In Mayan funeral traditions, the dead were buried with a piece of corn in their mouths so that they would have food for their journey to the afterlife. According to the 16th-century Mayan text, Popol Vuh, the mythical sons of Hun Nal Ye, the Maize God, the Hero Twins, had maize plants for alter egos.
One of the more common classic period themes concerns the hero twins reviving their father, the Maize God. In Classic Maya thought the burial and resurrection of the deceased was compared to the planting of the moribund maize kernel, temporarily buried but destined to reemerge. One extraordinary carved vessel, commonly referred to at the “Death Vase,” portrays both metaphors of death and resurrection.
On some Mayan funerary vases, the visual representation of the Maize God tends to be a queen rather than a king. The queen thus appears to have become a maize goddess, in accordance with the Mayan narrative traditions mentioned above.
Read more: Maya Religion – world, burial, body, life, customs, history, time
