Songs of Dzitbalche

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The Songs of Dzitbalché is the source of almost all the ancient Mayan lyric poems that have survived, and is closely connected to the Book of Chilam Balam, the sacred book of the Yucatec Maya. The sole surviving copy of the Songs of Dzitbalché was written in alphabetic Mayan in the 1700s. The author identifies himself as Ah Bam (“Mr. Jaguar”), an elder of the town of Dzitbalché. He appears to say that the book was originally written in the year 1440. Manuscripts of this era were were often copies of copies of copies, so scholars have to look at internal evidence for clues to the original date of composition. Many of the poems appear to be much older than the manuscript, and contain ancient ceremonial and ritual material. Other poems are songs of love, philosophy, and spirituality. Many of them appear to have had a musical accompaniment. Originally titled The Book of the Dances of the Ancients, the current title was given to it by its first translator.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• Barrera Vásquez, Alfredo. El libro de los cantares de Dzitbalché, Mexico City: Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, 1965

• Curl, John; The Songs of Dzitbalche in Ancient American Poets, Bilingual Press, 2005, ISBN 1-931010-21-8