The Popol Vuh, the sacred book of the k’iche’s of Guatemala and Classic Maya literature, has been translated into Yucatec Maya by a team led by the linguist Fidencio Briceño Chel. This bilingual version is printed in Yucatec Maya and Spanish, includes the art of the artist José Pool “Maxka”. This edition was a joint work between the Secretary of Culture and Arts of the State of Yucatan (SECAY), the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), the CONACULTA, the Universisdad Modelo, the Universidad de los Andes (Merida, Venezuela) and the Venezuelan publisher The Other, The Same.

After a year of work, the translation of the Popol Vuh to Yucatec Maya was completed, the book contains records of ancient history of the K’iche ‘people from Guatemala, originally written in K’iche’, a Mayan languages variation of that country. The book also includes a study of academic Victor Bravo (Universidad de los Andes).

The translation team lead by Fidencio Briceño Chel, Ricardo Geronimo Can Tec, Marcelina Chan Canché Sosaya Cano and Jose Concepcion, took the Spanish version of the Popol Vuh translated by Adrián Inés Chávez, considered the most accurate to the original text from the K’iche ‘people.

The historic book features notes in Mayan and Spanish, and paintings of the characters mentioned in the text. It is illustrated with 13 engravings specially created by Joseph Pool “Maxka” native Mayan artist from Izamal.

The book will be launched in Venezuela and Mexico simultaneously. It is currently in design phase in Merida, Venezuela, it is scheduled to be present at the International Book Fair in Guadalajara later this year. Additionally, the translators recorded passages from the book to compile a CD to be able to spread the enigmatic content through radio and internet.

Source: TheYucatanTimes.com