Who was Popol Vuh?

Question

I just need some more info on the whole Mayan culture.

Answer 1

The Popol Vuh (Quiché for "Council Book" or "Book of the Community"; Popol Wuj in modern spelling) is the book of scripture of the Quiché, a kingdom of the post classic Maya civilization in highland Guatemala.
The book begins with the Maya civilization's creation myth followed by the stories of the Maya Hero Twins, Hunahpu (Junajpu) and Xbalanque (Xb‘alanke), who are prominent figures of Maya mythology. The book continues with details of the foundation and history of the Quiché kingdom, tying in the royal family with the legendary gods in order to assert rule by divine right.
[edit] Creation Myth
The book begins with the creation myth of the Maya, which credits the creation of humans to the three water dwelling feathered serpents:

There was only immobility and silence in the darkness, in the night. Only the Creator, the Maker, Tepeu, Gucumatz, the Forefathers, were in the water surrounded with light. They were hidden under green and blue feathers, and were therefore called Gucumatz...
and to the three other deities, collectively called "Heart of Heaven":

Then while they meditated, it became clear to them that when dawn would break, man must appear. Then they planned the creation, and the growth of the trees and the thickets and the birth of life and the creation of man. Thus it was arranged in the darkness and in the night by the Heart of Heaven who is called Huracán. The first is called Caculhá Huracán. The second is ChipiCaculhá. The third is Raxa-Caculhá. And these three are the Heart of Heaven.
who together attempted to create human beings to keep him company.

Their first attempts proved unsuccessful. They attempted to make man of mud, but man could neither move nor speak. After destroying the mud men, they tried again by creating wooden creatures that could speak but had no soul or blood and quickly forgot him. Angered over the flaws in his creation, they destroyed them by tearing them apart. In their final attempt, the “True People” were constructed with maize. The following is an excerpt of this myth:

They came together in darkness to think and reflect. This is how they came to decide on the right material for the creation of man. ... Then our Makers Tepew and Q'uk'umatz began discussing the creation of our first mother and father. Their flesh was made of white and yellow corn. The arms and legs of the four men were made of corn meal.
The best known and most complete manuscript of the Popul Vuh is in the Quiché Maya language. After the Spanish conquest of Guatemala, the usage of Maya script was forbidden and Latin alphabet was taught instead. However, some Maya priests and clerks clandestinely made copies of older hieroglyphic books, but using Latin letters, painting them on deerskin or fig bark and hiding them in the mountains. One of these was discovered about 1702 by a priest named Francisco Ximénez in the Guatemalan town of Chichicastenango, and rather than burning it Father Ximénez made a copy of it, and added a translation into Spanish. This copy found its way into a neglected corner of the Universidad de San Carlos library in Guatemala City, where it was discovered by Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg and Carl Scherzer in 1854. They published French and Spanish translations a few years later, the first of many translations that have kept the Popul Vuh in print ever since-

Answer 2

Popol Vuh is actually a book of scripture of a Mayan tribe. If you want information on them check out Wikipedia. The link below is pretty detailed.

Answer 3

"The Popol Vuh (Quiché for "Council Book" or "Book of the Community"; Popol Wuj in modern spelling) is the book of scripture of the Quiché, a kingdom of the post classic Maya civilization in highland Guatemala.

The book begins with the Maya civilization's creation myth followed by the stories of the Maya Hero Twins, Hunahpu (Junajpu) and Xbalanque (Xb‘alanke), who are prominent figures of Maya mythology. The book continues with details of the foundation and history of the Quiché kingdom, tying in the royal family with the legendary gods in order to assert rule by divine right."

Answer 4

book of scriptures

Answer 5

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popul_Vuh

Please see the link.