú and Ixbalanqué, who descended to Xib’alb’a (underworld) and defeated the Ajawab, and became the Sun and the Moon. Here is a fragment of the story of their birth:

When the day of their birth arrived, the young woman named Ixquic gave birth; but the grandmother did not see them when they were born. In an instant, the two boys named Hunahpú and Ixbalanqué were born. There, on the mountain, they were born.

Then they arrived at the house, but they could not fall asleep.

“Go throw them out!” said the old woman, because truly they cry a lot. And immediately they were placed on an anthill. There they slept peacefully. Then they were removed from that place and placed on thorns.

Now, what Hunbatz and Hunchouén wanted was for them to die right there on the anthill, or to die on the thorns. They desired this because of the hatred and envy they felt for Hunbatz and Hunchouén.

At first, they refused to receive their younger brothers into the house; they did not know them and so they were raised in the field. Hunbatz and Hunchouén were great musicians and singers; they had grown up amidst much toil and need and had gone through many hardships, but they became very wise. They were at once flute players, singers, painters, and carvers; they knew how to do everything.

They knew about their birth and also knew that they were the successors of their parents, those who went to Xibalbá and died there. Great sages they were, for Hunbatz and Hunchouén knew everything about the birth of their younger brothers. However, they did not demonstrate their wisdom, because of the envy they felt for them, for their hearts were filled with ill will towards them, although Hunahpú and Ixbalanqué had not offended them in anything.

The latter only occupied themselves with blowing darts every day; they were not loved by the grandmother or by Hun

batz or Hunchouén. They were not given food; only when the meal was finished and Hunbatz and Hunchouén had eaten, then they arrived. But they did not get angry or enraged, and suffered silently, because they knew their condition and understood everything clearly. They brought their birds when they came every day, and Hunbatz and Hunchouén ate them, without giving anything to either of the two, Hunahpú and Ixbalanqué.

The only occupation of Hunbatz and Hunchouén was to play the flute and sing.