Source citation ledger

The Symbolism of Jade in Classic Maya Religion

Karl A. Taube

article · 2005

Karl A. Taube, “The Symbolism of Jade in Classic Maya Religion,” Ancient Mesoamerica 16 (2005).

Ancient Mesoamerica 16

These are separate Atlas meetings that cite this source. Citation is not proof.

Maya tradition

  • Jade is used in Maya tradition.

    Classic Maya jadeite has its own ritual and kingly jobs. Taube’s article keeps that symbolism off Chinese yu.

    from Karl A. Taube · The Symbolism of Jade in Classic Maya Religion, 2005

    used in · sourced · documented

  • Cacao is used in Maya tradition.

    Mesoamerican elites prepared cacao as a drink. A plant and a court beverage, not later chocolate advertising as ritual.

    from Karl A. Taube · The Symbolism of Jade in Classic Maya Religion, 2005

    used in · partially sourced · documented

  • Jade is used in Death.

    Taube describes Classic Maya jadeite in funerary rites and in conjuring gods and ancestors, as a material of the breath-spirit. A Maya tomb and earspool grammar, not Chinese orifice-plugs and not a pan-Mesoamerican “jade of immortality.”

    from Karl A. Taube · The Symbolism of Jade in Classic Maya Religion, 2005

    used in · sourced · culturally specific

  • Jade represents Maize.

    Taube argues Classic Maya jadeite can stand for maize (among other jobs). A Maya religious identification of a hard green stone with the staple grain, not Chinese burial jade and not Sahagún’s maize-as-food.

    from Karl A. Taube · The Symbolism of Jade in Classic Maya Religion, 2005

    represents · sourced · culturally specific

  • Jade is associated with Green.

    Jade is often green in both China and Mesoamerica. Color is shared; the rites are not.

    from Berthold Laufer · Jade, 1912; Karl A. Taube · The Symbolism of Jade in Classic Maya Religion, 2005

    associated with · sourced · culturally specific

  • Jade is associated with Stone.

    Jade is a stone that can be worked. Ritual jobs come after hardness.

    from Berthold Laufer · Jade, 1912; Karl A. Taube · The Symbolism of Jade in Classic Maya Religion, 2005

    associated with · sourced · documented

Nahua tradition

  • Jade is connected to Obsidian.

    Mesoamerican working of hard green stone and of volcanic glass are neighboring crafts. They are not one “sacred stone” of later shops.

    from Bernardino de Sahagún and Nahua collaborators · Florentine Codex, c. 1577; Karl A. Taube · The Symbolism of Jade in Classic Maya Religion, 2005

    connected to · interpretive · culturally specific