Brief Introduction of The Hero Twins - Jun Ajpu & Ixbalamque

For our very first post. We wanted to share a little on Jun Ajpu & Xbalamqe, often referred to as The Hero Twins of The Popol Wuh. This will be a brief introduction of the twins.

The Popol Wuh means the "Book of Council'' or the "Book of the community". Between 1701 AD and 1703 AD, this Maya story of creation was translated into Spanish from a manuscript written by the Kiche Maya in the middle of the 1600's AD.

The Kiche Maya at this time had been forced to learn the Spanish alphabet and in a form of resistance wrote down this ancient story. They kept this manuscript hidden until a Spanish Friar gained their trust and was able to do a Spanish translation.

It is important to note that although the story we know comes from The Maya Kiche, the story itself is much, much older than the Kiche language.

We can clearly see some characters of the Popol Wuh in ancient Maya art. The oldest being the long panels carved in stucco at the Pre-classic site known today as El Mirador, in Guatemala. The Panels date to about 300-200 BCE and it depicts the hero twins, Jun Ajpu and Xbalamqe, swimming into the underworld to retrieve the decapitated head of their father.

We will definitely be covering more on The Popol Wuh throughout this Patreon. (Stay Tuned! ;)

One of the most consistent references we’ll use is Sam Colop’s Spanish translation of the Popol Wuh, as his notes are extremely detailed and thorough.

Let's break down their names and give you an English translation from Maya Kiche.

As you will see throughout the topics we post, there is a complex, metaphoric and poetic way that Maya people used language. This can at times make it hard for today's reader to fully understand, so translating it is no small feat.

Different Maya languages have at times intertwined with one another. The Maya culture has expanded over thousands of years, therefore the Mayan language family has evolved and changed.

Mayan languages evolved from a Proto-Maya language into about thirty three distinct languages spoken in mesoamerica today. Many of these languages influenced each other along with other Meso-american languages such as Nahuatl (language spoken by the indigenous people of Central Mexico). This is very important to note to fully decipher meanings and translations.

Jun Ajpu:

This is a very straight forward translation.

Jun (hoon) = the Kiche word for the number one

Aj (ah’h) = prefix meaning “the one who” or the “one who specializes in” like a professional or master.

Pu (poo) = blowdart hunter

One Master of the Blowdart or One Blowdart Hunter

Xbalamqe:

X (shh) = It is common to hear this sound at the beginning of some words in languages like old Kiche and Mam. This old Kiche was the language that the Popol Wuh was written in.

Balam (bahl ahm) = The Kiche word for Jaguar, also the same in Yucatec Maya. It is important to understand the personality of this large cat to understand the root word. A jaguar hides during the day and comes out to hunt at night. In this case the root word is “bal”, which means the one that hides.

Qe (ke) = This part of the name is of Qeqchi Maya origin meaning the Night Sun.

Jaguar Night Sun, or the Sun that Hides. AKA the Moon.

The moon hides during the day and comes out like the night’s sun as the Jaguar.

Siblings

Jun Batz (One Monkey) and Jun Chuen (One Artisan)

Parents

They are the children of Jun Jun Ajpu (First, One Blowdart Hunter) and Ixkik (Lady Blood Moon).

Grandparents

Xmukane and Xpiyacoc

Hopefully this gives you a bit of an intro into the hero twins and who they are. We will be continuing sharing more info on the hero twins, specifically about their journey as it was written in the Popol Wuh. Please add comment or question below. We will be more then happy to answer! Please stay tuned for more posts!