Despite the Spaniards' destruction of ancient hieroglyphic texts, Maya literature did not disappear. A strong oral tradition continued, and Maya priests and scribes, who had learned to write their languages with the Latin alphabet, recorded their ancestors' stories and historical narratives. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, scholars from Europe and the U.S. discovered their manuscripts or copies of them and issued print editions, which circulated the sacred texts beyond their native lands. The Popol Vuh (1861), the Rabinal Achí (1862), The Annals of the Cakchiquels (1885), the Chilam Balam of Chumayel (1913), and other later scholarly editions were crucial in creating an awareness of Maya literature's greatness outside the Maya world.
Sacred Maya Texts
- Introduction
- Early Representations
- The Maya in the Western Hemisphere
- Archaeological Discovery
- Maya Codices
- Decipherment
- Yucatan and Chiapas
- The Caste War
- Guatemala and Belize
- Guatemalan Independence
- Mayan Languages
- Sacred Maya Texts
- Modern Maya Literary Voice
- El libro del consejo
- Leyendas de Guatemala
- Supersticiones y leyendas mayas
- Hombres de maíz
- The Year Bearer's People
- El Kanil, Man of Lightning
- El tiempo principia en Xibalbá
- Uk'u'x Kaj, Uk'u'x Ulew: Antología de Poesía Maya Guatemalteca Contemporánea
- Casa solitaria
- Ti’ u billil in nook’ (Del dobladillo de mi ropa)
- El 13 b'aktun: la nueva era; 2012 el fin del ciclo; desde la óptica maya contemporánea
- Credits