[Aztlan] God L's owl

[Barbara McKenzie]

Karen,

I am curious about the bird on the back of Copan Stela H -- there is  
an upper, middle and possibly a lower "face,"  any of which could be  
a bird to my untrained eye.  Which one is the forest falcon?

Here's the photo:  http://mayaruins.com/copan/a1_1127.html

Thanks -- interesting discussion!




On Nov 9, 2009, at 10:18 AM , Karen Bassie wrote:

> <>I have been working on a Maya bird study for a number of years so  
> this
> subject is dear to my heart. Once the Chiapas book is finished, I will
> be working on it full time with Bob and Nick. Did you know Bob was  
> going
> to be an ornithologist before he became an anthropologist? I am  
> sure he
> would have made a fabulous bird man, but aren't we lucky he switched.
> Birds are most often named after their calls. For example, a
> proto-Ch'olan word for hawk is lik lik because that is one of the  
> common
> calls that hawks make. While muwaan is found as a word for hawk in
> Mopan, Ch'olti', and Ch'orti', it is specifically used to describe the
> collared forest falcon in Yucatec Mayan and Itza' Mayan. It is not a
> word for owl. Furthermore, the glyph for muwaan is a bird swallowing
> another bird. The principal diet of the collared forest falcon is  
> other
> birds. In the same regard, the Itzamnaaj bird which I have equated  
> with
> Wak (the laughing falcon of the Popol Vuh who shot the hero twins with
> his blowgun) is often illustrated with a serpent in its mouth and the
> principal deity of laughing falcons is snakes. The interpretation put
> forth by a number of epigraphers that the Itzamnaaj bird is based on a
> harpy eagle makes no sense given that harpy eagles primarily eat  
> monkeys
> and big lizards. In fact, one of the terms for harpy eagle is  
> monkey-eater.
> On the Tablet of the Cross, the type of Principal Bird Deity who is
> associated with GI is illustrated in a profile view. The same bird is
> illustrated on the back of Copan Stela H but in a full frontal view.
> That doesn't make him an owl.
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