By Beatriz Esquivel
In the comic book, Batman is the secret identity of millionaire Bruce Wayne, who uses his fortune to build a boss ass suit with which he adopts the shape and traits of bats in order to catch villains and fight evil in the city of Gotham.
However, centuries before Bob Kane’s and Bill Finger’s creation, a half-man, half-bat hero already existed (in the year 100 BCE) in Mayan mythology. This being was one of the town’s divinities, particularly among the Quiché tribe that settled around what is modern-day Honduras and Guatemala.
The Bat God Of Death
“Camazotz” means “death-bath,” according to archeologist María Teresa Muñoz Espisona, from Mexico’s National Institute of Archeology and History. Bats also make an appearance in Popol Vuh, regarded by many as a sacred Mayan book. In Popol Vuh, Camatzotz is an important character that comes from the Underworld and whose purpose is to bring death. His association with death comes not only from his relation to the night and darkness, but also because he was believed to be in charge of beheading, both in the book and Quiché mythology.
Foto: Razon.comThe representation of a bat as a deity expanded through pre-Hispanic Mexico. For instance, among Aztecs (or Mexicas), bats were often linked with other animals such as spiders, scorpions, and owls, all of which are symbols of darkness, the earth, and death, as explained in the archeology magazine Arqueología Mexicana.
Camazotz’s Mayan representation involved a bat-like figure with one hand holding a victim and the other holding a sacrificial knife, which furthered his representation of death.
Similarly, giant vampire bats in Central America helped spread this idea throughout the land. The relationship between local wildlife and the myth building in different pre-Hispanic cultures is a characteristic specialists have looked at more closely in recent decades.
Photo: Mexico Desconocido
This type of work has proven to be fruitful. Because of this, specialists were able to identify inside the Major Temple in what is now Mexico City, “more than 400 animal species used for ritual or symbolic purposes, among of which are mollusks, birds, reptiles and mammals”, (INAH). This has led specialists to think that the bat fossils found in regions previously occupied by Mayans could give sense to the expansion of Camazotz worship.
@nicklovinWhatever the case, this fascinating character in Mayan mythology reminds us of one our favorite heroes of all time. Could the creators of Batman have known about Camazotz? Probably not, but it’s certainly fun to think so.
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