The Council Book

oral tradition

possibly written using ideographic language

written in Quiché language using the Latin alphabet around 1550 (lost)

copied by Francisco Ximénez ca. 172o (bilingual manuscript)

translated into German (Scherzer) and French (Brasseur) in the the 19th century

Part One: the creation of the world

Part Two: The Hero Twins defeat the Lords of Xibalbá

Part Three: The first real humans are created

Part Four: the Tohil lineage and the Mayan tribes

Parents First Children Hero Twins Lords of Xibalba

One Hunter One Howler Hunter/Jun Aj Pu

One Death

Seven Hunter One Monkey Jaguar Deer/Ix B’alam Kej

Seven Death

Little Blood

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5PuBVARfeM

Rigoberta Menchú and Dante Liano

“…when there was plenty of honey and the maize-plants were straining under the weight of the cobs of corn […] then my village was a lively happy place…” (15)