The Creation of the World: A Mayan View - Essay Example

Creation of the World: The Mayan View What similarities and differences do you see between this account of the beginning of the world and those of other ancient civilizations?There are different views on the creation of the world of which the Mayan view is very important. The Mayan view on the creation of the world is depicted in Popul Vuh, which was written down from memory only. It was written immediately after the Spanish conquest. It was written in Quiche. Quiche is the spoken language of the Maya.

Latin script was used to write Popul Vuh. Subsequently, this work was translated into Spanish. Before the creation of the world, there was complete calmness. Everything was in silence and the cover of the sky was hollow. There was complete suspense all around. Everything was motionless and speechless. There was no living entity—no animal or no plant—there was only sky. That time, even the earth surface did not appear. The only two things that were there were gigantic frame of sky and the fathomless sea.

In fact, it was a kind of complete non-existence of everything. Nothing was able to move, tremble or make noises. Even nothing could stand out except the vast stretches of sea. There was complete darkness, which is similar to the beginning of civilizations in ancient history. Only the creators of the world—the Maket, Tepeu, Gueumatz, the Horefnthers—were covered with light in the water bodies. There was veil of green beneath them. These creators were also like great sages, philosophers and thinkers.

Tepeu and Gueumatz first came together in absolute darkness. Next they spoke with each other. Thereafter, they started their conversations. After thorough discussions, they came to some kind of conclusion. Finally, they built up their words and pot those into thoughts. Subsequently, they started their meditation. It was apparent that at the next dawn, man would appear in the world. Afterwards, they started planning the process of creation. The generation of trees, the thickets and the generation of man were their prime act.

The Heart of Heaven who is also known as Hueacan planned all these creativity in absolute darkness.Similar kinds of calmness and aloofness have been observed during the beginning of many ancient civilizations. During the initial years, all the descendents of a particular society were compelled to respond to the hurdles posed by the environment and they used to live in complete isolation from the rest of the world. Thereafter civilizations developed at a very slow pace. During the 5000 BCE, in both the Central and the Southern America, farming settlements grew alongside the rivers and in the upland areas.

Subsequently, organized human civilizations were developed in the coast of Mexico and in the western slopes of Central Andes Mountains. In the slopes of Andes Mountains, technologically advanced societies were established. In the same vein, in Northern America, emerging societies were coming up. These emerging societies had links with other civilizations in the other parts of the world. Moreover, even at the dawn of the civilization, these emerging societies showed some distinct signs of urbanization.