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The Popol Vuh: Mayan Text

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The Popol Vuh: Mayan Text
The Popol Vuh is a Mayan text that was written in the 16th century by one or several authors in Quiche, although it is written using the Latin alphabet. The Popol Vuh is always changing, as new discoveries about the Mayan language, astrology, art, history and politics require the texts to be updated. Many meaning for names have been discovered and translation errors have been able to be corrected by linguists. The Popol Vuh is not a religious text, in that it is not seen as the word of G-d, but how the ancient world was created.
The Popol Vuh was written when the people realized that the Christian conquerors would not allow the native people to continue to practicing their beliefs. At the end of the texts the author writes about migrations, the forced conversion of the indigenous religions and the burning of sacred Maya texts and art. The original work was oral and was a long poem and covered the creation of humans, Earth and genealogies. When the oral poem was translated and written down, it was divided into four books.
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In books 1 and II the G-ds create the world and the idea of humans is just as old as the Earth, but the first three attempts at creating humans failed. In the attempts the G-ds create all the living animals of today, a 260 day calendar and natural disasters before finally creating two sets of twins. One set of twins, Hunahpu and Xbalanque, after years of adventure eventually become the sun and the moon. Before becoming the moon and the sun, they kill the other set of twins and their father, because they have no respect for the other G-ds and refused to acknowledge their existence, by killing the three men order is restored to

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