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Q'uq'umatz () (alternatively Qucumatz, Gukumatz, Gucumatz, Gugumatz, Kucumatz etc.) was a deity of the Postclassic K'iche' Maya. Q'uq'umatz was the Feathered Serpent divinity of the ''Popol Vuh'' who created humanity together with the god Tepeu. Q'uq'umatz is considered to be the rough equivalent of the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl,〔Christenson 2003, 2007, p.53.〕 and also of Kukulkan of the Yucatec Maya tradition.〔Recinos 1954, pp.45-36.〕 It is likely that the feathered serpent deity was borrowed from one of these two peoples and blended with other deities to provide the god Q'uq'umatz that the K'iche' worshipped.〔Read & González 2000, p.191.〕 Q'uq'umatz may have had his origin in the Valley of Mexico; some scholars have equated the deity with the Aztec deity Ehecatl-Quetzalcoatl, who was also a creator god.〔Carmack 2001a, p.55.〕 Q'uq'umatz may originally have been the same god as Tohil, the K'iche' sun god who also had attributes of the feathered serpent,〔Fox 1987, 2008, p.60.〕 but they later diverged and each deity came to have a separate priesthood.〔Orellana 1981, p.159.〕 Q'uq'umatz was one of the gods who created the world in the Popul Vuh, the K'iche' creation epic.〔McCallister 2008, pp.1-2.〕 Q'uq'umatz, god of wind and rain, was closely associated with Tepeu, god of lightning and fire.〔Carmack 2001a, p.279.〕 Both of these deities were considered to be the mythical ancestors of the K'iche' nobility by direct male line.〔Carmack 2001b, p.76.〕 Q'uq'umatz carried the sun across the sky and down into the underworld and acted as a mediator between the various powers in the Maya cosmos.〔Fox 1987, 2008, pp. 60, 121, 249. Fox 1991, pp. 220-221, 235.〕 The deity was particularly associated with water, clouds, the wind and the sky. Kotuja', the K'iche' king who founded the city of Q'umarkaj, bore the name of the deity as a title and was likely to have been a former priest of the god. The priests of Q'uq'umatz at Q'umarkaj, the K'iche' capital, were drawn from the dominant Kaweq dynasty and acted as stewards in the city. ==Etymology and symbolism== The name translates literally as "Quetzal Serpent" although it is often rendered less accurately as "Feathered Serpent".〔Christenson 2003, 2007, p.52.〕 The name derives from the K'iche' word ''q'uq'', referring to the Resplendent quetzal ''Pharomachrus mocinno'', a brightly coloured bird of the cloud forests of southern Mesoamerica.〔 This is combined with the word ''kumatz'' "snake".〔 The male Resplendent quetzal boasts iridescent blue-green tail feathers measuring up to long that were prized by the Maya elite.〔Christenson 2003, 2007, pp.52-53.〕 The blue-green feathers symbolised vegetation and the sky, both symbols of life for the ancient Maya, while the bright red feathers of the bird's chest symbolised fire.〔 Together, this combination gave a profound religious symbolism to the bird.〔 The snake was a Maya symbol of rebirth due to its habit of shedding its skin to reveal a fresher one underneath.〔 Q'uq'umatz thus combined the celestial characteristics of the Quetzal with the serpentine underworld powers of the snake, giving him power over all levels of the Maya universe.〔 These characteristics also indicated a sexual duality between his masculine feathered serpent aspect and his feminine association with water and wind.〔 This duality enabled the god to serve as a mediator between the masculine sun god Tohil and the feminine moon goddess Awilix, a role that was symbolised with the Mesoamerican ballgame.〔Carmack 2001a, p.279. Fox 1987, 2008, p.249. Fox 1991, p.221.〕 In ancient Maya highland texts Q'uq'umatz is strongly associated with water, which in turn is associated with the underworld.〔Christenson 2003, 2007, p.59.n54. Recinos 1998, p.51.n62.〕 The K'iche' are reported to have believed that Q'uq'umatz was a feathered serpent that moved in the water.〔Christenson 2003, 2007, p.59.n54.〕 In the ''Annals of the Cakchiquels'', it is related that a group of highland Maya referred to themselves as the ''Gucumatz'' because their only salvation was said to be in the water.〔Christenson 2003, 2007, p.59.n54. Recinos 1998, p.51.〕 The Kaqchikel Maya were closely linked to the K'iche' and one of their ancestors, Gagavitz, was said to have thrown himself into Lake Atitlán and transformed himself into the deity, thus raising a storm upon the water and forming a whirlpool.〔Christenson 2003, 2007, p.59.n54. Recinos 1998, p.64.〕 Among the K'iche' Q'uq'umatz not only appeared as a feathered serpent, he was also embodied as an eagle and a jaguar, he was also known to transform himself into a pool of blood.〔Read & González 2000, pp.190-191.〕 The deity was sometimes represented by a snail or conch shell and was associated with a flute made from bones.〔 As well as being associated with water, Q'uq'umatz was also associated with clouds and the wind.〔Carmack 2001a, pp.260, 279.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Q'uq'umatz」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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