He was found in a pyramid-style temple in Copan in modern-day Honduras surrounded by many other maize gods. And this is pretty obvious in the young maize god - the sculpture was apparently a manifestation of mythological beings resulting from the third Maya creation. Like the maize plant, the maize god is decapitated at harvest time, and is then reborn - fresh, young, and beautiful at the beginning of each new growing season. The maize god represents both the fact of the agricultural cycle of planting, harvesting and replanting, and the faith in a parallel human cycle of birth, death and rebirth - but more, he is the very stuff of which the Central Americans are made. Maya Maize God | The British Museum Images. It measures approximately 35.4” x 25.25” x14.2” and was made in 715 CE. So the European colonisers in Mexico did not eat tortillas or other masa products. Honduras. Shell earflare frontals (1995.489a, b) depict the severed head of the Maya Maize God, the personification of a newly harvested ear of corn. The first exhibition in the revamped galleries of the British Museum brings together innumerable and beautiful images of humans from Congolese masks to Yemeni grave markers to Mayan maize … So it might be argued that the withholding of information by the conquered Mayan peoples was an act of sabotage which along with similar acts by other American indigenous peoples such as with tobacco and potato appear to be working quite nicely to this day. But then disaster struck. google_ad_client="pub-8187633211219907"; For thousands of years the Mayans worshiped the maize god and believed that their ancestors were made from maize dough. The arms are bent, the palms of the hands face outwards – one raised, one lower – giving an impression of serene power. At this point, the Popol Vuh goes back in time to explain who the twins’ ancestors were. From Indigenous clothing and Mexican skulls to necklaces made of dolphin teeth, this is one of the most extensive online museum … In our next programme, we'll be turning from the food of the gods to the vessels that it's cooked in. It provides a visual starting point for exploration of the importance of corn and of the harvest cycle as well as the religious beliefs of the Maya. But he comes at the end of a very long tradition; Central Americans had been worshipping him and his predecessors for thousands of years, and his mythic story mirrors the annual planting and harvesting of the corn on which all Central American civilisation depended. Objects of ancient art, industry, technology and arms, all of which are in the British Museum's collections, as an introduction to parts of human history. The head of the god is covered with an enormous headdress in the shape of a stylised corn cob, and his hair is like the silky strands that line the inside of a cob of corn, inside the wrapping leaves. Without it, the two key nutrients in the vegetable - the amino acids and vitamin B - would not be released. Genius is a commodity every bit as valuable as gold or silver and for this reason alone the God myth was probably created. A common medium of Maya sculpture that is almost entirely lost to observers today is that of wood. Material: Stone The statue is of the Mayan maize god. : Attribution: Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net). This page has been archived and is no longer updated. Today maize still forms a large part of the Central American diet in the form of tortillas. In the heart of the British Museum we have a god of maize. British Museum. Object 9 of 100. The arms are bent, the palms of the hands face outwards - one raised, one lower - giving an impression of serene power. The British Museum shop has a range of unique gifts, replicas, games and more. The Mesoamerican cultures discovered more than 5,000 years ago that cooking corn with lime allows the solid particles to crack, releasing the minerals for the body to absorb. //-->, After the Ice Age: Food and Sex (9000 - 3500 BC), Maya maize god (made around 1,300 years ago). Some archaeologists argue that food must always have had a divine role even for our earliest ancestors; just think of the cow goddess of Egypt, or Bacchus and Ceres of classical mythology, or Annapurna, the Hindu goddess of food. Sign in|Recent Site Activity|Report Abuse|Print Page|Powered By Google Sites, Kakiemon elephants - Porcelain from Japan, Miniature of a Mughal prince - Watercolour from India, Reformation centenary broadsheet from Germany, Russian revolutionary plate - Porcelain from St Petersburg, Shi'a religious parade standard - Steel alam from Iran. Aug 26, 2013 - This sculpture of the Maize God was comissioned by Waxaklajuun Ub'aah K'awiil (also known as '18-Rabbit'), the thirteenth ruler of Copán. Visit the online shop. It must have taken genius to figure out that the humble maize forebear had the most enormous potential for sustenance and further genius to experiment until its nutritional value had been fully exploited. Am 1923, Maud 8. Maize was certainly a primary focus of ritual and religious veneration by ancient Meso-American people, going back all the way before the Maya and even into the Olmec civilisation.'. In this part of the world at this time around nine thousand years ago, other food resources were very thin on the ground. It is one of several models found in graves at El-Amra in Egypt, and is now in the British Museum in London. It needed to be cooked in a mixture of water and white lime. It was not until 1930 that it was discovered that pellagra was due to a deficiency in niacin (a mineral that transforms fat and proteins into readily usable body energy). (Restaurateur Santiago Calva). The Maya believed that their ancestors essentially came from corn, and they were formed of yellow and white maize dough. The myth of the maize god is just one example of how the development of agriculture led to major changes in how people across the world conceived their gods. This statue shows the Maya maize god as a youthful and handsome man with a stylised corn headdress. He’s a bust, carved from limestone using a stone chisel and a basalt hammer, and the features are large and symmetrical, the eyes closed, the lips parted – as though this god is in communion with a different world, quietly meditating. Between the head and the body you can very clearly see the join, and indeed the head looks rather too big for the body, because when the temple in Copán (in western Honduras, from which this came) was destroyed, all the statues fell, and heads and bodies were pieced together, but whether this head and this body precisely belong together is actually not the key thing - because all these gods are about the central power, the central role, of maize to the local people. The discovery and opening of the Maize Mountain – the place where the corn seeds are hidden – is still one of the most popular of Maya tales. British Museum. John Staller, anthropologist and author of the book 'Histories of Maize' explains why the maize god was a common choice for rich and powerful patrons: 'The elite from ancient societies focussed upon corn as having sacred kinds of properties which they then associated with themselves. The views expressed are theirs and unless specifically stated are not those of the BBC or the British Museum. It was only a short while before the sun, moon and stars were to appear above the makers and modellers. Here, in the heart of the British Museum, we have a god of maize. But beans and squashes don't become gods - why does maize? Maya Maize God statue at British Museum March 25, 2012. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Why did the Mayans worship maize? The other problem being the genetically-modified maize, it's almost personally offensive - and religiously - that you are playing God, as it were ... it's just very sensitive. google_color_bg="FFFFFF"; The El-Amra clay model of cattle is a small ceramic sculpture dating from the Predynastic, Naqada I period in Ancient Egypt, at around 3500 BC. It provides a visual starting point for exploration of the importance of corn and of the harvest cycle as well as the religious beliefs of the Maya. Why not wheat or a certain type of meat? AD 175. Stone. He was found in Copán, a major Mayan city and religious centre, whose monumental ruins you can still visit today. And no doubt the idea sprang from the recognition of genius and for its protection. 1901,1012.6. The culinary secrets of the ancient Mesoamerican cultures had not been learned. This elaborate process of boiling the raw kernel in lime and water was essential. The disease occurred because the Europeans were not able to digest the corn’s nutrients. After all, people have been stealing from one another from the dawn of time. Today's object is myth-made material; a food god from Central America. Corn had a mythical status in Mexico, being an ancient and nutritious crop full of vital minerals like niacin, calcium and riboflavin. Read more. Explore the British Museum collection and journey through two million years of human history. Apr 11, 2015 - Explore Madame Delacroix's board "Corn God" on Pinterest. It killed thousands. The maize god, Hun Hunahpu, was one of the most important owing to his connection with this vital staple crop. Many regional artistic traditions existed side by side, usually coinciding with the changing boundaries of Maya polities. Sculpture of the Maya Maize God, a youth wearing a headdress in the form of a stylized ear of corn and hair in the form of the silk of the cob. The BBC is not responsible for the content of any external sites referenced. google_color_url="135355"; Collection online showcases more than four million of the Museum's objects. It's able to grow in both the lush wet lowlands and the dry mountainous regions, which means that farmers can plant crops in any of their seasonal dwellings. This statue shows the Maya maize god as a youthful and handsome man with a stylised corn headdress. This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. 10% off for Members Become a Member and enjoy a 10% discount at all of the Museum's shops. Where the Hebrew god made Adam out of dust, the Mayan gods used maize to make their humans. The statue was commissioned by the 13th ruler of Copán , Waxaklajuun Ub'aah K'awiil, also known as … Photo by BabelStone. But crucially, maize is a rich carbohydrate that gives you a rapid energy hit. So they spoke; the bearer, begetter, the makers, modellers - and a sovereign plumed serpent - they sought and discovered what was needed for human flesh. Joint project of BBC Radio 4 and the British Museum, consisting of 100 objects used ancient art, industry, ... Maya maize god statue. Read Maya Maize God Statue by with a free trial. Joint project of BBC Radio 4 and the British Museum, consisting of 100 objects used ancient art, industry, technology and arms, all of which are in the collections of the British Museum as the introduction of human history. Neil focuses on the world of the Mayan civilisation and a stone Maize God, discovered … Across the world, people began to identify particular plants that would provide them with food. Given that we are Homo sapiens sapiens (of very little genius) most likely our slavish greed lust for the precious woods from the dwindling forests of the world will bring a similar price for our children to bear in the absence of any amazingly joined-up genius of our own. The Maya maize god. Collection online showcases more than four million of the Museum's objects. Early farmers in Mexico grew chilli to make their maize taste better. This willingness to venerate the food on our plate seems to arrive at a particular moment in human development - and it tells us much more about a society than its favourite supper dish. The mythical story is told in the most famous epic in the whole of the Americas, the 'Popol Vuh'. google_color_link="000000"; By the seventeenth century around 60% of the diet of southern Europe consisted of untreated corn. It has virtually no nutritional value but, as we all know, it's uniquely able to liven up dull carbohydrates - and it shows that we've been foodies for as long as we've been farmers. Grains of corn boiled with lime and water are easily milled to obtain a nutritionally rich dough or ‘masa’. Corn is different from other cereals: its nutrients are encapsulated in solid particles that do not crack with heat or water. google_ad_width=120; Here, in the heart of the British Museum, we have a god of maize. But it is, let's face it, pretty stodgy, and so from very early on, farmers also cultivated an ingenious - and tasty - accompaniment; the indigenous chilli. Their father was defeated by the Lords of Death in the Underworld. And, as they did so, everywhere stories about gods emerged; gods of death and of rebirth, gods who would guarantee the cycle of the seasons and ensure the return of the crops, and gods - more importantly - that represent food itself. Maya relief of royal blood-letting. Jaguar God Figure - Archaeological Museum - Fort of San Miguel - Campeche - Mexico.jpg 2,736 × 3,648; 1.79 MB Jaguar Maya Collection H Law 156 n2.jpg 3,027 × 2,724; 6.54 MB Jaguar paddler god, Ixlu Stela 2.jpg 1,631 × 1,651; 1.85 MB And since we don't even have a proper democracy who is to care anyway? A common medium of Maya sculpture that is almost entirely lost to observers today is that of wood. It couldn't just be boiled and eaten straight away as it is today. google_ad_host="pub-6693688277674466"; Stone statue, found in Honduras. The Spanish conquistadores did not understand the need for lime. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Such a man or school whose discovery gave the world a food for ever would have been worthy of remembrance and after the fashion of the ancient world deified. Explore the collection See all. And this was when they found the staple foods, and then the yellow corn and white corn were ground. Under the Mexica ruler, Moctezuma, corn became a symbol of life and fertility and was offered to the Gods as sacrifice. Desire, love and … But there's a particular time, after the end of the Ice Age, so between ten and five thousand years ago roughly, when a range of new foods seems to be accompanied by a range of new gods. It became a staple for poor rural European populations since its yield was much higher than wheat. It is part of the cultural identity.' All of the temple's statues were commissioned by the Mayan ruler of the day, to adorn the magnificent temple that he built at Copán around AD 700. This figure has not got his eyes closed as you say Ian. The Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, retells the history of human development from the first stone axe to the credit card, using 100 selected objects from the Museum. In the Classic period (200-900 AD), the maize deity shows aspects of a culture hero . The disease was later named pellagra. Maize was the Mayan's most important food source. Cylinder Vase with dancing maize god, 675-725 AD, Maya culture, eastern Peten lowlands, Guatemala or Belize, earthenware with slip - Gardiner Museum, Toronto - DSC01183.JPG 2,580 × 4,112; 3.35 MB But the culinary secrets of the ancient Mesoamerican cultures have been preserved for centuries. Well, the plant from which maize derives, the teosinte, is wonderfully adaptable. google_color_border="FFFFFF"; And his gestures, assuming they belong to the head, would undoubtedly have acted as prompts of some kind in any normal oral tradition of learning. Maize was the Maya's most important food and was worshipped as a god. The British Museum shop has a range of unique gifts, replicas, games and more. 'Maize culture faces two new problems, one being the use of maize as a bio-fuel and the increment of prices, where it directly affects the Mexican population. google_ad_format="120x600_as";