Sources

Popol Vuh: The Definitive Edition of the Mayan Book of the Dawn of Life

Citation Formats

General Reference

Divinity Atlas. "Popol Vuh: The Definitive Edition of the Mayan Book of the Dawn of Life." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://divinity.interactivelion.com/sources/popol-vuh-the-definitive-edition-of-the-mayan-book-of-the-dawn-of-life.

APA Style

Divinity Atlas. (n.d.). Popol Vuh: The Definitive Edition of the Mayan Book of the Dawn of Life. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://divinity.interactivelion.com/sources/popol-vuh-the-definitive-edition-of-the-mayan-book-of-the-dawn-of-life

BibTeX

@misc{divinityatlas-popol-vuh-the-definitive-edition-of-the,
  author = {Divinity Atlas},
  title = {Popol Vuh: The Definitive Edition of the Mayan Book of the Dawn of Life},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://divinity.interactivelion.com/sources/popol-vuh-the-definitive-edition-of-the-mayan-book-of-the-dawn-of-life},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

Dennis Tedlock's is a scholarly translation with commentary of the Kiche Maya Popol Vuh, and this record states its documented textual history honestly rather than presenting it as an unbroken ancient document: the text as it survives was composed in alphabetic script in the mid sixteenth century, after the conquest, and survives only through a copy made around 1701 by Francisco Ximenez, so this is a post-conquest recording of Maya narrative rather than a pre-conquest artifact itself. It does preserve pre-conquest narrative material that Classic period painted vessels independently corroborate, a real point of external confirmation this record notes. Use it for the content of Kiche Maya narrative as this translation renders the Ximenez copy; it is not itself a pre-conquest document, a distinction that matters for any claim about its exact antiquity.

Facts

Assessment

Reliability Tier

Dennis Tedlock's translation with commentary of the Kiche Maya Popol Vuh; the surviving text is itself a mid-sixteenth-century alphabetic composition known only from a copy made around 1701, so it preserves pre-conquest narrative independently corroborated by Classic-period painted vessels without itself being a pre-conquest document, held at the tier for that reason.

Notes

Translation with commentary of the Kiche Maya narrative. The text is post-conquest: composed in alphabetic script in the mid sixteenth century and surviving only in the copy made c.1701 by Francisco Ximenez. It preserves pre-conquest narrative that Classic-period painted vessels independently corroborate, but it is not itself a pre-conquest document.

Citation

Author

translated by Dennis Tedlock

Publisher

Simon and Schuster

Publication Year

1996

Source Type

primary-text

Claims Backed By This Source (165 claims)

This source backs 165 claims across the atlas. As facts: 105 well-attested, 2 open question. As cited relationships: 20 holds. Plus 38 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.

Disposition By Topic

Deities, 72 claims: 35 well-attested, 2 open question, 11 holds, 24 general references.
Articles, 23 claims: 23 well-attested.
Open Questions, 16 claims: 12 well-attested, 2 holds, 2 general references.
Scriptures & Texts, 12 claims: 11 well-attested, 1 general references.
Myths & Sacred Narratives, 9 claims: 4 well-attested, 4 holds, 1 general references.
Doctrines, 8 claims: 5 well-attested, 1 holds, 2 general references.
Sources, 7 claims: 7 well-attested.
Mythical Creatures, 6 claims: 5 well-attested, 1 general references.
Cultures, 4 claims: 2 holds, 2 general references.
Figures, 4 claims: 2 well-attested, 2 general references.
Languages, 2 claims: 1 well-attested, 1 general references.
Religions, 1 claims: 1 general references.
Tzolkin Day Signs, 1 claims: 1 general references.