Time and reality in the thought of the Maya

by Miguel León-Portilla

In this second English-language edition of one of his most notable works, Miguel León-Portilla explores the Maya Indiansâ remarkable concepts of time. At the bookâ s first appearance Evon Z. Vogt, Curator of Middle American Ethnology in Harvard University, predicted that it would become "a classic in anthropology," a prediction borne out by the continuing critical attention given to it by leading scholars.

Like no other people in history, the ancient Maya were obsessed by the study of time. Their sages framed its cycles with tireless exactitude. Yet their preoccupation with time was not limited to calendrics; it was a central trait in their evolving culture.

In this absorbing work León-Portilla probes the question, What did time really mean for the ancient Maya in terms of their mythology, religious thought, worldview, and everyday life? In his analysis of key Maya texts and computations, he reveals one of the most elaborate attempts of the human mind to penetrate the secrets of existence.

Genres: Anthropology, History, Nonfiction

176 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

Miguel León-Portilla was a Mexican anthropologist and historian. He was one of the most reputable and commonly cited authorities on Aztec culture and literature in the pre-Columbian and colonial eras among Mexican academia. Many of his works have been translated to English and are widely read.

Reviews

[Francisco Vazquez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este libro es un clásico sobre las culturas prehispánicas de Mexico
Ampliamente recomendado

[Luka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great high-level overview of Mayan symbolism & theology. Brilliantly rich and equally novel, Mayans can be effectively described as ‘time worshippers’, no universal phenomena played a bigger role in their pantheon. Time itself was partitioned and personified as countless deities and sub-deities, each casting moral consequence as their throne rotated. A religious system truly unlike any other.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short, dense essay that I would've appreciated more with the benefit of more intimate knowledge of Mayan religion and symbolism. The title is apt - NOT a description a phenomenological explication of how the Maya experienced time and space (although some can be gleaned if you look out for it), but a more conceptual or philosophical account of how they understood these. Thus the reader is left to imagine, or look elsewhere, for a sense of how the Maya experienced a time with they could astronomically calculate thousands of years "backwards or forwards", time which was conceived as predictable co-mingling of lesser or greater interlocking cycles, and time and space "carried" as "burdens" by the action of various deities.

[Hilary Jacks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good overview of how Mayan's probably perceived the world in terms of their sense of a spatial/deified time. Informative, though the author likes to talk in circles quite a bit.