Kinich Ahau

Kinich Ahau (K'inich Ajaw) is the 16th-century Yucatec name of the Maya sun god, designated as God G when referring to the codices. In the Classic period, God G is depicted as a middle-aged man with an aquiline nose, large square eyes, cross-eyed, and a filed incisor in the upper row of teeth. Usually, there is a k'in 'sun'-infix, sometimes in the very eyes. Among the southern Lacandons, Kinich Ahau continued to play a role in narrative well into the second half of the twentieth century.

Kinich Ahau is the Yucatec and Lacandon name of the sun god. The element k'inich, usually assumed to mean 'sun-eyed', appears to have been in general use as a royal title during the Classic Period. Kinich Ahau should not be confused with Ah K'in or Ah K'in Chob. Ah K'in is Yucatec for 'someone who deals with the day(s)', the word for 'day' and 'sun' being the same. The term refers to Yucatec calendar priests and to priests in general. As to Ah K'in Chob, J.E.S. Thompson suggested that this Lacandon deity name (alternating with Can Chob and Chi Chac Chob) could refer to the sun deity, but the mythology of Ah K'in Chob does not bear this out. Although the element chob has been translated as 'squint-eyed', which is an iconographic feature of the Classic sun deity, the only source for this translation is a single statement by Tozzer.

Kinich Ahau was the patron of one of the four years of the 52-year cycle (Landa). In the rituals introducing this year, war dances were executed. Kinich Ahau was apparently considered an aspect of the upper god, Itzamna. He may conceivably be related to the patron deity of Izamal, Kinich Kakmo 'Fire Parrot', who was reported to descend to earth while the sun was standing in the zenith in order to consume offerings (Cogolludo).

God G's appearances in Classic Maya art are, perhaps, best known from large stucco masks adorning pyramids. Compared to the deities connected to agricultural fertility, however, God G occurs rather infrequently in other media than stucco, and is rarely part of narrative events. It may be noted that the Hero Twins, Hunahpu and Xbalanque, although stated to have changed into Sun and Moon, are never shown assimilated to God G.

The Sun God is associated with an aquatic eastern paradise, where he can assume the shape of a chimerical water bird, or be shown as a young man, paddling a canoe. Such imagery could suggest lyric religious poetry comparable to the Aztec evocations of a 'flower paradise' (Taube).

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