(n.d.-1700s)
Like the book of chilam balam of chumayel, The Book of the Chilam Balam ofTizimin and The Book of the Chilam Balam ofMani are parts of The Books of Chilam Balam, a record of Mayan history and culture based on stories firmly rooted in Mayan oral literature. The Tizimin book, while it contains prophecy, is more historical in nature and tone than the Mani book, which is more prophetic. In terms of dating the manuscripts, it is important to remember that Maya literature contains no linear, or chronological, history. As authors Leon-Portilla and Earl Shorris point out, “The Maya priests who wrote the books of the Chilam Balams were expected to predict the future based on the past, then to record what happened during the predicted period.”
The Book of Chilam Balam of Tizimin covers, roughly, Maya history from the seventh to the 19th centuries and focuses on the Itza and Xiu peoples and their interaction with the ultimate conquering by the Spanish. It includes, among other stories and predictions, “The Last Flight of the Quetzal Prince,” a story about Tecum; “The Death of Cuauhtemoc,” a description of the Mexican prince’s death; and “Cronica de Chac-Xulub-Chen,” a story of the tragic enslavement of the Maya people.
The Book of the Chilam Balam of Mani roughly covers the same time period as the Tizimin book, but it is written in the future tense, giving it a prophetic tone and nature. Its focus is on the Spanish conquest of the Maya, and its stories include “The Prophecy and Advice of the Priest Xupan Nauat,” “The Prophetic Words of the Great Prophets, The Principal Goods of the Underworld, and the Great Priests,” and “The Prophecy of Oxlahun-Ti-Ku-for Katun 13 Ahau: Recital of the Priest of Chilam Balam,” among others.
The Books of Chilam Balam represent not only a desperate attempt to cement dying wisdom, but also a mourning of the fate of the people it represents. “Should we not lament,” the book asks defiantly, “in our suffering, grieving for the loss of our maize and the destruction of our teachings concerning the universe of the earth and the universe of the heavens?” As one of the Great Priests states in “The Prophetic Words of the Great Prophets,”
I wrote this not to speak of our poverty but to make known the events that happened in the life of our ancestors.
In this, the contributors to The Books of Chilam Balam succeeded, and their efforts represent today a rare historical, cultural, and literary record of the Maya people.
English Versions of The Books of Chilam Balam
The Ancient Future of the Itza: The Book of Chilam Balam of Tizimin. Translated by Munro S. Edmonson. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1982.
The Book of the Jaguar Priest: A Translation of the Book of Chilam Balam of Tizimin. Translated by Maud Worcester Makemson. New York: Henry Schu-man, 1951.
A Work about The Books of Chilam Balam
Leon-Portilla, Miguel, Earl Shorris, et al. In the Language of Kings: An Anthology of Mesoamerican Literature—Pre-Columbian to the Present. New York: W.W.Norton, 2001.
